Alastair Reynolds has been one of the most powerful voices in space opera for twenty years. In this, his debut novel and the first book in his Revelation Space universe, one man will journey across time and space on a single-minded quest for the truth....
Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight.
Now one scientist, the brilliant and ruthless Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the mystery of the ancient civilization's disappearance. But the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason - and if that reason is uncovered, the universe, and reality itself, could be irrevocably altered....
"A delight. A refreshing and entertaining reconsideration of some of the genre's oldest tropes. An impressive first novel, quite possibly the space opera of the year." - LOCUS
"I was hooked from page one. Billion-year-gone alien wars, killer intelligences - and perhaps the most stunning and original alien artifact in modern science-fiction - and all rendered with the authentic voice of a working scientist." - STEPHEN BAXTER
"[A] sci-fi tour de force.... Clearly intoxicated by cutting-edge scientific research - in bioengineering, space physics, cybernetics - Reynolds spins a ravishingly inventive- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY