This was a very unique way to approach the story, in my opinion, and since everything is narrated by the same person, it leads the reader to start questioning the reliability of that narrator. Each time Silas “wakes up” from the previous disastrous voyage, Demeter is a newer version of ship, but the crew all remain the same with the same jobs, the same personalities, and the same goal of finding the Edifice. This cycle is the framework for the majority of the story. The dream becomes hazy, and he quickly makes his way above onto the deck of the steamship Demeter. He had been sleeping at his desk when a midshipman woke him. Silas is killed when the mast falls onto him. Just when the ship seems to be making it through the passage, a wave clips the ship wrong, wrecking it. The passage through the cliffs is much narrower than anticipated, and it is difficult to navigate safely. However, the closer they get to their goal, the more things go wrong. He just wants to see the crew safely along on their voyage and home again, and it may also be nice to finish the novel he’s been writing. Silas is more concerned with his work and the safety of the crew than he is interested in the Edifice. This venture is being funded by a man named Topolsky, and the story is told from the point of view of the ship’s doctor, Silas Coade. Inside this fissure should be something the crew comes to call the Edifice. It’s a fifth-rate frigate sailing north in search of a fissure in the seaside cliffs. It took me far longer to finish than it normally would, but it was worth every minute.Įversion initially takes place on a ship called the Demeter. The cover plus the idea behind the story really made me curious to read this book.

I know they say not to judge a book by its cover, but that is exactly what initially drew me to Eversion. I was given a complimentary review copy of Eversion by Alastair Reynolds by Orbit Books.

And how to stop it all from happening again. And it’s up to him to figure out why and how. Silas Coade is the physician, but only Silas seems to realize that these events keep repeating themselves. In the far future, a spaceship sets out for an alien artifact. In the 1900s, a Zepellin explores an icy canyon in Antarctica. In the 1800s, a sailing ship crashes off the coast of Norway. From the master of the space opera, Alastair Reynolds, comes a dark, mind-bending SF adventure spread across time and space, Doctor Silas Coade has been tasked with keeping his crew safe as they adventure across the galaxy in search of a mysterious artifact, but as things keep going wrong, Silas soon realizes that something more sinister is at work, and this may not even be the first time it’s happened.

Eversion alastair reynolds review