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Searching... Beale Memorial Library (Kern Co.) | Searching... Unknown | Science Fiction | SCI FIC REYNOLDS ALA | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Clovis Branch Library (Fresno Co.) | Searching... Unknown | Science Fiction Area | REYNOLD AL Revenge | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Revenger is a rocket-fueled tale of space pirates, buried treasure, and phantom weapons, of unspeakable hazards and single-minded heroism. . . and of vengeance. . .
Adrana and Fura Ness are the newest crew members of the legendary Captain Rackamore's ship, using their mysterious powers as Bone Readers to find clues about their next score. But there might be more waiting for them in space than adventure and fortune: the fabled and feared Bosa Sennen, in particular.
The galaxy is filled with treasures. . . if you have the courage to find them.
Author Notes
Alastair Reynolds was born in Barry, South Wales, in 1966. He studied at Newcastle and St. Andrews Universities and has a Ph.D. in astronomy. he stopped working as an astrophysicist for the European Space Agency to become a full-time writer. Revelation Space and Pushing Ice were shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award; Revelation Space, Absolution Gap, Diamond Dogs , and Century Rain were shortlisted for the British Science Fiction Award, and Chasm City won the British Science Fiction Award.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
If Pirates of the Caribbean were set in a galaxy far, far away, you might have the tale that unfolds for teenage Arafura. Caught up in her sister Adrana's plans, Arafura agrees to join the crew of a ship as a Bone Reader, one who can give and receive messages through telepathy. The ship is attacked by the dreaded Bosa Sennen, who captures Adrana and sets the gears in motion for revenge. The plot holds few twists, and more mature readers may become frustrated by the sudden and unbelievable resurrection of Paladin, the loyal family robot. There are some scenes of graphic violence, but they are balanced by Arafura's wry humor, the development of a new friendship, and her heroic quest. The straightforward writing will appeal to young adults, even though the story is less than thought provoking. VERDICT For those seeking a quick sci-fi adventure that leaves room for a sequel.-Pamela Schembri, Horace Greeley High School, Chappaqua, NY © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This space adventure from lauded SF author Reynolds is an expert mix of the fantastical and horrific. The time is the very far future, and humankind has spread through a vastly wonderful but daunting universe. Arafura Ness, on the cusp of adulthood, is lured by her older sister, Adrana, into joining the crew of a spaceship seeking intermittently accessible caches of alien treasures. Humans have adapted to many strange circumstances; for example, the Ness sisters are valued because they have the talent to become bone readers, capable of mentally linking space travelers by probing the skulls of long-dead aliens. After an agreeable opening that reads like an SF version of Treasure Island, an attack by horrifyingly sadistic pirate Bosa Sennen shatters the comfortable role Arafura has been settling into and sets her off on the ruthless pursuit of revenge. Her success-or downfall, depending on how a reader views what she makes of herself-is convincing, satisfying, and scary. This is a remarkably creative, resonant space opera. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Guardian Review
Lament for the Fallen by Gavin Chait, Night Without Stars by Peter F Hamilton, Behind the Throne by KB Wagers, Revenger by Alastair Reynolds, Crosstalk by Connie Willis Gavin Chait's first novel, Lament for the Fallen (Doubleday, [pound]14.99), is a refreshingly different take on the old "alien-falls-to-Earth-bearing-gifts" chestnut. Joshua Ossai lives in the West African village of Ewuru, blessed by a water turbine, up-to-the-minute technology, and an AI known as sphere. This farming existence, however, is frequently threatened by refugees from the war-torn north, and the vicious attacks of ravaging warlords. When Joshua and his fellow villagers see something fall from the sky, they investigate and discover a crashed starship and its pilot, a bizarre metal-skinned alien who can speak their language. Samara is from the world of Achenia, a near-immortal soldier on the run from a space prison known as Tartarus. What follows is an exhilarating story of mutual co-operation as Joshua nurses Samara back to health so that he can return and destroy Tartarus, and Samara assists the villagers against the brutal warlords. It's a compulsively readable, life-affirming tale told in direct, lambent prose, and Chait does a masterful job of juxtaposing a traditional African setting with a convincing depiction of a far-future alien society. The second book in the duology that started with The Abyss Beyond Dreams, Peter F Hamilton's Night Without Stars (Macmillan, [pound]20) is set 250 years later on the benighted planet of Bienvenido. Invaded by the evil Fallers -- hive-mind aliens who can take on human form -- the planet and its settlers are facing annihilation. Tech-augmented Kysandra, a "warrior angel" and leader of the underground resistance, molecular physicist Laura Brandt, forest warden Florian and hyperspace theorist Joey Stein -- as well as a complement of ANAdroids -- find themselves up against both the Fallers and the PSR, the fascist government that rules Bienvenido. It's a thrilling, multi-viewpoint ride, and while in lesser hands the vast dramatis personae might have become entangled and indistinguishable, Hamilton maintains the reader's interest in the cast of varied characters and invests the various plot threads with equal significance. He even ties all the loose ends together in a satisfying denouement. Tough, sardonic Hail Bristol is a gunrunner with her own ship who twenty years before the story opens left the matriarchal Indranan Empire on a quest to track down her father's killer. She's also the daughter of the empress who, when Hail's sisters are killed, has Hail return home to take her place as heir. In Behind the Throne (Orbit, [pound]8.99), debut novelist KB Wagers expertly charts Hail's reluctant acceptance of her role, and the realisation that the Empire is crumbling and that forces behind the throne will stop at nothing to achieve its downfall. Interstellar empire space operas are 10-a-penny and easy to do badly, lending themselves to cliche and overplayed melodrama, but the first volume of the Indranan War series follows in the tradition of Anne Leckie's Ancillary series to produce a fast-paced story of political intrigue and gender issues held together by a tight plot and a cast of sympathetic characters. Behind the Throne is thought-provoking entertainment and great fun. Alastair Reynolds's 14th novel Revenger (Gollancz, [pound]18.99) hits the ground running with teenage sisters Arafura and Adrana Ness leaving the world of Mazarile aboard the sunjammer Monetta's Mourn on a quest to discover technological treasures hidden amid the ruins of a long-vanished alien civilisation. Some of Reynolds's past novels may have suffered problems of pacing, but it's a charge that can't be brought against Revenger, the opening book of a series. The intriguing far-future setting is presented to the reader piecemeal through Arafuma's perceptions, a skilful ploy which not only heightens tension but builds a tantalising picture of a universe to be explored in subsequent volumes. It's also something of a departure for Reynolds, a swashbuckling thriller -- Pirates of the Caribbean meets Firefly -- that nevertheless combines the author's trademark hard SF with effective, coming-of-age characterisation. Briddey is an executive for a mobile phone company, responsible for the development and deployment of cutting-edge products, and in the line of duty agrees to the suggestion of her co-worker boyfriend to have an EED -- an neurological emotion-enhancer -- installed. What should facilitate the communication of emotions instead bestows Briddey with telepathy, and we follow her as her new ability makes her hectic life, with her meddling Irish-American family and various suitors, almost unmanageable. In Crosstalk (Gollancz, [pound]16.99), Connie Willis has crafted a lightweight, sci-fi romcom satire for the 21st century, firing broadsides at our dependency on hi-tech gadgetry and social media. As with a few of her more recent novels, Crosstalk wears its research rather heavily and could have been shorn of a hundred pages. That said, Willis tells a fast-paced tale with well-observed dialogue and some gentle humour. * Eric Brown's latest novel is Jani and the Great Pursuit (Solaris). - Eric Brown.
Booklist Review
The award-winning Reynolds' newest action-packed science fiction novel is a tale of sisterly devotion, heartbreaking loss, and brutal vengeance. During the Thirteenth Occupation, humanity is spread throughout a galactic Congregation using an economy based on the sale of artifacts from earlier occupations. These relics are found on baubles worlds sealed inside shields that open at irregular intervals. Ships equipped with solar sails and utilizing ancient alien skulls to communicate across the cosmos compete for these treasures. Arafura Ness is lured away from her ailing and financially strapped father by older sister Adrana's promises of adventure and fortune. With a sympathetic skull-meshing talent, they are quickly signed on as Bone Readers to a sunjammer heading out on a bauble hunt. Just as they are accepted by the crew, their ship is attacked and Adrana kidnapped. Fura's search for her sibling will change her in ways she could never have considered, and the cost may be more than either can bear. Fans of the authors' Poseidon's Children saga will enjoy the well-developed characters and detailed world building.--Lockley, Lucy Copyright 2016 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Sisters Adrana and Arafura Ness run away from a safe life, hoping to earn money to help their father. They've been tested and found to have the rare ability to pick up the ghostly signals put out by alien skulls, so they are hired as bone readers for the ship Monetta's Mourn. A good reader can not only pick up what is being sent to their ship but also eavesdrop on other ships' messages. Captains like Rackamore of the Monetta use that hijacked information to help them plan heists on the treasures locked away around the galaxy. But when their ship tangles with Bosa Sennan, the notorious pirate, Adrana and Arafura are separated and Fura vows revenge. VERDICT Reynolds (Slow Bullets) has sketched in a galaxy littered with the relics of former civilizations (human and alien), with plenty left to the reader's imagination, and room for a sequel. The space slang (air is "lungstuff") sometimes seems hokey, but the author marries pirate adventures with a coming-of-age story in a way that should give it great crossover appeal for teens.-MM © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.