Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Orbit, Kindle Edition, 415 pages
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:Elysium Fire is a smoldering tale of murderers, secret cultists, tampered memories, and unthinkable power, of bottomless corruption and overpowering idealism from the king of modern space opera. Ten thousand city-state habitats orbit the planet Yellowstone, forming a near-perfect democratic human paradise. But even utopia needs a police force. For the citizens of the Glitter Band that organization is Panoply, and the prefects are its operatives. Prefect Tom Dreyfus has a new emergency on his hands. Across the habitats and their hundred million citizens, people are dying suddenly and randomly, victims of a bizarre and unprecedented malfunction of their neural implants. And these "melters" leave no clues behind as to the cause of their deaths. . . As panic rises in the populace, a charismatic figure is sowing insurrection, convincing a small but growing number of habitats to break away from the Glitter Band and form their own independent colonies.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member dpappas
This was the best book that I've read in a while. This isn't normally what I'm used to reading but I thought I'd take a chance on it. I was sucked into to story from the beginning and didn't want it to end. This story follows quite a few different characters and at times does jump from present to
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past. I don't really want to give anything away but I will say that there are mysterious deaths throughout the book that really drive these characters to try and solve the mystery behind the deaths. I enjoyed the reveal of information towards the end of the book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the galley. Show Less
LibraryThing member reading_fox
Written ten or so years later, it's set only two years after the Prefect, and chronologically still far before Chasm city, but with space for yet more books between the two.
Someone is stirring up trouble in the Glitterband, 8 habitats (out of 10000 or so) have democratically elected to remove
Someone is stirring up trouble in the Glitterband, 8 habitats (out of 10000 or so) have democratically elected to remove
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themselves from the consensus, in part unhappy about the Panoply's treatment of them and response to the AI crisis. So far it's no more than making speeches, which of course he is perfectly entitled to do, but when speeches become mobs, and mobs start infringing on the sacrosanct polling cores, then the Prefects have to do something - but it's a delicate balance because too much force will lead to cries of heavy-handedness, but doing nothing will be worse. Show Less
LibraryThing member jeffe.legge
I read about 100 pages and found it slow and difficult to understand.
LibraryThing member quondame
I really enjoyed this SF mystery/space opera, but not so much the backstory portions. In the former the action moved well, the irritations were of the current really annoying type, the characters made sense in their rolls and actions. Because I haven't read any of the earlier books in the story I
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felt a lack of appreciation for the hyperpig character. The final wrap up felt way too tidy for me. The backstory could have been condensed a good deal if not mostly omitted, but did give depth to the villain. Show Less
LibraryThing member PDCRead
The authorities in the Glitter Band are starting to worry; there one was death a couple of weeks ago that they have not be able to explain. Last week there were two more. This week there have been four. No one has been able to explain why, and the information that they have tried to elicit from the
The secrecy surrounding the deaths is high as they cannot risk society finding out that there is a killer on the loose. Inspector Dreyfus is brought urgently up to speed on the cases so far and those that are happening as the investigation tries to develop leads. To add to their woes, Devon Garlin, a member of the elite from Chasm City, is raising the political game by questioning the authority of the prefects and society with the aim of driving wedges between the habitats; somehow he seems to know about the mysterious deaths of the people too. What was a worrying situation is fast getting out of control...
Set in the Revelation Space universe this is a fast-paced sci-fi detective thriller is full of twists and turns and Dreyfus and his team try to work out who is doing the killing. The tech in the futuristic world is quite spectacular and Reynolds still manages to make it sound completely plausible. The secrets are revealed a little bit at a time as the story races to its fairly dramatic conclusion. However, it did feel like the ending unravelled a little too much rather than being neatly terminated, but that might be because there is more to come in a subsequent book; I hope so. Another stunning book from one of the masters of science fiction.
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corpses themselves hasn't given any leads. The implants that link each citizen to each other and the state in a fluid form of democracy where citizens are consulted and vote on matters small and large, have gone rogue and killed their hosts. Are these just random failings of the implants, which is unheard of, or is there someone out there causing them to fail? Panoply realises that they have a problem on their hands, one that seems to be growing exponentially and they have no idea who will be next to die.The secrecy surrounding the deaths is high as they cannot risk society finding out that there is a killer on the loose. Inspector Dreyfus is brought urgently up to speed on the cases so far and those that are happening as the investigation tries to develop leads. To add to their woes, Devon Garlin, a member of the elite from Chasm City, is raising the political game by questioning the authority of the prefects and society with the aim of driving wedges between the habitats; somehow he seems to know about the mysterious deaths of the people too. What was a worrying situation is fast getting out of control...
Set in the Revelation Space universe this is a fast-paced sci-fi detective thriller is full of twists and turns and Dreyfus and his team try to work out who is doing the killing. The tech in the futuristic world is quite spectacular and Reynolds still manages to make it sound completely plausible. The secrets are revealed a little bit at a time as the story races to its fairly dramatic conclusion. However, it did feel like the ending unravelled a little too much rather than being neatly terminated, but that might be because there is more to come in a subsequent book; I hope so. Another stunning book from one of the masters of science fiction.
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LibraryThing member iansales
This is a belated follow-on to 2007’s The Prefect – now re-titled Aurora Rising – and while the story is standalone, it makes several references to the events of the previous novel. And uses pretty much the same cast. A figure pops up giving speeches suggesting the various habitats of the
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Glitter Band should leave the Panoply, which is the implant-driven direct democracy system the habitats have been using for a couple of centuries. Reynolds is not being very subtle here – it’s clear what he’s writing about. But, there’s this universe hanging over the story, all that world-building documented in a dozen or so other novels… The main plot seems to be people whose implants suddenly boil their brains and kill them, and the Panoply – also a police force – is desperately trying to track down the cause and so prevent further deaths. Of course, the two – Glexiteer and brain-boiling implants – are connected, but only because Reynolds apparently has so little faith in democracy he built a backdoor into the “demarchy” he invented for his novels, so that a powerful elite can alter the outcome of certain votes (which does sort of plug into all the conspiracy theories regarding the 2016 Referendum). Anyway, the two are indeed linked, and through the aforementioned backdoor, which all feels somewhat too convenient when the climax hits. Some nice set-pieces, but story feels like two plots bolted together and the villains are somewhat pantomime. Show Less
LibraryThing member santhony
This science fiction work is the direst sequel to The Prefect (subsequently republished and sold under the name Aurora Rising), which are themselves prequels to the books of the Revelation Space collection of books. As such, they are set in the same universe, and some familiarity with the setting,
The setting is the Yellowstone system, prior to the Melding Plague and immediately after the events in The Prefect (Aurora Rising), in which an alpha level artificial intelligence seeks dominion over the Glitter Band. Senior Prefect Dreyfus, along with the law enforcement agency, Panoply, is faced with a puzzling outbreak of fatal, neural implant malfunctions, which threatens to spread throughout the Glitter Band.
The hard science fiction in all of Reynold’s work is top class. The dialogue, however, suffers from being non-realistic, to, at times, rather silly. Nevertheless, all of the works I’ve read centered on the Revelation Space universe have been well worth the effort.
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while not absolutely necessary, is nevertheless highly recommended.The setting is the Yellowstone system, prior to the Melding Plague and immediately after the events in The Prefect (Aurora Rising), in which an alpha level artificial intelligence seeks dominion over the Glitter Band. Senior Prefect Dreyfus, along with the law enforcement agency, Panoply, is faced with a puzzling outbreak of fatal, neural implant malfunctions, which threatens to spread throughout the Glitter Band.
The hard science fiction in all of Reynold’s work is top class. The dialogue, however, suffers from being non-realistic, to, at times, rather silly. Nevertheless, all of the works I’ve read centered on the Revelation Space universe have been well worth the effort.
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LibraryThing member Paul_S
There's nothing new about the world so the only thing that can sell this book are the characters and plot. Characters are returning ones and the plot is weak. The problem is the characters somehow became exaggerations. The hyperpig with a chip on his shoulder, matron police chief, grizzled Dreyfus
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and miss perfect policewoman. Not that they were nuanced in Prefect but that had the world building to save it. The characters make it impossible to care about the slow fizzle of a plot. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisCarey
The Glitter Band is a collection of 10,000 city-state habitats orbiting the planet of Yellowstone, existing in near-perfect democracy, with that democracy guarded by Panoply and its prefects. Prefect Tom Dreyfus has faced crises before, and overcome them.
There's a new crisis building, an outbreak
There's fallout from the previous crisis, two years ago, in which some habitats were destroyed as part of the effort to stop the spread of a destructive artificial intelligence. A separatist movement has grown up, though so far only a few habitats have actually seceded from the Glitter Band. Now, though, an activist called Devon Garland has been traveling from habitat to habitat, giving rabble-rousing speeches telling people that Panoply isn't protecting them, but its own power and influence.
Dreyfus tries to raise concern about Garland among his colleagues, without success. Soon Garland is targeting him personally in his speeches, and showing up in places he shouldn't know Dreyfus would be. In pursuit of answers, Dreyfus is interviewing the only "witnesses" he has, the betas of those who have died of the "melter" phenomenon, and simultaneously chasing down information on Devon Garland and his background.
Meanwhile, Dreyfus's friends and deputy field prefects, Thalia Ng and Sparver Bancal, are sent off on a mission of their own, to check out the latest melter death, and get caught in "just an accident" that is awfully questionable, and kills an innocent witness. As evidence builds, the two crises start to look like one, and Dreyfus, Thalia, and Sparver all go through conflicts and stresses that alter their own views of themselves and each other.
It's exciting, though-provoking, and has real character development.
I received this audiobook as a gift.
There's a new crisis building, an outbreak
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of strange, unexplained deaths. People are suddenly dying of the malfunction and overheating of their neural implants. There are seemingly no connections, no similarities, in the victims to point the way to the cause. While the deaths are few and scattered at first, the deaths are rising exponentially. Rumors are starting spread, risking an even more deadly outbreak of panic.There's fallout from the previous crisis, two years ago, in which some habitats were destroyed as part of the effort to stop the spread of a destructive artificial intelligence. A separatist movement has grown up, though so far only a few habitats have actually seceded from the Glitter Band. Now, though, an activist called Devon Garland has been traveling from habitat to habitat, giving rabble-rousing speeches telling people that Panoply isn't protecting them, but its own power and influence.
Dreyfus tries to raise concern about Garland among his colleagues, without success. Soon Garland is targeting him personally in his speeches, and showing up in places he shouldn't know Dreyfus would be. In pursuit of answers, Dreyfus is interviewing the only "witnesses" he has, the betas of those who have died of the "melter" phenomenon, and simultaneously chasing down information on Devon Garland and his background.
Meanwhile, Dreyfus's friends and deputy field prefects, Thalia Ng and Sparver Bancal, are sent off on a mission of their own, to check out the latest melter death, and get caught in "just an accident" that is awfully questionable, and kills an innocent witness. As evidence builds, the two crises start to look like one, and Dreyfus, Thalia, and Sparver all go through conflicts and stresses that alter their own views of themselves and each other.
It's exciting, though-provoking, and has real character development.
I received this audiobook as a gift.
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LibraryThing member aarondesk
Another great read by Alastair Reynolds. Dreyfus and Jane Aumonier and Sparver - all great characters. But really Jane shined in this book and I just loved her tough, stoic grit. She had a much bigger role in this book than the first in the series which was great. I loved the mystery-vibe of the
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story set in space. Can't wait for the next book. Show Less
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — Science Fiction Novel — 2019)
Original publication date
2018-01-23