In the second book of The Inhibitor Trilogy, Alastair Reynolds pushes the boundaries of science fiction and "confirms his place among the leaders of the hard-science space-opera renaissance" (Publishers Weekly). Late in the twenty-sixth century, the human race has advanced enough to accidentally trigger the Inhibitors -- alien killing machines designed to detect intelligent life and destroy it. The only hope for humanity lies in the recovery of a secret cache of doomsday weapons -- and a renegade named Clavain who is determined to find them. But other factions want the weapons for their own purposes -- and the weapons themselves have another agenda altogether . . .

A collection of eight short stories and novellas in the dark and turbulent world of Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space universe.Centuries from now, solidarity stretches thin as humanity spreads past the solar system and to the nearest stars. Technology has produced powerful new tools-but lethal risk will always accompany great advancement.And without foresight, opposing groups may fracture multiple worlds. Between the Demarchists and the Conjoiners, the basic right to expand human intelligence-beyond its natural limits-has become a war-worthy cause. Only vast lighthugger starships bind these squabbling colonies together, manned by the panicky and paranoid Ultras. And the hyperpigs just try to keep their heads down.The rich get richer. And everyone tries not to think about the worrying number of extinct alien civilizations turning up on the outer reaches of settled space...because who's to say that humanity won't be next?

Return to the dazzling world of Revelation Space with this British Science Fiction Award-winning space opera about a young man hell-bent on revenge on the surface of a twisted, disease-corrupted planet. The once-utopian Chasm City -- a domed human settlement on an otherwise inhospitable planet -- has been overrun by a virus known as the Melding Plague, capable of infecting any body, organic or computerized. Now, with the entire city corrupted -- from the people to the very buildings they inhabit -- only the most wretched sort of existence remains. For security operative Tanner Mirabel, it is the landscape of nightmares through which he searches for a lowlife postmortal killer. But the stakes are raised when his search brings him face to face with a centuries-old atrocity that history would rather forget. One of Locus and Science Fiction Chronicle's "Best SF Novels of the Year"

In the third book of the legendary Revelation Space trilogy, the last remnants of humanity realize that forging an alliance with a greater and even more mysterious alien force may be their only chance for survival. The Inhibitors were designed to eliminate any life form reaching a certain level of intelligence -- and they've targeted Humanity. War veteran Clavain and a ragtag group of refugees have fled into hiding. Their leadership is faltering, and their situation is growing more desperate. But their little colony has just received an unexpected visitor: an avenging angel with the power to lead mankind to safety -- or draw down its darkest enemy. And as she leads them to an apparently insignificant moon light-years away, it begins to dawn on Clavain and his companions that to beat one enemy, it may be necessary to forge an alliance with something much worse . . . "Absolution Gap is a good as it gets, and should solidify Alastair Reynolds' reputation as one of the best hard SF writers in the field." -- SF Site

Troika tells the story of men and women confronting an enigma known as the Matryoshka, a vast alien construct whose periodic appearances have generated terror, wonder, and endless debate. During its third "apparition" in a remote corner of the solar system, a trio of Russian cosmonauts approach this enigma and attempt to penetrate its mysteries. What they discover - and what they endure in the process - forms the centerpiece of an enthralling, constantly surprising narrative. Troika is at once a wholly original account of First Contact and a meditation on time, history, and the essentially fluid nature of identity itself. Suspenseful, erudite, and gracefully written, it is a significant accomplishment in its own right and a welcome addition to a remarkable body of work. -- dust jacket cover.

Prefect Tom Dreyfus investigates a murderous attack on one of the space habitats of the Glitter Band--a crime that has left nine hundred people dead--and uncovers a plot by a mysterious entity seeking total control of the region.

The highly-acclaimed first novel in the Revelation Space universe—a debut that has redefined the space opera with a staggering journey across vast gulfs of time and space to confront the very nature of reality itself... “[A] TOUR DE FORCE…RAVISHINGLY INVENTIVE.”—Publishers Weekly Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the Amarantin riddle before ancient history repeats itself. With no other resources at his disposal, Sylveste forges a dangerous alliance with the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity. But as he closes in on the secret, a killer closes in on him. Because the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason—and if that reason is uncovered, the universe—and reality itself—could be irrevocably altered...