This is the second 700 page novel by Reynolds I’ve read this year. I’ve got a third ready to go.
Set somewhat as a “sidequel” to the happenings in the “Revelation Space” arc, this is a slightly more conventional tale, but not without Reynolds’ style of truly mind-expanding ideas.
A detective story, of sorts, set in a post-human society where The Melding Plague has thrown all nanotech into such chaos that the buildings themselves begin growing out of control. Also: a religion that is truly infectious.
The best sections deal with a flotilla of generation ships that slowly begin to form into their own warring nations. It is a fascinating piece of anthropology and a solid example of what hard SF can do that no other genre can.
Read this recently, and what a book! The intricate way the stories are woven together within a setting of Star Wars proportions made me simply devour this book. I love the themes, particularly the way he describes the inherent problem of near-immortal beings is the crushing boredom of life-everlasting. And the revelation at the end makes you want to read it again. It would almost be a completely different book, a bit like The Sixth Sense. Brilliant!