Denver Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club

CHASM CITY
by
ALASTAIR REYNOLDS
Chasm City cover Chasm City (2001)
2002 British SF Award winner

Ace books paperback
694 pages
cover art by Chris Moore (left)		  
From the back cover of the paperback:
       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 low-life 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.

From the front flap of the hardcover:
       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 its people to the very buildings they inhabit -- only the most wretched, grim sort of existence remains.
       And it is through this city that security operative Tanner Mirabel must pursue the object of his vendetta: a lowlife postmortal named Argent Reivich.  But as Reivich keeps slipping through the cracks of Chasm, Tanner will be taken far beyond the mere settling of a score -- to come face to face with a centuries-old atrocity that history would rather forget...

Read for group discussion on September 14, 2005
RATINGS:
How we each rated these books
Dan - Amy - stack of books 10   Wow! Don't miss it
8-9  Highly recommended
7    Recommended
5-6  Mild recommendation
3-4  Take your chances
1-2  Below average; skip it
0    Get out the flamethrower!
U    Unfinishable or unreadable
-    Skipped or no rating given
Cheri - Barb -
Aaron - Cynthia -
Jackie - Ron 6
Christine - Deb 5
Mike 6.5 Stephanie 5.5
Gary - Patty 8
Andres 8    
Our book group has read the following books by Alastair Reynolds
-- Revelation Space  in April 2010
Bibliography:
Alastair Reynolds (1966-    ) is a UK science fiction writer, who is known for writing hard SF and space opera.

Awards
2002 British SF Award for novel Chasm City

Novels
Inhibitor sequence or series
-- Revelation Space (2000 UK, 2001 USA), his first novel
-- Chasm City (2001 UK, 2002 USA)
-- Redemption Ark (2002 UK, 2003 USA)
-- Absolution Gap (2003 UK, 2004 USA)
-- The Prefect (2007 UK, 2008 USA)

Other novels
-- Century Rain (2004 UK, 2005 USA)
-- Pushing Ice (2005 UK, 2006 USA)
-- House of Suns (2008 UK, 2009 USA)
-- Terminal World (2010 UK)

Short Story collections
-- Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days (2003 UK, 2005 USA)
-- Zima Blue and Other Stories (2006, expanded version 2009)
-- Galactic North (2006 UK, 2007 USA)
-- Thousandth Night and Minla's Flowers (2009)

Novellas (short novels) published as books
-- Diamond Dogs (2001 UK, novella)
-- Turquoise Days (2002 USA, novella)
-- The Six Directions of Space (2008, novella)

Links:
Our book club's page for Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
Alastair Reynolds - Wikipedia
Alastair Reynolds - author's website
The SF Site Featured Review: Chasm City
Alastair Reynolds: Chasm City - an infinity plus review
January Magazine: Review | Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds
Locus Online: Alastair Reynolds interview excerpts
dragonsworn - Alastair Reynolds - interview, short book reviews

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 This page was last updated April 11, 2010