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gridlore
Inhibitor Phase by Alastair ReynoldsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Warning: Minor spoilers for Inhibitor Phase follow.
For thirty years a tiny band of humans has been sheltering in the caverns of an airless, crater-pocked world called Michaelmas. Beyond their solar system lie the ruins of human interstellar civilization, stalked by a ruthless, infinitely patient cybernetic entity determined to root out the last few bands of survivors. One man has guided the people of Michaelmas through the hardest of times, and given them hope against the wolves: Miguel de Ruyter.
When a lone human ship blunders into their system, and threatens to lead the wolves to Michaelmas, de Ruyter embarks on a desperate, near-suicide mission to prevent catastrophe. But an encounter with a refugee from the ship—the enigmatic woman who calls herself only Glass—leads to de Ruyter's world being turned upside down. . .
I really wanted to love this book. I love Reyonolds' writing; he isn't afraid to show us how vast and old the universe is, and how fragile our place in it really is. But this novel suffers from one major problem, and that is that the main character has almost no control over what happens. de Ruyter is dragged from setpiece to setpiece, never fully understanding what is happening and almost never taking charge of his destiny. Which makes it hard to feel for him.
There's also a dependence on characters from the previous books. Look, I can accept that suspended animation and relativistic travel can account for one character living for centuries, but two? Add in flashbacks to the war against the Conjoiners on Mars that never really goes anywhere, and the novel is a beautiful, but muddled work. It's good, but not great.
And I've come to expect greatness from Reynolds.
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