Machine Vendetta: 3 (The Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies)

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Dreyfus, Jane Aumonier, the senior officer of the Panoply, Thalia Ng and other prefects have to unravel multiple mysteries to understand the depth of betrayal and AI infiltration they are facing. Prematurely writing this review because I started it on Netgalley without realizing that it is the 3rd book of a series. But 'cop' is not the correct term – it's more like they are the public safety monitors, trying to deal with any issues with a light touch but willing to bring in the heavy support as needed. You could read the book as a standalone, but a lot of the characters overlap from previous stories, so you'd be better advised to go in sequence. Insurrection is rising, and the destruction of part of a peaceful jungle-like habitat, Valsko-Venev, seems to have been instigated by Mizler Cranach, seemingly a rogue hyper-pig Prefect, an event which has created distrust towards the Prefects and inspired racist xenophobia as the act is seen as a racist attack.

In the end, all the desperate elements come together but nicely in a plot worthy of a murder mystery.Others may feel the problems to be of greater severity, but unlike the previous books there wasn't anything here that lessened my enjoyment. This also leads to things being tied up in a definite ending, which I suspect may divide readers a little. Elysium Fire is a tremendously assured read, a fast-paced page-turner that delivers a well thought out story and characters you'll come to care about. Four years after the events of Elysium Fire, the relationship between Panoply and some of the habitats in the Glitter Band has deteriorated since we last visited. I confess that I did not find this episode as compelling as the others, partly because I could get the mystery pretty early, it's telegraphed pretty easily for anyone paying attention.

A sequel to Elysium Fire, it is the eighth novel set in the Revelation Space universe, and the third in the A Prefect Dreyfus Emergency spinoff series. Dreyfus and Ng start working on clues that bring out vital facts about Aurora’s origins that might give them and Panoply a fighting chance at surviving her onslaught against them. That turned out not to be a problem, since gradually all the background I needed was filled in, especially given the fact that the story begins in the midst of multiple crises that make the basic facts crystal clear from the opening. I would say that it is similar to and Ed McBain 87th Precinct novel, with a cast of police agents investigating a serious of what look like random crimes, and finding that they are all the same. Reynolds has the science fiction magic that allows him to create whole universes and even make a potentially ridiculous situation, such as a planet of babified adults seem real.So why did she walk alone and unarmed into a habitat with a vicious grudge against her organization? Without trying to give too much away this book captures your attention from the start and you have to question your trust of everyone. Machine Vendetta" has everything: adults with the size and mental development of babies; bombed monasteries; secret cults secretly building a computer to trap two near-gods; upgraded pigs and lemurs: a mysterious mansion on a deserted asteroid; a 100 page section of non-stop action; two competing evil near omnipotent A I upgrades; long-lived interstellar posts human traders and their miles long ships; the list goes on. Reynolds combines depth in characterization and dazzling hard-science applications to keep the reader turning pages. If you've read a few books from Reynolds before, you're aware that identity issues may be his favorite plot device.

Still, once things started popping a little over halfway through the book, I found myself racing through it.

I dare say you could read it as a stand alone it is so easily managed but the full experience is all three (Aurora Rising, Elysium Fire). You don't need to have read the previous books - enough of the backstories are given along the way to explain to newcomers - but those who have read the previous novels will appreciate what happens more.