Revelatory Redemption

October 7, 2010 1:37 PM

Can someone refresh my memory about Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds? I'm reading Redemption Ark and a few things I feel like I should remember aren't coming back.

I've read the Wikipedia entry, and the basic plot is familiar to me. I'm also not looking for any spoilers for Redemption Ark, and it may just be that there are some things that will just come clear later. I'm fine with that.

My specific questions include:

1) Was there anything about Illya the Triumvir becoming a terrorist in RS?

2) What did we know about the weapons on Illya's ship by the end of RS?

3) Did we find out what happened to the ship at the end of RS, or is that whole storyline part of RA?

posted by OmieWise to media & arts (4 answers total)

I've read RS and RA and am reading Absolution Gap; so if I inadvertently give away anything that happens in RA, well, you get what you pay for...

1) Do you mean a terrorist from the point of view of the civilians on Resurgam? In RS, she broadcast to the planet that she'd start blowing up communities until they gave up Dan Sylveste. The government on Resurgam demonized her (that might've been in RA) to unite the people against a common enemy.

2) Yes, remember Ilia hired Khouri to be the gunnery office and operate the cache weapons.

3) I don't remember where Nostalgia for Infinity was left at the end of the first book, sorry.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 1:50 PM on October 7, 2010

1) It's all a clever scheme!
2) We've seen them used in orbit around Cerberus. I believe Khouri was involved.
3) You'll see the Nostalgia for Infinity again.
posted by Artw at 1:57 PM on October 7, 2010

1) As These Premises Are Alarmed noted, there's the little matter of making everyone on the planet think that she's obliterated an entire settlement and will destroy more until Sylveste is handed over. Also, she's an effectively immortal pirate/thief/kidnapper/brainwasher/murderer from a highly advanced culture with questionable ethics that exploits parochial, planet-bound populations. Even before the faked bombing and threats of violence, it wouldn't have been surprising for the government of Resurgam to label her and the rest of the Ultras as terrorists. And that's without anyone making an intentional decision to vilify her for ulterior motives....

2) By the end of RS, we still know very little about the weapons. We know the NFI has had them for a long time, that Ilia has spent a long time trying to interface with them, and that they're sufficiently computerized for a sentient virus to possess them. We also know that they're still viable, since some are successfully deployed.

3) At the end of RS, Sun-Stealer takes control of the Nostalgia for Infinity. Before escaping the ship in a shuttle (which is then destroyed by the NFI, leaving her floating in space), Ilia destroys the cryo system that's been keeping the Captain in stasis. The notion is that his nano-virus will keep Sun-Stealer distracted, and that he deserves to suffer for what he did to Sajaki. In the course of a day, the plague completely takes over the NFI and eradicates Sun-Stealer. Then the Captain sends out a shuttle to rescue Ilia.
posted by jbrjake at 7:42 AM on October 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

I realize I'm not actually answering the question anymore, but I would like to plug for Absolution Gap. The last quarter of that book was just excellent: exciting and dramatic to the end.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 11:55 AM on October 13, 2010 [1 favorite]