(2004)A good SF tale about an alternate Earth created by a race to eventually destroy in genocide. The extinction would be carried out by the dispensing a ?rain? that kills only people.

Alastair's first big novel outside of the Revelation Space series, and i'm not quite sure what to make of it.

There were quite a few times in this novel that i felt that things were being dragged out and if many words had been removed it would have made a much better story.   Ergo: if you're looking for fast paced stuff, this is not the novel you're looking for.

On top of that there's just so much in this novel that goes completely unexplained and takes things to the absurd.   Like creating these dyson sphere things that have planets frozen in time inside with no explanation as to how any of this is possible and who made it so.   Considering the excessive length of the narrative i suppose i would have liked more of an explanation about these things.

So there's a few things that didn't float my boat, but there's also a fairly reasonable story tucked away in there as well if you don't mind the excessive amount of words it's tucked in amongst.   I think my favourite part was right at the end with Floyd and the pavement, not only was that a great ending but it also meant i'd finally got to the end. ( )

A neat novel, with two distinct threads for the first bit, one mystery, one straight up sci-fi and a love story thrown in on top for good measure. The complete mix seems to provoke love it or hate it responses in readers - just check out the other reviews. Personally I'm glad I read the book before I read the publisher's own blurb - it worked better with me wondering what the heck was going on rather than being in the know from the beginning.

There's lots of little details, especially in the first third that make you wonder what the authour is thinking, that indirectly get tidied up later.

The love story wanders back and forth between good and lame. The climax is a bit low key. The characters are distinctive except for a few minor stand ins.

All in all, I rather liked it - a solid 3-1/2 stars. ( )

Unbalanced, awkwardly-paced, and unsatisfying, this is not a good representation of Reynolds' overall work. Until the two separate story-lines come together about halfway through, the book doesn't really exist as a coherent whole and, even then, doesn't rise above the faux-"Casablanca" thread at the heart of this almost-hard-SF tale. Yeah yeah, we'll always have Paris, Al.

Reynolds has given us better characters before and since this novel. Of the two leads in Century Rain, one is much too twitchy and the other is a perfect mensch; better taken together than separately, as they balance each other out. The other characters are pretty much just there to move things along. The SF world we're given is compelling, and the overarching story is engaging enough not to bail on it; I kept trying to enjoy what I could from this, but the final chase scene in the Climactic Last Act is just too contrived and extended for my patience.

Would this make a fun movie? Certainly, and I'll make the popcorn. Does the book merit a re-read? Not from me. ( )

Áhugaverð saga þar sem mannkynið hefur lifað af tæknihamfarir eftir að hafa reynt að stjórna náttúruöflunum með nanótækni. Eftir að nanótilraunirnar mistókust og allar tilraunir til endurbóta gerðu bara illt verra þar til nanóvélarnar byrjuðu að eyða öllu lífi flýði mannkynið jörðina en skiptist þá í tvo hópa. Annar hlutinn afneitaði þessari hættulegu tækni á meðan hinn þróaði hana enn frekar. Sagan fjallar um afrit af jörðinni sem finnst og býður upp á möguleikann að bæta eða eyðileggja það sem hefur gerst og áunnist. En einhver öfl virðast hafa illt í hyggju og sitja á svikráðum. Framtíðarsagan gerist því að hluta til á jörðu sem á 6. áratuginum og verður að morðrannsókn og njósnasögu. ( )