As his colleagues pick up the pieces following her death, Prefect Tom Dreyfus must face his conscience. It's always a shame when a book serises isn't quite able to stick it's ending properly; Alastari Reynol's world-building shines through and the yellowstone he presents is every bit as futurstic and mystical as any other. I guess the first thing to note is that this book is set in a broad and encompassing universe that Alistair Reynolds has created. 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.

The prefects are, after all, people devoted to their duties, even at the expense of much private life. It's almost entirely a straightforward investigation going from place to place and talking with people.Not a starting place for new readers but a treat for the veterans who made it through the previous books and stories. I was born in Wales, but raised in Cornwall, and then spent time in the north of England and Scotland. Also Judge Dredd like, in that these are slightly more militaristic police units, but with an appreciation of the law, unlike the Judges. I really like the universe that Alastair Reynolds creates in the space opera "Machine Vendetta": A massive swarm of over 10,000 independent orbital habitats, a fleet of far flung post-human spacefarers, an elite team of agents protecting the voting rights of the local citizens in a colonized solar system, and just to keep things interesting, a couple of god-like AI's that do not share empathy with humanity. Meanwhile, Creature has brought into the prefecture a candidate for membership the daughter of the murdered prefect, who is not who she.

Quick recap – In the Revelation Space series, the Glitter Band is a group of thousands of worlds, each running itself as city states around the planet of Yellowstone. 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. Four years ago, when an investigation linked to one of his most dangerous adversaries got a little too personal, Dreyfus arranged for Tench to continue the enquiry by proxy. I wanted to know how the story would play out, and it was interesting, but didn't rush me through with anticipation. I thank Alastair Reynolds and Orbit Books for kindly providing a temporary electronic review copy of this work.The Panoply is small in number, and at this time low in popularity due to the actions of one agent in an attack on a floating city that lead to many deaths. Four years ago, when an investigation linked to one of his most dangerous adversaries got a little too personal, Dreyfus arranged for Tench to continue the inquiry by proxy. Some of my books and stories are set in a consistent future named after Revelation Space, the first novel, but I've done a lot of other things as well and I like to keep things fresh between books. No, I hadn't, this was simply a case of Reynolds having a lot of stuff happen outside of the written story. Dreyfus works the scenes like a seasoned police officer and we do our best to keep up and play along!

How Alastair Reynolds creates not only a galaxy but a complex and multi prong plot that satisfies completely is beyond me! Meanwhile Prefect Tom Dreyfus, while visiting his recovering wife at a rehabilitation habitat, is suddenly confronted by the voice of Aurora, the rogue AI that has been plaguing the Glitter Band for years but which had gone into hiding for a while.Every chapter reveals another layer to the far-reaching mystery, all the while building to a stunning crescendo in which characters old and new band together to face a long-dreaded scenario. I can't recommend this more highly, and though the story line here is essentially a new one there is enough essential background from the previous novels to make it worthwhile for new readers to start at the beginning of the series. Tench was a good agent, but very private, and the discovery of a daughter leads many to wonder what other secrets Tench was keeping, and if these secrets became too much to keep, with suicide the only way out. Indeed, it may be that the Tench incident is an act by those determined to destroy the democratic condition of the Glitter Band.

Yet Reynolds makes every action Dreyfus and the others take flow from the people they are so that we get a rich sense of what they’re like.

It's something he's been knocked for, especially in his early novels, but he's clearly grown to become an author fully capable of creating authentic characters with genuine emotional resonance. Tench had no intention of arriving at this habitat, but her navigation and communication systems have been surreptitiously taken over, redirecting her from her original target to this violent and dangerous place. In my spare time I am a very keen runner, and I also enjoying hill-walking, birdwatching, horse-riding, guitar and model-making. This is not something Aurora will forget and is prepared to use Dreyfus’s sick wife as a means of getting Dreyfus to do what she wants.