Who Would Like This Book:
If you love big, mind-bending ideas and sweeping space adventure, "Pushing Ice" delivers! Picture comet miners chasing a runaway moon and ending up on an odyssey filled with bizarre aliens, intriguing tech, and jaw-dropping discoveries. The human drama - especially between two strong, complicated female leads - adds unexpected depth. Fans of hard science fiction, Arthur C. Clarke-style wonder, and stories about humanity’s resilience will find plenty to enjoy. Plus, you don’t need to read any of Reynolds’ other books first, making it a great standalone entry into his work.
Who May Not Like This Book:
If you’re not a fan of lengthy books with lots of interpersonal conflict, or you prefer your characters to always act rationally, this one might test your patience. Some readers felt the feud at the heart of the story dragged on or strained credibility, and others thought the pacing bogged down with too much filler in the middle. If you like your science fiction tight, focused, and light on soap-opera-style drama, you may find "Pushing Ice" a bit much.
About:
In the middle of the 21st century, one of Saturn's moons, Janus, unexpectedly leaves its orbit and accelerates towards a distant star, revealing itself as an alien spacecraft. The crew of the comet mining ship, Rockhopper, led by Captain Bella Lind and chief engineer Svetlana Barseghian, embarks on a mission to investigate this mysterious alien artifact. As the crew delves into the unknown, they face challenges, conflicts, and time gaps, ultimately leading to a grand space opera adventure filled with alien encounters, political intrigue, and the complexities of human relationships. Alastair Reynolds weaves a narrative that jumps between subgenres of science fiction and timeframes, reminiscent of Arthur C. Clarke's Rama cycle, creating a satisfying and fast-paced read that explores the depths of the universe.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The content warnings for Pushing Ice are medium, due to themes of violence, interpersonal conflict, and psychological strain related to survival.
From The Publisher:
First contact with extraordinary aliens, glittering technologies that could destroy the universe in a nanosecond, huge sweeping space operas: Alastair Reynolds is back!
Some centuries from now, the exploration and exploitation of the Solar System is in full swing. On the cold edge of the system, Bella Lind, captain of the huge commercial spacecraft Rockhopper IV, helps fuel this new gold rush by attaching mass-driver motors to organic-rich water-ice comets to move them back to the inner worlds. Her crew are tough, blue-collar miners, engineers and demolition experts.
Around Saturn, something inexplicable happens: one of the moons leaves its orbit and accelerates out of the Solar System. The icy mantle peels away to reveal that it was never a moon in the first place, just a parked spacecraft, millions of years old, that has now decided to move on.
Rockhopper IV, trapped in the pull, is hurled across time and space into the deep, distant future, arriving in a vast, alien-constructed chamber. And the crew are not alone, for each chamber contains an alien culture dragged into this cosmic menagerie at the end of time.
The crew of the Rockhopper IV know a lot about blowing up comets, but not much about first contact with ultra-advanced aliens. They have two things to worry about: can they (and their new alien allies) negotiate their way through each harrying contact? And can they assimilate the avalanche of knowledge about their own future - including all the glittering, dangerous technologies that are now theirs for the taking - without destroying themselves in the process?
Ratings (25)
Incredible (5) | |
Loved It (12) | |
Liked It (5) | |
It Was OK (3) |
Reader Stats (53):
Read It (26) | |
Currently Reading (1) | |
Want To Read (22) | |
Not Interested (4) |
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Pushing Ice?
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