Serena’s Review: “Eversion”

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Book: “Eversion” by Alastair Reynolds

Publishing Info: Orbit, August 2022

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: Amazon | IndieBound | WorldCat

Book Description: From the master of the space opera, Alastair Reynolds, comes a dark, mind-bending SF adventure spread across time and space, Doctor Silas Coade has been tasked with keeping his crew safe as they adventure across the galaxy in search of a mysterious artifact, but as things keep going wrong, Silas soon realizes that something more sinister is at work, and this may not even be the first time it’s happened.

In the 1800s, a sailing ship crashes off the coast of Norway. In the 1900s, a Zepellin explores an icy canyon in Antarctica. In the far future, a spaceship sets out for an alien artifact. Each excursion goes horribly wrong. And on every journey, Dr. Silas Coade is the physician, but only Silas seems to realize that these events keep repeating themselves. And it’s up to him to figure out why and how. And how to stop it all from happening again.

Review: I received an ARC of this book in the mail this month, and it really couldn’t have been more timely! While I love science fiction, of the genres I read, I probably know the fewest authors in this genres who are currently writing. It’s also a sweeping genre full of a lot of different types of stories, some of which appeal to me more than others. But I had heard good things about Reynolds in the past, and this story also seemed like an interesting combination of genres, including historical fiction and mystery/thrillers alongside the obvious science fiction. And man, what a pleasant surprise it was!

Doctor Silas Coates set out on what, for him, should have been a fairly straight forward job: to serve as the on-board doctor on an exploratory mission. The ship and crew have been hired to discover and research a mysterious foreign object located in the deepest, darker corners of the known world. But as the mission progresses, Silas begins to suspect that not only does he know very little about the nature of this mission, but that something greater is at work. Increasingly, what could at first be hand-waved as deja vu begins to feel like something more. As if…perhaps…he’s done this all before.

If my description of this book sounds vague (as does the official one), that’s because this is one of those great, but frustrating to review, books where much of the appeal and tension of the book is built around the mysteries at the heart of the story. That being the case, there’s not a whole lot that I can talk about that wouldn’t spoil some of the best aspects of the entire reading experience. I can say that while a primary mystery is at the heart of the story, there were definitely more than one to be found. In fact, the minute you think you’ve begun to piece together exactly what’s going on, the book would skip away, revealing yet another secret beneath the last. This made the reading experience incredibly fun and addictive; I definitely stayed up way to late finishing the book as it was almost physically impossible to put it down past a certain point.

There was also a great blend of historical fiction and science fiction. At various points in the book you could get lost on the page and feel as if you were fully immersed in a period piece following an old time sailing ship. At another, the ins and outs of space exploration and advanced technology take center stage. And the solid writing transitions smoothly from one scene and setting to another, never missing a step.

Silas was also an excellent main character. We feel his bewilderment and increasing fear as the story builds. But it’s his steadfast commitment to his job and his dedication to the friendships he has begun to build on this mission that really hold the story together. As he remains the only consistent aspect of the story, as a character, a lot is riding on his shoulders, and I thought he carried it well. I, for one, had a hard time not skipping ahead to the end of the book just to make sure everything worked out for him in the end. Something I can neither confirm nor deny!

The book was also a lot spookier than I had expected going in. Not only was the building tension of the entire situation incredibly stressful, but there were some significant fear factors involved in the story. The unknown, of course. But also claustrophobia, body horror, and the general fear of the strange and bizarre. That said, it’s definitely not a horror novel, and I found the scary aspects to be balanced well by the more sentimental moments.

Overall, I really liked this book! It was a fun, fast read that held more than one surprise at the heart of the story. You’ll be left guessing and frantically turning pages all through the night!

Rating 9: All the things: historical! thriller! science fiction! horror! And all at a clipping pace that will leave you breathless with anticipation.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Eversion” can be found on this Goodreads list: Science fiction & fantasy roundup, 2022