Eversion

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This sequence repeats in the mid-19th century along the Patagonian coast, in the 1920s with the Demeter (now a dirigible) descending into an aperture towards the Hollow Earth in Antarctica, then as a space vehicle diving into the ocean of a Jovian moon. I can't really say much about Eversion without giving too much away, although I will say you may want to skip even the synopsis and just go in on blind faith that Reynolds knows how to tell a good story. I was intrigued by the premise, since the expansive ideas and mysteries that were promised have been my favourite aspects of Reynolds’ work.

I want to thank Orbit and Net Galley for an advance review copy of Eversion as the basis for this review, which reflects solely my own opinions. The expedition, in its various permutations, is the brainchild of the wealthy and ruthless Topolsky who hopes to make a fortune through the discovery of the Edifice and unearthing its treasures. Contrary to intuition, it is possible to do this without cutting or tearing or creasing the sphere’s surface. In the 1900s, Silas Coade is the physician on an airship investigating an inexplicable artifact in the Antarctic.So, my recommendation is to persevere through the Jules Verne-like opening to the emotional payoff of the ending. We start Eversion on a nineteenth century sailing ship, looking for a strange fissure in the sub-Atlantic ice that is thought to lead to a vast, mysterious structure. It deals with illusions of reality — how it is fundamentally affected by perception and self-delusion, and exploring what it means to be alive, what it means to be human. Something is struggling to be born in this damaged and inspiring world, and I believe science fiction and its speculative cousins are helping us figure out what it is.

The book felt very Lovecraftian, especially the first 30% created a fascinating atmosphere which will continue to haunt me. I think I went into this one a little too excited to get to the part of the story that actually felt like science fiction, instead of enjoying the journey as much as I could have otherwise done. Bit by bit, Silas learns the truth of the story he thought he was the author of, and of his own identity. Before long, soon after the crew discover the wreck of the Europa, the ship that was supposed to have brought back news of the walled city (or whatever the structure is), the Demeter faces disaster.

I'm reminded of some of his very best short fiction in these pages, a huge-concept piece written adroitly, and in the end, he gives us a great psychological knife-twist. I think the author did a great job at making the main character feel real and portray how many others would respond under similar circumstances. I'd compare "Eversion" to "City of Silk and Steel" by the Carey family, which was also very well written, with a thoroughly good beginning, middle, and end. Another thing that differentiate it from the others is that it's missing the grand scope, the vast universe and distances, the immensity of time scale which I loved to read about in his other books.

I read this in 4 days straight, in my inbetween moments of work and life, and it was truly hard for me to put down.Alas, Reynolds finally drops the mask and allows Silas (and by extension, the reader) to see “reality,” I as let down. Above all, the story is a sinister sibling to Rendezvous with Rama, the classic alien encounter novel by one of Reynolds’ chief inspirations, Arthur C.