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Review: Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds
Reynolds is a highly-skilled author of far future space opera. Inhibitor Phase is set in his Revelation Space Universe where he makes an interesting choice.
Technology in this universe approaches magic and definitely proves Clarke’s Law…but faster than light travel remains impossible.
Reynolds uses this narratively, but Inhibitor Phase appears to be his response to Fred Saberhagen’s Bersekers.
Humanity has attracted the attention of the wolves, alien von Neumann machines with the goal of suppressing interstellar civilizations. I forget why (it’s explained in another book I haven’t reread recently enough). At this point in the timeline, humans survive in small pockets, being extremely careful not to attract wolves. Unfortunately, most of humanity’s colonized worlds require high technology to survive.
Inhibitor Phase deals with their solutions, but also with one man, Miguel de Ruyter. Who, in typical Reynolds fashion, is not what he seems.
Reynolds tends to write unlikable protagonists. de Ruyter is more likable than most. You can at least sympathize with him. The other protagonist, Glass, is a different story, but we don’t spend time in her head.
The plot is the desperate search for an equally alien weapon that may stop or at least slow the…
