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Pushing Ice (Gollancz S.F.)

Author: Alastair Reynolds
Publisher: Gollancz
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

42 reviews
Sales Rank: 25881

Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 528
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 5.1 x 1.7

ISBN: 0575078154
EAN: 9780575078154
ASIN: 0575078154

Publication Date: October 12, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: New - Dispatched in 1 to 2 days

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 42

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Been done better by others August 12, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful

A strange palnetoid is leaving the solar system with only a ort mining ship in range to scan it before it leaves for good. The book develops the story in a series of episodes with the story quality veering between good and bad. The bad episodes consists entirely of the conflict between the leaders of two groups within the miners. Unfortunately this conflict is unrealistic because these leaders lack personality, charisma or any feature that would distinguish them as a leader.

As another reviewer writes read Rendezvous with Rama its far superior

4 out of 5 stars

Read something similar before July 26, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful

Reminds me of Arthur C Clark - Rendezvous With Rama

Read Rendezvous With Rama as this is a better book

4 out of 5 stars

Cracking read. I want to read more Reynolds. July 25, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I was gripped by the story, from the intriguing beginning to the profound, yet enigmatic, ending.

Mix the TV series Space 1999 with the film Outland and have it written by Carl Sagan, then you will end up with something very like Pushing Ice.

I would have liked to have given it five stars, but there is one thing I found hard to understand about the story; how is it that such a close knit team on the Rockhopper could, so quickly and viciously, fall apart?

Well I suppose the premise of the story is about faith in the people closest to you.

Some reviewers have commented on the lack of character development, or the characters are cliched. Well I think the hardest part of story-telling is getting the balance right between character and plot. Too much "getting inside all your characters' heads" and you lose focus in the story; too little, and the story becomes to cold and clinical. Mr Reynolds, in my opinion, got it about right.

4 out of 5 stars

Poor characters, but great ideas save the book July 17, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

** Slight spoilers **
If you haven't read Reynolds before, start with one of his other novels. If you are a bit of a completist like me, then give it a go. The novel is very good, without reservation, up until the exiling. I fast-forwarded through the character problem bits after that, but I wouldn't recommend actually skipping chapters, as there are still a lot of good ideas to be found in it. I wouldn't be averse to a sequel, as the character problems are moot by the book's end, and the universe of the book is well worth further exploration.

2 out of 5 stars

Competent, but weak July 1, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

When I first came across Reynolds Chasm City series, I felt it was some of the most compelling and original writing I had encountered in several years. Not only did he display an easy confidence with hard science, and more so could weave it intelligently into a complex and intriguing plot line, however his plot development maintained pace and engagement for the jaded scifi reader.
Therefore Pushing Ice was bought on reflex. Overall for those that have encountered Reynolds via Chasm, like myself, this is ultimately a disappointment. Though well written as you'd expect from Reynolds most characters lack depth; the concept though initially engaging lacks original development and the second part of the book pales next to comparable plot environments "drawn to alien ship and have to work out to escape", Ring World, Rama, Riverworld etc.

Overall I would almost suspect this being a much earlier concept of Reynolds pre-Chasm, that really shouldn't have seen the light of day.