Machine Vendetta: 3 (The Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies)

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In any event, don't start here, start with the first book, originally titled 'The Prefect' then reissued as 'Aurora Rising'. How Alastair Reynolds creates not only a galaxy but a complex and multi prong plot that satisfies completely is beyond me!

We had to wait until 2018 for Elysium Fire, and both form the background for the clash of rogue AIs that is central to Machine Vendetta. A prefect who happens to be a hyperpig (an uplifted pig functioning alongside humans) has apparently betrayed his office and staged a suicide attack on one habitat. You don’t need to have read the previous books – enough of the backstories are given along the way to explain to newcomers – but those who have read the previous novels will appreciate what happens more. Alastair Reynolds has produced a fine, fast-paced thriller in Machine Vendetta, the third, and apparently final novel in the Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies series.In the end, all the desperate elements come together but nicely in a plot worthy of a murder mystery. Quick recap – In the Revelation Space series, the Glitter Band is a group of thousands of worlds, each running itself as city states around the planet of Yellowstone.

Still, once things started popping a little over halfway through the book, I found myself racing through it. There were several questionable narrative choices, but it seems I've become inured to them or maybe it was my mood. Meanwhile something treacherous is happening again, and it will take all their knowledge and power to find the culprit and save the day.Usually when a book follows up from events that occurred it's something that happened in previous books. Without trying to give too much away this book captures your attention from the start and you have to question your trust of everyone.