Alastair Reynolds

The Prefect

An overtly political book hidden behind the facade of a science fiction action adventure. The book examines various societies and political structures as it jumps from location to location in a rich science fiction world.

The language is resolutely English, with British English idioms and phrases used throughout, even down to the title which is reminiscent of the children chosen as law enforcers at an English school - who like the law enforcer at the heart of this book are also called prefects.

Reynolds' writing has some flaws.

There is action which is frankly hard to believe, even in the spirit of space opera, being able to simply walk into a base being run by a team of elite agents for example, who seem to have decided not to bother even putting a webcam at the entrance to their layer.

He does sometimes rush the plot and leave it underdeveloped; one of the most interesting characters is little more than a sketch and ends up acting as a simple deux ex machina. His ideas however are  wonderful, and for his ideas he is one of my favourite authors.  

The background against which the story plays out is fully developed. It's called the Glitter Band and is a construction to rival Larry Niven's Ring World. A collection of huge constructs orbiting a planet, each the size of a city and making up an artificial Saturn like ring. As the action moves from habitat to habitat, as these constructs are called, we get to know a small fraction of this giant structure and to care about its future.

The usual cast of extras from his books, who all share a common background, are present. They include the different strains that the human race has split up into; a hive mind strain, a deep space clan of cyborgs and a half pig group as well.

The Prefect is flawed but for its ideas and background and the feeling of returning to a well known place - assuming you have read the other books set in the same universe - it is a Spiralcat Staff Pick.