A seamless blend of baroque, far future SF and seething hard boiled crime fiction. This novel hit all the right notes for me and is easily in my top ten list of favorite novels of all time. Chasm City is a densely plotted, mind-blowing journey through the dark, multifaceted histories of not one but two colony worlds in a bizarre, hostile, and gothic 26th century universe of decaying technology, exotic bioengineering, and cutting-edge cybernetics, told through the eyes of a street smart mercenary named Tanner Mirabel.
While all of that makes this a fascinating and entertaining novel in its own right, what makes it a great one is its exploration of identity, what it means for the individual, and how definitions of such may change in the future. As a former astronomer for the European Space Agency, Reynolds knows his stuff, particularly when it comes to designing a believable future civilization. While some of the scientific ideas in the novel are quite heady, they take a back seat to the exciting character drama, which takes a somewhat familiar neo-noir storyline of love and betrayal and turns it on its head. There are so many twists and turns in this book you're never quite sure who's good, who's bad, and if a person is who they say they are.
If you're only going to read one science fiction novel this year (or EVER) do yourself a favor and make it Chasm City. You're in for one hell of a ride!
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