The novel “Absolution Gap” by Alastair Reynolds was published for the first time in 2003. It’s part of the Revelation Space series and is the sequel to “Redemption Ark“.
2615. Quaiche got in trouble with Queen Jasmina because he failed to keep his promise to get her some deals that would have enriched her. She gives him one last chance by sending him to seek his fortune in the system of the star 107 Piscium but to stimulate him she closes his lover Morwenna in a sort of sensory deprivation sarcophagus. On Hera, a moon of a giant planet in the system that he called Haldora, Quaiche finds an alien artifact and the planet momentarily disappears.
2675. After 23 years on the planet called Ararat, Nevil Clavain and his group, which includes the population saved from the destruction of the planet Resurgam, are reached by a capsule that contains Ana Khouri. A lot has happened in those years and the Inhibitors are coming but they’re not the only danger.
2727. Rashmika Els is a girl who wants to find her brother, who some years before had joined one of the cathedrals that move constantly to keep an eye on Haldora and observe its periodic disappearances. Her quest will take her into contact with Quaiche, who many years before had started an actual religion centerd around the planet.
“Absolution Gap” is the last book of the trilogy of the Inhibitors and should be read after the previous two to appreciate the development of the characters already present in one or two of them and the developments of the story, which is really complex. Sure, there are several references to the previous novels but they’re just useful to allow readers to refresh their memory, they certainly can’t replace the reading of more than 1,000 pages.
The structure of “Absolution Gap” is the same become familiar to the people who read the previous novels in the Revelation Space series with initially separate stories and many characters who sometimes are not what they seem. The novel is initially split into three subplots set in different years though the two concerning the events on Hela constitute the beginning and the end of Quaiche’s religious work.
The subplot that starts on the planet Ararat is directly connected to the war against the Inhibitors from the beginning. Over twenty years after the ship “Nostalgia for Infinity” carried there the survivors of the planet Resurgam, the Inhibitors are getting close to the planet. Before them, Ana Khouri and Skade arrive, upsetting the lives on Ararat, which at that point was going on with a semblance of normality.
More than in the previous novels, in “Absolution Gap” there are twists and turns from the beginning. For the characters already present earlier in the trilogy, there’s a conclusion of their journey, especially in a figurative sense. The events of the previous decades have changed them, even those who have lived for centuries.
For some of these characters, the end of the journey means their death because Alastair Reynolds has no problem killing even a few protagonists. For the others, it’s instead about finding themselves and realize their potential, taking the necessary decisions even when it’s hard.
The subplots set on Hela tell the story of Quaiche and the religion he creates after seeing the planet Haldora disappear for an instant. This religious belief is reinforced by an indoctrination virus and Quaiche himself needs to get “infected” with new strands over time because he keeps on developing a resistance to it.
Quaiche’s story, with his inner conflicts, the mystery of his ultimate plan, may seem completely detached from the story of the Inhibitors but in the course of the novel the two stories eventually intersect. Alastair Reynolds describes with an abundance of details this strange religion whose believers have built cathedrals that move continuously on Hela to keep an eye Haldora in order to observe the disappearances, considered miracles.
The many descriptions, not only on Hela and its inhabitants, sometimes slow down the pace of the narrative. Alastair Reynolds is an important writer of hard science fiction has a past as a scientist so he may be especially appreciated by readers who like stories that are not only simple adventure.
The novels in the Revelation Space series are not the type that can be read quickly or easily. They need some time to enjoy all the details and technical-scientific descriptions. Those are are complex readings but in the end I found them satisfying.
The real flaw of “Absolution Gap” is in its hasty final, partly narrated by a character a few centuries in the future, partly a sort of cliffhanger for possible more novels. If at the end of a story you want to know all the details remained obscure and the solution of all the mysteries, honestly you’ll be disappointed.
Objectively, Alastair Reynolds could give some more details, exactly considering the amount of details included in the Revelation Space series. However, at least in some cases it would be impossible to make sure that the protagonists could find out all about the events that have affected many star systems.
In the end, I think that “Absolution Gap” is the worthy ending of one of the best space opera series of this beginning of the third millennium so it’s a must-have for all the fans of this sub-genre and hard science fiction.
