Skip to content
HomeVideosBooks
AllTopicsTrends
BlogsPodcasts
HistoryListsWatch laterLiked videosFollowing

The videos, books, blogs and podcasts Hacker News keeps recommending, all in one place.

VideosBooksBlogsPodcastsAboutPrivacySettings

Data from Hacker News, HackerTube, HackerBooks, HackerBlogs and Open Library. Credits · Not affiliated with Y Combinator.

HomeVideosBooksBlogsPodcasts
Ctrl K
    Cover of Revenger

    Revenger

    Alastair Reynolds · 2016

    "The galaxy has seen great empires rise and fall. Planets have shattered and been remade. Amongst the ruins of alien civilizations, building our own from the rubble, humanity still thrives. And there are vast fortunes to be made, if you know where to find them... Captain Rackamore and his crew do. It's their business to find the tiny, enigmatic worlds which have been hidden away, booby-trapped, surrounded with layers of protection - and to crack them open for the ancient relics and barely-remembered technologies inside. But while they ply their risky trade with integrity, not everyone is so scrupulous. Adrana and Fura Ness are the newest members of Rackamore's crew, signed on to save their family from bankruptcy. Only Rackamore has enemies, and there might be more waiting for them in space than adventure and fortune: the fabled and feared Bosa Sennen in particular. Revenger is a science fiction adventure story set in the rubble of our solar system in the dark, distant future - a tale of space pirates, buried treasure and phantom weapons, of unspeakable hazards and single-minded heroism... and of vengeance.."

    Science FictionFiction & Literature
    Open LibraryAmazon
    Stats for nerds
    5recommend
    7mentions
    7people
    2017–2025years
    71% recommend14% neutral14% critical

    Mentions per year

    201720182019202020212022202320242025

    What Hacker News says

    1. eqvinoxFeb 2023
      Revenger / Shadow Captain / Bone Silence by Alastair Reynolds.

      It's (IMHO) very well suited to a series adaptation. (Reasonable set of main actors, accessible, good places to stretch or compress content, few hard-to-visualise internal character mechanics.)

      thread
    2. thelazydogsbackAug 2020
      To me it's Alastair Reynolds, and then everybody else. When I read "Revelation Space" it was, er, a Revelation. In addition to the many books R.S. universe (spanning across great swaths of time) there is also the fun Revenger series, and several non-canonical short stores, etc.

      Of course, Ian Banks (RIP) is also great fun.

      thread
    3. bogleNov 2018
      Alastair Reynolds' "Revenger" (2016) is great. I'll not try to summarise it, my take may not be useful, but it's absolutely brilliant world-building (system building?).
      thread
    4. gilbetronFeb 2018
      Looking back at my post, I definitely overstated things. I still read occasionally, and some books I'm glad I read. There certainly is a lot more crud out there these days. Often my disappointment is when I read a good book and then it ends and I can't stay in the world any longer. I find that very frustrating.

      Alastair Reynolds is one of my favorite authors, and he wrote a book set in a new setting called "Revenger" that was just amazing, and I loved the world. But I finished the book and there are no more and it bums me out :/

      thread
    5. adrianratnapalaDec 2017
      I like it. I especially like that Alastair Reynolds anticipated it in "Revenger".

      Presumably the idea here is to store energy during the day and then return some of it during the night via glow-worm biochemistry. In "Revenger" they actually use growing plants as a kind of electric lighting -- presumably via a kind of reverse photosynthesis converting conduction-band electrons to light.

      thread
    6. troupoJun 2025
      Humanity's Fire by Michael Cobley

      Lightspeed Trilogy by Ken MacLeod

      Revenger by Alastair Reynolds (the first book started off quite well, but the other two became a boring slog)

      Rise of the Jain by Neal Asher. This one is just so egregiously bad, I don't know how I managed to finish. If I ever have to read another "erstwhile ship" I'll barf.

      etc. etc.

      Since I'm reading a lot of sci fi, I've ran out of top 1% or so of books an authors pretty quickly. Now I feel like I'm running out of middle-of-the-road authors, too.

      ---

      Edit. I'll add that most sci fi is incapable of even writing characters that have more distinction than "she's a woman, he's a man". They all talk and behave the same.

      thread

    Related

    Cover of Revelation Space
    2009–2026

    Revelation Space

    Alastair Reynolds
    78 recommend · 157
    Cover of Machine Vendetta
    2024–2026

    Machine Vendetta

    Alastair Reynolds
    3 recommend · 3
    Cover of Chasm City
    2009–2025

    Chasm City

    Alastair Reynolds
    19 recommend · 37
    Cover of Redemption Ark
    2010–2024

    Redemption Ark

    Alastair Reynolds
    2 recommend · 8
    Cover of Pushing Ice
    2011–2026

    Pushing Ice

    Alastair Reynolds
    18 recommend · 29
    Cover of House of Suns
    2009–2026

    House of Suns

    Alastair Reynolds
    26 recommend · 46
    Cover of Elysium fire
    2019–2026

    Elysium fire

    Alastair Reynolds
    3 recommend · 5
    Cover of Terminal World
    2023–2025

    Terminal World

    Alastair Reynolds
    3 recommend · 4