4thace reviewed Slow bullets by Alastair Reynolds
A fun claustrophobic story in space
4 stars
I read this all in one day when I didn't have a lot of things to do. It is set in a universe where people have spread through the galaxy on skip ships, but the book feels more like a closed room mystery set on a hibernation skip ship. Right at the beginning the viewpoint character Scur, a conscripted soldier, receives her biggest motivation at the hands of a sadistic enemy who was ignoring the recent end of hostilities. The slow bullets of the title are actual metal slugs that soldiers get implanted, but can be turned to other uses as we find out here and later on.
The hostile groups are forced to work together so Scur, Prad, and the leaders of the three habitat wheels form a sort of council to fix things. Scur sees her enemy was also on the ship. More clues fall into place …
I read this all in one day when I didn't have a lot of things to do. It is set in a universe where people have spread through the galaxy on skip ships, but the book feels more like a closed room mystery set on a hibernation skip ship. Right at the beginning the viewpoint character Scur, a conscripted soldier, receives her biggest motivation at the hands of a sadistic enemy who was ignoring the recent end of hostilities. The slow bullets of the title are actual metal slugs that soldiers get implanted, but can be turned to other uses as we find out here and later on.
The hostile groups are forced to work together so Scur, Prad, and the leaders of the three habitat wheels form a sort of council to fix things. Scur sees her enemy was also on the ship. More clues fall into place when they find someone from Tottari who fills in the story of what happened to the galaxy while they hibernated. All the crises they face are fast-paced and they resolve things in a fairly satisfying way.
I am glad this author did not extend the story to something 50% or 100% longer which he could have done easily similar to other hulking SF books. Not every single thing brought up is tied up neatly by the end but enough to make me feel I got what I needed.