Alastair Reynolds

In a far distant future, an enforcement agent named Quillon has been living incognito in the last human city of Spearpoint, working as a pathologist in the district morgue. But when a near-dead angel drops onto his dissecting table, his world is wrenched apart.

Terminal World

In the last surviving human city, an ex-spy gets sucked into a dangerous quest that will take him beyond the city walls when a winged man turns up dead in his morgue in this innovative and original dystopian space adventure. Spearpoint, the last human city, is an enormous atmosphere-piercing spire. Clinging to its skin are the zones, a series of semi-autonomous city-states, each of which enjoys a different—and rigidly enforced—level of technology. Following an infiltration mission that went tragically wrong, Quillon has been living incognito, working as a pathologist in the district morgue. But when a near-dead angel drops onto his dissecting table, Quillon's world is wrenched apart one more time, for the angel is a winged posthuman from Spearpoint's Celestial Levels—and with the dying body comes bad news. If Quillon is to save his life, he must leave his home and journey into the cold and hostile lands beyond Spearpoint's base, starting an exile that will take him further than he could ever imagine. But there is far more at stake than just Quillon's own survival, for the limiting technologies of the zones are determined not by governments or police, but by the very nature of reality—and reality itself is showing worrying signs of instability . . .

Stefanie Viens

I'm a fan of futurist/dystopian sci-fi, but somehow I couldn't get into Terminal World. I feel like I couldn't get a complete picture of this new Earth from Reynolds' description. I was often at a loss when I was trying to picture the extent of Quillon's world geographically. It felt like large chunks of it were missing. 

I also found that I felt no attachment to the main characters. Quillon is too much of a doormat. He accepts everything that befalls him , often apologizes for things that are not his mistake, and is just generally way too placid. This only slightly improves towards the end. On the other hand, Meroka is his opposite. Her character basically boils down to being a loudmouth who happens to be handy with weapons. 

Even the villains seem recycled; human-hating angels, the Skullboys (typical of every villain 'gang' ever - they reminded me of the Smokers from Waterworld)....

Basically, I wasn't impressed.

Tim Pennington-Russell

Matilda grace

Stewart Scott

Jason Becker

Steven O'Toole

Spearpoint, the last human city, is an atmosphere-piercing spire of vast size. Clinging to its skin are the zones, a series of semi-autonomous city-states, each of which enjoys a different - and rigidly enforced - level of technology. Horsetown is pre-industrial; in Neon Heights they have television and electric trains ... Following an infiltration mission that went tragically wrong, Quillon has been living incognito, working as a pathologist in the district morgue. But when a near-dead angel drops onto his dissecting table, Quillon's world is wrenched apart one more time, for the angel is a winged posthuman from Spearpoint's Celestial Levels - and with the dying body comes bad news. If Quillon is to save his life, he must leave his home and journey into the cold and hostile lands beyond Spearpoint's base, starting an exile that will take him further than he could ever imagine. But there is far more at stake than just Quillon's own survival, for the limiting technologies of the zones are determined not by governments or police, but by the very nature of reality - and reality itself is showing worrying signs of instability ...

Terminal World

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