Rating: 
Summary: One of the best in a long time
Review: This is very good reading. There are some great thoughts about some things that are better left to discover as you read. The author has created one of the most vivid universes in science fiction. The characters show depth in very unexpected ways while remaining believable. This has both action, drama and great science concepts. It's very, very difficult to put down.
Rating: 
Summary: Give it a chance!
Review: This novel has the 'tech noir' flavor of William Gibson's "Neuromancer". The plot is compelling and the prose is sturdy enough to keep you interested until the very end. Yes, the denoument is telegraphed, but it doesn't matter. The story is worthwhile and the pacing is wonderful. Buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: What is this book ?
Review: well I must admit this was the first book I have read of Alastair Reynolds and I did not read Revelation Space, had I this review may have been even worst.This book was a hassle to read but I was determined to finish it, once I start something I finish it. The writing in this book is very childish and seemed like something of child living out his fantasies. The main character is portrayed to be something of a cross between Rambo and Macgyver with the supposed charm and character of James Bond. Corny lines and a plot which seemed very contrived and padded out there was literally only smalls sections of this book which kept me interested but it still seemed more interesting then watching the scenery pass by on the train although I am not so sure now. I have not read many books where I kept looking at the page numbers to see how far I had to go. Dont get this book you will not miss anything and my fingers are crossed that Greg Bear releases another book soon.
Rating:
Summary: A Thrill Ride of a Follow-Up
Review: While Chasm City may lack a little bit of the epic scale/harder sci-fi of Revelation Space, I still found it to be an enormously compelling read, and it really got tough to put down with about a hundred pages left. From an overall quality perspective, I put it right on par with Revelation Space, which I thought was terrific. Although I guess it's really a subjective assessment, dependent on each reader's tastes/reading histroy, I disagree with those who thought Chasm City was slow. Quite the contrary, I thought Reynolds did an admirable job of moving the stories along at a brisk pace, revealing just enough information at each point to keep you hooked for what was to come. And even though there are some sharp plot twists as the book progresses, I never felt deliberately manipulated or "misled" by the author, which is really something I resent as a reader. (And which many authors are guilty of doing.) Reynolds also did a superb job of telling two stories at once, and I was equally enthralled by both of the main story lines. Bottom line is that I'd highly recommend this book. Along with Revelation Space, it's one of the finest I've read this year. By the way - Reynolds is a Brit, and hence, the third installment of this series, Redemption Ark, is being published June 27th in the UK, simulataneously as both paperback and hardcover. If you can't wait for it to hit stateside (like me), you can order it from the amazon.co.uk web site. You'll pay a little more for the shipping, of course, but I won't hesitate for a second to pay the premium. (If you like Reynolds or any other British writers, amazon.co.uk is a great place to find works that aren't yet - if at all - available in the states.)
Rating:
Summary: Definite Hugo nominee
Review: With his second novel Reynolds shows us that he is capable of creating a realistic and diverse multi-planet society -- something that has always been rare. Chasm City is set in the same imaginary future as Revelation Space and his Conjoiner stories, but is highly unique. Reynold's has displayed an ability for recognizing that all societies are complex and diverse, and that societies that have larger populations, cover more territory, and have tougher barriers between different sections must be more so. So, Chasm City is an entirely different type of story that Revelation Space was, and can easily be read by itself. Whereas Revelation Space mixed archaelogical fiction, space opera, and technological science fiction Chasm City is an effective blend of space opera and detective story (with some odder elements also thrown in). Reynolds is able to tell a primary story while also using flashbacks and dreams that may or may not be actual memories in a way that does not impede the progression of the plot. One detractor to the story's progression is that there is simply one too many surprises. Although every surprise and plot twist Reynold's used was crucial to the story, the book would be significantly better if he had found a way to work without some of them. Perhaps the difficulty was simply that the last surprise came too close to the end to be as shocking as it was significant; in the future Reynolds may want to make some of these revelations more gradual and subtle. Chasm City is definitely the best SF novel of the year so far, and is a definite Hugo candidate. Alastair Reynolds is proving to be one of the freshest authors to come into SF in the last decade, as well as an ability to master contemporary space opera. The SF community in particular, and the literature community in general are better off for having published his work.
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