Author guide

Alastair Reynolds Books in Order

Alastair Reynolds is a Welsh science-fiction author and former space scientist whose fiction is strongly influenced by astronomy and astrophysics. His bibliography includes the Revelation Space universe, the Poseidon's Children and Revenger sequences, standalone novels, a Doctor Who novel, a co-authored Arthur C. Clarke sequel, novellas, and short-fiction collections.

science fictionhard science fictionspace opera

Catalog record updated August 25, 2026.

Alastair Reynolds's Newest Book

Machine Vendetta

novel · First published 2024

From the king of modern space opera comes a new adventure in the Prefect Dreyfus series--Machine Vendetta is a thrilling tale of deadly conspiracies and old enemies that refuse to die. Panoply is a small, efficient police force, dedicated to maintaining the rule of democracy among the ten thousand disparate city-states orbiting the planet Yellowstone. Ingvar Tench was one of Panoply's most experienced operatives. So why did she walk alone and unarmed into a habitat with a vicious grudge against her organization? As his colleagues pick up the pieces following her death, Prefect Tom Dreyfus must face his conscience. Four years ago, when an investigation linked to one of his most dangerous adversaries got a little too personal, Dreyfus arranged for Tench to continue the inquiry by proxy. In using her, did Dreyfus also put her in the line of fire? And what does Tench's attack tell him about an enemy he had hoped was dormant? The Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies Aurora Rising Elysium Fire Machine Vendetta

Not sure where to begin?

Start with one of these

Revelation Space

The principal entry point to Reynolds's best-known shared universe and core space-opera sequence.

House of Suns

A self-contained standalone novel showcasing Reynolds's deep-time and posthuman science fiction.

Blue Remembered Earth

The accessible first volume of the Poseidon's Children trilogy.

Revenger

A self-contained, faster-paced space-adventure novel and the first Revenger book.

Zima Blue and Other Stories

A representative standalone collection covering much of Reynolds's non-Revelation Space short fiction.

Read in order

Books by series

shared universe · ongoing

Revelation Space

A large-scale shared universe of hard space opera spanning deep time, artificial intelligences, posthuman civilizations, and existential alien threats.

Series guide →

1
Revelation Space
Book 1 · novel · 2000

Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the Amarantin riddle before ancient…
2
Chasm City
Book standalone · novel · 2001

Tanner Mirabel ventures through the dark underside of Chasm City, a once utopian city overrun by a vicious virus known as the Melding Plague, in pursuit of a lowlife postmortal and comes face to face with a centuries-old atrocity that…
3
Redemption Ark
Book 2 · novel · 2002

Late in the 26th century, the human race has advanced enough to accidentally trigger the Inhibitors---alien-killing machines designed to detect intelligent life and destroy it. The only hope for humanity lies in the recovery of a secret…
4
Absolution Gap
Book 3 · novel · 2003

In the epic conclusion of the Revelation Space trilogy, veteran Clavain and his desperate companions seek refuge on a remote moon, light-years away from the ancient killing machines wreaking havoc on the universe in an attempt to destroy…
5
The Prefect
Book Dreyfus 1 · novel · 2007

Critically-acclaimed author Alastair Reynolds creates “a fascinating hybrid of space opera, police procedural and character study”(Publishers Weekly) in this novel in his Revelation Space universe. Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law…
6
Diamond Dogs
Book standalone novella · novella · 2001

Alastair Reynolds returns to his bestselling Revelation Space universe with two novellas of interstellar explorationDiamond DogsThe planet Golgotha—supposedly lifeless—resides in a remote star system, far from those inhabited by human…
7
Turquoise Days
Book standalone novella · novella · 2002

The Pattern Jugglers of planet Turquoise — an alien entity that takes the form of floating organisms on the surface of a planet-wide sea. Turquoise Days is the story of Naqi Okpik, a human scientist who must come to terms with the…
8
Galactic North
Book collection · collection · 2006

The first short story collection by "ONE OF SCIENCE FICTION'S BEST AND MOST AMBITIOUS NOVELISTS"(SFX).With eight short stories and novellas, Galactic North imparts the centuriesspanning events that have produced this dark and turbulent…
9
Elysium Fire
Book Dreyfus 2 · novel · 2018

Ten thousand city-state habitats orbit the planet Yellowstone, forming a near perfect democratic human paradise. But even utopia has a dark side. As members of the habitats start suddenly and randomly dying, a charismatic figure begins to…
10
Inhibitor Phase
Book 4 · novel · 2021

A stellar new science fiction adventure from the author who redefined space opera, set in his bestselling Revelation Space universe. For thirty years a tiny band of humans has been sheltering in the caverns of an airless, crater-pocked…
11
Machine Vendetta
Book Dreyfus 3 · novel · 2024

From the king of modern space opera comes a new adventure in the Prefect Dreyfus series--Machine Vendetta is a thrilling tale of deadly conspiracies and old enemies that refuse to die. Panoply is a small, efficient police force, dedicated…

subseries · complete

Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies

A Revelation Space subseries following Prefect Tom Dreyfus and the Panoply in the Glitter Band.

Series guide →

1
The Prefect
Book 1 · novel · 2007

Critically-acclaimed author Alastair Reynolds creates “a fascinating hybrid of space opera, police procedural and character study”(Publishers Weekly) in this novel in his Revelation Space universe. Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law…
2
Elysium Fire
Book 2 · novel · 2018

Ten thousand city-state habitats orbit the planet Yellowstone, forming a near perfect democratic human paradise. But even utopia has a dark side. As members of the habitats start suddenly and randomly dying, a charismatic figure begins to…
3
Machine Vendetta
Book 3 · novel · 2024

From the king of modern space opera comes a new adventure in the Prefect Dreyfus series--Machine Vendetta is a thrilling tale of deadly conspiracies and old enemies that refuse to die. Panoply is a small, efficient police force, dedicated…

trilogy · complete

Poseidon's Children

A loosely connected trilogy following an African family and humanity's expansion across future centuries.

Series guide →

1
Blue Remembered Earth
Book 1 · novel · 2012

BLUE REMEMBERED EARTH is the first volume in a monumental trilogy tracing the Akinya family across more than ten thousand years of future history ... out beyond the solar system, into interstellar space and the dawn of galactic society.…
2
On the Steel Breeze
Book 2 · novel · 2013

The award-winning author of the Revelation Space series continues his Poseidon's Children saga as the next generation of the Akinya family crosses interstellar space seeking humanity’s future... Chiku Akinya, great granddaughter of the…
3
Poseidon's Wake
Book 3 · novel · 2015

In the conclusion of Alastair Reynolds’ epic Poseidon’s Children saga, the Akinya family receives an invitation from across the stars—and a last opportunity to redeem their name... Send Ndege... The cryptic message originated seventy…

trilogy · complete

Revenger

A space-pirate-influenced sequence about the Ness sisters in the far future.

Series guide →

1
Revenger
Book 1 · novel · 2016

Adrana and Arafura Ness are bored. Stuck at home, getting a proper education, when they believe they have the skills to survive in space, rubbing shoulders with scoundrels and cracking baubles for the untold treasures inside. They're…
2
Shadow Captain
Book 2 · novel · 2019

Bosa Sennen was a scourge of merchants and traders alike. A pirate who struck from the darkness, showed no mercy, and vanished without trace...and whose career was ended by the Ness sisters. They took her crew, her ship and ultimately…
3
Bone Silence
Book 3 · novel · 2020

<b>The thrilling finale to the <i>Revenger Trilogy</i> tells a desperate tale of greed, piracy, shadow governments, and ancient secrets that could unravel all of civilization</b> The Ness sisters ran away from home to become the most…

franchise series · ongoing

Doctor Who

An original Doctor Who novel featuring the Third Doctor, Jo Grant, and the Master.

Series guide →

1
Harvest of Time
Book standalone · novel · 2013

After billions of years of imprisonment, the vicious Sild have broken out of confinement. From a ruined world at the end of time, they make preparations to conquer the past, with the ultimate goal of rewriting history. But to achieve…

novella sequence · unknown

Merlin Novellas

A sequence of novellas centered on Merlin; only the separately published novella is included here.

Series guide →

4
The Iron Tactician
Book 4 · novella · 2016

A brand new stand-alone deep space adventure featuring the author's long-running character Merlin (Merlin's Gun, Hideaway and Minla's Flowers). When Merlin encounters a derelict swallowship drifting in the middle of nowhere, he can't…

Outside the series

Bibliography by category

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Novels (9)

Century Rain
novel · 2004

An 2300.Verity Auger est une archéologue spécialisée dans l'exploration de la Terre, devenue inhabitable après une catastrophe technologique baptisée Nanocauste. Elle accepte une mission sur Phobos, un satellite de Mars, où un tunnel…
Pushing Ice
novel · 2005

“A thrilling ride in the new era of well-written space adventure”(The Denver Post) from the author of the Revelation Space series. 2057. Bella Lind and the crew of her nuclear-powered ship, the Rockhopper, push ice. They mine comets. But…
Understanding Space and Time
novella · 2005
House of Suns
novel · 2008

Six million years ago, at the dawn of the star-faring era, Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and female clones, which she called shatterlings. She sent them out into the galaxy to observe and document the rise and…
Terminal World
novel · 2010

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Slow Bullets
novella · 2015

From the author of the Revelation Space series comes an interstellar adventure of war, identity, betrayal, and the preservation of civilization itself. A vast conflict, one that has encompassed hundreds of worlds and solar systems,…
The Medusa Chronicles
novel · 2016

A sequel to Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s Nebula Award–winning novella “A Meeting with Medusa,” this novel continues the thrilling adventure of astronaut Howard Falcon, humanity’s first explorer of Jupiter from two modern science fiction…
Permafrost
novella · 2019

A 2019 Locus Award finalist A USA Today Bestseller Fix the past. Save the present. Stop the future. Master of science fiction Alastair Reynolds unfolds a time-traveling climate fiction adventure in Permafrost. 2080: at a remote site on…
Eversion
novel · 2022

From the master of the space opera comes a dark, mind-bending adventure spread across time and space, where Doctor Silas Coade is tasked with keeping his crew safe as they adventure across the galaxy in search of a mysterious artifact. In…

Other (4)

Zima Blue and Other Stories
collection · 2006

The stories in Zima Blue represent a more optimistic take on humanity's future, a view that says there may be wars, there may be catastrophes and cosmic errors, but something human will still survive. Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night…
Thousandth Night and Minla's Flowers
collection · 2009
Deep Navigation
collection · 2010
Belladonna Nights and Other Stories
collection · 2021

Frequently asked questions about Alastair Reynolds

Who is Alastair Reynolds?

Alastair Reynolds is a British science-fiction author born in Barry, South Wales, in 1966. He is especially associated with hard science fiction and space opera shaped by astronomy and astrophysics.

Sources: alastairreynolds.com (opens in a new tab)sf-encyclopedia.com (opens in a new tab)

Was Alastair Reynolds a scientist before becoming an author?

Yes. He studied astronomy and astrophysics at Newcastle, earned a doctorate in astronomy, and worked as a researcher at the European Space Agency and Utrecht University before ending his scientific career in 2004.

Sources: alastairreynolds.com (opens in a new tab)sf-encyclopedia.com (opens in a new tab)

What influenced Alastair Reynolds's science fiction?

His early influences included Star Trek, H. G. Wells's The Time Machine, Fantastic Voyage, Gerry Anderson television, and Arthur C. Clarke. His astronomy and astrophysics background also strongly informs his fiction.

Sources: alastairreynolds.com (opens in a new tab)alastairreynolds.com (opens in a new tab)

Which awards has Alastair Reynolds won?

His awards include the BSFA Award for Best Novel for Chasm City and Locus Awards for Slow Bullets and Revenger. He has also received Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke Award nominations.

Sources: bsfa.co.uk (opens in a new tab)sfadb.com (opens in a new tab)

What is Alastair Reynolds best known for?

He is best known for scientifically grounded, large-scale space opera, particularly the Revelation Space universe. His fiction is noted for deep-time settings, posthuman societies, and attention to real physical constraints such as the impossibility of faster-than-light travel.

Sources: sf-encyclopedia.com (opens in a new tab)alastairreynolds.com (opens in a new tab)