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Galactic North by Alastair Reynolds
01/02/2007 . Source: Pauline Morgan 
Pub: Gollancz. 343 page hardback. Price: £ 9.99 (UK only). ISBN: 0-575-07910-X. Buy Galactic North in the USA - or Buy Galactic North in the UK  check out website: www.orionbooks.co.uk
One of the pleasures that a Science Fiction writer has and that is denied to those who in other genres, is to be able to create fantastic future histories. In the future, improbable scientific dreams can become commonplace and alien civilisations can exist. Then the readers spoil it. They want more stories set in that universe. They want to know the intimate details in the background of their favourite characters. They may even suggest new plots for the author. The future history in which Alastair Reynolds set his trilogy, 'Revelation Space', 'Redemption Ark' and 'Absolution Gap' has all the hallmarks of a scenario that has a past as well as a future. One of the significant factors in this creation was the premise that there will be no faster-than-light travel thus to travel vast distances takes centuries.
Some of the stories in 'Galactic North' feature characters and places from these novels. They have been arranged in approximately chronological order so that they run parallel with the timeline of the novels and extend before and after them.
Those readers familiar with the novels will know that one group of future humans embraced nano-technology to such a degree that have become part of networked mind. At the start of 'Great Wall Of Mars', these Conjoiners are holding out in an enclave on Mars. The Coalition wants them to abandon the base. Nevil Clavain is sent down to the surface to finalise a treaty between the groups. In this story, we are introduced to three of the vital characters from the novels: Clavain, Galliana - who is the leader of the Conjoiners and Felka - damaged Conjoiner child who is actually holding the Mars habitat together. This story explains some of the reputation and suspicion that clings to Clavain in later works.
'Glacial' continues their story. The Conjoiners are hunted people having escaped from Mars and Clavain having become one of them. Arriving at a deserted base on the ice planet of Diadem, they discover the bodies of the original American personnel. They find one survivor who deliberately and crudely cryogenically froze himself and are able to revive. In many ways this is a detective story as Clavain and Galliana seek to find out what happened at the base. They need to know as they do not want their own people dying.
'A Spy In Europa' takes us back into the solar system but to the outer planets. These are held by the third group of future humans, the Demarchists. Working in the seas of Europa are bio-engineered humans called Denizens. They live around Europa's sulphur-laden hydro-thermal vents and are rumoured to be aiming to destroy the cities which float in Europa's viscous oceans. To find out what they are going to do, Vargovic is surgically altered and sent to meet them. The story is a turning point in Denizen history.
'Weather' is a Conjoiner. She is found aboard a disabled ship. The ship she is taken aboard is captained by an Ultra. They use technology to prolong lives, but do not go as far as the Conjoiners. The ships engines have become damaged. As they are of Conjoiner construction, only Weather has the knowledge to help stabilise them. The story adds to the knowledge of the technology of the time and the prejudices between the groups.
Moving further along the timeline, 'Dilation Sleep' is one of those stories in which a lone crewman is awoken from reefersleep to perform a critical action and keep the ship running smoothly. The ship is crewed by Ultras and one of them has contracted the Melding Plague. This is a virus that causes nano-machinery to become malign.
As time passes, humanity in all its altered forms spreads through the galaxy. Some people have unusual hobbies. In 'Grafenwalder's Bestiary', Grafenwalder collects alien animals. Ursula Goodgrass is a rival collector and they try to outdo each other with their specimens. Grafenwalder's ultimate prize, though, would be a Denizen. They have long since left Europa and by this time some consider them legendary. They story brings in a number of people and places familiar to the universe. In his search, Grafenwalder visits Chasm City where he deals with a bio-engineered pig.
Time and distance don't stop wars and there are always people eager to bring war criminals to justice. 'Nightingale' begins as just such a mission. The place the team have to snatch Colonel Jax from is a spacecraft designed as a hospital ship. Nightingale was designed to be autonomous and neutral, collecting the injured, healing and returning them to the battle. The war is over but once the extraction team get on board, they discover their task is not going to be as easy as they thought. It is the ship they have to battle with.
The final story, 'Galactic North', re-introduces another familiar character from the novels, Remontoire. He is found eventually twenty thousand years after his ship had arrived in orbit around a distant pulsar. His rescuers come aboard the transport ship Hirondelle which has been travelling almost as long. Hirondelle set out on a simple mission to deliver sleeping colonists to their new home. Damaged, the crew 's initial instinct is to preserve the cargo at all costs.
For the reader unfamiliar with Reynolds' novels, these stories are a good place to start as they introduce various aspects of his future universe. Those who do know the novels will find even greater enjoyment as they re-visit familiar places and meet old friends.
Pauline Morgan
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