Teaser

The Halcyon is centuries into its voyage between stars. More than just a spaceship, it is a home to thousands. Including a private detective by the name of Yuri Gagarin . . .

Review

2025 has really been the year I got into the work of Alastair Reynolds. It’s been a long time since I was disappointed by Revelation Space, but now I’m enjoying his work so much I’m probably going to circle back and give his magnum opus a second chance. The big turning point in my relationship with his books has been his standalones. From the bursting-with-ideas House of Suns to the excellent Terminal World, they’ve all had something to offer. Reynolds excels at standalone science fiction. So when I saw he had a new one in the works, I pounced on the possibility of a copy.

I have no problem saying that Halcyon Years is Reynolds’ best work to date. conceptually, it has the most in common with Century Rain. It’s a noir detective story at heart, that happens to take place in a science fiction setting. And as the story unfolds, the revelations about that setting start coming thick and fast. The initial set-up may as well be a parallel version of the early twenty-first century, but there are reasons for everything, and as with any good detective story, half the fun is seeing if you can uncover the truth before the protagonist.

Perhaps the strangest aspect of this book is the identity of that protagonist. Yuri Gagarin. the Russian cosmonaut famous for being the first human in space, is somehow alive in the far future and solving crimes. We’re actually given an explanation for that one fairly early on. He’s a reanimated corpse, resurrected through the wondrous technology of the future. but why is he a detective? As the novel progresses, you can’t help but ask some questions about Gagarin and his place in the world. there are multiple possibilities, and it’s not until near the end that we find out which answer is true. One other note I’ll add about Gagarin is that he does speak in slightly broken English. It’s a little tricky to get used to, but there is a reason for it that goes beyond his nationality. It’s a noir trope at first, but by the end of the book it all makes perfect sense.

On the science fictional aspects of the story, Reynolds is on top form. I love the concept of generation ships, and Halcyon definitely falls under that umbrella. The age of characters matters, especially with only the youngest generation likely to be alive when the ship reaches its destination. Throw in two feuding families who are crucial to the ship’s functioning, and you’ve got a melting pot of a society that is well aware of how familiar the tropes are, but takes them seriously rather than than inverting them for inversion’s sake. It’s oddly refreshing, in this day and age, to read a book that takes all the old ideas and plays them straight.

As a piece of detective fiction, there will be people better placed to review this than me. What I can say is that it is a delightful series of mysteries that are only ever inevitable in hindsight. As a work of science fiction, I am better placed to review Halcyon Years, and on that front I can comfortably say that this is Reynolds’ best work. And as a standalone, it’s also the perfect place to get started with the books of one of Britain’s brightest SF lights.

Book Stats

• A Standalone Novel
• First Published in 2025
• 326 Pages

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thanks go to the team at Gollancz.