Eversion by Alastair Reynolds

Eversion is a superb, original Gothic SF novel. A small group of intrepid explorers are in search of a remote and mysterious artefact. It’s a well-funded expedition, well organised, which is lucky as they’re sailing north of Bergen on the schooner Demeter, searching for a narrow inlet which will lead them to a vast uncharted lake – and their goal…

Until disaster strikes.

Doctor Silas Coade wakes from disturbing dreams, on the steamship Demeter, in pursuit of an extraordinary find almost too incredible and too strange to believe, secreted within a lagoon in the icy inlets of Patagonia. But as they come in sight of their prize, he and the crew see they are not the first to come so far: there is a wreck ahead, and whatever ruined it may threaten them as well…

Shaking off his nightmares, Doctor Silas Coade joins his fellow explorers on the deck of the zeppelin Demeter and realises something has already gone dangerously wrong with their mission. If any of them are to survive, then he will have to take the exploration – and their lives – into his own hands…

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Eversion is a novel that I bought on a whim.  I don’t remember where I first heard about it, but I’m so glad that I took a chance on it.  This is exactly my kind of novel, and I loved every page.  

It begins with Doctor Silas Coade aboard the Demeter, a ship seeking a remote artefact near Norway.  The time isn’t specified, but the style of the ship, the attitudes of those aboard, and a few other clues suggest early to mid-18^th century to me.  As they come across their goal, they find the wreckage of another ship shortly before disaster strikes their own vessel.  We then appear to go back to the start, as Doctor Silas Coade is awakened in very similar circumstances to the first chapter, although it doesn’t take long for the differences to become apparent.  The Demeter is now a steam-powered vessel searching for an artefact, but now in Patagonia.  The same characters are present and yet slightly different in order to suit the later timing – again unspecified, but likely to be the 19^th century.  The story doesn’t repeat exactly, and the explorers makes it a little further this time before disaster, once again, strikes.  It’s puzzling, in the best possible way, and I was completely hooked from the outset.

And so it continues, although I don’t want to reveal any more than that about the plot, and the above only shares as much as is revealed in the blurb.  I absolutely loved seeing these characters on similar missions, but in different areas of the world, and subtly altered for each mission so as to fit the time in which each exploration is set.  There are hints that some aboard know more about what’s going on than others, but it’s not until later in the novel that we fully being to understand exactly what is happening and how and why history appears to be repeating itself.  I loved the explanation when it did come – it was surprising and yet made sense, answering the many questions raised throughout the narrative and successfully pulling the various threads together.

Dr Coade is a likeable character – flawed but generally a good person, and someone who cares more about the lives that he’s responsible for than he is in finding the fame and fortune that the man financing the trip has promised.  The secondary characters are fleshed out where they need to be, and I liked the constant presence of Ada – seemingly the only female aboard each version of the Demeter and a constant thorn in Coade’s side.  I would have liked more female representation, although even I have to admit that it’s fitting for the time – particularly as it was widely considered to be bad luck to have a woman aboard a ship.  We don’t really get to know the crew all that well, but the additional members of the exploratory party, some of whom are more likeable than others, all have their areas of expertise and bring something different to the party. I particularly liked Coronel Ramos, with whom Coade develops something of a friendship throughout the novel, despite his stoicism.

I loved the small details throughout the novel that place the characters – and each version of the characters – in their respective time period.  Each era is successfully evoked, and the attitudes, dress, behaviour, and speech of each character is adjusted appropriately.  Reynolds also introduces the relevant technology for each period, such as the daguerreotype aboard the steam ship which wouldn’t have been available for the schooner that we start out on.  To be honest, I could quite happily have read a full-length novel set in each of those individual periods as I became utterly engrossed in each one, although I felt that the novel was the right length overall and avoided dragging out the narrative unnecessarily.

Eversion is a science fiction novel that I think will appeal to a broader audience.  It’s not hard sci fi, and I loved the element of adventure and exploration that it starts out with.  For me, this novel has a little bit of everything – it’s historical adventure, but has a touch of horror and an element of the gothic, there’s a mystery, but it is also, ultimately, science fiction.  It also has the WTH aspect that I love in a novel.  Highly recommended.