Review: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds

I’m a big fan of Alastair Reynold’s earlier books like Revelation Space. I didn’t like Terminal World, his foray into steampunk, and unfortunately, I had a similar reaction to Revenger.

Revenger is an unabashed pirate story, complete with hunting for buried treasure, salty language peppered with “ain’t”s, and a Seriously Evil Pirate. While there are fun moments and some interesting tech (Reynolds is still great at this), I had a tough time connecting to the characters, and the pirate dialogue was soooo pirate-y that it just felt cartoonish and silly. No one actually says “Arr!” or “Shiver me timbers!” but they get far too close.

The main character (a privileged girl fleeing a bad home situation) tries too hard to act like a pirate, to the point of embarrassment. It’s even commented on by other characters, but the main character continues acting like a pirate instead of just being herself. If I hadn’t decided to write a review of this book, I would not have finished it.

Recommendation: Pass, unless you have a young adult that is more concerned with swashbuckling action than character development. Revenger is the first of a trilogy, so if your young adult likes it, they’re in luck.