Conclusion to the Prefect Dreyfus science fiction police procedurals set as pre-cursors to Revelation Space. The Glitter band is still running at the height of it's glory - although the cracks are starting to show. Some of those cracks are being forced wider as the two battling AIs Auora and the Clockmaker attempt to defeat each other and take control of the vast computational space this would make available to them. Auroa is fearful, she has had prior warning of the incoming plague, and is desperate to retain her ability of 'live'.

The Prefects have mostly been able to concentrate on local affairs as the AIs are confined to network traffic. The story opens somewhat confusingly with reference to past events not explicitly detailed anywhere (unless I've missed a short story somewhere?), but eventually enough is referred to for teh details to become clear. Two Prefects have committed rather unusual suicide/crimes, and in a force of over 1000 this is perhaps not unusual, but they were in such a manner as to inflame local tensions, and so Dreyfus wonders if there was a link. If you pull on enough strings even deeply buried secrets can be revealed in time. A glimmer there and a shape of a story starts to appear. But when manipulative AI is involved can you trust anything?

There were a few aspects I didn't like - the eventual motif seems to be a repeat from Fire, which is disappointing. And as with all of this series, there isn't enough worldbuilding to be truly great. Out of 10000 habitats we mostly see only pedestrian ones, when there could be an almost infinite variety. The lemurs were cute though. Somehow having nuclear weapons as the ultimate option in an age so far advanced seems dull.

The ending is quite clear that there will be no more Dreyfus emergencies. However I still want to know the full story of the melding plague and there is space for that to be written. ( )

Another Prefect Dreyfus story from the glitter band, which we've been waiting a while for, but it was worth the wait.

For me, one of the best bits of the whole Revelation Space series are the stories within Yellowstone and the Glitter Band, and this story didn't disappoint.

Alastair at his very best.

And lets all hope that there'll be a few more Yellowstone and the Glitter Band stories to come still.

Next up in the Revelation Space series it's Diamond Dogs. ( )

Machine Vendetta is the latest addition to Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space family. It wraps up the Dreyfus Emergency trilogy and describes the 25th-century Glitter Band, Panoply, and Iron Belt cultures and habitats in satisfying detail. Reynolds gives us a full meal of far-future tech—nanotechnology, people uploaded and downloaded into almost everything, antimatter missiles, hyperpig hybrids, and the policeman’s best friend, the trusty robotic whiphound. We have a touching portrayal of Dreyfus's love for his wife, Valerie, who is being treated by the Ice Mendicants. We also get to meet his Panoply work family as he investigates the murder of one of them. We have three AI suspects—the Clockmaker, Aurora, and Abacus. Reynolds does nothing by half-measures. ( )