A bit better than the first book. Nice to see the writing developed a bit since Revelation space. Reynolds has plenty of interesting ideas but I was a bit disappointed at the presentation in the first book. It felt like he had to pause the story several times to explain the plot before continuing instead of weaving it in to become part of the story.
The explanations are better integrated in the story in Chasm city. Although, some of it felt a bit disconnected at times. There are several interesting character developments going on, to the point where I was getting really annoyed a the terrible backstory right before everything made sense again.
This book does give you the chance to figure things out on your own before the big reveals. But there are still some story elements which feel excessive and a bit detached. Possibly intended as …
