“As
a kid, I'd buy novels with these magnificent Chris Fosse covers which showed an
enormous contraption hovering over a planet, and you'd always think 'Where's
that going to come in?' And it never did! It was always slightly disappointing
when the contents of a book never lived up to the cover.”
– Alastair Reynolds
British SciFi writer Reynolds, born
on this date in 1966, specializes in dark hard science fiction and what has
been termed “space opera.” A native of
Cornwall, he also lived in Wales, Scotland and The Netherlands, studying
physics, astronomy and literature before deciding that what he really wanted to
do was combine them all with his writing.
He said reading historical novels also inspires science fiction. “There are similarities between historical
novels and science fiction,” he said.
“Being thrown into the Napoleonic Wars is just as much of a different
world as space.”
The best way to check out Reynolds
writing might be through his Revelation Space series, which includes a
number of novels, two novellas, and eight short stories. It’s set over a span of several centuries in
a consistent future universe he calls the Revelation Space universe. 
A one-time employee of the European
Space Research and Technology Centre (part of the European Space Agency), he
started full-time writing in 2004. Reynolds prefers using real science in his
books, especially what he believes will be possible. But, he said he doesn’t hesitate to use what
seems impossible – like faster-than-light travel – when it helps advance his
stories. His advice to SciFi writers is to just move forward with ideas and your creativity.
“One of the big breakthroughs I had as a writer was when I stopped agonizing over every word.”
“One of the big breakthroughs I had as a writer was when I stopped agonizing over every word.”
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