Machine Vendetta by Alastair Reynolds

(Gollancz, 2024)

Reviewed by Ben Jeapes

This is the third in a trilogy of the Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies, which began with The Prefect (2007), followed by Elysium Rising (2018). We are in the Revelation Space universe and specifically in the Glitter Band: a belle epoque high point of civilisation, 10,000 habitats and 100 million lives in the orbit of Yellowstone under the ruthlessly benevolent eye of the Panoply organisation.

While each book has all the hallmarks of a normal police procedural, the implications are usually threatening to civilization. Panoply polices the machinery of democracy with, if necessary, lethal force, ensuring no one in the Glitter Band is denied the democratic rights guaranteed them under a set of Common Articles. Everyone is at perfect liberty not to exploit their rights, but Panoply makes sure those rights are there to be exploited if they desire. Any other human rights are fair game: the logic is that if someone chooses to be oppressed it is their choice, as long as they are not being coerced.

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Review from BSFA Review 24 - Download your copy here.