Should I read Alastair Reynolds' Absolution Gap (spoilers for Revelation Space books)

Cafe Society
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I’ll avoid spoilers in the first post, but the basic idea is that I’ve read Alastair Reynolds’ books in the Revelation Space universe and liked them more than I’ve disliked them, but I wonder if I should continue with Absolution Gap.

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I’ve read the following books:

Pushing Ice (not in Revelation Space, but first of his I read, liked it with caveats)
Revelation Space (generally liked)
Chasm City (love it, great book, though I didn’t like the twist in the main character at the end)
Galactic North (generally liked)
Redemption Ark (a bit frustrating)

I love the sweeping themes, the tech (though I’m finding it progressively implausible, which is yanking me out of the ol’ suspension of disbelief), and the scope.

I dislike the lengthy plot points that revolve around or linger over awful people being awful to other awful people. By the end of Redemption Ark, I was rooting for the Wolves to wipe out humanity. I also found their claim that they were preserving life, not destroying it to be a bit weak.

Also, the end of RA felt like an episode of Three’s Company. Had the main characters discussed their goals, they probably could have come to cooperative goal. But everyone was too busy trying to kill everyone else. Possibly more true to human nature, but it felt like lazy writing to me.

I also was disappointed by the far future presented in Galactic North – seems kind of bleak and awful with the galaxy being consumed by green goo. Since he seems to be keeping to the chronology set out in GN, I see the aspirations and struggles of Clavain and Felka (the only sympathetic characters I found in RA) kind of pointless.

As a minor aside, the pretentiousness of “H” as a character name rubbed me wrong. Just lame. Plus, I would have liked to see Khouri find out about Skade / Mademoiselle.
So, should I read Absolution Gap? Should I give up on Reynolds?

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How bad do you need closure? IMHO, the book isn’t good, and I loved with a capital L, Revelation Space. Have you read Galactic North or Chasm City?

There are a few interesting elements to AG, and some really Gothic ones, but the book had me throwing it across the room at a few points.

Edit: Didn’t see the updated post from you. Read Diamond Dogs and Turquoise (something or other). The Prefect is O.K. Yeah, I see what you mean about the futility of it all.