Halcyon Years (SF) - Alastair Reynolds *****

Mystery novels have become one of the best sub-genres of science fiction. Think, for example, of the classic Asimov The Caves of Steel, Alastair Reynolds' own Prefect Dreyfus books, or Adam Roberts' Real Town Murders. We've also had the gritty gumshoe noir version, arguably kicked off by Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and hence Blade Runner, but also superbly done in Nick Harkaway's Titanium Noir. Now, Alastair Reynolds has also embraced gumshoe noir, but with some characteristically clever twists.

Here, the put-upon detective (who almost inevitably gets beaten up early on in the narrative) is Yuri Gagarin. Yes, that Yuri Gagarin (sort of). He may not be familiar to younger readers, but to anyone of a certain age, the first man in space was a big name. However, the story is not set in the early 60s Soviet Union, but rather on a generation starship called Halcyon, seemingly around 400 years in the future.

Gagarin has not only to work out what has happened in the two unexplained deaths his mysterious client Ruby Blue wants investigated, but also a situation that seems to put the whole ship at risk. Add in confusion over his own existence and there's a whole lot going on. Initially, I found things a little slow - though extremely intriguing, it took a long time for Gagarin to start getting his ducks in a row. But about half way through, Reynolds changes gear and the writing becomes brilliant.

Often with one of these crossovers we get either SF with a touch of detection, or a detective novel that just happens to be set in the future. But Reynolds masterfully mixes the two, making it effective both in terms of its SF complexity and in the satisfyingly deep mystery that Gagarin gradually uncovers.

Halcyon Years has impressively many layers, but Reynolds' speciality is making a complex plot accessible. This is possibly his best book - and that's saying something.

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