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This article offers an overview of all known adaptations, to date, of works set in Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space universe (RSU).

Live-action films or TV series[]

To date, there have been no live-action film and TV adaptations of works set in the Revelation Space universe.

Animated films or TV series[]

To date, there have been no animated adaptations of works set in the Revelation Space universe.

However, in 2019, the animated television anthology Love, Death and Robots adapted two of A. Reynolds' short stories from the non-RSU anthology Zima Blue and Other Stories - the eponymous Zima Blue and Beyond the Aquila Rift. [1]

Theatre[]

2017 marked the premiere of a live-action theatrical adaptation of the RSU novella Diamond Dogs. The novella was adapted into a play by The House Theatre in Chicago, with performances at the Chopin Theatre.

In addition to clever stage design to depict various environments, from Yellowstone locations to the Blood Spire on Golgotha, it also uses some special puppetry effects for the sequences involving the titular diamond dogs from later in the narrative. [2] [3] [4]

Diamond Dogs cast

Diamond Dogs crew

  • Steve Pickering - head adapter
  • Lindsay Dorcus - puppeteer
  • Nathan Allen - art direction
  • Mary Robinette Kowal - puppet design

Audiobooks[]

The book-published RSU narratives to date have all been adapted to audiobook format by the Orion Publishing Group and by audiobook developer/publisher Tantor Media. They are available from various online audiobook retailers.

All of the RSU audiobook adaptations have been narrated by John Lee.[12]

John Lee's narration mostly distinguishes between individual characters, both male and female, by subtly different colours of voice and other vocal mannerisms. In the case of a few particular characters from certain groups, he also uses accents (to a certain extent).

Major characters from Yellowstone's Demarchist elites (e.g. Dan Sylveste, Pascale, Jane Aumonier) are given a faint French-sounding accent, hinting at the Francophone ancestry of their families and their apparent knowledge of Canasian, a partly French-descended future language.

Most Russish-knowledgeable characters are rendered with a British accent, though Ilia Volyova has a vague, mock-Russian accent.

Some other characters, such as several hyperpigs (e.g. Sparver Bancal) and certain civilians (e.g. Hirz) are given more colloquial, regional or "working class" British accents, for extra distinction from other characters.

An overview of some interviews with John Lee can be found here.

Music[]

Includes both albums and musical works heavily based on RS works, but also others that don't necessarily have anything to do with the series besides references to terms and characters and so on (listed here for completeness' sake). Curiously, many of them are progressive rock or progressive metal, which is similar to those Alastair Reynolds may have been influenced by -- see cultural and scientific references#Musical_references.

Chasm City concept album by Ultranaut[]

In 2013, the independent Canadian metal band Ultranaut recorded their short concept album Chasm City EP, based on the eponymous standalone novel. The album consists of four longer tracks and seems to be told from the viewpoint of H alias "Tanner Mirabel", the protagonist of the novel.

Many of the locations and events in the novel and some of the other Revelation Space works are referenced througout the album, including Sky's Edge , Yellowstone, Hospice Idlewild, and even the Nostalgia for Infinity.

The first track is predominantly instrumental, and includes some narration, based on the arrival of H to Hospice Idlewild and subsequent orbit-to-surface commute to Chasm City. The troubled history of settling Sky's Edge is vaguely referenced in the opening lyrics of the second track. Latter parts of the same song and then the third track reference the protagonist's current personal quest on Yellowstone, driven by his experiences on Sky's Edge. The fourth track references the events he takes part in years later, during the events of Redemption Ark and other novels in the Inhibitor trilogy.

The lyrics of each track are included in the individual videos' descriptions on the band's channel.

"Music inspired by the Revelation Space series of A. Reynolds" by Scot Mathieson[]

British Soundcloud artist "scottishnatureboy" (Scot Mathieson) created a 16 track album of "Music inspired by the Revelation Space series of A. Reynolds". The playlist of the album. [13]

Tracks:
1 - The Belle Epoque (Before the Plague) (4:18)
2 - Mixmasters (2:12)
3 - Conjoiners conjoined (4:04)
4 - Palanquin (3:24)
5 - The Melancholia of Departure (2:39)
6 - Pattern Jugglers (4:08)
7 - The Sylveste Institute for Shrouder Studies (3:41)
8 - The Mother Nest's Green Heart (6:02)
9 - Chasm City (3:28)
10 - The Inhibitors (3:24)
11 - Approaching Delta Pavonis, 2564 (3:53)
12 - Galactic Final Memory (5:57)
13 - Rumours of War (5:55)
14 - A Capacity for Animus (4:25)
15 - Beautiful Human Dreams (2:57)
16 - Dilation Sleep (5:06)


Paul Bestovitch[]

Dublin-born DJ Paul Bestovitch has an instrumental track called Triumvir Volyova.

Sound of Ceres Nostalgia for Infinity album[]

Nostalgia for Infinity is the 2016 debut studio album of the indie rock band Sound of Ceres. The album seems to be a reference to the lighthugger from the Inhibitor trilogy.

HOGIA Nostalgia for Infinity album[]

By Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate; combines the 'Nostalgia for Infinity suite' with the previously published Ark Royal homage.

  • Century Rain (after Century Rain)
  • Twin Earth
  • Ark (after the real ship Ark Royal but with Redemption Ark resonance)
  • Nanobotoma (after something like medichines but not literally)
  • Chasing Neon
  • Glitterband (after the Glitter Band)
  • Conjoiners (after the conjoiners)
  • Scorpio (after Scorpio; also the eighth track as the constellation Scorpio/Scorpius is the eighth house of the zodiacal asterisms
  • Inhibitors (after the Inhibitors
  • Nostalgia for Infinity (title track, after Nostalgia for Infinity
  • Voyager (after the real space probe Voyager 1)
  • Sixth Extinction (after the tragically real anthropogenic mass extinction)

Revelation Space album[]

The title of an album by Japanese rock band Mainliner.

Revelation Space live concert DVD[]

The title of a live concert DVD album by another Japanese rock band, Vistlip.

Chasm City Blues[]

An Australian band from the Sydney area.

Lascaille's Shroud[]

A progressive metal band named after Lascaille's Shroud, whose tracks vary between being merely inspired by the type of sci-fi that Reynolds writes, to being direct references. One track has the Inhibitors address the listener, another has Ilia Volyova wonder where John Brannigan's errors end and hers begin.

Gregor Docherty album upcoming release[]

Gregor Docherty has a planned prog metal release at least partly inspired by RS: https://gregordochertymusic.com/blogs/latest-news/posts/august-2020, https://youtube.com/watch?v=hNskC8vr9l8

Visual art[]

  • Canon art
  • Fan art - Various artworks depicting the Revelation Space universe, by worldwide fans of the setting.

References[]

  1. Love, Death & Robots, Approaching Pavonis Mons by balloon (the official blog of Alastair Reynolds), 10 March 2019
  2. Diamond Dogs goes live, general service update, etc., Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (the official blog of Alastair Reynolds), 25 January 2017
  3. Diamond Dogs adaptation site, offical website of the House Theatre in Chicago
  4. Author Alastair Reynolds Will Join the Company of Chopin Theatre, BWW News Desk, BroadwayWorld.com, 23 February 2017
  5. Archived link to Diamond Dogs theatrical poster, House Theatre Chicago, www.chicagopuppetfest.org
  6. Diamond Dogs, Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (the official blog of Alastair Reynolds), 10 March 2017
  7. Diamond Dogs goes live, general service update, etc., Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (the official blog of Alastair Reynolds), 25 January 2017
  8. Diamond Dogs, Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (the official blog of Alastair Reynolds), 10 March 2017
  9. Diamond Dogs - A Live Sci-Fi World Premiere Adaptation in Chicago, official channel of the House Theatre in Chicago
  10. Diamond Dogs - Sci-Fi Onstage in a Chicago World Premiere, publ. 30 January 2017, official channel of the House Theatre in Chicago
  11. Diamond Dogs - A Ferocious Live Action Sci-Fi World Premiere in Chicago - Scene A, official channel of the House Theatre in Chicago
  12. John Lee's profile at Tantor Media, Tantor.com
  13. ["Music inspired by the Revelation Space series of Alastair Reynolds"], scottishnatureboy, Soundcloud.com

See also[]

Revelation Space series
NOVELS
A Prefect Dreyfus Emergency
(crime fiction series, 2007-present)
Aurora Rising (2007) | Open and Shut (short story midquel, 2018) | Elysium Fire (2018) | Machine Vendetta (2023)
----
Chasm City
(standalone novel, 2001)
----
Inhibitor Cycle
(main novel series, 2000-2003, 2021)
Revelation Space (2000) | Redemption Ark (2002) | Absolution Gap (2003) | Inhibitor Phase (2021)

ANTHOLOGIES
Galactic North
(2006, short stories)
Great Wall of Mars | Glacial | A Spy in Europa | Weather
Dilation Sleep | Grafenwalder's Bestiary | Nightingale | Galactic North
----
Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days
(2003, novellas)
Diamond Dogs | Turquoise Days
----
Other anthologies
Deep Navigation (2010) - Monkey Suit (2009)
Beyond the Aquila Rift (2016) - The Last Log of the Lachrimosa (2014)
Infinite Stars (2017) - Night Passage (2017)
Belladonna Nights and Other Stories (2021) - Night Passage (2017), Open and Shut (2018), Plague Music (2021)

PUBLISHED ONLINE
Subterranean Press Magazine (2014, summer issue) - The Last Log of the Lachrimosa (2014)
Gollancz / Hachette UK (2018) - Open and Shut (2018)

BEHIND THE SCENES / RELATED ARTICLES
Revelation Space universe | Alastair Reynolds | Websites
Cultural and scientific references | Adaptations | Translations
Book cover art | Fan art
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