Cuvier was the capital city of the Demarchist research colony on the planet Resurgam, the colony and city established by the Dan Sylveste-led expedition to the former homeworld of the Amarantin.
Description[]
Even then the view was less than inspiring. Cuvier was built in and around a single geodesic dome, most of which was occupied with six- or seven-storey rectangular structures thrown up in the first days of the mission, designed for durability rather than aesthetic appeal. There had been no self-repairing structures, and the need to safeguard against a dome failure had resulted in buildings which were not only able to withstand razorstorms, but which could also be pressurised independently. The grey, small-windowed structures were linked by roadways, along which a few electric vehicles would normally be moving.
(...)
The main mob was moving down Cuvier's central thoroughfare behind a barricade of slogan boards and improvised flagstaffs. Apart from a few daubed storefronts and an uprooted japonica sapling down the mall, the mob had caused little damage, but what they failed to see was the troop of Girardieau militia mobilising at the far end of the mall. They had just disgorged from a van and were buckling on chameleoflage armour, flicking through colour modes until they all wore the same calming shade of chrome-yellow.
- excerpts from chapter Three of Revelation Space
Appearances[]
- Revelation Space (2000)
- Redemption Ark (2002)
Notes[]
- The city is named in honour of Georges Cuvier, famous French naturalist of the 18th and 19th century and a major pioneer of the discipline of paleontology.
- In Revelation Space, Volyova's inner monologue briefly mentions that there are a total of some 50 settlements on Resurgam, all established by the research expedition, but none of them come close to being a city, aside from Cuvier.