This is one of the first strictly sci-fi books I have read. I thought it was pretty good and I will definately read more by this author. It wasn't quite the story I was expecting, but I did enjoy it. It does have some technical sections, but Reynolds does a good job of explaining the technology to the reader. There are also large time gaps between sections of the book, which I generally don't like, but I think it worked well in this story. I thought the relationship between the 2 main characters was slightly overdone, but overall I enjoyed this book ( )

Unlike most of his space opera novels, Pushing Ice is set in a different universe than the one of the Inhibitors. This gives Reynolds the freedom of a new history and new ideas, but he keeps the high speed but not FTL travel that is a hallmark of much of his space opera.

The story begins as a frame story set some thousands of years in the future, on a distant planet. The polity gathered there have done so to honor the person they consider responsible for the existence of their civilization and progress, and a debate is to be had on just what is to be done to honor her.

The story then cuts back to that founder's story, in the 21st century solar system. Bella Lind operates the Rockhopper, a ship designed to mine comets for ice in the outer solar system. Its not the easiest work and job out there. And when the Saturnian moon Janus suddenly starts acting more like a high speed alien spacecraft than a moon, the Rockhopper is dispatched to try and rendevous with it before the moon leaves the solar system. However, events conspire so that the Rockhopper is caught and trapped in the moon's wake, for a long journey in store to the star Spica...

Interesting and plausible factions aboard the rockhopper. Neat use of technology of medium-term human, far-future human, and alien technology. There are even multiple BDO (Big Dumb Objects), with Janus, and the strange complex at Spica that the moon speeds toward. It's a classic space opera part with 21st century sensibilities, and Reynolds works hard to make it work.

Sure, his characterization skills aren't as strong as some authors, but Reynolds doesn't make them into complete cardboard cutouts--characters simply aren't his forte. (I can sympathize, believe me!) Reynolds does much better when he is playing with technology and ideas than with the faction leaders Bella and Svetlana, but one must admit that if this novel was written 20 or 30 years ago, its dead certain that these two characters would have been unavoidably male. I don't think that, even then, the characterization would have improved. The female characters never feel like they are "men in drag".

Still, sometimes for a F&SF reader, nothing less than space opera will do, and despite its relatively shallow faults, I was thoroughly and completely entertained and satisfied with the journey of the Rockhopper and its crew in Pushing Ice. Fans of Reynolds will enjoy this novel. If you haven't tried any of his Inhibitor novels, Pushing Ice works very well as a standalone introduction to Reynolds work and style. ( )

I really liked this one. One of those big idea books which I tend to like. ( )

This books was ALMOST good in so many different ways, but there seemed to be to much going on and to many different ideas that none of them ever received the time to be finished. Sometimes the author seemed to be setting things up for a big surprise or try misleading you down a wrong path but they always felt like half hearted attempts, like "Ignore the man behind the curtain".

The book also had 3 different possible plots it could have followed and made a decent story of any of them but all three were kind of messed together to get the story where he wanted it to be. There was plenty of cool ideas and it was a fun read.

Janus, one of the duel moons of Saturn, one day leaves it's orbit and starts moving itself out of the solar system. After a little bit it is obvious that is it moving under it's own power and is actually an alien spacecraft. A working ship mining ice asteroids is asked to go check it out as much as possible before it leaves the solar system. The ships crew gets more than they ever imagined. ( )

In the middle of the 21st century, one of Saturn's moons leaves its orbit and starts heading out of the Solar System in the direction of Spica, obviously under power. Only one ship full of comet-herders has any chance of making rendezvous with the "moon" now revealed as an alien spacecraft. But not all of the ice-pushers want to trade in their reliable jobs for an encounter with the unknown... and then things get even more complicated.

This one was a page-turner that kept me up late at night; normally, when a story goes into fast forward and a decade passes between chapters, I get detached, but Reynolds kept me wondering "what happens next?" ( )