The short stories are set all over the timeline. None of them are necessary to read the novels, even when the events of the novels follow those of the short story. A couple of short stories are sequels to the novels, and should be read afterwards. This is a much more methodical layout of Revelation Space than you get in the debut novel and I think reading Chasm City first would make it easier to follow Revelation Space. John Lee brought his A-game to this book so the narration is great also. Chasm City became one of humanity's greatest achievements when the Demarchists presided over a golden age known as the Belle Epoque, from roughly 2350 to 2510. During that time, the city itself and the planet's orbiting habitat system -- the Glitter Band -- became a humanity-wide byword for opulence, luxury, and success. Trash the Set: At the end of Galactic North, almost all terrestrial planets of the Milky Way were devoured by the Greenfly.

At the end of Absolution Gap, when it is revealed that the Inhibitors were defeated with the assistance of a mysterious alien race which had been hiding behind the scenes all along. Tomboy and Girly Girl: Volyova and Khouri, to an extent. Khouri doesn't fit the stereotype fully, since she's an accomplished and more than capable former soldier. Badass Longcoat: Ana Khouri wears one while on a Shadowplay assasination assignment in Chasm City. They're also popular on Sky's Edge, where she was born.sub-genre at all, although it does do very well within those boundaries. And for a long book, it reads

Yellowstone is a cosmopolitan mix of a planet, settled mostly by American, European and East Asian colonists. Sky's Edge was settled by Latin American, Middle Eastern and Pakistani/Punjabi nationalities. The most interesting inhabitants are those of Turquoise, descended from people with Inuit and Thai ancestry. What Dan Sylveste and the Nostalgia's crew unwillingly put into motion at the end of Revelation Space.Burial in Space: One standard way to inter bodies is to accelerate in a spaceship until you're traveling as close to the speed of light as you get, then shoot the body out in front of the ship. This is referred to as "burial at c". Artificial Gravity: Human ships create gravity by acceleration or spinning. But Grubs have completely mastered gravity manipulation and can create artificial gravity without acceleration or spinning. Mercurial Base: The theocratic society on the ice moon of Hela relies on travelling Cathedrals, which keep pace with the moon's rotation not for environmental but for religious reasons: to keep the vanishing gas giant within sight of their zealots.