The surface plot – as exciting as it is – is scaffolding, a misdirection away from the real mystery lying beneath.

Maybe I would've enjoyed it a bit more if I just went through it without thinking about it at all, or didn't know anything at all about it whatsoever. Eversion wowed me with the mind-bending mix of science fiction, cosmic horror, and intriguing characters who're not what they seem.It had some of my favorite tropes in fiction of all time, but which I know aren't to everyone's taste. Secondary characterization is fairly sparse, but sufficient for the tale the author is trying to tell. I read this in 4 days straight, in my inbetween moments of work and life, and it was truly hard for me to put down. I had to flick back to the information page as I was sure I had seen it was a Reynolds story but the beginning didn't seem anything like past reads.

The titular “eversion” refers to both the topological paradox of a sphere being turned inside out without tears or creases and the physical situation of the knowledge-sucking mind-spider lurking at the heart of the edifice. Sailing on the Demeter, he first describes a treacherous journey through the icy narrow passages of the Norwegian straits as the expedition seeks a mysterious construct known as the Edifice.In this case, the above comprises about the first five chapters, and it’s essentially all also detailed on the back cover.