Nevertheless, the main storyline is essentially optimistic, with humans continuing to survive even in a universe that seems fundamentally hostile to intelligent life. The Revelation Space universe contains elements of Lovecraftian horror, with one posthuman entity stating explicitly that some things in the universe are fundamentally beyond human or transhuman understanding.

Instead, despite their dramatically advanced technology, they are similar to those of today in terms of their moral ambiguity and mixture of cruelty and decency, corruption and opportunity. While a great deal of science fiction reflects either very optimistic or dystopian visions of the human future, the Revelation Space universe is notable in that human societies have not developed to either positive or negative extremes. He considered calling it the ' Exordium universe' after a key plot device, but found that the name was already in use. The name ' Revelation Space universe' has been used by Alastair Reynolds in both the introductory text in the collections Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days and Galactic North, and also on several editions of the novels set in the universe. Reynolds has said he prefers to keep the science in his fiction plausible, but he will adopt science he believes to be impossible when it is necessary for the story. It is, nonetheless, somewhat 'harder' than most examples of space opera, relying to a considerable extent on science Reynolds believes to be possible in particular, faster-than-light travel is largely absent. The Revelation Space universe is a fictional universe which was set in a future version of our world, with the addition of a number of extraterrestrial species and advanced technologies that are not necessarily grounded in current science.

It takes its name from Revelation Space (2000), which was the first published novel set in the universe. Its fictional history follows the human species through various conflicts from the relatively near future (roughly 2200) to approximately 40,000 AD (all the novels to date are set between 24, although certain stories extend beyond this period). The fictional universe it is set in is used as the setting for a number of his novels and stories. The Revelation Space series is a book series created by Alastair Reynolds that debuted with the novel Revelation Space in 2000. Fictional universe created by Alastair Reynolds

The revelation space