Galactic North
Alastair Reynolds built the Revelation Space universe over a set of novels and a scattering of shorter work, and this collection gathers the shorter work in one place. The stories run across centuries: the Conjoiners taking their first steps away from ordinary humanity, the Demarchists at their height, the machine plagues, and the long slow arrival of something that does not want anyone getting this far.
The title novella, "Galactic North", is a pursuit that begins as a piracy dispute and ends tens of thousands of years later, still going.
Read it alongside the novels or on its own. The universe is cold, the technology is worked out to the last unpleasant implication, and almost nobody in it gets what they wanted.
These stories are set in the same universe as the author's larger novels but function as standalone pieces that can be read at any point in your journey through that setting. While the collection is arranged in a rough chronological order spanning from 2200 to 40,000 AD, the individual stories do not require prior knowledge of the main trilogy to be understood.
The collection provides historical context and expands upon the factions and technologies featured in the broader series. Specifically, the title novella offers additional perspective on events and threats that are referenced in the final book of the main trilogy, Absolution Gap.