"The Prefect" marked a return to the "Revelation Space" universe. Like "Chasm City", it is a stand-alone novel within that setting. It is set prior to any of the other "Revelation Space" novels, though still 200 years after the original human settlement is established on the planet Yellowstone in the Epsilon Eridani system. It was published in the United Kingdom on 2 April 2007. Since its publication, the title of "The Prefect" has been changed to "Aurora Rising" to more align with the name of the sequel, "Elysium Fire", which was published in 2018, marking the first novel length return to the "Revelation Space" universe since 2007. This sub-series within the "Revelation Space" universe is now called "The Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies". Reynolds states that he has "tentative plans for three more Dreyfus titles, with an arc that would eventually take him beyond Yellowstone, and then back again."