Borrowed Tides [Hardcover]

Paul Levinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2001

A voyage and an adventure as sublime as any in the history of the universe.

Aaron Schoenfeld has parlayed a Ph.D. in the philosophy of science and a sharp tongue into an improbable second career as director of a project to plan and execute the first interstellar voyage. The trip to Alpha Centauri will take many years and might end up being a one-way journey for the crew.

His old acquaintance Jack Lumet may be the unlikely source of an answer. An anthropologist obsessed with the myths of Native Americans, he once wrote a paper about Wise Oak, an Iroquois sachem who claimed to have ridden a cosmic version of the Hudson, a tidal river that flows both ways, to the stars and back.

In a world where money for space journeys is hard to come by, even a slightly mad theory that suggests a possible shortcut to the stars is an attractive possibility for the people who believe more in humanity's destiny among the stars than they do in safety considerations, minimal risks, or taking no for an answer.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Paul Levinson's second novel, Borrowed Tides, is an enjoyable read. It has all of the qualities that a good one-chapter-a-night-before-bed novel should have: it's engrossing, educational, and thought provoking without being too heavy. The characters, who are traveling from Mars to Alpha Centauri on humankind's first interstellar voyage with only enough fuel for a one-way trip, are both believable and likeable. And although many of the ideas Levinson deals with--the paradoxes inherent in time travel, the group dynamics of a small crew isolated for a long period of time on a space ship, the applicability of quantum mechanical principles to macroscopic objects, children with special powers--are not new, and could even be considered trite, his handling of them is interesting enough to make revisiting them worthwhile. Levinson's erudition is apparent throughout the novel, and his allusions to Native American legend, the Bible, computer science, political theory, and Western physics and philosophy suggest that he is well versed in each of these disparate fields. Thus, like his first, this novel will be appreciated by hard-core technophiles and more well-rounded science fiction lovers as well. --Diana Gitig

From Publishers Weekly

Politics blends neatly with spirituality in Levinson's provocative second novel (after The Silk Road), about the first manned interstellar flight to a planet in the Alpha Centauri star system. Two septuagenarians, first acquainted in childhood, head the crew: Aaron Schoenfeld, whom the U.S. president has chosen on the strength of his philosophical arguments for space exploration, and Jack Lumet, an anthropologist who has incorporated the mystical teachings of Iroquois Indians into his worldview. It is Lumet's insights into the Indians' beliefs regarding the cyclical nature of travel on river currents extrapolated to a cosmic level that enable a final American commitment to the trip. In order to maintain continued support of space exploration, a live crew that will be able to return must undertake this voyage. Once underway the other seven members of the crew face personal conflicts regarding the validity of the theoretical constructs adapted from spiritual sources. These doubts culminate in an attempted mutiny. None of the events leading up to the revolt fall into genre clich‚s, as all of the characters are well drawn and their motivations are believable. But the real surprises come on reaching the star system after eight years of travel. The author has created an ingenious narrative that loops back on itself like a M”bius strip. Readers will enjoy working through the unexpected paradoxes the characters find themselves in and watching how each character individually chooses to resolve the shared predicament during the journey homeward.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 238 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1St Edition edition (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312848692
• ISBN-13: 978-0312848699
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,470,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My novel The Silk Code won the 2000 Locus Award for Best First Novel. I've since published Borrowed Tides (2001),The Consciousness Plague (2002), and The Pixel Eye (2003). The Plot To Save Socrates published in 2006 - Entertainment Weekly called it "challenging fun". My science fiction and mystery short stories have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards. Nine nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997), Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003), Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009) have been the subject of major articles in the New York Times, Wired, the Christian Science Monitor, and have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, and eight other languages. I appear from time to time on "The O'Reilly Factor," "The CBS Evening News," "Nightline," "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," and other TV and radio programs - I like talking just as much as writing. I'm also a songwriter, and have been in several bands over the years - one had two records out on Atlantic Records in 1960s. My 1972 album Twice Upon a Rhyme (on HappySad Records) was re-issued on CD by Beatball/Big Pink Records in 2009, and on re-pressed vinyl by Whiplash/Sound of Salvation Records in 2010. I was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education's "Top 10 Academic Twitterers" in 2009. And last but not least: I'm Professor of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Overall Pretty Poor Stuff, April 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Borrowed Tides (Hardcover)

This really isn't any good. The story itself had possibilities, but the book falls prey to two major problems: Levinson doesn't write very well, and he doesn't know what he's talking about.

The first problem might be overlooked by science fiction fans of the old school, who don't place terribly high importance on literary style. Levinson's awkward prose and unconvincing dialogue are not particularly bad by space-opera standards.

However, the science in this novel is simply ridiculous. In attempting to use the language and concepts of quantum physics, Mr. Levinson is obviously living far beyond his intellectual means.

Furthermore, I am assured by Native American friends that the "Iroquois" material is even more wildly wrong than the alleged science. And as for the philosophical "profundities", words fail me. It is too bad they did not fail Mr. Levinson.

The Silk Code, despite a silly premise and a tortuous plot, did have its moments. Borrowed Tides is simply awful.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A slow and unfocused read, May 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Borrowed Tides (Hardcover)

The local library had this book because it is by a local author; my wife gave me a copy to take on a business trip. I found Borrowed Tides a slow and unfocused read and if I hadn't been stuck in backwoods North Carolina for a couple days I probably wouldn't have finished it.

The characters were not very well developed for the most part -- especially the "kid" with strange power -- and it looks like one character got killed off more for the convenience of the author ( who couldn't figure out what to do next) than for the needs of the plot.

Worse, the ideas seemed borrowed from a lot of new age sources but they were strewn about right and left and they didn't quite connect. ... In fact the ending was the biggest disappointment -- it is definitely a cheat -- almost as bad as one of those "it was all a dream" things.

They tell me the writer is a college professor; perhaps that's why the book is as dry as it is. Fun the book isn't. RH, NY

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Slipping, April 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Borrowed Tides (Hardcover)

Levinson's quality is slipping in this disapointing second novel. He doesn't seem to know what to do with the story and quickly losses the reader's interest in this novel which could use severe editing.