Brute Orbits [Turtleback]

George Zebrowski (Author)

Product Details

• Turtleback
• Publisher: Demco Media (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606173617
• ISBN-13: 978-0606173612
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Science Fiction Literature, November 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Brute Orbits (Mass Market Paperback)

This is that rarest of books that can actually change how you think. Not just about prisons or prisoners, or cruelty, though there is plentiful speculation on these topics, but indeed I mean HOW YOU THINK. This book is full of so many challenging ideas on so many different aspects of the human experience that my mind buzzed for two full days. Perception, history, biology and evolution, evil, societal limitations, the limitations of one's own mind. And not a paragraph of preaching, just good storytelling rich with scientific speculation that advances the tale. The action is harrowing and there are moments of awe and wonder that resonate much deeper than most good action SF scenes. Go forth and read and ask yourself: HOW DO I THINK?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Wall of Space, March 13, 2009

By 

doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Brute Orbits (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a work of philosophy disguised as a science fiction novel. An impact will be made with readers looking for subversive social commentary, but the book will probably fail with readers looking for a functioning story. The book suffers from a very inconsistent timeline and narration that operates mostly as a front for Zebrowski's thoughts on crime and punishment. Those thoughts are highly incisive, based on the works of solid philosophers like Kant and Pascal (and probably Dostoevsky), and while some readers would justifiably find them preachy, others will find them uncompromising and thought-provoking. Zebrowski has the knowledge to pull off this philosophical treatise on the problems of prisons, and the book holds no punches and launches straight into deep thoughts on the matter.

Most of the book works well as social and political commentary, with a series of vignettes about future prisoners and all of their ugliest behavior. This future society has found a way to conveniently get rid of not just hardened criminals but an expanding palette of political and social undesirables, by putting them in hollow asteroids and launching them into deep space. Most of the story is shocking and provocative, and the behavior of the criminals and the authorities is often hideous, allowing Zebrowski to really explore the ramifications of his philosophical treatise. Critics of this book have perfectly valid points, but readers looking for uncompromising allegorical commentary could enjoy it if they're willing to sacrifice logical development of characters and themes. But there is still a problem with inconsistency, as the conclusion falls into a type of quaint and unrealistic future humanism that contrasts sharply with the rest of the book. It's also too short, as Zebrowski could have devoted much more space to both the philosophy and the development of his characters, but here such matters surge ahead at a very awkward pace. [~doomsdayer520~]

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too short, January 10, 2002

By 

Glenn McDorman (Denver) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brute Orbits (Hardcover)

The idea of putting penal colonies in space is really interesting. Zebrowski tries to tell the story of the individuals in the colonies and at the same time examine the long term social effects of hurling thousands of people into a closed environment in only 200 pages. This brevity resulted in the isolation of both ideas. What we get is the beginning and the end of what could have been a good book had the middle not been left out.