Customer Reviews

From a Changeling Star

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are very few books that I will read in one sitting, and this is one of them. It literally begins with a bang (gunshot) and ends with the biggest bang of them all (a supernova). Nanotechnology has always fascinated me, and this book gives a far-future look at the applications of it. I enjoyed the internal battle of the main character as he attempts to rediscover who (and what) he is. About the only thing I was disappointed by was the fact that it actually ended. It is a very fast-paced book that kept me on edge the whole time. Unfortunately, my copy of the book was destroyed by water damage after it went out of print. There are also very few books that I would go on an all-out crusade to find, but this is one of them. I give it 5 of 5 stars.

There's something to be said for a good story that actually makes you use your brain. It seems to be a sad state of entertainment that if everything isn't laid right out in front of you in black and white right in your face that people won't pay attention because they just wan't mindless entertainment and i've seen plenty of this in movies, tv and books. It's actually funny (in a sad kind of way) that i've actually seen people dismiss intelligent entertainment as being boring or that it "sucks" because it's their way of trying to deflect from the fact they don't want to admit that the real problem is that they don't want to have to think while being entertained. You can tell that this is their real issue because they'll be the same people that tell you how the movie with the biggest explosions and little or no plot is "awesome". Anyway now that i've completely gone off a tangent, let's bring it back: Thank goodness for authors like Jeffrey A. Carver. Now here's an intelligent man that takes pride in actually putting the "science" in science fiction. He also takes seriously doing research of the scientific ideas in his books. This book is a perfect example of that, afterall it's nearly 20 years old now and it doesn't suffer like some sci-fi books and feel dated. It still reads like it could've been written yesterday. He quite simply does his best to get it right and that is refreshing. Now on top of that he has an interesting story going on here that combines the best of sci-fi, adventure and mystery. Ultimately I think it's amazing how Mr. Carver manages to give the reader the sci-fi goods and keep the story moving along at a brisk pace that keeps you turning the pages. There are authors out there that use sci-fi as a backdrop to tell their stories. There are authors out there that get so caught up in the future tech minutia that they forget to tell a good story. Jeffrey A. Carver is one of the few out there who seems to get the balance right and because of that I think he's one of the most underapprecicated authors we have writing today.

Is our protagonist a psychotic, amnesiac destroyer of stars or a brilliant research scientist reaching for the ultimate prize? While nanotechnology plays an important part in this story it is not the central issue. How can a man stay true to his convictions when he is the pinned between galactic empires and his own body is rebelling against him?

I heard about the concepts of this story several years ago: nanotechnology and space travel; nanoagents fight for a scientist whose brain becomes valuable, with devastating affects; the awakening of Betelguese; wormholes -- and I was fascinated. I was RABID for this book. No great scifi writer has yet written a good book about nanotechnology and spacetravel combined, excpet for perhaps A FIRE UPON THE DEEP. But it manages to totally weaken the ending so I just put it down in utter boredom, multiple times, makes the nanotechnology weak and lame, is melodramatic, canned characters, and can make dull the war for our heros body.