Customer Reviews

The Coming

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

The one star review is a little unfair and quite unspecific. There are superficial similarities between this book and Contact by Sagan. They do both occur in the near future and they do both concern female astrophysicists who recieve messages from space and run into opposition, but I think the literary world can support two such works. There the similarities do end. Haldeman's future is scarily believable, and as usual deftly sketched out with a minimum of SF flapdoodlery. The focus is on the story and the characters not the era.

There are a couple main characters but the book belongs to their supporting cast as much as to Dr. Bell and her music professor husband. One of the most enjoyable parts of this book is its narrative style; all of the characters hand off the narration of the story chapter to chapter. One character comes into contact with another and the point of view character changes. Excellent way to see the world of the book and its characters from all sides. We do get to see the characters warts and all.

There are many twists in the story, and none of them ring untrue. Sure you know something's fishy...sure you think one of the characters isn't what he seems, but you don't know what or in what way...until the end, and it is a good surprise ending (but not a total surprise--it's all there and rings true).

And the best thing is we don't come to the end (as we did with -the movie- Contact) and find out the aliens are her dead father! What a gyp!) So anyway, this book is much better than the other reviewer would lead you to believe. It is well worth the time. And I will say so in my review which I will now write for a review journal (which shall remain nameless).

Go! Read this book. It's Good.

Set a little over fifty years in the future, this novel finds our planet in not the best of shape. As many others have theorized, global warming has taken place and coastal cities are either gone or surrounded by large dikes in a slowly failing attempt to keep the waters out of the streets. With the rise in temps, the UV rays have become a major worry along with the resultant increase in skin cancers, as well as other types. Regional conflicts have become more heated while at the same time, through the use of technology; the United States has become much more repressive. The FBI has become a law unto themselves and something known as the cube, has replaced television. But, while things have changed, some things like dirty politics, extortion and murder are all still common.

All three are set into motion by the ominous message recorded by Astronomy Professor Aurora "Rory" Bell in Gainesville, Florida. In a repeated gamma burst transmission, the same message is sent over and over again-"We're coming." They apparently are as scientists on the moon confirm the transmission as well as the fact that it came from deep space. Clearly from beyond where any human spacecraft has gone, the ship seems to be three months out from arriving on Earth. In fact, it appears that it will arrive on New Year's Day, 2056 and the event is quickly dubbed "The Second Coming" by the media.

The message and imminent arrival of an alien craft swings into motion a number of events over the next three months as detailed in the book, including the eventual arrival of the alien craft. Some events have a direct relation to the arrival, while many, seen through numerous characters do not. The science fiction elements become very secondary as the work focuses more on the human relationships between the many, many characters as well as various casual linkages between them.

Which is where the interesting premise and story are tremendously weakened by the execution. Almost every other page, the reader is shifted to the point of view of another character. After fifteen or twenty of these shifts in perspective, it becomes rather annoying as stereotypical character after character is added. At times, the work switches back to the allegedly main characters, but more often than not, it is off in some sort of far-flung jaunt through the actions of a distantly related character. That problem of story telling along with the insertion of two very graphic gratuitous sex scenes which seem to have no purpose other than to serve as titillation on someone's whim, weaken this novel tremendously. In so doing, an interesting premise with lots of potential becomes a lower than average read and a real disappointment.

Wow what a ride! I'm teeling you this is book is going to win some awards! I think Haldeman had better dust off some space next to his colletion of Nebulas and Hugos, this book knock my socks off. I have read most of Haldeman's novels and I would rate this one his best science fiction works in many years.

The primary plot is pretty easy to explain, but the story goes much deeper: Set fifty years in the future, a professor in a quiet Florida college town studying deep space gamma ray anomalies disovers a very unnatural message in a burst originating just outside the Solar System: "We're coming." The implications of this message are of course incredible. The reactions of the characters feels entirely real. People don't go bonkers. Stores open, the mail gets delivered, oh, and aliens may be showing up on New Years day.

As the story unfolds it has as much to do with the affect the message has on the characters in the novel as the mystery of the message itself. The novel has two protagonist, but it is almost an ensemble piece. The story is told from many perspectives and the transitions from character to character are handled in an unusual way that I really liked.

Here are the high points of the novel for me:

I really liked the way Haldeman makes 2054 feel like a natural extension of today. Most science fiction authors make even the near future seem alien and unnatural. Haldeman's future is very believable, I didn't have to strain to see the canvas he was painting for us.

The characters are deep and well written. You could easily re-read the novel and discover how much things you learn late in the novel illumiate small character traits introduced ealier. I guarantee you haven't met protaginist like the couple in this novel! They really seem like people you could know. Definetely not Holywood Action Hereos!

Haldeman is a physicist and can write hard science that even a layman like myself can understand. He adds just enough science to keep the story believable, but not so much that it bogs down.

I bought this book when it came out, but didn't decide to read it till the other day. I only intended to read for an hour before bed and ended up reading till 4 AM. I only (painfully) put it aside because I had to go to work the next day! I finished the rest the minute I got home. I haven't done that in a long time. The book really is a lot of fun - I think anyone who like an intelligent sci-fi/thriller will feel the same.

First off, the writing in this novel is superb. Haldeman changes the point of view among a dozen characters without ever skipping a beat. Furthermore, he does so without shorting the development of any one character; they are all well drawn, in part because we see them through the eyes of so many other people.

That said, this novel gets off to a great start, and really does well until the last twenty pages or so. At that point, much like Haldeman's "Forever Free", it begins to feel rushed. The book ends on a note that is more confusing than anything else. You really lose the feel for the character's motivations, and there is a lot of activity that is barely explained.

All in all, this is an enjoyable, well written novel, that is somewhat let down by its ending.

The Coming really had me on the edge of my seat for reasons that go far beyond the normal excitement of a plot where the fate of the planet is in the balance. What set it apart from your typical "disaster thriller" is the fact that the characters are not really in the thick of things except at the very beginning and end. I think this is what lends the book such a real feel. The main character is the one who first identifies the message and is involved in the investigation of it authenticity, but she is quickly pushed aside by bureaucrats and somewhat sidelined. What the book is then is a reflection of how those events affect the main characters and the people of the Florida College town where they live. In a unique way the narrative passes on to other people in their lives always winding back to the original cast. It an interesting way of telling a story that I have never seen before. I loved the novelty of it (no pun intended!). The book is quite different not only in narrative style but in the personal politics that Haldeman envisions for the future. The book is quite controversial in that regard and at first I found it kind of shocking. Still the book is quite good and a full meal for the mind!

What may disappoint Haldeman fans is that this book isn't really science fiction. However as a piece of modern fiction it stands out as on of the best works I have read in a long time. Haldeman has really outdone himself this time. The character development, pacing, and most of all the narrative transition are excellent. I found the story to be a hard one to put down. This is simply a great novel.

I liked this book a lot, but:

1. It's not hard sci-fi, more like political fiction set forward a few years.

2. The style of the book is just friggin' great but something Haldeman has never used before.

I was hooked early on and really enjoyed the story and the style. But if you are looking for some good old fashioned sci-fi this won't be your cup of tea.

I won't quite call this 'science fiction' because the typical sci-fi book has more aliens, lasers, and space travel than this book.

This book has messages that might be coming from aliens. Not quite sci-fi. But man it's a great thriller. Kind of a science thriller, mixed with a political thriller, mixed with modern character driven fiction.

Okay it's an odd mix, but it really works. If you come to the book with an open mind and enjoy the way Haldeman tells the story you will have a really good time. You may have to set asside some assumptions about Haldeman - this is no "Forever War". And thank goodness, that was a great book but who would want to read the same story over and over?

I thought this was one of Haldeman's best works. On par with "The Hemmingway Hoax" and far better than "Forever Peace" (yeah, count me in for bagging that one).

So I've kind of rambled but I've been up all week studying for finals and this is my idea of a break. What it comes down to is it's a great book if you are willing to mix genres a little. I loved it.

Over the years, I've read a lot of Mr. Haldeman's novels. I've enjoyed nearly all of them, truely thought a few were great literature (Forever War, Mindbridge). When I picked up The Coming, I'd just finished reading Camoflage and thought it was terrific.

This was a deeply different tone but not an inauthentic one. Haldeman does write politics sometimes, usually (apparently) as an extension of his wartime experiences.

In my opinion, The Coming was a terrific story that got bogged down by its backstory. It had a great setup in the first twenty pages or so and then it was all character for the next couple hundred. Then the alien story took center stage and the setup went unfulfilled. Even the surprise at the end wasn't that much of a surprise. It telegraphed itself fairly early on in the story and, once exposed, the surprise could have used the same depth of backstory granted each of the main characters.

It felt like Mr. Haldeman spent time building his people up and then failed to structure an ending that satisfied. Now I've got all these characters in my head and I don't know where any of them wound up...

I was a bit disappointed in The Coming but the writing is superb. If there was a sequel tomorrow, I wouldn't wait for paperback but I would hope from more than I got from the first one.

"The Coming" is an enjoyable book if simplistic. The book is set in the near future with the Earth recieving a call from outer space 'they' are coming. The reader finds the Earth falling apart from overcrowding and the usual political wars, but not the usual players. The story jumps between various characters with higher or lower interest in the coming.

To me, this book feels like a seventies movie about post apolyptic earth without all of the destruction yet. It is on the brink. Think of a combination of 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' and 'Soylent Green' and you have the feel of this book. It is not a bad book by any means. It is rather enjoyable and a nice easy read. It misses because the reader doesn't have to think about the Earth's situation. Some of his characters also miss. Haldeman places a medical student in the book who also has to perform in porn videos to pay for school. She adds nothing to the story except that the world is not right. He also has the proverbial crazy lady who's character is left hanging in the story. If either one was not added, the story would not have suffered at all. Nice easy read that is enjoyable, but nothing special here.