Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain [Hardcover]

Isaac Asimov (Author), Ron Miller (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Twenty-one years ago when the movie Fantastic Voyage was released, Asimov was hired to do the novelization. The book was successful but, to Asimov, not satisfying, for "I never felt it to be entirely mine." Now he has rewritten it his way, and it's good. The story concerns Albert Jonas Morrison, a 21st century neurophysicist, and otherwise an ordinary and unheroic man, who is kidnapped and taken to the Soviet Union. A major Soviet scientist, Pyotr Shapirov, is in an irreversible coma, and Morrison's special expertise could be of value. The Soviets believe that Morrison may be able to apply his controversial theories to retrieve vagrant thoughts that still may be floating in Shapirov's damaged brain and so provide clues to important work in which Shapirov was engaged. Morrison goes cold with fear because the plan calls for him to be miniaturizedalong with four Soviet scientiststo sub-molecular size, introducing them into Shapirov's body and, ultimately, into his brain. The snappish relationships between the scientists is wryly depicted, and the mission itself makes fascinating reading as both an actionadventure and an intellectually stimulating premise. BOMC featured selection.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The uncharted territory of the human brain becomes a landscape fraught with danger for a team of scientists who set out to discover its secretsfrom the inside. Twenty years after the success of his original Fantastic Voyage, the prolific and always illuminating Asimov creates a new scenario for an old premise and fills it with sympathetic characters, unexpected plot twists, and a heavy dose of science-made-comprehensible. Highly recommended. BOMC and Quality Paperback Book Club featured alternates. JC
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 332 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (August 18, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385239262
• ISBN-13: 978-0385239264
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,202,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who says 'marginal?', July 29, 1999

By 

John Domby (UNC Chapel Hill, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain (Hardcover)

To what pressure did Asimov bow in writing this book other than his own? And, incidentally, this is no sequel to the first Fantastic Voyage. There is no mention of anything from the first novel here. Asimov's first Fantastic Voyage was not his own: he merely novelized a movie, and was never satisfied with the end result for all of its scientific and otherwise flaws. II is a much better example of Asimovian sicence fiction: totally cerebral, and I like that at the end of the plot, there was no "getting the girl," as one sees all to often, even in Asimov's novels. The victory here involved no sexual liason of any sort-- it was merely that of a scientist having his views validated by grueling experience. There is too strong a tendency in many novels, especially in science fiction novels, to present the attaining of a woman's affections as the "prize" toward which the male hero works and eventually succeeds in getting. Here there is the setup of that, but in the end no actualization. Asimov presents enough scientific notions throughout this book to spin any reader's head, and more than one is are presented a little too didactically. But Asimov could not help it. In the end he was the disseminator of scientific knowledge that earned him the distinction "Great Explainer."

3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the first Fantastic Voyage, January 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain (Hardcover)

As the previous reviewer points out, the first Fantastic Voyage was not Asimov's story, but merely his novelization of the movie plot. So Asimov decided to write his own story on the same theme. Unfortunately, his was not as good as the original.

Asimov had an enormous ego (if he was called "The Great Explainer", as the previous reviewer notes, I wouldn't be surprised if I were to learn that Asimov gave himself the title). He often bragged about the huge volume of output from his typewriter. The problem is that quantity does not equal quality, and much of his writing wasn't worth much. This book falls into that category.

2 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sequel to the novel/movie., May 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain (Leather Bound)

Asimov bowed to pressure to write a sequel to his highly acclaimed Fantastic Voyage. Unfortunately, as it is with many non-series sequels, this novel is rather flat compared to his original.

If you like medical related sci-fi or thrillers, than this is a book you should buy.