Customer Reviews

Floating Worlds (Sf Collector's)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading Floating Worlds, I had a hard time believing that I had never heard of the book before. It is an intelligent and complex novel of the future which combines elements of technology, politics, and space to create a compelling story. It should rightly have a place next to the more famous works from the period, and I am pleased to see that it has been reprinted.

Paula Mendoza is a slightly-more-than-typical inhabitant of the anarchist planet Earth. She becomes even more distinctive when she becomes Earth's representative to the Styths and along the way bears a son to the Styth Prima. She becomes the pin that links the two cultures together as much as two such separate cultures can be linked.

Holland's writing is vividly detailed, and the world that she creates for the future is so well imagined that it is disappointing when the book ends. I found the plotting a little but weak in places, but any deficiencies are made up for by the strong characters. I particularly liked the realistic way that she sets up the variations on human stock represented by the Styth.

Definitely worth reading.

Cecelia Holland became one of the youngest people ever to write a best-selling novel in 1966 with the publication of her first novel, The Firedrake, about the Norman Conquest. She was, if I remember correctly, just 18. Her career, interrupted for a time by life in a Northern California commune, has been one fantastically well crafted historical novel after another.

With one exception. In the mid-1970s, she wrote one of the most under-appreciated science fiction novels ever written. Floating Worlds is an epic yet it is as personal as the seraglio. It covers the sociology and politics, both governmental and romantic, of a complex society based in the asteroid belt, and in the moons of Jupiter.

I am doing this from memory, since the last time I re-read Floating Worlds was maybe ten years ago, and the book is currently in storage, awaiting its reception by the Heinlein Papers Collection at UC Santa Cruz (when I die, of course).

Holland ranks for me as one of the most important historical novelists of the 20th century, along with the late and very much lamented Dame Dorothy Dunnett.

If you haven't read Floating Worlds you have missed something very important.

If you read other than sf, read the rest of Holland's opus.

Walt Boyes
The Bananaslug. at Baen's Bar
and member of the Editorial Committee of Baen's Universe magazine

I first read this book more than 20 years ago. It goes beyond the sci-fi genre - it's a well thought-out and written book. Each character has so many subtle shadings to them that I find that over the years different aspects of their personalities appeal to me. I don't understand why this book isn't widely considered one of the best sci-fi books ever written. In the 80's after my first copy fell to pieces, this book was so hard to find in the US that I finally tracked it down after a great deal of effort to a UK bookstore. FINALLY it's available in the US again. I bought one from Amazon and may buy another just in case ...

I first read this book fifteen years ago and was spellbound. I am an avid reader of all types of fiction with a leaning towards sf/fantasy and found this story to be a shining example of this genre. The characters come alive and you develop a compassion for the trials of Paula as she travels across the solar system to her new home. The descriptions of a future anarchy on earth and contact with seemingly superior races throughout the galaxy are unforgettable. A truly awesome story.

I read this book many years ago, it's time for a reread. I am not so much a fan of science fiction as I am a collector and reader of Cecelia Holland. Historical Fiction is what I expect from her and this book could be described as future historical fiction. The prose and the characters are wonderful. I have bought this book many many time to give to friends.

I read this book the first time more than 20 or so years ago. I still have the original paperback that has been taped and mended. It is one of those kind of books that can be read over and over and each time provokes the imagination. I would recommend this books to anyone who enjoys sci-fi.

This is a wonderful and absorbing science fiction novel by a masterful writer of historicals. This is Cecelia Holland's only foray into sci fi and a fine one it is. Those who know and love her novel about the Mongols, "Until the Sun Falls," will recognize the origin of one of the planetary peoples in this story. "Floating Worlds," "Until the Sun Falls," and "Great Maria" are, in my view, the best books among the many she has written. Even if you don't usually read sci fi, try this one.

Just recently I decided to create my personal top twenty science fiction and fantasy list spanning over 25 years of reading the genres. Among the inevitable Lord of the Rings, Dune and The Book of the New Sun I had to add "Floating Worlds" to the list. Despite reading this little known novel over twenty years ago, the impact of its engaging plot and the richness in the characterization of the hardy heroine Paula left an indelible satisfying impression.
One shares a compelling journey with Paula as she survives intense political travails, passionate conflicts and numerous hardships in a vivdly-imagined far-flung future world.
I note many of the reviwers articulating their pleasure from this unsung masterpiece. I just wanted to add my voice to their acclaim.

I first read this book as a young woman and the images of a spanish-surnamed powerful female was an inspiration to me in the development of my own personality. I have read this book so many times over the years that I've lost count. .

Paula is small, smart and fearless and she needs all her wits to survive in the hyper macho Styth society. The book reflects the sentiments of the women's movement of the 70s, when women in male dominated western societies were encouraged to extend thier intellectual powers outside the home while continuing to raise children, as Paula does.

Although relatively unknown (circca 1976)in the science fiction writers realm, Cecelia Holland hit Hard-SF on the nose with this book. If you favor Robert Heinlein and Larry Niven with your valuable reading time, you will like 'Floating Worlds'. Solid lead character and supporting cast, visual background, and suspense filled action make this book a winner! Thumbs up for Cecelia Holland. I made my local library get this book. Would you do that for just any Author? I think not!