Customer Reviews

Geodesica: Ascent

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

 

 

I really enjoyed the "Orphans of Earth" trilogy by the same authors, and I was looking forward to reading some more of their work. While Geodesica: Ascent lacks some of the grandness of Orphans of Earth, it is an interesting story, and really has the potential to go somewhere as future volumes come out. The scenario starts out with a human population that has been taken over by the "Exarchy", a collection of super-human intelligences. We don't know really get all that clear an understanding of what exactly the exarchs are, or how exactly they came about -- but I'm hoping to learn those details as the story progresses. Anyhow, things get going as a human ship brings an alien artifact into one of the colonies that is ruled by an exarch. This of course sets off all kinds of rivalries for who is going to control the artifact, and the mystery of what exactly the artifact is. If you like this book, you'd probably also enjoy "The Golden Age" by John C. Wright, which also deals with post-human / super-human entities.

A slightly jumbled start, but this really grew on me later. A truly bizarre alien artifact is at the middle of a plot by AI-like posthuman intelligences to keep political control of the galaxy. So, of course, when Natural humans discover some information about it, they see it as a tool to foment rebellion.

This all has a serious cost, and a serious sequel, by the looks.

Replicators, strange, exotic, energy weapons, highly advanced computing, all that stuff is here.

Mysterious advanced technology from a Race Other Than Human has reappeared 10 years after its involvement in the dramatic destruction a colony in circumstances still not understood. The resulting challenges to the relationships between the three offshoots of space faring humanity form the basis for this exciting story, where individual freedom and privacy, society governance and associated responsibilities and the right to rule are all explored in a fascinating glimpse into a possible future. Lots of action and more character development than is usually the case in Science Fiction, with two of the main characters re-meeting for the first time in 150 years and having to again revisit the reason they parted as they are challenged by ever changing circumstances. (Nice to see some local references to my state by local writers - not that either of these have influenced my rating. This book is a great read.)

I am getting a little sick of the moronic reviews of books
posted by some idiots who use their "real name" and when you
check their info, the only book these "scientists", "doctors" or great scholars have reviewed is the one book you are reading a review of. Most likely wanabe writers, too lame to get published
on their own. As for the review by the "doctor", the grammar in
geodesica is better then most space operas. How anyone can give these authors one star based on some nebulous garbage about
poor grammar, duh, poor grammar is moronic. He then tells us that he didn't actually read the book, because of it's "grammar"?
If you didn't read the book mr.wizard, how can you rate it?
Geodesica is excellent as were the last two series by this fine duo of science fiction writers. Please do not be put off on reading this book because some untraceable, anonymous chimp
reviewing books that he or it hasn't read.

This book is very dense. There is very little explanation, the grammar is rather poor and the reader ends up being confused quite a bit. Maybe things get better later on in the book, but it is hard to read that far due to the poor grammar and story-telling skills of the authors.