Customer Reviews

The Giants Novels (Inherit the Stars, The Gentle Giants of Ganymede, and Giants' Star)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Inherit the Stars starts on the moon sometime in the near future when astronauts find a dead body human body 1000's of years old. How did it get there? How could it be there? No one knows.

The writer then procedes, step by step, to explain how this could have happened. His science is so strong that, if I read this a few years in the future, I might believe it was actually happening. While the end of the book takes a few leaps of faith, (pun is intended), it all seems amazing real. It is a fun adventure written in the best traditions of science fiction.

The second book here, there are three in one combined in this book, is also great. It is a story about our first contact with creatures from another planet. Because these creatures had such a different evolutionary path from us, they are as much different, intellectually, as in their appearance.

The big difference in this story, as opposed to most science fiction, is how nice these aliens are. Earth falls in love with them and you will too. The writing, extremely optimistic about human nature, was a nice change of pace from most books of the genre. Since the violence here is at a minimum, the author uses a few interesting mysteries, unresolved from the first book, to maintain the series pace and tension.

The final installment in this series was fun too, but it took a different tact. The optimism expressed so nicely in the first two books is lost here. This world has government conspiracies and aggressive alien races. Violence, or its threat, is finally found in the series.

The science, as well, is a little closer to fantasy then science fiction. The first book "could" happen, at least it seems that way. The second story is a fantasy, but its discussions about evolution was great. The last book would be good anywhere, it jsut didn't fit in very well with the series. All are good though. All of them are worth reading.

Ever since I read this incredible book, no other sci-fi novel ever came close to satisfying me. I cannot praise this book enough. All other so called sci fi books seem devoid of content and meaning compared to this one. I'm glad amazon has the other two books of the trilogy, because I've spent the last five years looking for them

The Giants Novels is a compendium of a trilogy of books by James Hogan, Inherit the Stars, The Gentle Giants of Ganymede and Giant's Star. (btw, I really appreciate Del Rey for publishing these in one book). All three are tightly coupled and deserve to be read together. The basic premise of the trilogy is man's discovery of his origins after a 50,000 year-old human corpse is found in a cave on the moon. This is followed by the discovery of a 20 million year old spaceship on Jupiter's moon Ganymede that contains both alien corpses and animal specimens that clearly came from Earth. It was very fun to follow our protagonist Vic Hunt as he works to come up with a plausible explanation for these discoveries and how they fit into man's evolution. Much of the speculation is made clearer by the arrival of a 20 million year-old spaceship full of live aliens who used to inhabit our solar system. Seems they had some technical problems and although they had only been gone for 20 years their time, relativistic effects delayed their return by 20 million years. Eventually we learn that the returned aliens are not the last of their species as their forbearers moved to another star system millions of years before. When they make contact with their long lost descendents events are put in motion that forces their ancient species to get help from Earth to combat the biggest threat in their history.

The Giants Novels is an omnibus edition of the Giants series. This volume contains Inherit the Stars, The Gentle Giants of Ganymede, and Giants' Star. These novels were the first published by the author.

Millennia before the Apollo project, mankind had reached Luna. As man returns to the Moon, he finds evidence of a prior human technological society. Moreover, he finds artifacts of another alien civilization on Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter.

In Inherit the Stars, a survey party finds someone in a spacesuit within a cave-like hole in the Copernicus crater. The body was that of a human being who had died over 50,000 years ago. Apparently it had come from Minerva, the long destroyed planet between Mars and Jupiter.

In The Gentle Giants of Ganymede, an alien spaceship has been found under the ice of Ganymede. Inside are found the remains of eight-foot tall entities who have been named Ganymedeans. Then the Shapieron, a fully operational Ganymedean spaceship, appears near Ganymede.

In Giants' Star, the Shapieron leaves to search for the migrated Ganymedeans at a star in the constellation of Taurus. Before their departure, a message is sent from a human installation on the Luna Farside toward this star telling of the ship's departure and a response is received soon thereafter welcoming the crew to their new home. Although no other responses are received for some time, months later messages start arriving in English using standard communication codes from a source in the fringe of the solar system.

These novels established the author's reputation as a writer of hard science fiction capable of inducing a sense of wonder. All three of these novels concern the use of the tools of science and technology to explore the past and present of other societies, one human and the other alien. They evoke the vicarious excitement of discovery, from gathering data to forming a consistent explanation.

Highly recommended for Hogan fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of archaeological investigation of alien civilizations and first contact with such aliens.

-Arthur W. Jordin

The Giant's Trilogy speculates about an alternative path for human evolution, the source of human aggressiveness, and the irrationality of evil. My copy call it "A novel about man's place in the Universe." This trilogy weaves a multi-dimensional tapestry to point out the absurdities and dangers of a warrior/dominator culture.

The story introduces itself with the discovery of "Charlie," a 50,000 year-old human corpse on the moon. How did he get there when Neanderthals still walked the Earth? The first book answers this question, but opens up to deeper mystery. In the process it introduces the reader to one of the processes in the scientific community.

New scientific theories begin when attempts to explain a discovery challenge the assumptions of the current paradigm. Complicated theories develop more and more unsupportable mechanisms until somebody has the courage to challenge a fundamental tenet of the old paradigm: "the earth is not the center of the universe" or "the continents drift." Hogan makes this process seem relatively quick and painless. In the real world, it may take decades--once people were even burned at the stake for this kind of breakthrough.

The Gentle Giants of Ganymede, the second book in the trilogy, avoids the abyss many authors fall into between the hook of the first book and the climax of the third. An interesting book in its own right, it tells a story about humankind's first extraterrestrial contact. It explains more pieces of the mystery of "Charlie," but it also raises more questions--questions the aliens cannot answer.

Philosophically, this book allows Hogan to describe a non-violent, non-coercive society, and how it might have evolved naturally. Frequent contrasts between the aliens and humans continuously demonstrate two points: how aggressive behavior, of both individuals and governments, threatens the human race and impedes social and personal development; and how our

aggressiveness also gifts us with creativity and the ability to make rapid "progress." It proffers the challenge of aggressively pursuing knowledge while pursuing peace and the ability to live together in community.

Finishing up the trilogy with Giant's Star, Hogan answers the questions that have haunted us for two books. Only one mystery remains, and that is a blatant irony that points out the absurdity of dominator behavior (This trilogy makes interesting reading after Rianne Eisler's The Chalice and the Blade).

On these pages we discover the splendors of the Giants' home planet, a "final" explanation of human evolution, the vast conspiracy to use superstition and religion to prevent human development, and some conspirators with a nefarious scheme to deal the human race out of galactic history. Resolving these issues leads to a satisfying conclusion to a complex trilogy.

It's interesting to look back with a quarter-century's perspective and see the world Hogan projected. While the Cold War is over, the United States and Soviet Union still compete economically in Hogan's universe--in ours, the remnants of the Soviet Union struggle on as Third World nations. In both universes there is a European Union. Hogan describes internet communication between laptops, but conceptualizes it as portable videophones. Does anybody remember Digital Equipment Corporation (now folded into Compaq)? Hogan anticipates DEC minicomputers onboard sub-orbital transports. Of course, he worked for DEC when he wrote these stories!

Hogan has woven a compelling universe, one that is a pleasure to explore. His characters lack depth, but his story telling ability brings them alive. Five stars for an exciting, consistent, and complex universe. Four stars for writing style. Three for character development. A great deal of fun to read--and even more fun to think about. Worth every twinkle of four stars.

(If you'd like to discuss this book or review further, please click on the "about me" link above and drop me some email. Thanks!)

About 12 years ago I found "Inherit the stars" (or "Der tote Raumfahrer" here in Germany) in a waste basket. After reading a few pages I was totaly captured by the story and the characters.
Ever since then I tried to get more of JPHs books, but unfortunately they are out of print in Germany.
Luckily Amazon had most of the books ready for me. And I can just say: Get 'em and read 'em.
The giant novels are the greatest I have ever read. They even brought me to read (and certainly enjoy) english books, and as you may notice english is not my native language

For the readers of real science fiction (also unnecessarily called "hard sci-fi") this trilogy has everything to satisfy the skeptical, inquisitive and bored adventure seeker. Book One is the most scientifically oriented though the ending is its least interesting part; Book Two, where the main alien encounter takes place is a wonderful read, though at times slow. Book Three is the most fast-paced and least scientific. This trilogy, and a couple of other Hogan and Crichton novels rescued me from the dearth of real sci-fi since the early 90's. Hope they do the same for all.

Auch ich bin ein Fan dieses Autors, habe nur das Problem, daß ich kein Englisch spreche. Ich besitze "Die Riesen vom Ganymed" (mindestens zehnmal gelesen - und entdecke immer noch was neues) finde aber nirgendwo die beiden anderen Buecher der Reihe. Anscheinend gibt's die nicht mehr, seitdem der Moewig-Verlag in Pabel aufgegangen ist. Wer hat den 1. und 3. Teil auch in Deutsch bzw. den Sammelband, der zumindest in Amerikanisch erschienen ist? Wenn mir auch Hogan selbst nicht weiter helfen kann (ich hab ihn mit meinem Radebrech-Englisch angemailt) - Wer koennte mir die beiden Baende kopieren (egal was es kostet) bzw. für selbiges zuschicken? Ehrensache, daß ich die Kosten uebernehme.

Ich freu mich auf eine Antwort

Thommy/Simmern im Hunsrueck

All of the giants novels stand alone as foul-proof stories, but I was most impressed by the original story; Inherit the Stars. The brief intro on the back had me captivated. I found myself following the events in the other books simply because of the strength of the main characters. The only fault I could think of was that Mr.Hogan went into too much detail on the biology of the other species and not enough into the structure of their societies. I know this was due to the two species he did cover remarkably well being the main characters for all the stories. But they were so different it becomes necessary to find out what other types of life the Thuriens have discovered in the last 25 million years. Role on the next book.

The Giant's series provides a fascinating adventure through the complex world of our universe that requires "science fiction" to honor the facts as we know them. Although we know it has not happened, we can follow the "action" of the story as it is realistic and interesting. After working as a geologist for 30 years, I am in awe of the through analysis that went into creating the overall plot and facts that were unfolded in the series. As I tried my best to use science and geologic history to find fault with the books, I could only admire how well it was put together. Others have complained that it is "too scientific", it is accurate to this day. Based on the condition that it was written almost 30 years ago, it is as true for the attitude of stogy scientists and management now as it was then. Management has not changed in 30 years, if in 2,000 years. If you want a fantasy book without depth, then this is not a book for you. You are required to think. An open mind is hard to find and Hogan clearly has a good one.

We are quick to criticize that few women were key characters in the book but we can also read the beginning that said that the big contract was "200 million dollars". Now, a big contract like that would be 4 billion dollars in today's terms. Based on the time it was written, one must not require the author to adhere to modern standards as we know them today. The book must be read based on the time it was written as many classics of ancient history have been. It may not be "politically correct" by modern standards, but try to simply enjoy the story without making judgments. No insult to minorities was intended. Note that smoking was often referred to in a positive way and now that would be really negative.

The real joy of this book is being able to let your mind look at ways to examine what you see/evaluate in new ways, released from the sterile and confined ways of modern life, but to, what we may call "out of the box" thinking, and see what can happen when you have an open mind, intelligence and a team working for a common goal of knowledge. The series drags you from a simple concept of a man on the moon through the ideas of a different race and then meeting them. As you travel this road, each step is reasonable and fascinating. Yet, if you had made the leap from the beginning, it would have been absurd. Finding yourself in places where science is described 30 years ago in ways that is common to us now is also compared to emotional relationships we can all relate to. Science and life are well balanced in this author's trilogy.

Many will disagree with the hypotheses that Hogan presents in this series, but few can disagree that an intelligent person that critically, and without preconceived bias, evaluates information in their lives will find these books stimulating. Turn out the lights, light a candle and escape into a world of possibilities of a world that could have been worse that the one we have now, but maybe not. You can decide that.

After 50 years, I will say that "Inherit the Stars" is still my one and only favorite. When I think I know it all, I read this and begin to get humble again. An open mind is a beautiful thing. As they say, "try it, you might like it".