Customer Reviews

Giants' Star

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

 

 

Giant's Star picks up almost precisely where The Gentle Giants of Ganymede left off. This entry continues the problem solving theme of the first volume (Inherit the Stars), except the mystery is a current and urgent one, threatening the future of mankind, not just an ancient puzzle concerning man's origins. The cast of characters includes the familiar faces of Vic Hunt and Chris Danchekker, their Ganymeans friends (including the irrepressible ZORAC) and many new friends, and, in something of a first for this series, enemies. Typical Hogan high tech extrapolation, including the use of a virtual reality technology by the aliens (impressive for a book written in the early 80s). If you've enjoyed this series so far, you'll find this volume a worthy successor. Enjoy!

Once again, Hogan's ideas are better that their execution. If he had real flesh and blood characters that actually developed I would gladly give a *****, but alas, Hunt seems as predictable as ever. Only that ZORAC alien is more formulaic. But these characters are only a foil for the real story: The discovery of mankind's origins and the problem facing us today now that we have finally met the allegedly died-out race.

Best aspects: Great VR, description of the Giant's world, the almost magical technology.
Worst aspects: Characters and style

I think I have read this before. The ending seems familiar, but maybe other stories have similar endings.
The story develops along ordinary lines: God comes back to Earth and enhances life, but challenges ensue. I like the way it is developed. There is some ideological and political theories, that were prevalent, are used to bring the story along. Some of the computer stuff is obviously outdated. I liked the way they traveled between the stars, rather intense and computer heavy, but, hey if you get so far, the rest is not so far out of reach.
The story is that humanity has settled down to just advancing their abilities and taking care of everyone reasonably well. They have ventured out to space, settled the Moon and visited and started studying the moons of Jupiter. They find some artifacts. A spaceship appears with aliens. The aliens happen to have lived on the planet that was between Jupiter and Mars, flew off on a mission to another star and came back. The people they were a part of moved to another planetary system for their own good. Everything is hunky-dory for a while, then a message comes back from the stars about the spaceship. Humanity goes through the back door,so to speak, learns what needs to be done and proceeds to help the aliens make the Universe safe for future generations (which is sort of easy when you are working with Gods), as well as becoming a part of an interstellar community.

Excitement and technical accuracy (Mr. Hogan was an engineer in his earlier career) have always been my favorite attributes of James P. Hogan's books. The Giant's Trilogy is my favorite. If you are a hard science fiction fan, you simply must read it.