Customer Reviews

Jumping Off the Planet

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Thirteen-year-old Charles feels as if he and his brothers are possessions that his divorced parents battle over. His mother loathes his father because she believes her three progenies ruined her career as a singer. His father detests his mother for her infidelity. Now his mother wants to terminate her former spouse's visitation privileges. However, the court awards him custody of his children for one month each year. He takes Charles, Douglas, and Bobby to Mexico where they catch a train to Beanstalk City. There they ride an elevator that reaches beyond the atmosphere and serves as the jumping off point for the moon and other space colonies.

Initially, the Dingillian siblings think they are enjoying a family adventure, but the older two brothers (Charles and Douglas) soon believe their father plans to abduct the trio. Though a bit unsettled and frightened, they realize their father wants to make up for his past indiscretions and broken promises to them. However, they soon feel like pawns again when they learn their father is involved in a plot to change the world order. That latest betrayal shatters the sense of well being leading the boys down a course that will alter their lives forever.

Anyone who likes the works of Norton or Star Trek's "The Trouble with Tribbles" should immediately jump on JUMPING OFF THE PLANET. The tale is set in an alien, high tech environment, but deals with human problems caused by the divorce wars. David Gerrold has created a trio of memorable characters who deserve to continue as stars in an ongoing series. Anyone who enjoys a thought provoking science fiction tale will fully relish Mr. Gerrold's latest novel.

Harriet Klausner

When this novel first slid across my desk, part of me was thrilled to have another David Gerrold novel to read, while part of me dreaded dealing with a story line wrapped around a dysfunctional family -- seen primarily from the perspective of an adolescent. I am now extremely happy to tell you that the story line reels you in, and moves along at a pace like a run away train. The characters are believable and wonderfully real in their strengths and weaknesses.

The "world building" that Gerrold did in creating this novel is reminiscent of Arthur C. Clarke's "Fountains of Paradise" but in the Western hemisphere of a not-so-distant future. The balance of science to storyline is handled well, and the twists of story along the way are entertaining, if not exceptionally new. It is by no means a 'juvenile' novel, but instead should appeal to a much wider readership. Highly recommended.

This book is hard to classify but if you have read Gerrold's War Against The Chtorr books you will be familiar with the style.

The story concerns three brothers spending a visitation with their father. He suggests a trip to the Moon and, against all previous behavior patterns, actually seems to follow through on the idea.

Getting to the Moon involves using a space elevator located in Ecuador at Sheffield Clarke. This is one of two currently in operation.

But nothing is quite so simple. Mom thinks Dad is trying to kidnap the children. Where did Dad get the money? What about all of the strange characters who are interested in the family? Needless to say, it gets quite complex.

The whole story is seen through the eyes of the middle son (Charles or Chigger). Because of this, events and characters often seem more incidental than they really are.

The story is also fleshed out with loads of discussions on planetary economics, physics, biology, etc. There are also complications from the overcrowded Earth. Plagues are starting to spread over vast sections of the planet and there have been reports of giant pink caterpillars that can eat horses (Chtorr?).

Kids may star in this book, but it is really aimed at the thinking reader. This is not a fluff piece or an action yarn. But it is very entertaining and a good first piece to the series.

I enjoyed this book, which created a vivid depiction of multiple facets of a future world. Gerrold was equally adept at portraying the dynamics of an intelligent adolescent caught in the middle between battling family members and creating a realistic future vision. I totally disagree with the reader who refused to buy this or any other book by Gerrold until he finishes his Chtorr series. If the author wants to write something new and different, more power to him. And I don't believe in rating books by reviewers who haven't read the book.

Words escape me. I had really high expectations reading the other reviews of this book. I've read most of David's other work, and liked it. I also have to admit a secret fondness for science fiction written for the so-called juvenile audience. I really wanted to like this book, and I just didn't. The science part was up to par, but the story, the plot, and most of all, the chacters made my skin crawl. I will stipulate that this family probably exists in real life, but why write about it?

I picked this off the library shelf yesterday because a reviewer was described it on the cover as having a protagonist similar to Heinlein's juveniles. Wow, I was not disappointed! Tor's got another hot one. Gerrold does a wonderful job of describing the tribulations of a kid in a dysfunctional family, and he does one of the best jobs I've seen of focusing on the kinds of things a kid would notice. Jumping Off the Planet is a delightful (but much more psychologically and sociologically complex) heir to classical SF with juvenile protagonists.

The plot of Jumping Off the Planet is fast-paced and exciting enough (harrowing at times!) to keep me reading last night until I finished it. Which sort of surprises me in retrospect, since the scale of the novel is not particularly huge: basically, it just gets the protagonist up a beanstalk and into space. But so much happens on this futuristic road trip/elevator ride on that I was quite satisfied with the novel. Well, maybe not totally satisfied - having finished the book, I want more. Right now! (I've got a feeling I'm going to enjoy this trilogy.)

Gerrold handles difficult subjects like race and sexuality deftly. His main characters are complex and interesting, and he develops them artfully throughout the book. I didn't want to stop reading because I couldn't wait to find out what happened to them next. The economics, politics, law and science in the novel's background seem plausible and are well thought-out.

The fairly-near-future world of Jumping Off the Planet is familiar enough to seem like home, and possible enough to be frightening. The characters are well done, and the plot is riveting. I'll be returning this book to the library and buying my own copy. And when the sequels come out, I'll have them pre-ordered here on Amazon. What an excellent book!

When this book was recommended to me as a work of "young adult sci-fi", I was dubiously interested. Five pages into "Jumping Off The Planet", I was anxiously reading to find out more! One would hardly call this brilliantly realized sci-fi story suitable for "young adults" entirely, but it is told from the perspective of an intelligent, curious, 13-year-old boy.

When Charles "Chigger" Dingillian is approached by his mostly-absent father to take a little "vacation to the Moon" with him, Chigger figures it to be yet another empty promise made to him by one of his emotionally manipulative and unstable parents. The Earth was becoming vastly overcrowded, and disease-ridden, but such was life on the planet. Chigger had his music as escape, recently having "discovered" the raw emotional beauty of 20th century jazz musician John Coltrane. He plugged in whenever his mothers incessant harping and belittling became too much to handle...and that was most of the time. Caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle for him and his two brothers, Chigger decides that even if his father makes promises that he can't keep, he might as well accept his father's offer. Couldn't hurt. Little does Chigger know that his father, desperate, broke, and willing to do almost anything to save his own butt, is kidnapping them and involving them (without their knowledge) in a smuggling scheme "guaranteed" to make him rich. Nothing turns out as planned though.

As the tension escalates, and the anxiety between siblings, father, and new friends reaches increasingly higher levels of deceit and manipulation...Chigger realizes that his dysfunctional family is far more unsalvageable than even he knew. His decision to divorce his parents is only one of the incredible climaxes of this fascinating story. Though simplistic at times, it is only so because of the maturity level of its narrator. David Gerrold does an awesome job of believable storytelling...down to the finest details of life in the 21st century. Politics, national intrigue, and familial greed all escalate this satisfying tale. The ability of Chigger to absorb all that happens around him and still make an adult decision based on these facts, drew me in and held me until the very last page! I recommend this to everyone!

In the near future three siblings are caught on different levels, between warring parents and a collapsing society. When their father devises a vacation for them, they don't suspect they're really being kidnapped and that an off-planet goal is the ultimate destination - when they do find out, danger and difficult decisions evolve in this fast-paced science fiction story which is especially strong on building the characters of three very different brothers.

Let me start of by saying this book touched me. I didn't expect it to, but there you go.

Others have given good summaries of the plot, so I won't bother.

The science and the world that David Gerrold built were very interesting, but it was the family relationships that gave this book soul. It took a while to develop a sympathy for this family, but it was very powerful at the end. I think it touched me because it wasn't the happy ending we all expect at the end of a novel, with all the loose ends tied up. It was messy, just like real family relationships are.

Sometimes I forget just how good of a write Mr. Gerrold is.

I've just ordered the other two books in the trilogy, and can't wait to read how the boys do.

Jumping Off the Planet (2000) is the first SF novel in the Starsider Trilogy. It is set in the mid future when a space elevators are connecting the Earth to geosynchronous orbit and beyond. The Moon and Mars are self sufficient colonies and interstellar colonies are being developed.

In this novel, Max Dingillian is an arranger and conductor. He is divorced from his wife and only has visiting rights with the children.

Maggie Campbell is the ex-wife of Max. She is almost always angry with her ex-husband and her children.

Douglas Dingillian is the eldest son of Max and Maggie. He is almost eighteen years old. Doug is a weird technogeek and lacks people skills.

Charles Dingillian is the second son of Max and Maggie. He is thirteen years old. Chigger is a music geek like his father, but he is usually in the middle of every argument.

Robert Dingillian is the youngest son of Max and Maggie. Bobby is a stinker, with a very whiny personality.

In this story, Max usually has custody of the boys for two weeks, but this time he will have them for four weeks. He mentions going to the Moon, but it seems to be just another broken promise. Instead, he takes them to Barringer meteor crater.

Charles is anxious about the sheer size of the crater. Then Bobby takes off running down the path. Max tells Charles to catch him.

Chigger isn't feeling any better with the dropoff alongside the path, but he chases Bobby anyway. Then Stinker trips and slides off the path itself. Charles makes himself reach down toward his brother.

Charles tries extending his belt to Bobby, but he can't it get enough for Bobby to grip. Then he freezes until Doug gives him the end of his belt. Max grabs Doug and together they pull Stinker to safety.

After climbing back up the path, Bobby wants to go to the concession stand. He then wants to buy everything, but finally settles on a robot monkey. Dad pays for the monkey and buys some additional used memory cards for the robot.

Afterward, they travel down to Mexico, with Max and Doug taking turns driving the rented car. At Puerto Vallarta, they turn in the car and Max pays cash for tickets on the SuperTrain Express to Beanstalk City. As the train takes them south, the Orbital Elevator rising up before them.

When they reach Terminus, they find themselves in a huge tent with the Line stretching up as far as they can see. The Line is anchored four kilometers below them and reaches up 22,300 miles to Geostationary and 12,700 miles more to Farpoint.

This tale takes the Dingillians off the planet. Maggie learns about their trip on the Orbital Elevator and calls the cops. Legal problems complicate their progress.

The Dingillians youngsters are caught in the middle between their very emotional mother and their passive aggressive father. Their father is never there for them and their mother blames them for everything their father does against her. They are never happy. Charles likes to go off on his own and listen to his music.

The coming stage of their journey is to Luna. The next installment in this series is Bouncing Off the Moon. The full trilogy is included in The Far Side of the Sky.

Highly recommended for Gerrold fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of space travel, dysfunctional families, and confused youngsters. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin