A Maze of Stars [Mass Market Paperback]

John Brunner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 1992

The ship's millenia-long mission was to preserve humanity. But humanity was becoming more alien, and the ship--impossibly--more human...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The latest novel from award winner Brunner ( The Crucible of Time ) reads like a series of short stories loosely linked by a framing narrative and a potentially intriguing plot device: a sentient spaceship. Called simply the Ship, this technologically superior vessel placed human colonies 500 years ago on the hundreds of hospitable worlds in the densely packed Arm of Stars. Programmed to return periodically and monitor the colonies' progress, the Ship is permitted to rescue endangered settlements--or individuals--and carry them to a more suitable planet. Since the Ship was developed with the capacity to think, Brunner depicts it striving to understand its own ultimate purpose and evolving personality. As it visits the various colony worlds, Brunner chooses several of these planets for closer inspection, producing a largely self-contained short story in each case before the Ship moves on. These sections display the author's impressive imaginative powers as he creates detailed, unique cultures and histories for each of his worlds. These independent narratives do not, however, add up to a successful novel. The passengers become little more than talking heads, asking the Ship questions that allow Brunner to fill in background details. The final section, in which Brunner explains the origins and purpose of the Ship, is flat and hurried.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Trapped in an endless progression through time and space, a sentient ship visits and revisits the 600 planets it once seeded with human life, occasionally picking up passengers for enlightenment and entertainment and always questioning its purpose in a universe where human adaptability has too often proven its undoing. As is often the case in metaphysical meditations disguised as sf novels, this ambitious work by the author of Stand on Zanzibar (1968) suffers from too much philosophy and too little continuity, as intriguing characters appear and disappear in a few short chapters. Libraries with large sf collections may want to consider.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Del Rey (January 22, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345375548
• ISBN-13: 978-0345375544
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,273,124 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Viscous talent; impressive display, March 31, 2010

By 

M-I-K-E 2theD "2theD" (The Big Mango, Thailand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Maze of Stars (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the eighth Brunner novel I've read and it's perhaps the most mature novel he has written. A Maze of Stars is an exhibition for Brunner's talent at developing extrasolar planets (see Bedlam Planet and Polymath) as well as creating distinctive cultures (see Crucible of Time and The Sheep Look Up). The maturity is revealed through his use of vocabulary with rarely read words such as `munificence,' `adumbrated,' `insalubrious,' and `fecundity' (two of which I had to look up myself).

Brunner impresses the reader by creating twenty (I counted) unique planets with twenty unique environments and cultures. Whether it is fauna, atmosphere mixtures, soil composition or living conditions, Brunner covers so many planetary circumstances that there is little else left to cover: de-evolved barbaric humans, spaceship-building humans and dwindling housebound humans are just some examples. Add to this a fluid cast of humans among the evolving putty-like intelligence of The Ship.

The Ship, as it is known in concurrent histories, visits each of the hundreds of seeded planets during a cyclic course. With these periodic sojourns, The Ship has the choice to retrieve a human or humans who are in peril, who may also ride with The Ship until another suitable planet has been selected. The Ship, intelligent and exploring human emotions, grows attached to the humans it has selected to come aboard and each visit enriching its human sentiment.

There's a lot packed into this 326 page novel, which reads much like a series of short stories glued together through the medium of The Ship. The reading is mostly dry with very little atmospheric inflections- short on humor but heavy on insight. The philosophy Brunner demonstrates in A Maze of Stars is isn't exactly thick but it is sporadic and intuitive. Regular readers of Brunner won't be disappointed nor will first time readers as this novel will leave a fatty yet flavorful residue of talent on your literate tongue.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rewarding reading - one of Brunner's best novels, February 23, 2010

By 

Paul Brooks (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Maze of Stars (Mass Market Paperback)

A Maze of Stars, published in 1991, was the next to last of the 53 science fiction novels written by John Brunner 1934-95. Having read most of his novels I can opine that it is one of his best space-exploration themed stories. The fact is that most of Brunner's novels utilize the subject matter of planetary exploration as a backdrop for his tales. Surprisingly after plowing the same field many times Brunner, near the end of his life and career, was able to invigorate this theme with a unique perspective, sympathetic characters and fascinating planetary societies. To be candid I sometimes found his earlier works unimagitive and generic of the type published by other authors. I was very gratified that he was able to infuse so much imaginative creativity into this novel.

The main character is the Ship. So large it cannot land, the Ship was designed to travel the "Arm of Stars" (presumably an spiral arm of our galaxy) and seed humanity on planets likely to support life. When the story begins we are informed that six hundred planets have been seeded with human stock over a five hundred year voyage. The Ship, as part of its program, surreptitiously revisits the seeded planets to observe how the experiment is progressing.

Brunner employed a non-liner narrative method in this novel. Many short narratives describing the successes or failures of the humans "seeded" by the Ship take up the story line. The narratives are small gems in themselves. In a few pages Brunner details credible societies, emotions and ecological challenges and as sense of "otherworldliness'" that were lacking in many of his other full-length novels. The Ship cements theses story segments with observations and commentary while all along it is slowly questioning its ultimate goals. During the voyage the Ship rescues three different individuals for relocation to another world. As expected these folks dialog with the Ship and we learn some of the methodology used by the Ship to achieve its goals.

Brunner avoids subjecting us to the easy crutch employed by most science fiction authors: intelligent, sentential, aliens good, evil or indifferent. You wont find any in this book. Humanity is alone and must contend with alien microbes, chemistry, flora and fauna but no BEM's. (Bug eyed monsters)

I highly recommend this book because for this reader it rekindled the "sense of wonder and adventure" that is one of the private pleasures of reading.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In Retrospect..., December 25, 2007

By 

ARLAN W. DEAN "dean-communications.com" (BROOKLYN, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Maze of Stars (Mass Market Paperback)

I read this book in 1991 and recently found myself hunting for it to re-read (yes, 17 years later). That's how compelling a story collection it is. It is in fact a collection, held together in a common framework by the Ship's journeys and at times somewhat ponderous ruminations. Yet there's a vivid kaleidoscope of descriptions of what humankind might become, from the surprising timidity of the settlers of the outermost worlds to the many bizarre biological adaptations of humans in different local environments.

Those looking for an action-packed space western should look elsewhere. Those looking for something much more thoughtful would be advised to give this book a read or two.Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device