The Quiet Pools [Hardcover]

Michael P. Kube-McDowell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1990

It is humanity's most ambitious endeavor-and its most controversial: the Diaspora Project. A city-sized starship that will carry ten thousand men and women, chosen among Earth's billions, to a new life beyond our solar system. For those who are to go, the cost is their families, their loved ones, and the lives they have known. For those who are left behind, there is disappointment, despair, and anger. And for the Homeworld movement, led by the enigmatic Jeremiah, the Project is an abomination that must be stopped at any cost. The theft of Earth's best and brightest children? Or the ultimate destiny of the human race?

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The diaspora has begun: the spending of Earth's wealth to send STL generation ships to distant stars. Starstruck volunteers queue up hoping to be selected for one of the five ships, but others condemn this dispersal of materials and people needed to help Earth recover from ecological damage. Jeremiah "for the Homeworld" leads the rebels with acts of sabotage calculated to slow the exodus and turn world opinion against it. Meanwhile, Thomas Tidwell, official historian of the Diaspora Project, is tracking down a dark secret that hides the true reason for the migration. Kube-McDowell ( Enigma ) presents the world of 2095 through the two viewpoints of Mikhail Dryke, a security agent trying to track down Jeremiah, and Christopher McCutcheon, a project worker and folk singer who gets caught in the gears. The society is believable, socially and technically, the writing keeps a steady pace, building toward the climax, and the secret proves to be quite imaginative.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Bdd Promotional Book Co (April 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792483820
• ISBN-13: 978-0792483823
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,676,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Explores what drives man (and Man) to go into space., July 1, 1999

By 

David Walter "[e-mail]" (Grosse Pointe, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Quiet Pools (Hardcover)

This book is written on many levels, ranging from one man's efforts to understand the source of his own personality to the conflicts on a global basis surrounding the building of a generation starship.

The book is entertaining on the superficial level and rewarding at the deeper, personal level. Within a believable framework, it matches the thrust and parry of Jeremiah - speaking for the Homeworld vs. the head of security of the starship project. In addition, any adult reader will be stimulated to recall memories of their own childhood and the pains of growing up.

I recommend it as both fun and time well spent.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent but Unsatisfying, May 8, 2006

By 

Claus Kellermann "GeoPhysicist" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quiet Pools (Paperback)

The Quiet Pools (1990) by Michael Kube-McDowell - 371 pages - rating: 6/10

Kube has crafted a detailed and plausible picture of the future. His characterizations have depth and honesty. Much of this novel is compelling and intriguing. Only occasionally does his writing style come off as overly verbose or inherently awkward.

Unfortunately he forgot to tell a story. The Quiet Pools is little more than the build up to a sequel that was never written and quite probably never intended. One is forever waiting for this glorious Starship to set sail so that the characters Kube has so vividly painted can be challenged by the dangers of the cosmos and an adventurous undertaking.

The entire book however, is just the build up BEFORE the ship launches. Perhaps I've missed the point. Ultimately the feeling one is left with is that the author has tried to do something different at the expense of failing to tell an interesting story.

Claus Kellermann
2006 May 8
[e-mail]

2.0 out of 5 stars Aimless, till the last third of the book, but has its moments, September 2, 2011

By 

mobiusklien "mobiusklien" (New York, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quiet Pools (Paperback)

First of all you have to care about at least some characters in a novel, and it was not clear how important Christopher McCutchen was till well into the story. I guessed the deeper connections to Chris , his father and the punchline, just a few chapters before it was revealed. The premise of genetic destiny was an interesting idea, that was treated too much as a mystery, instead of laying out the premises, and then letting the characterization refute and support the notion. The descriptions felt dated, (granted I read this in 2011). It was an unsatisfying read from many perspectives and was really difficult to get through. What made it worse was that Christopher who turned out to be the key character for many reasons, was about as annoying as you could possibly get. Self defeating, opening his mouth to switch his feet. His final decision was so ridiculous, it almost felt desperate and nothing off his personal problems had been solved to make him a healthier addition to the new community he suddenly joined.
Sadly a lot of near term science fiction has this feel and pace. I gave it 2 stars because it held me for the last 100 pages or so, just when I was about to toss it out. Too much disjointed build up, and in the end, who cares!! I will try the author again, because the premise was worth exploring