Customer Reviews

The Ring of Charon (The Hunted Earth)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Roger M. Allen's "Ring of Charon" is great science-fiction. A hence-undiscovered alien race causes the Earth to disappear through a wormhole due to the unauthorized experiments of a gravity scientist, and the remaining off-Earth scientists try to find out what really happened. The story is told brillantly through the eyes of the human scientists, and the strange Charonians who plan to use the Earth for their own ends, which are not good for mankind. The way that the Charonians are Von Neumann creatures is a bit hard to swallow, as is the occasional overload of detail, as well the Naked Purple movement and the K-Crash, but Allen manages to be a master storyteller, and weaves a great story of human survival and the need for curiousity.

The Ring of Charon is a fantastic book and I could not wait for the second part to read. Unfortunaly, it took very long to finish it. Then, when the Shattered Sphere finaly found its way to the shop, I've had been waiting so long, that I read the first book again, and it was a pleasure, as I discovered and understood many things, I was not able to the first time. The Shatered Sphere starts off actually very slow, but when it starts going, it certainly lives more then up to the first part. Wow! That is truly "Hardcore Sience Fiction".
I'm just afraid, that I will never find out, how this amazing story will end as theres the stuff for a fantastic third book!
Outstanding books, which I will read over and over again, and who knows, maybe we will see the end of this great saga some day...

Roger Allen must be a very close friend of the Muse. The concept of this book is very creative, and he extends science fiction to a new level.

Great hard core SF, if you haven't read it then you must.
Must also read part 2 Shattered Sphere

I'm only half-way thru. Had the book for like 5 years on my shelf, from sci-fi book club. Read the other reviews at the office today, as I was searching for a sequel already. Wow! Great hard sci-fi (as others have said). Actually great hard-core Sci-fi. Hats off to the author. I recommend the academic work, Pluto and Charon, which I read a couple of years ago. Great companion reading, I'd say. Can't wait to get the sequel already.

This was really wonderful story. The characters were bright and real. Their growth of character was well considered, making them even more believable. The science was really spooky: it could be true. The use of gravity waves for discovering knowledge is on the edge of our future. Speculation of ways and means is pushing the boundaries of our knowledge bringing the capability to use gravity waves to within our grasp.
The outstanding dilemma of the Earth being lost to some outside, alien power gives the story and characters the impetus for their growth and development.
There must be a sequel, and I will be looking for it.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004

In a word: Excellent! Ok, it's not perfect, perhaps, and I would've given it 4.5 stars if it was possible, but "The Ring of Charon" is an amazing 'hardcore' Sci-Fi book which feels like a mental roller coaster ride right to the end. You don't just learn new information - you follow the characters as they think through the problems that they face, step by step - to a final, amazing conclusion.

First of all this is a good book. a very good one. It is not exellent because it lacks something in the more human side, what is called "soft" sci-fi. To say the truth, i cant really put my finger on it, but i sense it. On the "hard" side, i can find no flaw. his knowledge is extensive and super-uptodate, and is well-writen. It's a book to be read, if you consider yourself a serieus hard sci-fi fan.

This is a wonderful novel for sci-fi fans, and even those that are only recently getting into the genre. The concepts are not necessarily so far ahead of today's science (theory) that it just seems completely unbelievable. The only criticism that I have for it is that there are sooo many characters introduced and that the novel jumps between them soooo frequently that I sometimes had a difficult time keeping them straight. But otherwise a great novel. I'm eagerly searching for the next in the "Hunted Earth" series.

Invictus!

Don't let the cover fool you. About 5 pages into this book it takes off and doesn't let you go. World building/destruction go on at an amazing pace. If you like your science fiction HARD..this is the book for you!