Amazon.com: SATURN RUKH: Robert L. Forward: Books

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

3.7 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another good book by Forward, September 10, 2001

By

R. Bagula "Roger L. Bagula" (Lakeside, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Saturn Rukh (Mass Market Paperback)

Can life exist in a gas giant's atmosphere? Intelligent life is
a hard thing to find anywhere in the universe and this book gives us a whale of a story about a sea so far away. A mission of modern science has been to find other intelligent life and communicate with it. Very few unique kinds of intelligent life have been invented by hard science fiction writers. Robert Forward is one of the best at it.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Old-Fashioned SF, September 24, 2003

By

J. COMER (Hesperia CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Saturn Rukh (Mass Market Paperback)

Spoilers!!

This is typical Forward: wooden characters whose interactions with each other are totally unbelievable, endless detail of beautiful, real near-future science, silly excuse-for-a-plot, and gorgeous, staggering vistas of real otherworlds and their realistic, amazingly creative inhabitants. The ruus, huge gasbags flying in the atmosphere of Saturn, are far more interesting than the humans who contact them, but Forward always does this. The scenes are giant, brilliantly colored, animated Chesley Bonestell movies: the ruus diving to hunt; the humans "climbing down Saturn's Rings" with the aid of the (real) Hoytether, a kind of super rope which Forward marketed; the funeral of an aged rukh whose flockmates sing as she falls endlessly to the lethal gas layers below; the final battle with an alien monster myth-made-real. If you value character and plot, take your business elswhere. For science and the sheer pleasure of the view, read this!

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't Read This Book. . ., December 21, 2000

By

David Zampino "21st Century Hobbit" (Delavan, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Saturn Rukh (Mass Market Paperback)

. . .for depth of character development! Like many of Forward's novels, there is a definite weakness in that department. HOWEVER, if you like "hard" science fiction -- sci fi which grasps the best that current scientific understanding has to offer, you will thoroughly enjoy this engaging book.

Forward writes of a mission to Saturn's atmosphere in order to build a fuel factory from the (almost) limitless supply of helium contained there. In the process, the crew discovers life -- life supremely suited to its environment.

4.5 for the science, 3 for the plot, 1.5 for the shallow characters. Overall, a 3 -- and a good read.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Grand Vistas, Interesting Aliens, Drab Humans
This is the 2nd book I have read by Robert Forward, the other being Camelot 30k. The premise of Saturn Rukh is simple: find a way to extract the elements of Saturn's atmosphere... Read more

Published 11 months ago by mobiusklien

5.0 out of 5 stars Another good read.
RLF is another one of my favorite authors...

Too bad he died...

If you like hard science fiction - you will like this book.

MJL

Published on January 7, 2009 by Michael J. Laramee

4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining "hard science" fiction
Robert Forward is a scientist who writes fiction. He thinks and describes in terms of science problems and then writes a fictional story around it. Read more

Published on September 25, 2006 by Douglas A. Steinberg

2.0 out of 5 stars Rolling Stones grown up (and having lost their magic touch)
This reads like an attempt at an adult version of "Space Family Stone" / "The Rolling Stones" by Robert Heinlein and as such it does not quite make the... Read more

Published on August 6, 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book
I loved this book. I could hardly put it down. Being a science-oriented person, I had no problem with all the science. It did not seem dry or boring at all. Read more

Published on January 23, 2000 by Steven R. Allen

4.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic story, if you can take all the science
Okay, I got to admit, when I first started reading "Saturn Rukh" I didn't enjoy it at all. Read more

Published on December 1, 1999 by Tyfoon

4.0 out of 5 stars Robert Forward always rights good hard science fiction, but.
I always enjoy the books of Mr. Forward, both the fiction and the science articles. I recommend this book to people who like hard science fiction. Read more

Published on October 6, 1999 by Roland Tew (roland.a.tew@poj.u...

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
I enjoyed this book very much. It started slow, but got quicker paced as it went a long. I found it funny at times. Read more

Published on May 23, 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars It was pretty good. Worth reading.
I thought the author did a very good job at making a realistic story. There were some parts that I wish he wouldn't go into so much detail about the science. Read more

Published on January 24, 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun, thought provoking hard sci-fi read.
I just finished reading Saturn Rukh. It does my heart good to know that this quality of science fiction is still being written. Dr. Read more

Published on November 21, 1998

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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
GOT A JOB FOR YOU. PAYS A BILLION. The message blinked at the top of the screen three times, then disappeared. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
meta factory, meta plant, laser juice, tether whip, other rukhs, conical creature, quill roots, rendezvous stage, habitat tube, water cloud layer, hunting dive, secondary cooling loops, nighttime climb, feather canopy, feather forest, gee level, vernier jets, elimination tube, facilities deck, crew capsule, perigee burn, science console, hunting cone, pilot console, chordal phrase

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Space Unlimited, Art Dooley, Control Center, Body Peregrine, Colonel Montrose, Anne's Spot, Miss Ruby, Chastity Blaze, Peaceful Planet Protectors, Boeing-Mitsubishi Assembly Station, Great White Spot, Rod Morgan, Solar Lottery

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