Saturnalia [Paperback]

Grant Callin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1986

# Paperback # Publisher: Baen (January 1, 1986) # Language: English # ISBN-10: 0671655469 # ISBN-13: 978-0671655464 # Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches # Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Baen (January 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671655469
• ISBN-13: 978-0671655464
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,132,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an incredible book, similar to Heinlein., March 6, 1999

By 

Geoff Canyon ([e-mail]) (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saturnalia (Paperback)

This is one of the best SF books I've ever read. I just finished reading it for the third time, and it got me again with its great characters and gripping plot. The transformation of Dr. Kurious Whitedimple from mild-mannered professor of Archeology to hairy-chested space hero is gradual and highly enjoyable. I don't like the sequel, _A Lion on Tharthee_, quite as well, but it's also a very good book. I wish Grant Callin had been more successful/written more books.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Hard Sci-Fi, November 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Saturnalia (Paperback)

This book has some great engineering and solar system geography. Mr. Callin's incredible descriptions of Saturn and her moons is breathtakingly rich and intense . The plot is great, the science is magnificent. This book has some of the best spaceflight passages I have read. It's a must have, and I am sorry to see it out of print.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic unknown, October 18, 2005

By 

Michael J. Joyce "joyceman" (Pittsburgh) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saturnalia (Paperback)

The plot of this novel deals with the discovery and subsequent race to recover a series of alien artifacts placed throughout the saturnian system.

The backdrop is the economic and political competition between Earth and a series of orbiting colonial habitats operated by a corporation in the late 21st century.

The science is interesting and seems solid enough to a non-tech type like myself. The controlled reactor fusion drive(CRF) that the author posits as mankind's key to solar system travel gets more attention than many of the main characters. The description of Spacehome, the orbiting colonies, is wonderfully detailed and developed. The author's comfort level with subjects such as Saturnian astrography and engineering details is refreshing.

All that said, the real beauty of this story is the two main characters, and the friendship between them. Professor Kurious Whitedimple (who always has a joke about his name), the archaeologist who makes the initial discoveries and helps lead the team that recovers the final clues that the aliens have left. Junior Badille (who never loses a bet), the hypergenuis with the ability to design the tools needed to find the the aliens clues and eventually interpret them.

The humor and interplay between these two and the rest of the cast of characters is what really takes this into the realm of a great book. Callin does an excellent job of creating characters who grow and who you grow to love.

I first picked up this book in high school and have read it about 15 times since. It has a few groaner lines it in, but it remains one of my favorite pieces of fun fiction to this day.

A quick note, there is a sequel to this novel titled "A Lion on Tharthee" which deals with the the first contact between Humans and the aliens from this novel. Both of the main characters are reprised in the second novel.