Ship of Fools [Paperback]

Richard Paul Russo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2001

No one remembers where they came from or where they're going. For hundreds of years, the starship Argonos, home to generations of humans, has wandered throughout the galaxy, searching for other signs of life. Now, a steady, unidentified transmission lures them toward a nearby planet, where remnants of shocking brutality will send the ship reeling into deep space-and into a haunting alien mystery...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After raising some tantalizing religious issues, Philip K. Dick Award-winner Russo fails to deliver a real climax and leaves the plot unresolved in this initially suspenseful but ultimately disappointing novel. Bartolomeo Aguilera, the story's narrator, gives a haunting picture of life on the Argonos, a starship that is home to generations of humans born aboard her; no one remembers the ship's origins--its birthplace may have been Earth--but it drifts year after year "almost at random through the galaxy," without apparent purpose or goal. Finally the ship lands on an unknown planet. There the crew finds a Dante-esque scene in a chamber located deep within a jungle: "There were hundreds of bones scattered about the floor, strips of decayed flesh, pools and smears of viscous fluid. Just as it was impossible to avoid brushing against the hanging skeletons, so was it impossible to avoid stepping on bone or in thick, sticky liquid as I moved through the room." A mutiny follows. Bartolomeo is imprisoned, but when a mysterious ship, seemingly imbued with evil, shows up, he is released and named leader of an exploration team. Here the book becomes largely static and uninvolving. The hoped-for resolution never occurs, the religious questions remain unexplored, while the ending proves an all-too-familiar shaggy-God story. Perhaps a sequel will supply some answers.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The starship Argonos has wandered without purpose through space for hundreds of years when it receives a transmission from a strange planet. For the first time in memory, the crew must make decisions that could change their lives forever. The author of Carlucci's Edge explores the timelessness of space travel and its effects on the human consciousness while simultaneously telling a tale of high adventure and personal drama in the far future. A good choice for most sf collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Ace Trade (January 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441007988
• ISBN-13: 978-0441007981
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,295,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So many questions..., April 5, 2001

By 

Steph (philly) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ship of Fools (Paperback)

I think the problem the "editorial review" had with this book is the fact that it raises a WHOLE LOT of questions and leaves the reader to mull things over for him/herself. If you're one of those people who like your sci-fi in an hour TV show where everything is wrapped up neatly for you at the end of the hour, so you don't have to bother to think very much, then this is probably NOT the book for you.

That said, I loved this book for being brave enough to be unconventional. Bartolomeo, the narrator, paints a broad picture of life on the Argonos, a ship wandering the universe for centuries. History, sociology, and religion are all explored in his description of the society and bureaucracy on the Argonos. Bartolomeo wants to be devoted to his captain, embroiled in a power struggle with the church (who else?), but the social structure where the privileged few profit from the labor of the masses ultimately disturbs him. He is also distracted by his feelings (one couldn't really call it a romance) for Father Veronica, a female priest who ends up with him on the exploration team.

All of this becomes moot as the Argonos comes across first a massacred colony and then an alien spaceship that may or may not be responsible for it. The editorial review quote demonstrates just a bit of the horror and shock of the exploration crew that finds the remains of the colony. For the most part, though, the suspense is the exploration of the alien ship: it appears to be deserted, yet it is constructed oddly and even threateningly, and strange "accidents" and "illnesses" keep occurring among the crew. Yet this book never descends to the "jump out and say boo" level of B-movie aliens. It is mostly subtlety, which will keep you guessing until the end, and maybe even after.

A final word: one of the reviews below that says it won't give away too much about the story TELLS YOU ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT HAPPENS!!! I am sad that I read the review before reading the book, so then I knew what was coming. Just thought I'd warn you.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superbly crafted, February 23, 2001

By 

Stephen Chakwin (Norwalk, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ship of Fools (Paperback)

This book starts off slow and conventional. Everyone's on a spaceship bound for nowhere, nobody knows where it came from or why its going on. The Roman Catholic church (why are science fiction authors obsessed with the RC church, think of Dan Simmons's Hyperion/Endymion books? Is it the ceremonial nature and centuries of hidden intrigues of established Christianity?)is up to no good and, although it has finally gotten around to allowing women to become priests, is running an alternative power structure to that of the existing "government" of the space ship, which is a government of privileged occupants living on the fruits of the labor of a wretched and resentful underclass of inhabitants.

Everything gets called into question when the spaceship encounters signs of nonhuman life and an alien spaceship that is either a deserted wreck or a deadly trap. How the ship's people and institutions respond to the challenge is a fascinating story and the way events unfold is riveting in Russo's narrative.

The final quarter of this book is unforgettably riveting and terrifying. I couldn't put it down and doubt that any reasonably attentive reader would be able to.

The end is more of a stop than a conclusion, but this is common in the genre. Perhaps there is a sequel on the way.

This is a superb book. Anyone willing to read speculative fiction will enjoy it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant surprise, August 22, 2005

By 

ash (Phoenix) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ship of Fools (Paperback)

I picked this book up thinking it was by Richard Russo of Empire Falls fame. I was about a third of the way through when I realized it was a different author. No matter - I was enjoying this story so much that I kept on reading, finishing the book in a day. This is the type of sci fi I like - more of a social cultural look at our future rather than dependance on hardware, with many themes that we are still tackling today. Fast paced story, well written, with interesting characters and dilemmas. Now I want to search for more of this writer's books.