Customer Reviews

The Siege of Eternity (Eschaton Sequence)

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

 

 

This book is incomplete and unsatisfying. Although I love Pohl's stories, I felt like I had wasted my time with this book. There is no resolution. No conclusion. It just stops. I though that maybe my copy was defective and missing a few pages. That said, it is an okay story. But hardly worth the hard cover price. You could really skip it and go directly to the much better "real" book, "The Far Shore Of Time".

Although not quite as entertaining as "The Other End of Time", this is still a good read. It is basically building up to what I hope is a climactic ending in "The Far Shore of Time". Most of the book deals with USA's/NBI's reaction to the duplicates and the aliens once they arrive back on earth. It also describes the political posturing by the various UN nations to gain access to the aliens and their technology aboard the Starlab. Things become more interesting toward the end of the book when the Scarecrows' spacecraft is detected and a broadcast is received. At the end of the book there is the dreaded realization that the Scarecrows have already infiltrated the populations of earth and have begun their conquest which should set up the third novel in the series very well. One thing I didn't care for was the comment boxes that Pohl inserted randomly throughout this book. It is somewhat annoying to break from the story to have to read these. Perhaps they would have been better placed at the beginning of each chapter.

The Siege of Eternity doesn't quite live up to the expectations I had after reading The Other End of Time, as Pohl chooses to mostly ignore the eschaton issue which made the first novel so fascinating.

However, the Siege of Eternity has a taut plotline that was somewhat lacking in the first. Eternity reads more like a techno-thriller than the contemplation on the nature of the universe and man's place therein. As a thriller, Eternity works very well. It is impossible to put the book down. Unfortunately once I finished tearing through the book I felt as if I had just eaten a boatload of popcorn. It tasted good going down but wasn't all that filling.

The prospects for the final book in the trilogy don't look too good for a swing back in the direction of the first since the big cliffhanger at the end of the first is left completely unresolved. (In fact it isn't even touched) Which means that the third novel must include the introduction of the Horch and the obligatory big space battle between humans, Horch, and Scarecrows. All of which can't leave much room for philosophical contemplation. Here's to hoping Pohl decides to make it a tetralogy so he has space to return to his ruminations on the eschaton.

Part of a true three novel trilogy Eschaton, including (The Other End of Time, The Siege of Eternity, The Far Shore of Time). This trio deals with first contact but Pohl couldn't let it be a simple aliens encounter, there are two different and of course warring alien alliances but that is as far as the "of course" goes. The leaders of earth first have to come to terms among themselves so they can choose correctly from slim, hidden and misleading evidences, which group of aliens is truthful and altruistic and which will conquer and enslave.
Besides the wonderful Sci-Fi and multitude of sentient beings there is a good study of the human psyche in captivity. Also a twist in dealing with unwanted clones; not knowing which is the original, if there is an original, which clone gets the spouse and like conundrums.
You have to stay alert to the fast pace and changing / multiplying cast. A very good read with interesting alien customs and biology's.

Pohl is a fine and talented author, but in Siege of Eternity he ignores his experience and squashes his talent. The writing is simplistic, but with too much sex and violence for this to be a childrens book. The characters are shallow and undeveloped. Despite the action and sex, the book is a bore. Worse yet, when you finish (and I am not giving anything away), *nothing* is resolved! Turns out you wasted all this time on an obvious introduction to a serial. If you want to enjoy some good Frederik Pohl, don't read this book.

I just borrowed this book and the prequel from the library. I have loved Frederik Pohl's books in the past and thought that this sounded good. The prequel was a great read, bringing forward some very interesting ideas and creating a believable if somewhat depressing view of the future. This book on the other hand, was what can best be described as filler. Nothing really happens in this book and it is much more a political potboiler than a science fiction book. It's sole purpose seems to be to show how petty and greedy people as a whole can be and to set up the next book.

It is fine to put in some political intrigue and background information into a book, in fact it made the first book in the series very satisfying. But there still has to be some new ideas or at least some action mixed in or the reader feels cheated. All I can say is that if I had actually paid for this book I would definitely have felt cheated.

This is the second book in a three part series, but when I picked it up at a used book shop I didn't really know that was the case. It was only after I finished the book that I realized there had to be more to the story. Right up until the ending the book flows well and doesn't come up against any problematic plot devices from the first novel that it is unable to explain. That said, I would not have been surprised to see a giant To Be Continued at the end as it does finish quite abruptly.

The overarching concept to the book (and the series) is that two species of aliens are warring across the galaxy in their quest to obtain access to the Eschaton. The Eschaton is best explained by the human concept of heaven. A place where everyone who has ever lived is reborn and never dies. It's unfortunate that this concept is not really explored much at all in this book. The Eschaton is mainly used here as the motivation behind the actions of the alien hostiles.

The book starts with the return of several people from the investigation of an orbiting space station that was supposedly modified by aliens. The returning crew though has found nothing out of the ordinary. Then a strange transmission is received from the space station indicating that things aren't exactly what they seem to be.

From there the story takes a series of twists and turns as various investigations ensue. The main thrust of the book is the desire to figure out what the motivations of the various aliens are, as well as to understand what has happened to the people who have returned from the station.

The story is well paced and certainly has interesting tidbits that keep it moving along. To be sure this book would probably make more sense having read the first book, but Pohl does a good job of filling in the necessary blanks without spoiling that first part. That said, I will most likely pick up the first book before attempting the third book. This isn't an instant classic like some of Pohl's other work, but it has an entertaining pulp flavor to it that keeps you coming back to see what happens next.

Evidently there is a prequel to this book, although the book itself has NO reference to such that I can find. I've only found out by buying the other book (The covers look very similar). It's disapointing to read these two out of order. And this book leaves it WIDE open for another sequel - and without it, it is quite "way to open".

What publisher publishes a book without mentioning the predecessor?

This was a cleverly written narrative by one of my favorite science fiction writers. Pohl as usual manages to make the fantastic seem believable enough so that you can say to yourself, "Something like this might be reality some day."

Aliens with an odd theological bent contact Earth, and it quickly becomes clear their intentions aren't benevolent.

On the plus side, the book moves at a brisk pace, and there actually the kernels of a couple neat ideas scattered throughout. I also liked the dystopian setting, especially the random asides nestled throughout, such as PSAs about daily terrorist activity or inflation.

On the cons, this book requires a huge amount of suspension of disbelief on how most of the characters act. I was stunned that a police state would be so naive and non-paranoid towards the situation at hand, though clarifying that would be a fairly large spoiler. Suffice it to say, one reason I kept reading was to see if my suspicions (which amazingly none of the other characters had) would be borne out, and unfortunately they weren't.

Also, parts of this book were just silly. If you don't mind having aliens called "Scarecrow", "Dopey," and "Doc," then you'll be comfortable.

Parts of this book come across as filler, as they ultimately serve no purpose. Then again, this may well be part of a series, so these unsatisfying loose ends may serve some future purpose. I don't plan to find out.

The first 75 pages of this book were great, but palpably jumped the shark when the aliens physically showed up. If you turn off your brain and don't question anything, then it might even merit 4 stars. Not for me, though.