The Spheres of Heaven [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Charles Sheffield (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2001

Pacifist aliens who hold Earth under quarantine want Chan Dalton to find out why their starships are disappearing. But the aliens are opposed to taking intelligent life, even in self-defense. When Dalton discovers hostile invaders, he must choose between fighting, losing the stars forever, or letting the enemy destroy Earth.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nebula and Hugo winner Sheffield (Convergent Series) takes a thoughtful stab at pacifism and its attendant possibilities in this engrossing sequel to The Mind Pool. In the past, Chan Dalton was forced to disband his motley crew of spacefarers when the Stellar Group, an alien pacifist outfit, banned the human race from space exploration because of its violent tendencies. Twenty years later, without frontiers or aims, human society is stagnating and crumbling. Called upon to track down stolen starships, Chan and his group are given the chance to pick up where they left off and visit uncharted regions of space. When Chan's gang reassembles, they receive instructions to refrain from violence of any sort--even in self-defense. But the first intelligent aliens they meet are warlike: the Malacostracans (a species resembling a cross between lobsters and spiders) are interested in conquest at any cost. When they capture several members of Chan's group, Chan faces an impossible question--should he resort to violence to free his crewmates, forsaking humankind's access to space forever? Is there any other way? In several places, coincidences pile up unconvincingly, and certain dangerous situations are wrapped up too easily. But Sheffield incorporates quantum physics (he is a mathematician and physicist), well-documented space travel and plenty of action into a smooth narrative. Readers of hard science fiction will find the story right up their alley.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Banned from interstellar travel for their aggressiveness, humans have one last chance to regain the stars, provided they can solve the mystery of the disappearance of a pair of alien ships lost somewhere in the unknown part of space known as the Geyser Swirl. This sequel to The Mind Pool continues Sheffield's far future history of humanity's attempts to explore the universe. His skill at blending hard science with fast-paced plotting and colorful characters makes this a first-rate sf adventure that belongs in most libraries.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Baen (February 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891412980
• ISBN-13: 978-0891412984
• ASIN: B0006H0HFK
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,485,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A little slow to start but well worth the wait, February 22, 2001

By 

John C. Silva "History Teacher" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spheres of Heaven (Hardcover)

Imagine being forced to accept a mission to an unknown place, where 3 previous expeditions vanished without a trace and being told you could not use violence in any form, even in self defense. Hard to imagine isn't it.

Sheffield's book takes a little while to set up the story but slowly builds the tension and steps up the pace until finally you are so into the book you suddenly realize you've been reading for hours and didn't notice the time passing. The story involves humans and three other intelligent species and their effort to investigate what is called a "link" to another star system. Who and what they find their is so intriguing that you can't help but pause and consider what YOU would do were you in their shoes and faced with the same situation.

The ending was very obviously written to allow a sequel but also written so that the book can stand on its own. An excellent adventure tale with none of the violence and destruction common to many other sci-fi novels currently on the market. A wonderful change and very fun to read.

I'm going to look into more of Sheffield's books now.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read., March 14, 2002

By 

Emil L. Posey (Huntsville, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spheres of Heaven (Hardcover)

This is a sequel to The Mind Pool. I think it's better. It involves a scratch team of humans, each with unique capabilities and each flirting with the wrong side of the law, who undertake a hazardous interstellar trip that lands them in another universe confronted by hostile, militaristic aliens with superior technology. I good romp, to be sure. One of its themes is that the faults of humans (violence, greed, deviousness, etc.) are survival traits. Charles Sheffield has become one of my favorite authors.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not very good, June 26, 2010

By 

small review - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spheres of Heaven (Mass Market Paperback)

I read this book because a friend told me to read it and I felt guilty saying no. As it was, it took me from August 2007 until January 2008 to finish the 532 page book. After September 2007 it was relegated to bathroom book status where I reluctantly read it when there was nothing else to do. I'm happy I finished the book (because it's now over).

The book wasn't bad, but I can't say it was good either. It was easy to read, so there's that. The human characters weren't overly annoying, but they were also barely there. Each character got anywhere from a paragraph to a chapter of description earlier on in the book, but these descriptions were apparently supposed to carry the characters through the whole book because they were barely developed beyond those early blurbs. I didn't think that worked too well, especially since the characters felt like cardboard caricatures as a result.

My friend was enamored with the weird aliens, but they just annoyed me. Three types of aliens are all against violence of any kind, but the fourth, new alien is all for violence. In fact, the fourth type of alien, a lobster type creature, are bent on taking over Earth and the human race. So while the humans are trying to protect themselves, the three allied aliens prattle on about how they must remain non-violent. Blah, blah, blah, they figure things out in a kind of inventive way and there you go.

If someone liked very base sci-fi, then this one might be enjoyable, but otherwise, I'd steer clear and not waste your time.