Customer Reviews

Star Dragon

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

 

 

This was a simple, old fashioned, and well-told yarn that in style and composition resembles many of the stories I read from authors of the 1950's with its concentration on plot over character development.
I've always preferred action over endless dialogue, and this one struck the right balance for me. I also enjoyed the science that was introduced along the way, and found the creature to be plausible. It reminded me of Neal Asher's creativity in creature creation in his Cormac books, and some of Peter Hamilton's creations too.
For whatever idiosyncratic reasons, I enjoyed it a lot.

There's an endorsement from David Brin on the cover of the book, saying something along the lines of "*this* is science fiction." And I am the kind of guy who really does enjoy reading about ramscoops and ansibles. But I found Brotherton's descriptions of the ship's propulsion and the binary star system to be a bit much to read through.

I like the world he's created, with the abundance of cheap biotech (as will be crammed down your throat in the first three pages), but compared to the richness of the technology, his characters are relatively flat. The story is servicable, but holds no great surprises. A fine book overall, but won't become one of my all-time favorites.

Mike Brotherton's STAR DRAGON is what I always wished for in a scifi story. Like attending a Bucky Fuller lecture with 3D graphics. This story exceeds on every level. The 6 main characters are brilliant, witty, likeable, fully developed, interesting, fantastic, cool etc. The story theme is outlandish, cutting edge, almost beyond our imagining, yet fascinating. The minds and bodies of the characters, the ship, space, the destination, the quest, the science... ALL are described in detail within detail within detail. The action is totally unpredictable yet sensible; the outcome grand and personal and thoughtful all at the same time. I could understand about 5% of the mind-bogglingly difficult physics described by Brotherton constantly throughout this story; but that does not slow the action or the inter-actions in any way. Other writers could learn volumes by dissecting this story and the art of the writer. I proclaim this story a prophetic classic that will not be fully appreciated for many years, and then maybe only by really imaginative physicists.

Mike Brotheron's "Star Dragon" is heavy on tech/science/astronomy, and I admit I sometimes had trouble following all of the information that was being thrown at me. But given Brotherton's training in astronomy and his passion for his field, I had no doubt that his material was dead on.

It's been years since I last read Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea," and I haven't (yet) read "Moby Dick." Brotherton's "Star Dragon" echoes both of these powerful tales in the relentless pursuit of prey, and the ethical questions and personal doubts that arise along the way.

I've already passed this book along to another avid sci-fi fan, and I do recommend this title to others.

Star Dragon is Mike Brotherton's debut in science-fiction, and places him high in the Hard-SciFi ranking. Dr. Brotherton has an ample scientific background in physics and astronomy (he is an associate professor in the department of Physics & Astronomy of the University of Wyoming). His expertise in astrophysics is clearly depicted in this first novel, in which stellar dynamics plays a very important role. Other central themes of the novel are biotechnology and exobiology.

Star Dragon is set in the near future, in the late 26th-Century. It is a world in which biotechnology is omnipresent, and occupies a niche that in most other SF works would be filled by robotics: there are biodevices that act as assistants, "fishes" that deal with environmental waste processing, and even biochairs ("chairbeasts" is the descriptive term used by the author) that are perfectly suited to the preferences of their owners. All these devices are created from biomass when needed, and recycled when no longer useful or when higher priorities arise. Biotechnology also applies to humans, and although not yet to the extent of achieving immortality, life expectancies are counted in centuries. Besides expected feats such as nanomedical bots in the blood, "body modules" are available to change both aesthetic (one of the characters has at the beginning of the novel some small wings behind the ears), and deeper physiological aspects.

The novel begins when Biolathe, a biotechnology company, recruits experts for a mission. A probe launched in late 21th-Century to SS Cygni -at 250 light-years from Earth- has sent video images showing what looks like an alien life form. SS Cygni is a so-called cataclysmic variable, a binary system consisting of a main sequence star and a white dwarf: gas flows from the secondary star towards the primary (white dwarf) forming an accretion disk around it. It is precisely in this disk where the creature that gives its name to the novel is spotted. The mission is going to the system and retrieving samples of the creature, whose biotechnological value can be incalculable.

The team for this mission is composed of Fang (the captain of the ship), Fisher (the exobiologist), Stearn (techno-engineer), Henderson (the bio-engineer), Deveraux (astrophysics), and Papa (an artificial intelligence that controls the ship). Gender imbalance does not become a significant part of the plot, despite two couples are formed. A much more important issue will be that the objectives (or rather, priorities) of the exobiologist and the captain are different: the former develops a protective instinct towards the dragon, whereas the latter would rather bomb the accretion disk and settle for a dragon corpse. This difference of opinions is accentuated to the point of provoking sabotage attempts, but when the time to haunt a dragon arrives, these turn out to be much more difficult to kill than expected, and the very survival of the ship force cooperation among crew members.

Throughout the novel, the stylistic similarity (sought or not) to Robert L. Forward is evident both in the extensive description of the dynamics of the system (the accumulation of material in the accretion disk causes a dwarf nova from time to time, which should be taken into account during the development of the mission) as in the description of the physiology of the dragons (whose existence is effectively explained). The climax may be regarded as satisfactory, thus rounding a quite enjoyable novel (especially for those who like hard science fiction.)

The physics was first class, the premise intriguing, and the characters reasonably well developed and believable. The pace was a little slow at first, but sped up toward the end, and suspense developed.
There were no major flaws, but it would be hard to identify with any of the characters, so you are unlikely to be as involved as you might be with, for instance, a David Weber, David Drake, or Dave Duncan character.
If Mike writes another book I will buy it. He is going to get better.

An Earth based Biolathe AI corporation has received a video from long range probe that passed by Dwarf Nova system SS Cygni. The brief low resolution video reveals that something is out there. In this Dwarf cataclysmic variable star system -- composed of white dwarf primary star fueled by bigger red dwarf star -- something is moving within. In those hot burning flames, inside this plasma and magnetic forces, where nothing should be able to survive. Five volunteers are needed to abroad a ship using black hole collapsing technology to reach light speed to this 245 LY (Light Years) destination. Total time of 500 year there and back in earth time.

The books background setting is excellent. Earth has advanced to direction of biotechnology allowing humans to grow almost anything they can imagine. Using bodymods they can alter their appearance, skin color and add new features. There are no robots, but biomass, that is used to grow entities for specific tasks. Like flying air blowfish, mobile biorecyclers, to keep things clean in the ship's ecosystem. We have a little insane crew (who would be sane for the 500 year expedition?): Fang a stunning female captain whose childhood haunts her, Fisher the male exobiologist obsessed to solve the puzzle of this "magnetic Dragon", Henderson the male biosystems engineer who develops neurotic behavior, Devereaux the brilliant and attractive female physical sciences expert and Stearn the ship's jack-of-all-trades who is neuro-game freak. Their goal is to capture a star dragon and bring it back for study.

Hard science fiction readers will be pleased to find enough bread to bite on and brain cells to scrub. The adventure lovers get their excitement to follow how the story and Dragon capture plays out. Human relations develop into direction of romance and sex in voyage lasting 3 years subjective time. There is even bio-AI to watch over the crew and the mission.

It should all click, it's close, but not quite there. The angle where it breaks are the junctions how all are made to hang together. Reader is unable to get into the characters; the persons' feelings are percolated through actions, which are too immature taken the expertise of each individual. Similar reactions would be better expected from nascent youngsters. It doesn't help that the ship's AI is "Papa Hemingway" who calls the captain Fang, daughter. The extra Savannah lion hunting featuring captain is also too analogous to "Dragon hunt". Surprisingly the plot's best character is walk-on Henderson, the biosystems engineer, whose behavior's entropy peaks as the story accelerates. The science overall is believing, but the "Dragons" and incidents during the chase doesn't brighten the rainbow's end as it should.

Three (3) stars. There is enough hard science to please almost any such reader. The biotechnology is bizarre (clothes are grown), but in cutting the dash way. But the reader cannot help doubting how the Dragon's would possess high intelligence in that fierce plasma stream environment. Immersion to the story is so and so because the characters' actions, mechanics of the relationships, don't match what one might expect at their age and profession. A decent book to take for sun tanning.

The crew of the Karamojo seeks the star dragon for different reasons. But, for Fisher, it is an all-consuming obsession. He must live the dragon, breathe the dragon, know the dragon. And, as the crew members begin to pair off, Fisher must not let his feelings for the captain Fang interfere with his true quest of capturing a dragon.


But, the dragons prove to be smart and catching one seems impossible. If Fisher and the crew are to succeed, they must set aside their feelings for one another and work as an unselfish team. If they can do this, they may just accomplish their mission.


Mike Brotherton expertly weaves a tale of sex and science. A rookie science fiction reader may be overwhelmed by the astronomy jargon, but the story pulls through, and anyone can appreciate the plot.


Brotherton is to be commended for his imagination. His attention to detail paints a picture of the future that is not only believable, but also realistic. Brotherton should continue to churn out more novels for the science fiction aficionado. - Reviewed by Leigh O'Donovan - Authors on the Rise Book Reviews

That Michael Brotherton has a PhD in astronomy means this book is chock full of good science and mind-blowing astronomical details. But you don't need a graduate degree to enjoy the exciting adventure story he tells in this book or the intriguing characters. If you're a space-science fan, or enjoy manly adventure in the spirit of Ernest Hemingway, I believe you'll enjoy this book.

The author gets high marks for plausible descriptions of interstellar space travel and human biological modifications, but the story is weighed down by a reactionary feminist agenda. The women characters are all uniformly intelligent, brave, and capable. The men are all stupid, brutish, and craven in different ways. The primary functions of the men seem to be giving massages to the women, getting beat up by women in martial arts competitions and mucking up the mission. They are only redeemed when they submit to the ministrations and authority of the female characters. A good story, but it was tough getting through all the sophomoric psychological characterizations.