Starswarm [Hardcover]

Jerry Pournelle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2003

Kip has a secret. A young boy who lives with his uncle at Starswarm Station research outpost on planet Paradise, he has heard a voice in his head for as long as he can remember. The voice guides him in all his decisions, helping him through situations with useful information and helpful insight. Kip suspects the voice in his head is some sort of computer. And, finally daring to ask the voice some tough questions, Kip discovers that his computer scientist parents implanted an artificial intelligence chip in his skull, which connects with a powerful central computer through satellites. He also learns that his parents were persecuted and killed, and that his own well being, and that of outpost Starswarm, is in grave danger.

"Far and away the most believable and interesting near-space milieu I've seen in years", -- Orson Scott Card on Higher Education

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

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The fifth and longest Jupiter yarn is a little hard to place in the series' chronology. But not to quibble. Pournelle's first work written without a coauthor in many years is an extremely strong story. Kip, a boy on the interstellar colony Paradise, learns he has a communications chip in his head that allows him to speak to an artificial intelligence program that was left in the ruling corporation's main computer by his dead mother. With his friends Lara and Marty, Kip becomes crucial in the fight against a takeover of the corporation by those who would destroy the semisapient centaurs and the highly intelligent and dangerous aquatic plants called Starswanns. Kip turns out to be heir to the corporation, a discovery that comes, along with the victory of the good guys and gals, only after plenty of suspenseful action in a well-realized setting. This novel echoes Heinlein's juveniles more closely than any other in the series, but that will be no fault to most readers. Roland Green --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"An extremely strong story...with plenty of suspenseful action in a well-realized setting." -Booklist

"This is one you won't want to miss. [A] taut, credible, fast-paced adventure story." -Science Fiction Chronicle

"SF veteran Pournelle demonstrates his gift for traditional SF adventures in this coming-of-age tales that combines fast-paced action with...an appealing protagonist." -Library Journal

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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Perfection Learning (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756951313
• ISBN-13: 978-0756951313
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,119,458 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write science fact and fiction. Themes range from trivial amusements to how to save the world. In 1980 I predicted that by the year 2000 anyone in Western Civilization would be able to get the answer to any question that can be answered; that happened a bit faster than I thought it would. My column in BYTE is the longest running column in the computer industry.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A reputable imitation of Robert Heinlein's juveniles, August 6, 2000

By 

Robert James (Culver City, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Starswarm: A Jupiter Novel (Hardcover)

The "Jupiter Series" was started by Jerry Pournelle and Charles Sheffield in "Higher Education," and that first novel is still the best book in the series. Several others have been written by Sheffield solo, and they're all worth reading. I wish the two would get together and write a sequel using the first novel's characters, since we were left with the implication that such was coming. "Starswarm" is Pournelle going at it alone, and like many of his solo novels, they're good, but not as good as his collaborations. Like Larry Niven in recent years, Pournelle and another writer together prove the whole is greater than the parts. In this one, Pournelle creates a very interesting alien, a series of exciting and escalating conflicts, and a creditable resolution. My one quibble with him is that I doubt the kids centuries from now are still going to be playing "Warcraft" as their video game of choice. If you like science fiction, have fond memories of reading Robert Heinlein's juveniles, or are a young reader looking for more of the "Jupiter Series," "Starswarm" won't disappoint.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like Teacher Like Student, September 14, 2000

By 

John W. Bates "jaydubyah" (Americus, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Starswarm: A Jupiter Novel (Hardcover)

In his introduction to Starswarm Jerry Pournelle pays tribute to Robert Heinlein, as an inspiration when Pournelle was an adolescent reader and science student; and later as a mentor and friend. I will pay tribute to Pournelle: Starwarm could have been a Heinlein book. All of the elements of vintage Heinlein are there: the young protagonist who is different from his peers, the science that is out-of-reach for now, but conceivable for tomorrow. I have always enjoyed Pournelle as a writer in his own right. After reading this introduction, as I read Starwarm I remembered Citizen of the Galaxy and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I have missed science-based science fiction a la Robert Heinlein and enjoyed finding it again in Starswarm.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If it looks like a Heinlein, walks like a Heinlein, ..., June 16, 2004

By 

Michael Lynn Mcguire "mmcguire" (Sugar Land, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Starswarm (Jupiter) (Mass Market Paperback)

It has been a while since I read this book for the 3rd time but I still remember it well. I know that www.jerrypournelle.com has commented on it a few times that he was intending to write a Heinlein juvenile book. Well, he suceeded !

Great read, great concept and excellent flow. The first time that I read the book I could not put it down until I finished it at 4 am (much to my wife's displeasure !).