Transition [Mass Market Paperback]

Vonda McIntyre (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1990

The second novel in the Starfarers series continues the adventures of the crew of the Starfarer spacecraft as they search for alien civilizations while coping with a hidden saboteur. Reissue. LJ.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The crew members of a disabled starship find themselves adrift in interstellar space, near the planets of Tau Ceti. There they receive an incomprehensible message from an alien civilization. Gradually, as they repair the ship, the message becomes clearer, presenting them with a crucial choice: should they return to Earth and reveal that man is not alone in the universe--or should they follow the aliens to the twin-sun system of Sirius and confront them face-to-face? The meeting takes place but, alas, as with so many middle books in a series, the author wimps out, offering an unsatisfactory and inconclusive encounter with the humanlike beings. Furthermore, many key actions have already taken place in Starfarers , to which this is a sequel, and while alluded to frequently, these events are never explained. While this book may appeal to those who enjoyed the previous installment, characters here are poorly delineated, scenes shift too rapidly and a flock of sexual interludes--one of them in zero gravity--will irritate rather than titillate the reader. (Jan ) .
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Risking their lives and reputations to escape commandeering by the United States military, the crew of the research starship Starfarer plunges into deep space along the cosmic strings and emerges near Tau Ceti just in time to receive a mysterious message from an alien intelligence. This sequel to Starfarers (Ace, 1989) displays McIntyre at her best, combining a cast of highly individualized characters with a compelling plot to produce top-notch sf adventure. Recommended.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Spectra (December 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553288504
• ISBN-13: 978-0553288506
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #585,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting sequel, May 30, 2007

By 

@ "gorgon-13" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Transition (Mass Market Paperback)

Described on the cover of my copy as "A powerful new novel set in the universe of Starfarers". Which is true enough but rather misleading, Transition is a sequel to Starfarers and shouldn't be treated as a stand alone novel, ninety percent of the character development and scenario creation takes place in the earlier novel, anybody starting with Transition is going to be half way through the book before they really come to grips with who the main characters are or what the hell is going on. It also has the statutory cliffhanger ending pending the next volume in the series.
Our crew of misfits have evaded the attentions of Earths military and are limping through space in a crippled ship following a trail of artefacts and inter spacial highways in a search for aliens.
While I quite enjoyed it, I don't really think that the gallant crew could organise a trip to a local mall, let alone run a starship. They take anarchic liberal thinking to ridiculous extremes, nothing is ever done without a series of meetings, nobody takes responsibility for anything and everybody agonises about it on the occasions when something does get done. The truth is no group of people with their heads jammed that firmly in the clouds achieve anything and in this scenario, they simply wouldn't survive. Interesting approach to hard core Sci Fi, but flawed.