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33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I want more Tuf! Martin should have kept going with this series!, June 22, 2005
Originally a collection of shorts published in Analog magazine as a continuing saga, Tuf Voyaging is all the pieces put together into a smooth novel with an extremely unique protagonist.
Haviland Tuf and his ship, the 'Cornucopia Of Excellent Goods At Low Prices', has been hired by a group of five people to travel towards what is known as The Plague Star. When upon arriving, they discover it is not a star at all but a long abandoned Seedship, left over from the war a thousand years ago. Their first problem is getting past the ship's automated defenses and boarding, their second problem is the greed that has filled every head except Tuf's.
Tuf, of course, winds out in charge of the Seedship, named the Ark. (no details, just read the book! The first chapter details these events, and is most excellent!) the remaining six chapters chronicle Tuf's voyages from planet to planet, using the Ark to solve problems such as overpopulation, sea monsters, cruel animal-fighting pits, and religious plagues.
Eccentric and droll would be the best way to describe Haviland Tuf, a very tall and very large bald man. He travels alone, except for his cats, Havoc and Mushroom. The cat family expands, and Tuf is inspired by his human encounters to name the new kittens Suspicion, Doubt, Hostility, Ingratitude, and Foolishness. Tuf is a loner, intelligent, peculiar, a vegetarian with an enormous appetite, and a dry wit. Indeed.
The Seedship is a marvelous invention of Martin's, thirty kilometers long and three kilometers high, the pinnacle of the old Earth Ecological Corps inventions. Although the EEC used their Seedships for war, Tuf has only benign uses for it. Inside the Ark are stored millions and millions of cell samples, and all the equipment, including a chronowarp engine, to genetically engineer or clone any species.
Travel with Tuf through space, and revisit the planet S'uthlam (three chapters have S'uthlam) where Tully Mune is the acerbic Portmaster who lives her life in zero gravity. Tully's will and determination prove to be a match for Tuf, and the chapters in which they face off with each other are excellent.
This is SciFi at it's best, very character oriented with enough strange planets, strange beings, strange traditions, and technology to satisfy the hungriest of SciFi palates. Even more enjoyable if you are a cat lover like myself. Get out and buy this book now! Enjoy!
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible stories, incredibly written, March 15, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Tuf Voyaging (Hardcover)
I first came across these stories when reading "The Plague Star" in an issue of my father's Analog magazine. Ever since, I've avidly consumed everything I could find by Martin. This collection of stories is such a pleasure to read, I can't do it justice here. If they book has any weakness, it is that the stories were written over a fairly large span of time (ten years, or more - I can't remember). Because of this, the quality of the written varies, growing better as Martin developed his skills. The stories work on so many levels, and Tuf is such a singular character, the stories remain in my mind almost daily even ten years after I've read them. The fact that these stories live in the 'ghetto' of science fiction shouldn't scare away those who don't typically read it. Martin's grasp of humor, horror and the human condition is unmatched. I've often compared him to Mark Twain, in that his writing is so simple and universally appealing, yet contains so much more moving beneath the surface. It's a wonder to me that with Martin's forays into screenwriting that he's never decided to pitch "Plague Star". It works almost perfectly as a feature film, with just the right length, rhythm and imagery. Perhaps the one thing holding him back is the lack of the standard 'human' element in all these stories - Tuf is profoundly asexual, and indeed, seems to have almost no typical heartwarming hooks that Hollywood demands be in virtually every film it rolls out. There are no love interests, no (traditional) paternal emotions. There's no boy meets girl here, just boy meets destiny. Yet I think that it could appeal to a wide variety of viewers nonetheless. The book after "Plague Star" has a fairly strong 'population control' message that might not appeal to the religious right, but I have a feeling the message would go right over their heads - history has shown us that people aren't to quick to pick up these subtleties. Accessible and rewarding. If you can find this gem, don't let it slip through your grasp.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tuf Voyaging: Timeless Commentary on Morality/Humanity, April 9, 2000
I've read literally thousands of science fiction novels in the last 35 years (all the masters back to the very beginning), and Tuf Voyaging rates as one of the top five science fiction novels of all time. When it comes to a plot and ideas that that stick with you, it rates number one. I've waited in vain for a sequel or a film or a television dramatization. Tuf Voyaging tells the story of a highly moral man gifted with virtually absolute power. I read it every few years and continue to flip flop about the rightness and wrongness of his final acts. Was Tuf corrupted, or was he indeed uncorruptible? In the end, was he a man, or was he a god? It's that good. It doesn't let you go. The book touches on issues humanity faces everyday, issues that are becoming increasingly more urgent: populations outstripping food sources, species extinctions, short term political thinking, cruelty, abuses of power, etc. I keep two, very much read and battered copies of the book, one for myself and one to lend to others. This is the book that sent me in search of everything else George R. R. Martin has ever written. While his writing is always excellent, Tuf Voyaging is his greatest masterpiece. The book creates a variety of emotions in the reader, amusement (it has wonderfully humorous sections), anticipation, dread, exhilaration, and uncertainty. Once again, it's unforgettable and has been responsible for single handedly hooking several young people I know on science fiction. If you haven't read it, track it down and do so. If you have read it, read it again and see if your opinions have changed. If you have any influence on the author, demand the character return in another book!
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