Customer Reviews

White Light

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

 

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that the characters in this book spend entirely too much time thinking about sex. I'm not a prude; it's just that it seemed completely out of context.

They make first contact with aliens; they think about sex. They find themselves on an inexplicable, incomprehensible landscape; they think about sex. They fear imminent death; they think about sex. They meet God; they think about sex.

This seems at first to be a brutal view of human nature, but later it becomes downright bizarre. Even chimpanzees who find themselves in a completely alien place and have no idea how they got there wouldn't think about sex five minutes later, but these characters do.

The characters sound interesting - an intelligent woman, her 14-year-old son, a chauvanist pig, a regular guy, a young girl, and her older, wiser mother. Nevertheless, they all have just one thing on their minds.

In case your curiositiy is piqued, no, this isn't an erotic novel. If it was, all of this would make sense. Instead, it's as if the cast of a bad porno movie was suddenly transported into what would have otherwise been a fascinating SF novel.

In a twist of plot at the beginning of the story, the characters are forced to start their journey without the team of scientists they planned to bring. I'm afraid all of the truly interesting and intelligent characters missed the boat.

Like the author's previous works, White Light examines the human condition against a backdrop of ideas of the grandest scale. Unfortunately, in this instance it feels like the authors have lost control. The characters are one dimensional, able to only focus on wanting sex, having sex or reacting to the consequences of wanting/having sex. The main feeling you have for them is that they all need serious therapy. This against a background that is awesome in its scope and vision, although the effect is diluted considerably since we are given no real explanation for what we are seeing, why it is happening or why it is important. The main effect is that the authors raided their idea files and threw everything into the pot. The characters travel across the universe, encounter cosmic engineering, alternate universes, the Tiplerian Omega Point and ultimately Heaven and God and the only thing they ever think about is who's sleeping with whom. The characters are too twisted to relate to and the background to confused to do more than frustrate me. I closed the book feeling disappointed and frustrated.

As an avid Science Fiction reader I was surprised in the quality of White Light after some of the reviews I read. The characters were never developed. The story itself was extremely disjointed. It seemed that that the authors had creative ideas and tried to bring them together but cared nothing about the fact that it became absurd. One final observation was about the excessive sex involved. At first you could see the connection and it did help in understanding the characters. Later it became obviously overdone and borderline comical. I have never disliked a book more.

Both authors have always come up with mind-bending ideas in their novels in the past, but here they've gone full throttle, especially in their use of Frank Tipler's "Omega Point" concept. There's a real sense of wonder and mystery that builds up as they explore the universe, and realize the danger that's approaching. And the aliens are a real treat!

Unfortunately, I found it hard to deal with the main characters themselves. Here are six people thrust against the backdrop of a universe of granduer dominated by a universe-engulfing "Omega Point," and the only thing they can think about is sex. Everytime I hoped that one of them would do or say the "decent" thing, they'd let me down. Very frustrating...

Given that this is a novel that focuses on two families, there is remarkably little familial affection going on. Both mothers in the story seem more concerned about their sex lives than their offspring.

And the character of Stuart, for such a smart kid, seems remarkable unaffected by the remarkable and emotional events going on around him. The scenes on Topopolitan branch struck me as a particularly accurate rendition of a teenage boy's worst nightmare come to life, yet I'm surprised the authors didn't delve into that aspect of it. (Read those pages and you'll know what I mean!) Plus, the story seemed very disjointed, as if a number of scenes ended up being cut from the novel to keep within space limitations.

Perhaps the concept is just so grandiose that no mere human author(s) can pull it off successfully. Even so, I give Barton and Capobianco credit for trying.

It started out slow and a little interesting. Then, it moved into some real action with some believable SF.

Then came the profanity and the sexual overtones. I could deal with that, but after about 100 pages it grew old. And to make matters worse, all of a sudden the book moves into totally unbelievable situations and events. I don't mean unbelievable like "Wow that's cool!" I mean it like "There's no way this could happen, that's stupid..."

And to top it all off, there was still about 125 pages to go and the story was going downhill fast. It seemed like the writers recognized that the plot was fading and they hadn't developed an ending. So, they apparently decided to throw in a lot more sex scenes more often.

The writers should have stuck to SF and not to their sexual fantasies.

I finished it (against my better judgement...) Only because I am waiting on a book in a series that I am in the middle of. If I had it, this book would have gone by the wayside very quickly.

Anyway, the first third of the book is "ok" to "almost good". After that, you can decide.

This book was too grandiose for its own good. The characters were one-dimensional. The plot was unbelievable. The authors were not even careful to keep track of what happened and keep things consistent.

This has to be one of the worst books I've read in a while. I kept reading, hoping it would redeem itself, but instead it only got worse. The misogynistic Wolf, the main character, never grows past his obsession with women's genitalia. The women have no depth and remain objectified. The plot, if one can call it that, becomes horribly improbable and stereotypical at the same time - star gates which magically transport, good aliens who can telepathically speak to us, bad aliens trying to wipe out humanity, etc. ...

I have read s-f for many years (since Heinlein's heyday in the 50's), and in general I am rather accepting of not-so-great novels. I have read and greatly enjoyed these authors' previous work (Alpha Centauri). White Light is the worst SF story I have read in a long time. The "space exploration" part is lame and seems quite unsophisticated or convincing, and the same goes for the "cosmology" part. As previous reviewers have noted, the characters were not likeable nor even very interesting. Regarding the sex, that was about the only part I sort of liked, but I wasn't looking for an erotic novel. If someone gives you this book and you have nothing else to do, maybe it is worth reading. Otherwise, forget it!

In my opinion this novel contained too much sex. I understand that this is part of the human nature, however, there should be a limit. I also didn't like the ending where everyone went off into their own utopia and as usual, everyone lives happily ever after... BORING!

Barton and Cappobianco have done it again. White Light has all the best of their previous collaborations and solo work, but none of the flaws. Yes, as many have said, it is hard to like their characters - that's because you aren't supposed to like them, you are supposed to find them human. They are well-thought out and complex (but not in the popular typology of popular authors where you can figure out a whole character from page one). Their ideas about the metaphysical AND physical are too much for most readers - that is, if you don't want to actually think while you read, perhaps you should try a different book. White Light is, as with their previous efforts, full of insightful references from the SF genre, designed to increase the depth of the work. If this book isn't nominated for the Nebula I may just have to believe Barton and Capobianco about what idiots the members of the human race have become. If you want to read the best SF novel of the year you will have to read this. It makes those of us who have been reading these two hunger for more; from both of them together and apart (that's a subtle message to Capobianco who needs to follow up his wonderful novel, Burster).