Heart of the Comet (A Bantam spectra book) (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

To celebrate the rturn of Halley's comet this year, two of SF's best young writers have collaborated on this long, intriguing but ultimately depressing novel that begins with the next fly-by in 2061. An ambitious expedition uses the iceball as a natural spaceship but their discoveries soon include a deadly viral lifeform that decimates the crew. Then, the already volatile conflicts between factions explode into violent confrontation as the Orthos attack the genetically enhanced Percells. Against this background, the novel highlights the love affair of biologist Saul Lintz, who helped create the Percells, and Percell computer engineer Virginia Herbert, who is pioneering a biologically based computer possessing genuine artificial intelligence. Although they eventually save the mission from itself and a hostile Earth, the multiple examples of mankind's perversity make this a frustrating experience. 40,000 first printing; $40,000 ad/promo.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

An odyssey of discovery, from a shattered society through the solar system with a handful of men and women who ride a cold, hurtling ball of ice to the shaky promise of a distant, unknowable future. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (February 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553258397
• ISBN-13: 978-0553258394
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,748,773 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great example of "hard" sci-fi, September 27, 2000

By	"deblock" (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews

My dad, who got me started on sci-fi as a kid, recently complained that too much of today's sci-fi is more fantasy than science. I'm going to send him this book for Christmas, because it tackles so many areas -- space travel, biology, even sociology. I thought it was one of the best hard sci-fi books I've read, ever.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid work from two greats, March 21, 2000

By	Michael Battaglia - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Separate these two guys are awesome and if you haven't tried anything by them yet (Benford's Timescape and Galactic Center series and Brin's Uplift series) you owe it to yourself to give them a decent shot if this book at all interested you. Their styles mix quite well, Benford is normally the more straightforward of the two and I think it's his influence that keeps the novel from getting as selfconsciously complicated as the Uplift books tended to get (hey, I love 'em too, but don't tell me that all of them at some point had you scratching your head and going "What's going on?"). Still, it's far too long and by the end the twists aren't as shocking as they were in the beginning, you sort of keep plugging along because you want to see what's going to happen. But that's the minor bad points, there's plenty of good points. For one, the scenario is awesome, Halley's comet is coming back into the solar system and a team of colonists are on there attempting to live there. And of course everything goes splendidly and people live in perfect harmony because everyone got it right the first time before they sent these folks out. Ha, ha, that's funny, right. Not only is there conflict between the genetically tweaked "Percells" and the nonmodified "Orthos" Earth itself is in turmoil and the wacky planet's decisions often directly affect the poor cometfolk. If that's not bad enough, Halley's inhabited and the colonists have to figure out how to live with a bunch of aliens that see them as midnight snacks. Plus there's romance! And riots! And philosophy! And science! And . . . you get the idea. This book has something for everyone and that might be its biggest fault and why it's so danged long, it's not sure whether it wants to be the hard science Alien, or the hard science Tower of Glass or the hard science {insert famed novel/movie here} the book gets a tad schizo after a while, they go right through one genre cliche and tear it to pieces before just moving right onto the next one. Entertaining? Heck, yeah. But tiring after a while? Oh yeah. On the plus side the characters are well drawn if a bit flat and singleminded at times, everyone has their own little personal obsessions but then you'd probably have to be a bit obsessed in the first place to want to go riding a comet for eighty years. A good example of the "thinking man's SF" and a great alternative to the derivative stuff that often clutters the marketplace. I don't think I'd want to see a sequel to this book (the ending wraps things up nicely) but I wouldn't mind seeing these two pros work together again.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Hard Science Fiction Book, May 12, 1999

By	Jay A. Weinstein (Savannah, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews

Finally!! The blurbs on the book cover do it justice. What a woderful book written by two science fiction masters. I had put ofrf reading this book and had it for several years. I picked it up after a friend recommended it and WOW!. It is truly a world building story and the characters are lovingly portrayed and the plot moves along quickly. This is one "hard" science fiction book that does not get bogged down in science facts and details. Just enough to keep you interested. I can;t say enough good things about this book. Too bad these two authors didn;t collaborate on another project.