Tau Zero (SF Collector's Edition) (Gollancz SF collector's edition) (Paperback)

~ Poul Anderson (Author) "Look - there - rising over the Hand of God..." (more)
Key Phrases: Leonora Christine, Captain Telander, Ingrid Lindgren (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Poul Anderson-s Tau Zero is an outstanding work of science fiction, in part because it combines two qualities that are often at odds in this genre: an interest in the emotional lives of its characters and a fascination with all things technological and scientific. In Tau Zero these components are not merely fused; they work together with a remarkable synergy that makes the novel much more than just a deep space adventure story.

The novel centers on a ten-year interstellar voyage aboard the spaceship Leonora Christine, and it opens with members of the crew preparing for their departure from earth. It is an especially moving departure because they know that while they are aboard the ship and traveling close to the speed of light, time will be passing much more quickly back home. As a result, by the time they return everyone they know will have long since died. From practically the very first page, therefore, Tau Zero sets the scientific realities of space travel in dramatic tension with the no-less-real emotional and psychological states of the travelers. This is a dynamic Anderson explores with great success over the course of the novel as fifty crewmembers settle in for the long journey together. They are a highly-trained team of scientists and researchers, but they are also a community of individuals, each trying to make a life for him or herself in space.

This is the background within which the action of the novel takes place. Anderson carefully depicts the network of relationships linking these people before the real plot begins to unfold. The voyage soon takes a unexpected and disastrous turn for the worse. The ship passes through a small, uncharted, cloudlike nebula that makes it impossible for the crew to decelerate the ship. The only hope, in fact, is for the ship to speed up. But acceleration towards the speed of light means that time outside the spaceship passes even more quickly, and the crew finds itself hurtling deeper into space

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Description

For the crew of the Leonora Christine, travelling close to the speed of light on a 30-light-year journey, subjective time slows down. Then buffeting by an interstellar dust cloud damages the ship's deceleration system and it achieves light speed, tau zero itself.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 190 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz (2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575070994
• ISBN-13: 978-0575070998
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,169,484 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Full-speed SF, September 13, 2000

By	J. L. Probert - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Tau Zero (Paperback)

A space-ship designed to travel at speed, carrying explorers intending to colonise a distant star, gets into a bit of trouble and has its deceleration mechanism knocked out. Result - ship goes faster and faster and cannot stop. But this is no precursor of Speed for the space adventure generation. Despite the somewhat two-dimensional aspect of most of the characters, Anderson's novel develops into a meditation on life, the universe and everything. As the ship reaches almost unimaginable speeds, the universe outside the ship begins to observably age, leading to an inevitable conclusion with perhaps unexpected consequences. A well-handled science fiction meditation on the meaning of existence.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Classic But Clumsy, September 21, 2006

By	S. Singer (Pittsburgh, PA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Poul Anderson's Tau Zero is one of the most revered Science Fiction classics - and with good reason. However, that doesn't mean it isn't sometimes tediously boring, the characters aren't one-dimensional, and the writing isn't down right clumsy. What saves the book from being chucked on to the ash heap of oblivion is the saving grace of most classic sci-fi - namely, one heck of a good idea. In Zero, Anderson acknowledges our collective desire to visit the stars and our yearning for a light speed drive to get there. However, asks Anderson, what would happen if such a device malfunctioned and we couldn't slow down? As we traveled fast and faster through space-time (yes, Anderson adds the temporal component) not only would we get farther away from Earth, we'd also move far into the future and the universe, itself, might appear to age right before our eyes! Now that's a scary concept! Such creativity makes up for a lot. That's why anyone who really likes the above situation would probably enjoy the book. However, be prepared to put up with some coal among that diamond of a concept.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating adventure!, July 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Tau Zero (Hardcover)

A great story, heavy on science yet still readable by any sci-fi fan. The crew of a star ship are fated to a mind boggling adventure forced upon them.A group of potential human colonizers from Earth become stranded in space when they experience a very bad case of car trouble, causing them to miss their target star system and continue into the unknown. Due to their speed, time outside the ship moves much faster than within, and eventually they are the last of our kind known to exist as Earth's solar system dies out. Some of the characters are shallow, yet the Captain is solid and memorable. The characters' attempts to deal with the absence of Earth and, therefore, the absence of any familiar frame of reference in their new existence, are effective. Ultimately a triumphant story of human survival and will, and the human struggle to find a place in such a vast, unfamiliar universe. Earth truly seems small in this story, yet looms large in the minds of the nomadic crew, facing an uncertain future. An excellent and memorable book!