or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
More Buying Choices
38 used & new from $1.90
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Paragaea: A Planetary Romance
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

Paragaea: A Planetary Romance (Paperback)

~ (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
List Price: $15.00
Price: $11.25 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $3.75 (25%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Only 2 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want it delivered Monday, November 23? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
20 new from $1.99 18 used from $1.90

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Hardcover, May 1, 2006 -- $13.45 $0.89
  Paperback, May 1, 2006 $11.25 $1.99 $1.90

Frequently Bought Together

Paragaea: A Planetary Romance + Here, There & Everywhere + Set the Seas on Fire
Price For All Three: $44.24

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Paragaea: A Planetary Romance by Chris Roberson

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Here, There & Everywhere by Chris Roberson

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details

  • Set the Seas on Fire by Chris Roberson

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Here, There & Everywhere

Here, There & Everywhere

by Chris Roberson
4.1 out of 5 stars (14)  $25.00
Set the Seas on Fire

Set the Seas on Fire

by Chris Roberson
3.6 out of 5 stars (5)  $7.99
End of the Century

End of the Century

by Chris Roberson
4.3 out of 5 stars (3)  $10.20
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Sixth Annual Collection

The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Sixth Annual Collection

by Gardner Dozois
3.9 out of 5 stars (7)  $14.93
The Dragon's Nine Sons (The Celestial Empire)

The Dragon's Nine Sons (The Celestial Empire)

by Chris Roberson
3.4 out of 5 stars (8)  $7.99
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of this entertaining speculative novel of lost races and time travelers from Roberson (Here, There and Everywhere), cosmonaut Akilina "Leena" Chirikova, aboard Vostok 7 in Earth orbit, enters a strange silvery gateway to a planet called Paragaea, where a single giant continent and inland sea host dinosaurs and giant sloths, as well as humans and such hybrid creatures as jaguar men, snake men and bird men. Luckily, Leena meets fellow dimension-hopper Hieronymus Bonaventure, a sailor from the Napoleonic era, and his jaguar-man partner, Prince Balam. Together the trio set off across a barbaric alternate Earth worthy of Edgar Rice Burroughs to find someone who understands the dimensional portals so Leena can return home. Roberson's style, in the best pulp manner, favors enthusiastic exposition and travelogue with dashes of swashbuckling. His colorful characters and setting transport readers to a simpler era when every story offered new worlds to explore. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Review

"...nothing less than the great old pulp adventure stories, made new with the considerable modern skills of Chris Roberson." -- Mike Resnick, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Kirinyaga and Starship: Mutiny

"A talented storyteller, [Roberson] has a unique ear, a clever eye, an eloquence all too rare in modern fiction." -- Michael Moorcock, World Fantasy Award-winning author of The White Wolf’s Son
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Paperback: 399 pages
  • Publisher: Pyr (May 2, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1591024447
  • ISBN-13: 978-1591024446
  • Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,845 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Chris Roberson
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Chris Roberson Page
Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
1 book cites this book:

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Paragaea: A Planetary Romance
68% buy the item featured on this page:
Paragaea: A Planetary Romance 3.8 out of 5 stars (11)
$11.25
Here, There & Everywhere
20% buy
Here, There & Everywhere 4.1 out of 5 stars (14)
$25.00
Set the Seas on Fire
5% buy
Set the Seas on Fire 3.6 out of 5 stars (5)
$7.99
Adventure (v. 1)
4% buy
Adventure (v. 1) 4.0 out of 5 stars (6)
$14.95
Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(4)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(1)
Agree with these tags?
See all 17 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more
 

Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Fine new take on the planetary romance, July 1, 2006
By Richard R. Horton (Webster Groves, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This new novel is old again. That is, it is quite explicitly, indeed exuberantly, in the mold of planetary romances such as Edgar Rice Burroughs's Mars books, Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon serials, and Leigh Brackett's work. And, as the author reminds us, the television series Land of the Lost. Chris Roberson also includes buried references to many other SF books, and he grounds his story in at least vaguely (if not very) plausible speculative science. The end result is quite a lot of fun.

The main character is Akilina Chirikov, called Leena, a Soviet cosmonaut who is supposed to become the second woman in space, after Valentina Tereshkova. But her Vostok capsule encounters an anomaly, and she finds herself in another dimension, on a very Earth-like world -- but quite different.

She is quickly captured by intelligent jaguar men, and as quickly rescued by another jaguar man and a human. Fortunately for her, the jaguar man, Balam, and the human, Hieronymus Bonaventure, having little else to do, agree to help her in her quest to find a way back to Earth. She feels she must fulfill her duty to the Soviet people by reporting on this new land.

The rest of the story is a fairly typical quest, taking Leena and her companions around the whole continent of this world called Paragaea. The world is inhabited by many varieties of "metamen": jaguar hybrids like Balam, seal men, crocodile men, etc., as well as humans native to Paragaea and others who came through gates such as Leena. For instance, Hieronymus was a 19th Century British sailor. In rather Vancean fashion, the travellers encounter a wide variety of cultures. They are often forced to fight for their lives. They gather and lose additional comrades, including an immortal android of sorts, a seal man, and a human descended from a group which once ruled Paragaea.

Inevitably they are led to the mysterious city of Atla, perhaps the oldest city on Paragaea. There Leena hopes to find the secret to travel back to Earth, while Balam, it turns out, encounters his long lost daughter. And Hieronymus simply hopes to find a way to stay with Leena. And the reader learns intriguing secrets about the nature of this world.

As I said, this book is a lot of fun to read. It isn't a masterpiece: the prose is a bit uneven, the action is fun but not terribly original, the plot, as typical with quest books of this sort, is slightly rambling. But I enjoyed myself, and I enjoyed and cared for the characters. Roberson has produced some excellent short fiction in the past few years, and this book (his second novel) suggests he will be producing engaging longer works as well.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Entertainment, August 7, 2006
By Brett J. Callahan (Lake Oswego, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This was a great read. Chris Roberson packs more entertainment value into the first fifteen pages of this book than some authors get into one hundred.

I was a big fan of the "Adventure!" anthology assembled by Roberson, which pays tribute to the great pulp adventures of early serial sci-fi. When I picked this book up and saw that it was homage of sorts to Edgar Rice Burroughs and other authors of his era, I was hooked by the premise. Roberson does not disappoint.

The characters in this book are likable, though some might find them underdeveloped. Lina is a sympathetic protagonist; a Russian Cosmonaut who goes, at the blink of an eye, from being the second woman in space to being lost on another world. Hieronymous Bonaventure, formerly a daring seaman of the British Navy circa Napoleon, and lately a mercenary and adventurer of Paragaea, and his companion Balam, outcast prince of Paragaea's "Jaguar Men" quickly find and befriend the lost cosmonaut and join her on a worldwide trek to find a way back to earth.

Paragaea is a fantastic planet of lost races, sinister and strange creatures, and sweeping vistas that bears close ties to earth. People may be snatched up by wormholes and sent between the two, as happens with Lina and Hieronymous. Along their journey, our protagonists encounter flying pirates, sentient snake, jaguar, fish, and alligator peoples, and an ancient android programmed by a lost race to gather data, who just happens to posses a biting wit and superhuman strength.

The story reads far faster than one would expect from a four hundred page book. The action is well developed and exciting, and Roberson's pacing is excellent. A dedicated reader with a lazy Sunday might finish the book in a day. I certainly didn't want to put it down to attend to comparably mundane tasks like work, eating, and walking the dog.

If I had a complaint, it would be that Roberson's characters have a tendency to an inordinate amount of luck. Still, having them killed off to bad luck in the first paragraph wouldn't make much sense, I suppose. It just seems that even the greatest of obstacles is overcome with little real difficulty.

Still, this book was a great read, and now has me interested in the sources that Roberson credits with inspiring him, most notably the Barsoom novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

*as a side note to readers interested in Roberson and possibly Burroughs, some of their works can be had for free. Burroughs has a large selection at Project Guttenberg, and Roberson has made Hieronymous Bonaventure's first tale available for free download at paragaea.com.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars ENJOYABLE ADVENTURE, January 29, 2007
By Dr. Colin L. Sheppard (Melb, Australia!) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I enjoyed Paragaea & hope that Hieronymos,Leela, Balam & Benu are reunited. Unlike Burroughs, the story is well written, scientifically plausible & characters are developed. It lacks the compulsive page-turning end- of-chapter cliff-hangers that I remember from Burroughs at his best, but it is an enjoyable rewarding adventure. Unfortunately, reading ERB as an adult can be disappointing, but one does not need to feel guilty for enjoying Roberson's writing.
This is a worthy companion to Michael Moorcock's "Warrior of Mars" trilogy which also attempts to recapture the sense of adventure & existential freedom in ERB's John Carter books.
I also hope there is a followup to Adventure 1 which he produced.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fun and Wonder-Filled Return to SF Adventure
Chris Roberson pays homage to the planetary romance subgenre of SF and does a fine job. His female protagonist, Russian cosmonaut Leena Chirikova, is an intelligent, capable, and... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Roman

4.0 out of 5 stars A little bit John Carter of Mars

A Russian Cosmonaut from the 1960's finds herself on an alternate Earth quite different from the one on which she lived. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Write to the Bone

5.0 out of 5 stars Ah, Sweet Adventure!
I greatly enjoyed Chris Roberson's X-men novel, The Return. I've had this one on my shelf for a while, and I'm not sure why... it's really a sweet perfect SciFi adventure. Read more
Published 24 months ago by David Keith

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Exciting Adventure
During a mission into space, Cosmonaut Leena Chirikov stumbles upon a gateway to another world. As soon as Leena lands on Paragaea, she meets companions Hieronymus Bonaventure... Read more
Published on November 7, 2007 by SciFiChick

1.0 out of 5 stars Uninspired and derivative
With "Paragaea" Chris Roberson is working in a venerable SF subgenre, the planetary romance, a form pioneered by the great Edgar Rice Burroughs and practiced by such luminaries... Read more
Published on August 30, 2007 by Mitchell Glodek

4.0 out of 5 stars Super Reader
Cosmonaut woman seeks original Earth, prefers shooting to swordplay, Soviet duty via singulairty over sailor. Read more
Published on July 31, 2007 by Blue Tyson

1.0 out of 5 stars Planetary? Yes. Romance? No.
This novel was very disappointing. The author showed some creativity with respect to the world of Paragaea, but in most other respects the work was unsatisfactory. Read more
Published on October 17, 2006 by BW

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific science fiction thriller
In the 1960s Soviet cosmonaut Akilena "Leena" Chirikova orbits the Earth in her Vostok 7 rocket ship when a hole suddenly opens up in her path. Read more
Published on June 9, 2006 by Harriet Klausner

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   

So You'd Like to...


Create a guide

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:











i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.