The roads of heaven [Hardcover]

Melissa Scott (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 760 pages
• Publisher: Nelson Doubleday (1987)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00005XTAM
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,198,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly Good!, October 21, 2003

By 

Linden (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The roads of heaven (Hardcover)

This is my new favorite book, actually it's three books put together to tell the story of a female starship pilot named Silence. Early on Silence is saved from a bad situation by a mysterious older man, a captain with a questionable past, who asks her for a favor. He wants her to enter into a three-way marriage of convienience with him and another man, his engineer.

In this universe starship travel is possible by making use of a type of science known as High Art. High Art is the work of Magi, the gifted and powerful wizards who can use their minds to do amazing and terrible things. Harmonics and symbolism play a large part in the High Art and it's very intersting learning the details which are meticulously explained throughout the book.

Silence doesn't care for the Magi, who she views as selfish, power-hungry, and unfeeling. But she ends up very involved with them in her many adventures. She gets into more than a few very very perilous situations throughout these books.

I think this book would appeal to anyone who likes Science Fiction or Fantasy. It's heavy on action and suspense as well as technical aspects. Also, although some outlandish things happen they are all very well explained and seem believable within this universe.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent story with unusual premise, April 11, 2006

By 

Andrew D. Bullock "Burninator" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The roads of heaven (Hardcover)

I originally read this book (trilogy) several years ago, but recently picked it up again. It is a well-crafted story with some unusual plot devices. It tells of the adventures of Silence Leigh, a female starship pilot, who - among other things - is trying to discover the lost star-road to Earth.

Ms. Scott skillfully weaves a story which incorporates elements of both science fiction and fantasy. Although the setting is typical sci-fi (far future, space travel, alien worlds, a corrupt galactic empire, etc.), many of the "technologies" are based upon magical arts and a manipulation of materials of heaven, purgatory, and hell.

The story contains plenty of action, suspense, politics, interpersonal relationships, and attention to detail which are the hallmarks of a good storyteller. Ms. Scott incorporates the unfamiliar technology unobtrusively, weaving it into the story in a believable fashion.

If you are looking for science fiction with an unusual twist, or fantasy with a realistic edge, this is worth your time.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The trilogy in one book, January 4, 2006

By 

Lisa "Cyclothone" (Central CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The roads of heaven (Hardcover)

This is the combined publication of Five Twelves of Heaven, Silence in Solitude, and Empress of the Earth. This is a great series, based on an unusual method of star travel, and I highly recommend it.