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Ian Stewart

Heaven Kindle Edition

by Ian Stewart (Author), Jack Cohen (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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All Second-Best Sailor wants is to sail his boat and trade with the wandering Neanderthals. But when the reefwives discover that a Cosmic Unity mission fleet is heading for his homeworld, his comfortable lifestyle vanishes in an instant. All Servant-of-Unity XIV Samuel wants is to help spread Cosmic Unity's message of harmony to a grateful galaxy. But the ecclesiarchs decide that Samuel is destined for greater things. Flung together by fate, the two men find themselves on opposite sides of a battle for the hearts and minds of every sentient creature in the galaxy. Together, they uncover Cosmic Unity's deepest secret, and come up with a kamikaze plan to fight off the invaders. But along the way, they will need help from the unlikeliest of allies.

Print length

364 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Aspect
Publication date

May 1, 2009
File size

873 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the distant future, a starfaring Neanderthal woman sits on a dock on the planet No-Moon, waiting to trade with the aquatic alien known as Second-Best Sailor. Her trading partner is late for their meeting, but that's not why Smiling Teeth May Bite is uneasy. May, like all Neanderthals, possesses a strong empathic gift and an impressive pattern-recognition talent. And her powers warn her that a grave, unnameable danger is heading for No-Moon.

The threat is worse than May can imagine. The starships of the Cosmic Unity fleet are hurtling toward No-Moon, bearing religious missionaries disseminating the Memeplex of Universal Tolerance throughout the galaxy. If the inhabitants of a new world decline to convert to Cosmic Unity, their decision is not tolerated.

Most readers won't be surprised by Cosmic Unity's bloody-minded missionary zeal, but Heaven offers some great surprises in its big ideas and its richly imagined alien races. Reminiscent of Hal Clement and Bruce Sterling, Heaven is a fun, thought-provoking, impressive example of classic sense-of-wonder science fiction. Perhaps this shouldn't be a surprise, considering the authors: Dr. Jack Cohen is a reproductive biologist and SF alien design consultant, and Dr. Ian Stewart is a professor of mathematics. --Cynthia Ward --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Ian Stewart is professor of mathematics at Warwick University. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00287KD50
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Aspect (May 1, 2009)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 1, 2009
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 873 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 364 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #2,427,663 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #5,939 in Hard Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #11,294 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)
- #26,433 in Science Fiction Adventure

Customer Reviews:
19 ratings

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Ian Stewart

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Ian Stewart FRS is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of

Warwick and a leading popularizer of mathematics. He is author or coauthor of

over 200 research papers on pattern formation, chaos, network dynamics, and

biomathematics. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society since 2001, and has

served on Council, its governing body. He has five honorary doctorates.

He has published more than 120 books including Why Beauty is Truth, Professor

Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities, Calculating the Cosmos,

Significant Figures, and the four-volume series The Science of Discworld with

Terry Pratchett and Jack Cohen. He has also written the science fiction novels

Wheelers and Heaven with Jack Cohen, and The Living Labyrinth and Rock Star with

Tim Poston.

He wrote the Mathematical Recreations column for Scientific American from 1990

to 2001. He has made 90 television appearances and 450 radio broadcasts, most of

them about mathematics for the general public, and has delivered hundreds of

public lectures on mathematics.

His awards include the Royal Society’s Faraday Medal, the Gold Medal of the

Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications, the Zeeman Medal (IMA and London

Mathematical Society), the Lewis Thomas Prize (Rockefeller University), and the

Euler Book Prize (Mathematical Association of America).

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4 star		16%
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PreparedHomesteadLifeTop Contributor: Camping

Wonderful-

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2014

Verified Purchase

I would recommend this book as a perfect approach to understanding the interwoven nature of the world, universe, galaxies and more. Everything is alive, everything. A truly great look at the idea of memplexes and the progression from positive to negative that all belief systems unfortunately tend to take, including government/state.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

people react a lot better if they understand you are not accusing a whole ...

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2015

Verified Purchase

As various alien races seek to combat the aggressively benevolent memeplex Cosmic Unity, one of the alien creatures helps the reader to think differently about such things. By disconnecting the people (who are viewed as trapped) from the memeplex (which is just described), one can avoid thinking of one's enemies as 'evil'. In conversation, people react a lot better if they understand you are not accusing a whole people-group of being Evil. Just trapped by a powerful memeplex.

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Rachel Thern

interesting ideas presented in a clunky manner

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2007

At the beginning of Heaven, a group of characters of various species are about to confront an unknown threat, a religion that presents itself as benevolent but leaves clues that it may not be. The religion, Cosmic Unity, with its centralized authority and its emphasis on the sacrifice of individual comfort for the greater good, has some similarities to both the Catholic Church and Communism. In Cosmic Unity's zeal to convert all sentient species in the galaxy, they have on occasion commited huge acts of violence against species that resist. Their version of the Golden Rule involves inflicting what they "know" to be in other's best interest, rather than what others would want for themselves. The authors blame these acts on church members' adherence to a virulent and flawed "memeplex" (as they call it), rather than on personal ethical failings, which could be argued either way.

The characters are likeable but not much time is spent on character development. The authors' strength is imagining the biology of many different species that could exist in the galaxy. Their weakness is in imagining different kinds of psychology. It doesn't make sense that a religion started in part by humans would appeal across such a wide spectrum of life forms while humans' closest relative, Neanderthals (rescued from Earth by sentient ships) would be the strongest holdouts. It is also not believable that so many beings would tolerate a religion where they are kept in the dark as to what the central authority is doing. The authors want to present the idea that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" when it could as easily be in this case "power corrupts".

Despite a failure of believability it's hard to totally dislike a book which has, halfway through the story, a scene in which a squid lost in a desert meets a sentient pond and they discuss the mind-body problem.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Theosophy and xenobiology in a new sci fi novel

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2008

A spacial Jihad of a non-benevolent Cosmic Unity religion hits the world of Nomoon where a reef-coral intelligence rules. The resulting struggle brings together a band of races that resist being told what to think or believe by others. Things like an intelligent pond ecology and an aware galaxy turn the tide for some pretty alien thinking.
For a novel that takes place as much as 14 generations in the future
in a far area of space with Neanderthals as main characters,it is in the English tradition of hard science fiction that Clark started.
About the best science fiction that I have read lately. Some very strange ideas are brought up here.

Helpful

A. W. Johnston

Heavenly

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2005

An interesting second full-length fiction outing by the duo of Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen, showing the same inventive form and easy style of their previous novel Wheelers, the Science of Discworld books that they co-wrote with Terry Pratchett, and their popular science works on chaos theory and alien evolution.

In Heaven the squid-like inhabitants of No-Moon are peacefully enjoying sailing their oceans and trading with visitors, blissfully unaware that the memeplex of Cosmic Unity has decided that their world is next to receive the bounteous Good News of peace and universal tolerance. At this point the real dominant intelligence of No-Moon takes a hand...

A skilled mix of character-driven and broad scale space opera, Heaven is full of the science-backed invention that has become a hallmark of the authors. Recommended.

4 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Are there moments that change one's life?

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2000

Clearly Williams thinks so. In FLOL and now in As it is in Heaven, through timing, coincidence, fate, whatever you want to call it, two finely drawn and extraordinary characters come upon each other and nothing is ever the same again. As in FLOL this is a novel of place where the Irish coast and its villages are vividly drawn by Williams' prose. The lovers are facinating - an unlikely but inevitable match but, more than in FLOL, As it is in Heaven is populated by several other wonderful characters - Steven's father with his rituals and faith, the Indian doctor, a fixture in the medical systems of all the old British dominions, the headmistress and the landlady and their assumptions. All made this a rich, satifying read. I laughed,I wept and I sighed. For me, this book explored "fated" lovers with more complexity than FLOL, a natural progression in this second novel. My experience with both has led me to trust Williams and suspend my need for the rational and the sensible - and believe that there are relationships where the attraction between two people is so powerful that it is impossible to contemplate a life where they do not connect. I savoured every bit of it and can hardly wait for the next set of explorations.

Helpful

Benny Smith

Perfection

Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2015

I read this novel a few years ago, but lost the book in a move, and only recently have I tracked it back down. This novel is a masterpiece of philosophical science fiction. It's so amazing in every way, and the twists and turns are as unexpected and intriguing as they are revolting and horrible. Honestly, it's like passing a car crash. It's too gruesome to look away, and it always feels persistent and plausible. It is possibly one of my favorite books ever, and I promise, it will be one of yours too.

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battbooks

Heaven or Hell.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 29, 2015

Verified Purchase

A really good and unusual story and the idea of 'The Pond' is inspired. Shades of 'The Islamic State or the 'Inquisition' and oh so true. Are any more books by these authors in the pipeline?

OrR

Richtige Science Fiction

Reviewed in Germany on March 8, 2014

Verified Purchase

Regt sehr zum Denken an, über Religion, Leben und so weiter, insbesondere, weil es auf solider wissenschaftlicher Grundlage ersponnen ist.

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