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arf88's review against another edition
4.0
Four books combined chronological order to make this omnibus - I had read that some suggest reading in publication order, but I decided to stick with the way it was collected here. Character-wise all four books are on about the same level - interesting characters that I liked and enjoyed reading but not the most realised.
For They Shall Have Stars - starts a little slow and with a bit too much "science" - I've read a fair bit of "hard" sci-fi but I found the technobabble in the first and last book to be pretty impenetrable. But the story ends well and gave me great excitement for the next book.
A Life For The Stars - A very enjoyable read, the main character was a joy to follow, and a good introduction to the flying cities. I did find the ending a bit abrupt.
Earthman, Come Home - The first written and the best of them all. The only one that felt like an actual novel that would be enjoyable to read as a stand-alone and not just a short story.
The Triumph of Time - My least favourite of the lot, a lot of dubious "science". While I'd really enjoyed reading the rest of the collection this made the end a slog. However, the ending of the story itself was unique and interesting and saved the rest retrospectively from being terrible.
For They Shall Have Stars - starts a little slow and with a bit too much "science" - I've read a fair bit of "hard" sci-fi but I found the technobabble in the first and last book to be pretty impenetrable. But the story ends well and gave me great excitement for the next book.
A Life For The Stars - A very enjoyable read, the main character was a joy to follow, and a good introduction to the flying cities. I did find the ending a bit abrupt.
Earthman, Come Home - The first written and the best of them all. The only one that felt like an actual novel that would be enjoyable to read as a stand-alone and not just a short story.
The Triumph of Time - My least favourite of the lot, a lot of dubious "science". While I'd really enjoyed reading the rest of the collection this made the end a slog. However, the ending of the story itself was unique and interesting and saved the rest retrospectively from being terrible.
josh_gallagher's review against another edition
4.0
These were so much fun to read. It's not serious hard sci-fi, but the entertainment that results from playing with the plot device of a technology that lifts cities into space is hard to dispute.
lyleblosser's review against another edition
3.0
DNF, read to page 377. This omnibus edition allowed a seamless transition from book to book, and helped keep the entire "universe" fresh in the mind of the reader. The first two books, "They Shall Have Stars" and "A Life for the Stars" were very good and had both interesting plot developments and characters. But starting with the 3rd book, "Earthman, Come Home" some of that connection to the characters, and therefore the plot, suffered. It seemed more like a group of collected stories than a tale designed as one novel. (A later review of the book's contents confirmed that it was indeed several stories stitched together.) And the fate of a character from the earlier 2nd book seemed, well, unreasonable to say the least. Perhaps the author decided to replace the character with a new one, but (in my opinion) the transition could have been handled much more in line with the tone of the earlier books. I stopped reading part way through the 3rd book, and never did read the 4th book -- mostly because of this change in tone and choppy plot. Probably my loss, but it is what it is. All in all, a decent read, especially for readers that enjoy "epic" tales of humanity's future.
frederica49's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
katieconrad's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tronella's review against another edition
4.0
A Series of four sci-fi novellas. I enjoyed this a lot, but some of the seventies-ness about women got a bit wearing around part three.
qdony's review against another edition
2.0
Ostras, no lo había puntuado. Clásico, interesante para frikis de la historia de la ciencia ficción, pero mala reunión de libros.
La reseña completa la podéis leer en SuperSonic Magazine #3
La reseña completa la podéis leer en SuperSonic Magazine #3
kundor's review against another edition
3.0
The first two novels (They Shall Have Stars, and A Life for the Stars) were the best. The third novel, Earthman, Come Home, was munged together from a variety of stories which were written years earlier than the other novels, which were written as novels. As a result, ECH suffers from a lack of plot arc, bad pacing, anticlimaxes, and is riddled with internal inconsistency. The author had some work to do on comprehending his scales, also (a major point is the difficulty of fitting 300 city-sized objects comfortably into a solar system; our heroes have to park 18 AU out. Except that these cities came, in the first place, FROM EARTH, so they are known to fit in a tiny fraction of a 1 AU orbit! Come on; they could all fit inside the orbit of Mercury and not even know the rest of them were there!) I also just didn't like the protagonist, Amalfi, that much; he never really shows us why he deserves to be in charge, repeatedly doing gross damage to the city, causing the deaths of citizens, etc. for no particularly compelling reason. People go on at length about atrocities committed by the "mad" city, IMT, thousands of years before, but Amalfi does things nearly as bad without even appearing to think about it, and nobody bats an eye.
So, Amalfi's presence is probably why I didn't like the last novel, Triumph of Time, either, despite it being written as a novel. The first two, however, are definitely worth reading. TSHS begins in 2013, so it's timely!
So, Amalfi's presence is probably why I didn't like the last novel, Triumph of Time, either, despite it being written as a novel. The first two, however, are definitely worth reading. TSHS begins in 2013, so it's timely!
brizreading's review against another edition
2.0
Good ol' boy sci-fi, where the rich vastness of the universe is nonetheless incapable of dislodging the narrative from narrow-minded white American male-ness.
In this, Protagonist is a stowaway on a massive (Miyazaki-esque) flying city contraption; almost a proto-steampunk visual. Too bad the city feels about as diverse as Pittsburgh. (I say this with much love and respect for Pittsburgh.)
In this, Protagonist is a stowaway on a massive (Miyazaki-esque) flying city contraption; almost a proto-steampunk visual. Too bad the city feels about as diverse as Pittsburgh. (I say this with much love and respect for Pittsburgh.)