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djhobby's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty good sci-fi.
Not sure why this is getting so much hate. I love the shape-changer living among humanity.
Not sure why this is getting so much hate. I love the shape-changer living among humanity.
furicle's review against another edition
3.0
A very easy to read book, I breezed right through this one.
The premise is interesting, even if a bit hard to swallow, with two aliens among us and a mysterious artifact pulled out of the ocean.
Following the aliens through history has some really great moments of history brought to life, I wish he'd done more of it.
In fact, since both aliens are immortal I thought the whole time line was pretty rushed. Even though they keep telling themselves they have all the time in the world, most of the action is in the last couple of months, with a time line covering millions of years.
One alien is much more developed than the other as a character. I think it could have been a little less lopsided, although the emphasis on one is needed. Developing them is the main point of the book, and the best parts of it.
Reading the other reviews, I was surprised to note how much the sex in the book seemed to push people's buttons, and different people took it completely differently. I don't think there complaints are in the book as much as they are part of the reviewers viewpoint. At any rate, it didn't upset any of my preconceived ideas, so I didn't think it was objectionable. :-)
My real problem with this book is the humans. They start out as interesting, independent, big thinkers but then just dwindle away in importance. The love story takes over, and science pretty much gets tossed out the window. Sure, you can wave the Clarke 'indistinguishable from magic' quote around to try and help, but it still feels like cheating. Better hand waving was desperately required to save the ending.
All in all, worth reading, but not Haldeman's best by a fair margin.
The premise is interesting, even if a bit hard to swallow, with two aliens among us and a mysterious artifact pulled out of the ocean.
Following the aliens through history has some really great moments of history brought to life, I wish he'd done more of it.
In fact, since both aliens are immortal I thought the whole time line was pretty rushed. Even though they keep telling themselves they have all the time in the world, most of the action is in the last couple of months, with a time line covering millions of years.
One alien is much more developed than the other as a character. I think it could have been a little less lopsided, although the emphasis on one is needed. Developing them is the main point of the book, and the best parts of it.
Reading the other reviews, I was surprised to note how much the sex in the book seemed to push people's buttons, and different people took it completely differently. I don't think there complaints are in the book as much as they are part of the reviewers viewpoint. At any rate, it didn't upset any of my preconceived ideas, so I didn't think it was objectionable. :-)
My real problem with this book is the humans. They start out as interesting, independent, big thinkers but then just dwindle away in importance. The love story takes over, and science pretty much gets tossed out the window. Sure, you can wave the Clarke 'indistinguishable from magic' quote around to try and help, but it still feels like cheating. Better hand waving was desperately required to save the ending.
All in all, worth reading, but not Haldeman's best by a fair margin.
smithjasont01's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
The second book by Haldeman that I have read. The story of an alien known as the changeling that can live forever and can take the shape of anything given enough time and mass. After spending millions of years on its home world it travels to earth a million years before modern times. After spending long years as predators in the ocean it comes up on land and takes the form of a human in 1931 US. Only it can't remember what it is. It spends years learning about humans and trying to find something like itself. Unbeknownst to itself there is another creature on the earth, one who can look like any man and has mindset for war, known as the chameleon. It isn't until the 2000s when an artifact is brought up from the bottom of the Pacific that both the alien realizes it is drawn to this thing. The chameleon realizes it isn't alone and wants to change that. Both make their way to the artifact and it leads to a major confrontation.
There was a twist in the book and I feel like it came to late. If it came earlier in the story I think it would have made the whole thing more tense. I think we see to many lives of the changeling and it is just the same over and over, make a persona go to college learn repeate. Granted the ww2 part was interesting as it let the changeling learn how cruel humanity can be. I also think the ending was a bit rushed, the conflict started and was over in 2 or 3 pages.
Overall an ok first Sci fi book for the year, nothing special nothing terrible.
There was a twist in the book and I feel like it came to late. If it came earlier in the story I think it would have made the whole thing more tense. I think we see to many lives of the changeling and it is just the same over and over, make a persona go to college learn repeate. Granted the ww2 part was interesting as it let the changeling learn how cruel humanity can be. I also think the ending was a bit rushed, the conflict started and was over in 2 or 3 pages.
Overall an ok first Sci fi book for the year, nothing special nothing terrible.
alicat_reads's review against another edition
2.0
This book is mostly just plot. Not much character development. Interesting story, moves at a decent pace, and then the ending felt rushed.
msaari's review against another edition
4.0
Maailmassa vaeltaa kaksi muukalaista. Toinen on muodonmuuttaja vailla rajoja, joka pystyy ottamaan minkä tahansa muodon. Eräänä iltana 1930-luvulla se nousee merestä Kaliforniassa, ottaa ihmisen muodon ja alkaa tutustua ihmiskuntaan. Toinen on kameleontti, joka kulkee vaihtelevissa ihmishahmoissa historian halki selviten raa’alla voimalla.
Muukalaiset eivät tiedä toisistaan, mutta molemmat tuntevat selittämätöntä vetoa merenpohjasta löytyneeseen mystiseen esineeseen, joka on ihmisten fysiikan näkökulmasta mahdottoman tiivistä materiaa ja siten selvästi jostain muualta kotoisin. Esine nostetaan merestä esiin tutkittavaksi ja se alkaa kutsua muukalaisia luokseen.
Camouflage on melkoinen trilleri, joka kuljettaa kolmea juonnetta yhtä aikaa. Muodonmuuttaja kulkee 1930-luvulta kohti lähitulevaisuutta, jossa meribiologi Russell Sutton tutkii löytämäänsä artefaktia. Kameleontin tarinaa edistetään silloin tällöin, mutta vähän puolihuolimattomasti. Se on sivuhahmo ja lopulta melko tarpeettoman oloinen hahmo — kirja olisi toiminut luultavasti ihan hyvin ilman sitäkin, tai ainakin kameleonttia olisi voinut kuvata vähän monipuolisemmin.
Kertomus on mukaansatempaava, Haldeman kirjoittaa vetävästi. Vain loppu jää vaivaamaan, se kun tuntuu siltä, että Haldeman törmäsi yhtäkkiä sivumäärärajaan ja joutui lopettamaan tarinan vähän liian nopeasti. No, ei Camouflage ensimmäinen kirja ole, joka loppuu töksähtäen, eikä kiirehditty loppu tarinaa pilaa. Muodonmuuttajan kokemukset ihmisten keskuudessa ovat hienoa kuvasta ihmiskunnan kohtuuttomuudesta ja muodonmuuttaja on muutenkin kaikessa uteliaisuudessaan hieno päähenkilö.
Kirja pokkasi sekä perinteisen Nebulan että sukupuolten mielenkiintoisesta käsittelystä jaettavan James Tiptree Jr. -palkinnon. (30.4.2010)
Muukalaiset eivät tiedä toisistaan, mutta molemmat tuntevat selittämätöntä vetoa merenpohjasta löytyneeseen mystiseen esineeseen, joka on ihmisten fysiikan näkökulmasta mahdottoman tiivistä materiaa ja siten selvästi jostain muualta kotoisin. Esine nostetaan merestä esiin tutkittavaksi ja se alkaa kutsua muukalaisia luokseen.
Camouflage on melkoinen trilleri, joka kuljettaa kolmea juonnetta yhtä aikaa. Muodonmuuttaja kulkee 1930-luvulta kohti lähitulevaisuutta, jossa meribiologi Russell Sutton tutkii löytämäänsä artefaktia. Kameleontin tarinaa edistetään silloin tällöin, mutta vähän puolihuolimattomasti. Se on sivuhahmo ja lopulta melko tarpeettoman oloinen hahmo — kirja olisi toiminut luultavasti ihan hyvin ilman sitäkin, tai ainakin kameleonttia olisi voinut kuvata vähän monipuolisemmin.
Kertomus on mukaansatempaava, Haldeman kirjoittaa vetävästi. Vain loppu jää vaivaamaan, se kun tuntuu siltä, että Haldeman törmäsi yhtäkkiä sivumäärärajaan ja joutui lopettamaan tarinan vähän liian nopeasti. No, ei Camouflage ensimmäinen kirja ole, joka loppuu töksähtäen, eikä kiirehditty loppu tarinaa pilaa. Muodonmuuttajan kokemukset ihmisten keskuudessa ovat hienoa kuvasta ihmiskunnan kohtuuttomuudesta ja muodonmuuttaja on muutenkin kaikessa uteliaisuudessaan hieno päähenkilö.
Kirja pokkasi sekä perinteisen Nebulan että sukupuolten mielenkiintoisesta käsittelystä jaettavan James Tiptree Jr. -palkinnon. (30.4.2010)
kejadlen's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5 - I enjoyed Haldeman's portrayal of aliens, and in general, the plot and characters flowed smoothly. The 'twist' was pretty obvious, and the end abrupt, but I still liked the book nonetheless.
mermahoney's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the way this story played out for the most part. I enjoyed the parallel story lines of the alien(s) as they live through human history and the scientists who are trying to determine the nature of the mysterious object found in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. The tension in the story definitely ratchets up nicely when the two storylines finally intersect and there are some good twists too. I thought the character development was weak and we have to be told (more than once) that some of the personal development has happened since it wasn't shown in any other way. The ending felt a bit rushed and anticlimactic after the lengthy lead up. Still, an interesting story and it reads very easily so I would recommend picking it up.
saccade's review against another edition
3.0
I've never read anything by Haldeman before, and after this book I'd like to give him another try. Camouflage was somewhat predictable, somewhat meandering, and the ending was very abrupt. Despite all that, I really enjoyed reading it due to the straightforward writing style and alien perspectives (and the sex scenes, of course). But I might try something more popular, like [b:The Forever War|21611|The Forever War|Joe Haldeman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167322714s/21611.jpg|423], next time I pick up a Haldeman book.