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amysofta's review
3.0
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley for a honest review.
While I didn’t find myself getting totally engrossed and swept away by this story, I did enjoy it. There was just something about it that kept me removed from what was going on. The pacing, the descriptions, or maybe the main character. It was an interesting story that I am glad I read, but I didn’t love it.
So lets start with what I did enjoy about the story. I liked the questions the story brought up more than anything. I liked that this story set in the future humanity was still grappling with the same petty problems, only now they had global consequences that could no longer be ignored. It was a pretty grim prediction of human nature, but I fear probably an accurate one. This book is going to make people think about the real effects of our current course if we do not try to get along and work together or take care of our home. The technological advances were interesting too, especially how humans were able to interact with technology. This is a thought-provoking story and I hope people read it for that alone.
What didn’t work for me. I think the story could have been expanded. I wished there was more information about life on Earth and how history got to this point. There is a chart at the end, but I think a companion book or prequel would be nice to help set the story better. I was confused a bit to how the countries and governments were now broken up. We do get a good idea of what happen to the Earth, but the context was lost a little bit. I would have also loved to spend more time on Horizon herself. They went so far and so little time was actually spent discovering this new world. Granted I think this was more a study of human nature and character then a space exploration, but still a little more time looking around would have been nice.
I was satisfied with the end, like I said I would have liked to read more about this story set before Horizon. It is a good story, interesting, but wish it had something more.
While I didn’t find myself getting totally engrossed and swept away by this story, I did enjoy it. There was just something about it that kept me removed from what was going on. The pacing, the descriptions, or maybe the main character. It was an interesting story that I am glad I read, but I didn’t love it.
So lets start with what I did enjoy about the story. I liked the questions the story brought up more than anything. I liked that this story set in the future humanity was still grappling with the same petty problems, only now they had global consequences that could no longer be ignored. It was a pretty grim prediction of human nature, but I fear probably an accurate one. This book is going to make people think about the real effects of our current course if we do not try to get along and work together or take care of our home. The technological advances were interesting too, especially how humans were able to interact with technology. This is a thought-provoking story and I hope people read it for that alone.
What didn’t work for me. I think the story could have been expanded. I wished there was more information about life on Earth and how history got to this point. There is a chart at the end, but I think a companion book or prequel would be nice to help set the story better. I was confused a bit to how the countries and governments were now broken up. We do get a good idea of what happen to the Earth, but the context was lost a little bit. I would have also loved to spend more time on Horizon herself. They went so far and so little time was actually spent discovering this new world. Granted I think this was more a study of human nature and character then a space exploration, but still a little more time looking around would have been nice.
I was satisfied with the end, like I said I would have liked to read more about this story set before Horizon. It is a good story, interesting, but wish it had something more.
tsana's review
4.0
Horizon by Keith Stevenson is a science fiction novel set in the medium future, mostly on a spaceship that's been sent to investigate the hopefully habitable planet Horizon and it's stellar system. I'm not really sure why the planet is on fire on the cover.
I had no specific expectations for this novel and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Honestly my least favourite part was the opening because of all the vomiting (I am a touch emetophobic) but after that was done with it was smooth sailing. I quite liked the mystery aspect that was established right from the start. The crew (mainly seen from Commander Cait's point of view) wake up from deepsleep to find one of their number dead and something difficult to ascertain wrong with the computer. It takes most of the book to work out what happened and why. They also receive confusing communications from Earth which don't make anything much clearer.
The action in Horizon centres on two causes: clashes of personality between all the crew, and external forces on Earth or more locally. Cait spends a lot of the book trying to strike a balance between personalities and situations. I really enjoyed her as a character. She had integrity and genuinely wanted the best for everyone. It was refreshing to read about a competent character trying to make the best of a difficult situation without being annoying (one of the other characters was annoying enough for the whole book) or making stupid mistakes. The other characters were also well-rounded with reasonably complex motivations.
The story was about half science half politics and I found the former more convincing. Not that the politics was bad, per se, but it was necessarily hazy — because the present Earth situation was a mystery to the characters — and the history was recounted only briefly. (I should note that there's a pre-launch history at the back of the book, but reading that after the story didn't really add much beyond the timeline aspect.) The science, on the other hand, was pretty good. Nothing made me angry (a good measure of accuracy) and there were only a couple of minor niggles I noticed that I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't. Stevenson is also consistent with noting the differences in manoeuvrability in low gravity throughout the book, instead of lazily cranking up the gravity (which was realistically generated through spin) and leaving it at that.
I want to talk about the ending but, of course, I don't want to go into major spoilers. I will just say that one aspect of the ending was a little too Arthur C Clarke for my liking. Not that I don't like Clarke, just that it had been done before and I didn't think it needed to be done again. That said, it wasn't a bad ending, taken in isolation.
I enjoyed Horizon and I would recommend it to all fans of science fiction. There's not a huge amount of Australian-authored SF out there and it's always nice to see more, especially when it's of this quality. SF fans who enjoy semi-science driven stories (it's not all about the science but the science is important to the story) will probably enjoy Horizon. I will certainly be keeping an eye on future novels Stevenson writes.
4.5 / 5 stars
Read more reviews on my blog.
I had no specific expectations for this novel and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Honestly my least favourite part was the opening because of all the vomiting (I am a touch emetophobic) but after that was done with it was smooth sailing. I quite liked the mystery aspect that was established right from the start. The crew (mainly seen from Commander Cait's point of view) wake up from deepsleep to find one of their number dead and something difficult to ascertain wrong with the computer. It takes most of the book to work out what happened and why. They also receive confusing communications from Earth which don't make anything much clearer.
The action in Horizon centres on two causes: clashes of personality between all the crew, and external forces on Earth or more locally. Cait spends a lot of the book trying to strike a balance between personalities and situations. I really enjoyed her as a character. She had integrity and genuinely wanted the best for everyone. It was refreshing to read about a competent character trying to make the best of a difficult situation without being annoying (one of the other characters was annoying enough for the whole book) or making stupid mistakes. The other characters were also well-rounded with reasonably complex motivations.
The story was about half science half politics and I found the former more convincing. Not that the politics was bad, per se, but it was necessarily hazy — because the present Earth situation was a mystery to the characters — and the history was recounted only briefly. (I should note that there's a pre-launch history at the back of the book, but reading that after the story didn't really add much beyond the timeline aspect.) The science, on the other hand, was pretty good. Nothing made me angry (a good measure of accuracy) and there were only a couple of minor niggles I noticed that I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't. Stevenson is also consistent with noting the differences in manoeuvrability in low gravity throughout the book, instead of lazily cranking up the gravity (which was realistically generated through spin) and leaving it at that.
I want to talk about the ending but, of course, I don't want to go into major spoilers. I will just say that one aspect of the ending was a little too Arthur C Clarke for my liking. Not that I don't like Clarke, just that it had been done before and I didn't think it needed to be done again. That said, it wasn't a bad ending, taken in isolation.
I enjoyed Horizon and I would recommend it to all fans of science fiction. There's not a huge amount of Australian-authored SF out there and it's always nice to see more, especially when it's of this quality. SF fans who enjoy semi-science driven stories (it's not all about the science but the science is important to the story) will probably enjoy Horizon. I will certainly be keeping an eye on future novels Stevenson writes.
4.5 / 5 stars
Read more reviews on my blog.
daveversace's review
4.0
Tense drama set in the claustrophobic confines of a scientific survey ship on its way to explore the earthlike planet Horizon. The expedition commander Cait Dyson wakes from hypersleep to immediate catastrophe, and things only get worse from there as the bodies stack up and paranoia and misplaced loyalties grip the crew. Horizon is a tight, stuffy book that dwells on the mistrust, stress and mistakes that tear a team apart just when it needs to pull together. There's several mysteries layered in, and some unexpected pyrotechnics as well.
alanbaxter's review
4.0
A fine SF thriller with echoes of HAL, William Gibson and Peter Watts. Stevenson's debut novel is an absolute cracker.
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