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henryarmitage's review
4.0
This is a first contact story set in the distant future as humanity is systematically colonizing the galaxy in slower-than-light generation ships and we encounter an intelligent race that is somewhere around where we were in the early 20th century. The sort-of twist here is that the aliens are easier for the reader to identify with than the distant-future humanity.
It's a fairly light read. I was a bit dissatisfied with the abrupt ending.
It's a fairly light read. I was a bit dissatisfied with the abrupt ending.
chramies's review
4.0
Interesting first-contact novel which explores the story from both sides, as after all both humans and 'aliens' are making first contact - and which is which after all? There is much to admire and otherwise in both sides. The speculation towards the end of the book is interesting but doesn't detract from the rest of it even if it does possibly answer the unanswered questions about the origins of the Earth expedition.
The 'scientific romance' subtitle is possibly more deserved from the viewpoint of the 'aliens' whose level of technological development is similar to that of the 'developed' world in the late 19th century.
The 'scientific romance' subtitle is possibly more deserved from the viewpoint of the 'aliens' whose level of technological development is similar to that of the 'developed' world in the late 19th century.
moonbroth's review
Review by David Langford: http://www.ansible.co.uk/writing/lrnworld.html
ericlawton's review
3.0
I used to read more SciFi but dropped several recently after only a few pages, but I finished this one. Raises issues of colonialism and slavery which threaten to split a human society and unify an alien one.
But not all that deep, mostly an entertaining read.
But not all that deep, mostly an entertaining read.
athenalindia's review
4.0
This was pretty darn good. Not exceptional, not rocking my socks off, but solid, and interesting, and trying new ideas I'd never quite seen before. And the new ideas are subtle. The writing style is serviceable, but won't set the world on fire any time soon. It was never quite a page-turner, but wasn't hard to pick up either.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
arbieroo's review
2.0
I gave up reading [a:Ken MacLeod|108281|Ken MacLeod|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1283522468p2/108281.jpg] after three books in a row banging on in strident fashion about revolutionary left wing politics.
I was given this one after a 5 or so year gap and was a little trepiditious about it. It turns out, however that this book has no such theme. It's a first contact novel, where-in a generation ship arrives in a solar-system that has the first multi-cellular life humans have found outside Earth - but not only that - it has a civilisation just developing radio and powered flight.
Cue the usual political contentions between and within both species. We get points of view from both species. I found the aliens more interesting than the humans, despite an intriguing social order prevailing in order to make a generation ship work. This was mainly because the alien characters were much more likeable than the humans. So far, so good. There are enough interesting ideas to make an SF cliche work for the umpteenth time - just like time-travel stories, it's always possible to find something new in first contact if you apply enough imagination - and imagination is something MacLeod has never been short of.
So why only two stars? Because lots of the ideas are under-explored. Quite how the human generation ships work, both physically and socially is under explored and the lack of sympathetic characters makes things worse. The story quietly builds to a tense and complex situation only for the denouement to be terribly anti-climactic and the aftermath gets rushed through, with explanations for it that seem either unconvincing or hasty.
I've never payed for a MacLeod book and I'm not planning to start, even though this proved a considerable improvement on my previous experiences.
I was given this one after a 5 or so year gap and was a little trepiditious about it. It turns out, however that this book has no such theme. It's a first contact novel, where-in a generation ship arrives in a solar-system that has the first multi-cellular life humans have found outside Earth - but not only that - it has a civilisation just developing radio and powered flight.
Cue the usual political contentions between and within both species. We get points of view from both species. I found the aliens more interesting than the humans, despite an intriguing social order prevailing in order to make a generation ship work. This was mainly because the alien characters were much more likeable than the humans. So far, so good. There are enough interesting ideas to make an SF cliche work for the umpteenth time - just like time-travel stories, it's always possible to find something new in first contact if you apply enough imagination - and imagination is something MacLeod has never been short of.
So why only two stars? Because lots of the ideas are under-explored. Quite how the human generation ships work, both physically and socially is under explored and the lack of sympathetic characters makes things worse. The story quietly builds to a tense and complex situation only for the denouement to be terribly anti-climactic and the aftermath gets rushed through, with explanations for it that seem either unconvincing or hasty.
I've never payed for a MacLeod book and I'm not planning to start, even though this proved a considerable improvement on my previous experiences.
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