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jonathanpalfrey's review
2.0
To deal with the good things first, this book has an original and imaginative scenario that seems plausible and well thought out. The descriptive passages are quite well written by sf standards. Writers often spoil a book with a poor ending, but here the ending is both conclusive and upbeat.
What bothers me are the characterization and the plot, both of which I find unconvincing to the point of being unprofessional. I don't really believe in these characters, they're pawns of the author and fail to become real people to me; and I dislike many little details of the story.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone except Bob Shaw completists and collectors of diverse sf scenarios. I doubt that I'll read it again.
I liked [b:The Ceres Solution|2519822|The Ceres Solution|Bob Shaw|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1305707329s/2519822.jpg|729816] better; if you want to read Bob Shaw, I can mildly recommend that one.
Incidentally, I must have bought this book long ago, the pages are slightly yellowed with age although I think I bought it new. But I'm pretty sure that I've never read it before: it didn't strike me as even slightly familiar.
What bothers me are the characterization and the plot, both of which I find unconvincing to the point of being unprofessional. I don't really believe in these characters, they're pawns of the author and fail to become real people to me; and I dislike many little details of the story.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone except Bob Shaw completists and collectors of diverse sf scenarios. I doubt that I'll read it again.
I liked [b:The Ceres Solution|2519822|The Ceres Solution|Bob Shaw|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1305707329s/2519822.jpg|729816] better; if you want to read Bob Shaw, I can mildly recommend that one.
Incidentally, I must have bought this book long ago, the pages are slightly yellowed with age although I think I bought it new. But I'm pretty sure that I've never read it before: it didn't strike me as even slightly familiar.
bea_evans's review
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, and Violence
Minor: Rape, Suicide, and Miscarriage
metaphorosis's review
3.0
Summary
Brakka wood is getting harder to find, and the once-innocuous ptertha are getting more and more virulent - and apparently self-willed. But there's another planet just above, if brave men are willing to make the crossing by hot-air balloon.
Review
I’m a fan of Bob Shaw, and I recall liking The Ragged Astronauts when I first read it in the ’80s. On the good side, the book is still a fun, fast read. On the confusing side, the story has nothing at all to do with what I remember. I recall it (perhaps because of the cover art) as a fun, somewhat lighthearted adventure farce. In fact, it’s a fairly serious (if light), often political intrigue. Through no fault of Shaw’s, I was off balance for the first couple of chapters simply because it differed so much from my memory.
Taken for what it actually is, this is an interesting, fairly well thought out, exploration of a fantasy-based approach to a binary planet. Shaw tells us that we’re in an alternate universe, and takes full advantage of the leeway given him by different scientific principles, but still with a sciencey feel and a moderate mount of rigour.
Where the book fell down, for me, was on the character side – usually one of Shaw’s strengths. Here, he sets up some interesting characters, but never really delves into them, and wraps things up fairly superficially. We skim past the characters’ emotions without ever stopping to see how they’re affected in the long-term. Maybe it’s because the tone is ‘harder’ than I’d normally expect from Shaw, and more military-oriented.
It seems odd to say of a series with three full books, but I wish Shaw had taken his time to develop the story a bit more in this first installment, instead of rushing through things. The ending in particular feels like a patch stuck on what should have been a longer story. I look forward to the second volume, though, since I clearly didn’t recall the first very well.
athenalindia's review
3.0
The Ragged Astronauts was nominated for a Hugo a while ago, but I don't believe it won. I'm not entirely sure why it was nominated. I enjoyed it, but I don't feel that it achieves the heights that would warrant a nomination.
It's solid, entertaining science fiction, with a bit of a hidden-until-the-end environmentalist message.
It is also, oddly, the second book I've read recently that revolves around twin planets - Anarres and Urras in The Dispossessed, Land and Overland in this one. Land and Overland are even closer, close enough to share an atmosphere, so that, as the title might suggest, it is possible to attempt transit between the two planets with little more than a hot air balloon aided by jets.
Land has no metal, so their technology is very limited, and mostly depending on chemical interactions between two kinds of crystals found in the brakka tree. They live in a monarchy, with an inherited vocational caste system. How this was set up, and truly, what it means, is not explained. Women are not mentioned so much, but do appear to be wives. Multiple marriage is possible, but the implications are not pursued.
And therein lie my problems with the book - there are interesting ideas that are lightly touched upon, and then never pursued or developed. This would be fine if there were other things that were developed in more detail, but there really aren't.
This is the story of an Exodus, of the sudden and devastating attack by gas creatures, of the philosophers who make the trip possible, the one philosopher/military character's struggles, and the sociopathy of a prince. It is just remarkably sparse. It is not a novel of ideas. There is not enough done to develop the characters to make it a novel of character. I guess it's a novel of plot, and what's there is entertaining enough, it's just not anything more.
It's solid, entertaining science fiction, with a bit of a hidden-until-the-end environmentalist message.
It is also, oddly, the second book I've read recently that revolves around twin planets - Anarres and Urras in The Dispossessed, Land and Overland in this one. Land and Overland are even closer, close enough to share an atmosphere, so that, as the title might suggest, it is possible to attempt transit between the two planets with little more than a hot air balloon aided by jets.
Land has no metal, so their technology is very limited, and mostly depending on chemical interactions between two kinds of crystals found in the brakka tree. They live in a monarchy, with an inherited vocational caste system. How this was set up, and truly, what it means, is not explained. Women are not mentioned so much, but do appear to be wives. Multiple marriage is possible, but the implications are not pursued.
And therein lie my problems with the book - there are interesting ideas that are lightly touched upon, and then never pursued or developed. This would be fine if there were other things that were developed in more detail, but there really aren't.
This is the story of an Exodus, of the sudden and devastating attack by gas creatures, of the philosophers who make the trip possible, the one philosopher/military character's struggles, and the sociopathy of a prince. It is just remarkably sparse. It is not a novel of ideas. There is not enough done to develop the characters to make it a novel of character. I guess it's a novel of plot, and what's there is entertaining enough, it's just not anything more.
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