Scan barcode
A review by arbieroo
The Coming by Joe Haldeman
3.0
This book doesn't offer much in the way of original SF ideas and the ending is a damp squib, but it's interesting for the way it is constructed. It is a First Contact story with a premise similar to that of Sagan's Contact.
There are multiple viewpoints but instead of rotating around the characters and giving each perspective over the whole time period of the story, time progresses continually. Viewpoint switches are like momentum transfer in collisions; one character bumps into another and then suddenly we are off somewhere else in that second person's head! Think a little about how hard it would be to construct a novel that way and yet tell a good story well! I think there are a couple of times Haldeman can't quite make it work and we have to leap across town but not very many. Haldeman carries it off with impressive skill and the narrative is easy to follow and understand - so: technically impressive but not the best Haldeman can do in terms of SF ideas.
There are multiple viewpoints but instead of rotating around the characters and giving each perspective over the whole time period of the story, time progresses continually. Viewpoint switches are like momentum transfer in collisions; one character bumps into another and then suddenly we are off somewhere else in that second person's head! Think a little about how hard it would be to construct a novel that way and yet tell a good story well! I think there are a couple of times Haldeman can't quite make it work and we have to leap across town but not very many. Haldeman carries it off with impressive skill and the narrative is easy to follow and understand - so: technically impressive but not the best Haldeman can do in terms of SF ideas.