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kilroyPrint date: 1997 (20s: 1, 50s: 2, 60s: 4, 70s: 9, 80s: 8, 90s: 8, 00s: 22, 10s: 2)
Verdict: Keep. (37/94)
This is probably going to sound weird, but this is the kind of book I remember Michael Crichton writing when he was on form. It's an idea book that doesn't get bogged down in the science; there's new technology that we get to see in use rather than just talking about how it works. Or it's an action/thriller, with chase scenes and shootouts. Or it's a war story, or a love story, or a peace story. It's a novel that manages to keep a lot of balls in the air while staying a page-turner all the while. This is what I remember reading Jurassic Park was like when I was twelve.
I really liked this one, if you couldn't tell. A friend of mine said she liked it better than The Forever War, and I know what she meant now. It's closer to home for me emotionally. Maybe it's the near-future setting or the academic slant, but I can imagine myself existing in the world of this book very easily-- as someone who's been lucky enough never to personally experience a war, much more easily than the other.
Haldeman writes candidly, which is a blessing in any genre but positively rare in science fiction. He wastes very little time on description and explication and gets right to the characters, using a lot of first-person perspective and third-person internal to get straight into their emotions. He avoids the "this is the thought, she thought" mode entirely, which keeps it from feeling stilted; and he keeps a thread of humor throughout to keep it from feeling artificially contemplative. It's down-to-earth, like the narrative equivalent of shooting the breeze in lawn chairs over a beer... except it manages to keep that tone while dealing with serious topics. It's a neat trick.
The characterization is pretty standard: the main character is The Haldeman Protagonist and the love interest is a Modern Woman Who's Still Secondary to Everything. The scientists are scientists and the crazy people are crazy. Still, the book zips along just fine without going into complexities of character, and I have a hard time faulting it on that score. I always wish for complex characters on an abstract level, but this book just didn't need it. It's an excellent read. I'll definitely be keeping it.
Page count: 351 (19338 total)
Completed: 56 (25 female authors, 27 male authors, 4 anthology)
Rejected: 38 (23 male authors, 15 female authors)
Next book due Tuesday, August 2nd.
Verdict: Keep. (37/94)
This is probably going to sound weird, but this is the kind of book I remember Michael Crichton writing when he was on form. It's an idea book that doesn't get bogged down in the science; there's new technology that we get to see in use rather than just talking about how it works. Or it's an action/thriller, with chase scenes and shootouts. Or it's a war story, or a love story, or a peace story. It's a novel that manages to keep a lot of balls in the air while staying a page-turner all the while. This is what I remember reading Jurassic Park was like when I was twelve.
I really liked this one, if you couldn't tell. A friend of mine said she liked it better than The Forever War, and I know what she meant now. It's closer to home for me emotionally. Maybe it's the near-future setting or the academic slant, but I can imagine myself existing in the world of this book very easily-- as someone who's been lucky enough never to personally experience a war, much more easily than the other.
Haldeman writes candidly, which is a blessing in any genre but positively rare in science fiction. He wastes very little time on description and explication and gets right to the characters, using a lot of first-person perspective and third-person internal to get straight into their emotions. He avoids the "this is the thought, she thought" mode entirely, which keeps it from feeling stilted; and he keeps a thread of humor throughout to keep it from feeling artificially contemplative. It's down-to-earth, like the narrative equivalent of shooting the breeze in lawn chairs over a beer... except it manages to keep that tone while dealing with serious topics. It's a neat trick.
The characterization is pretty standard: the main character is The Haldeman Protagonist and the love interest is a Modern Woman Who's Still Secondary to Everything. The scientists are scientists and the crazy people are crazy. Still, the book zips along just fine without going into complexities of character, and I have a hard time faulting it on that score. I always wish for complex characters on an abstract level, but this book just didn't need it. It's an excellent read. I'll definitely be keeping it.
Page count: 351 (19338 total)
Completed: 56 (25 female authors, 27 male authors, 4 anthology)
Rejected: 38 (23 male authors, 15 female authors)
Next book due Tuesday, August 2nd.