Reviews of science fiction-books

Isaac Asimov
Greg Bear
David Brin
Karel Capek
Orson Scott Card
Arthur C. Clarke
Robert Heinlein
Frank Herbert
Ursula LeGuin
Robert J. Sawyer
Clifford Simak
Olaf Stapledon
Harry Turtledove
Timothy Zahn

Foundation trilogy

Isaac Asimov has written a vast amount of books, both science fiction and works of popular science. His most popular work is probably his Foundation trilogy. The titles are Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation. In the far future, humanity has spread throughout the galaxy and created a vast empire. The entire galaxy is governed from the planet Trantor located in the center of our galaxy. The scientist Hari Seldon discovers that the vast empire is coming to an end and that mankind will plunge into an era of barbarism lasting 30000 years before a new empire will arise. Seldon is the creator of a new science, psychohistory. This science can be used to predict changes in society and the future. Not only that, it can be used to alter the future as well. Seldon uses psychohistory to shorten the 30000 years of anarchy considerably and to keep scientific knowledge from being lost. Finally a new empire will be built. An organization called Foundation is established to this end. Just as Seldon predicited, the empire does crumble and the Foundation must begin its work of applying psychohistory to reshape the empire.


This series was written at the time of the Second World War and Asimov's idea that all great empires(read Germany) must come to and end is evident in the Foundation series. It is supposedly based on Edward Gibbon's famous book about the fall of the Roman Empire.
I remember being totally entranced by this series and it's really one of those stories you'll return to again and again. It may not be the most well written science fiction around, but then Asimov's main strength as a writer are his imaginative stories and his scientific learning, not his skill as a novelist.

Eon

A great asteroid plunges towards Earth and enters orbit upon arrival. What is it and what is its purpose ? An expedition is organized and sent to the strange visitor. An entrance is discovered and the astronauts discover a number of mysteries and marvels within the asteroid. If you've read Arthur C. Clarke's Rendez-vous with Rama you'll find similarities between the two books, at least to begin with. In fact Eon and Clarke's novel have very little in common. Eon is a complex 'hard' work of science fiction. At times I found the story got bogged down with technical jargon, but you really don't need to be an engineer to enjoy it, and the story is completely engrossing. Also, the numerous characters are well drawn. This is a very impressive book.
Greg Bear has his own homepage.

The Uplift series

In David Brin's Uplift universe set in a not so far future, mankind has made contact with other galactic civilizations. Galactic libraries allow Man to share the vast store of collective knowledge amassed by the various alien races. The term Uplift refers to the tradition of intelligent races 'uplifting' potentially sapient animals helping them to become an intelligent race in their own right. This is how it works throughout the five inhabited galaxies. Patron races adopt and uplift client races. When the people of Earth are discovered they are looked upon as 'wolflings' because they lack a patron race and have amazingly reached sapiency without any aid whatsoever. Or have they ?


The first Uplift series is a trilogy made up of Sundiver, Startide Rising and The Uplift War. Sundiver is about an expedition into the sun. Essentially a science fiction whodunit, it's rather fun but nowhere near the quality of the later works in the Uplift series. It may serve as an introduction to the Uplift universe but frankly you might as well skip it and start off by reading Startide Rising instead.


The second work Startide Rising sees the exploration vessel Streaker crashed on a metal planet far from Earth. Its crew consists mainly of uplifted intelligent dolphins(and one chimp!), a few humans are aboard as well. Streaker had previously stumbled upon a vast armada of giant space ships of unknown antiquity. The rumor spread to the great galactic civilizations who believed that Streaker had found the fabled Progenitors, founders of all intelligence. A great space battle begins above the metal world of Kithrup, everyone wants to capture Streaker and discover the hidden location of the ancient fleet.


Startide Rising is very much a Space Opera, the story of the Streaker and her crew's attempt to escape back to Earth is well told with much mystery added. I found Brin's ideas about intelligent dolphins with their three languages intriguing and believable. A very exciting and interesting book that tickles your imagination.


The Uplift War takes place just after the events in Startide Rising. One of Earth's colonized worlds, Garth, is seized by a hostile alien race. A guerilla war immediately begins. This work introduces several of the alien races in detail. Also Garth has a large population of uplifted chimpanzees. Much of the story involves the cooperation of Man, chimps and the aliens allied with Earth in their struggle to be rid of the invader. The Uplift War has more developed characterizations than the two former books. I think Brin shows how he continues to develop his writing skills with each new work in the Uplift series. The Uplift War really impressed me, an excellent story, one of the best works of scifi I have read. Brin has written three more Uplift novels in his Second Uplift series.

War with the Newts

The Czechish writer Karel Capek first become known to a greater public after his play R.U.R. in which the concept 'robot' was introduced for the first time. The satiric novel War with the Newts(1936) which ridicules Nazi-Germany and fascism in general also conveys Capeks ideas that technology can become a threat to mankind and that unabashed capitalism also poses a serious danger.
The story is about a new kind of salamanders found in southeast Asia. At first the salamanders are exploited for profit, but mankind loses control over the incredibly fast-breeding creatures....

Ender's Game

Ender and his two siblings are geniuses. They have what the military needs to be able to combat a hostile alien civilazation bent upon the destruction of Earth. The aliens have already launched one attack and nearly overcame Earth's defence at the time. Now the idea is to be offensive rather than defensive and bring the war to the alien's home planet. Ender, a young boy, is trained to become a fleetcommander. His education is very brutal, but sacrifices must be made with the world at stake and Ender's training is rushed in order to be able to attack the aliens before they can lauch an assault of their own.
This book is easily one of the best science fiction novels that I've read, and it will probably come to be regarded as a classic.

The Rama series

In the first book in the series, Rendezvous with Rama a spaceship, a huge cylinder, appears in our solar system in the year 2131 and is of course examined by a group of astronauts. The rest of the book deals with the astronauts trying to make sense of their discoveries within the alien vessel. Arthur C. Clarke wrote the first book in the Rama series by himself and it has a certain sense of awe that the best science fiction novels have. It's a classic and deservedly so. Three more book exist in the Rama series. Clarke wrote these with Gentry Lee, a NASA scientist. It seems to me(yes I'm guessing!) that Lee did most of the writing and essentially took over the series. I also enjoyed the second book in the series, Rama II. Some of the mysteries from the first book are here given an explanation. The plot and the characterizations were intriguing. Unfortunately the last two books in the series Garden of Rama and Rama revealed are not so well written and I think Lee and Clarke should have left the series at Rama II. The plot really deteriorates and especially Rama revealed was a boring read. Why attempt to give explanations for the Rama when the original idea in the first book was that Rama was a mystery that could not be comprehended by us.

2001 - A Space Odyssey

The novel 2001 is based on the filmscript from Stanley Kubrick's epic science fiction movie from 1968. The motion picture in turn is loosely based on Clarke's novel The Sentinel.
In 2001 a black monolith is discovered on the moon. Upon being touched the monolith transmits a signal to the planet Jupiter where a much larger monolith orbiting Jupiter receives the signal. The spaceship Discovery with the revolutionary computer HAL 9000 is sent to Jupiter to investigate. The journey is uneventful until Discovery reaches Jupiter. Soon after arrival the computer, HAL begins to behave strangely.


This novel has a very claustrophobic atmosphere, you can really sense how far away from Earth the crew is and how they are completely left to their own devices. There isn't much character development involved, the computer HAL, surprise surprise, is by far the most interesting personality in the story. The astronauts on the other hand remain almost complete strangers. This is not a major drawback, this novel has so many other qualities. There is a lot of symbolism to be found in this novel. The main idea in the book I think is: 'Is man really in control of her technology or is the reverse true ?'. Clarke's inclination towards the mysterious is evident in the story. If you've seen the movie and were baffled by it then you'll find that the book will provide you with more answers and clarify some matters, especially towards the end. Everything that happens in the novel isn't given an explanation though. If mankind were to discover other lifeforms then there would be more questions than answers of course.

2010 - Odyssey Two

In the sequel to 2001, a new spaceship is sent to Jupiter with a mixed crew of russians and americans to try and find out what happened to the Discovery and her crew. 2010 is a good book but it is nowhere near as good a science fiction story as 2001. It lacks most of the qualities found in its predecessor. Some of the more mysterious passages in 2001 are explained. I did like the idea of bringing together the russians and americans in a joint venture, Clarke foresaw the need to cooperate in space. The cold war was still on when this book was written, and the cooperation meant that the superpowers had to give up a lot of prestige. So 2010 is very much a novel about the need for peace and an end to the rivalry between the two nations I believe.

2061 - Odyssey Three

In the third book in the Odyssey-series, Arthur C. Clarke demonstrates his knowledge of space and science. This book is interesting if you're fascinated by space exploration, and who isn't ? The story involves a rendezvous with Halley's Comet and a landing on Jupiter's moon Europe. This was hot scientific stuff when the book was published and it still is with the Galileo probe orbiting Jupiter. There has been some speculation that Europe could possibly have primitive life. I suppose you've already guessed that science is more in evidence than the plot in this book and you're right. The story is based on the two earlier novels but rather loosely. This is a piece of interesting hard science fiction but it's nowhere near as good a story as 2001 and 2010.

3001 - The Final Odyssey

The series takes a giant leap into the future, suddenly the year is 3001 and the future is here. Society has of course changed considerably. One of the astronauts on board the Discovery who died in 2001, Frank Poole, is miraculously found in cold space and is revived using medical techniques belonging to the far future. Clarke lets Poole have a brief convalescense and then the old astronaut gets to know about the major advances in science and society in the last 1000 years. Here Clarke speculates and tries to predict what the future might look like with marvelous new gadgets etc. Clarke has a real talent for this with his scientific understanding. Eventually Poole returns to Jupiter(what remains of Jupiter) to confront the old mysteries still lurking there. He still has one more task to accomplish...


Did you know that Clarke can be really funny ? Well he proves it in 3001, there are some good jokes waiting for you. Unfortunately the sense of humour and Clarke's vision of what the future may be like are all there is to this novel. This book has a serious flaw, Clarke turns the premise for the earlier books in the series upside down in the end. That's all I want to write here, I don't want to give the story away. If you've read the three other book in the series you'll probably want to read this book as well, a compulsory read if you've read the other books. But it may annoy you!

Starship troopers

Starship troopers(1959) is a rather controversial work of science fiction and something of a classic. Our world is at war with an alien race resembling large insects and the war is not going well. A young man decides to join the mobile infantry instead of studying as his parents expect him to. He is soon promoted and has a successful military career. But will humanity be able to win the war ?
Starship troopers is not all action, it's more of a thinking man's book with quite conservative moral views. Some of the ideas I feel are antiquated, the book is getting old, but I did find it an interesting read.

Dune

Dune is supposedly the best selling science fiction book to date. I'm not surprised, this is perhaps the most exciting and absorbing science fiction book I've read. The story centers around the planet Dune where the 'spice' can be found. The 'Spice' is used for space travel. He who controls Dune and the spice will control the universe.
The House Atreides leaves its home world and settles on Dune. They are responsible for the spice production, but another House backed by the Emperor is plotting to overtake Dune and destroy the House of Atreides....
This book has all the essential ingredients, a great story, good characterisation and interesting politics. It has a sort of mythical quality too it as well. All this is what sets is apart from most other works of science fiction. A must read!

The Dispossessed

This novel, like many of LeGuins other novels, is a sociological/philosophical work of science fiction. The story is about two completely different societies symbolized by a planet and its populated moon. The citizens living on the planet live in a capitalistic economy while the denizens of its moon live in a communist/anarchist society. The two worlds have no contact with another until the physicist Shevek attempts to break his moon-world's isolation.
This is a very good book with a lot of thought-provoking ideas and insights.

End of an Era

Robert J. Sawyer is Canada's new star in the field of 'hard' science fiction and has written several good novels. Sawyer is interested in astronomy and paleontology(read dinosaurs). Sawyer first pursued a career as a paleontologist but changed his mind and became a full-time writer instead.


In End of an Era two men travel back to the age of the dinosaurs looking for answers regarding the mass-extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. They arrive at the end of the Cretaceous period and start their investigation. They have no trouble finding dinosaurs, only there is something very peculiar about the ones they encounter...


Sawyer has written an exciting story, interspersed with some interesting facts about the dinosaurs and their extinction. Mind you, this is HARD science fiction, but I still had a good time. Sawyer also shows his sense of humour in this book. A good thing he did. This is really good 'old-fashioned' science fiction.


Sawyer has his own homepage.

The Far-Seer trilogy

This series is also known as The Quintaglio Ascension trilogy. The three books are allegoric stories about important developments in science. The first book is Far-Seer. Robert Sawyer inhabits an alien world far from Earth with intelligent dinosaurs or 'Quintaglios' as they refer to themselves. Just like Man the Quintaglios create myths and religion to explain their existance. The main character in Far-Seer is the quintaglio known as Afsan, an apprentice to the Royal Astrologer. Afsan is brilliant and begins to question the old view of the world and to think in a scientific manner. The title Far-Seer refers to the newely invented telescope.
This book can be viewed as an allegoric story concerning the development of science and its confrontation with static and religious views of the world. Far-Seer is essentially a retelling of the discoveries of the polish astronomer Copernikus during the Renaissance. He placed the Sun in the center of the solar system and replaced Ptolemaios's old astronomical system with the Earth in the center with his. Sawyer also demonstrates his knowledge of astronomy in this one.


In the second book, Fossis Hunter, the theme is Darwinism. Afsan has grown older and several new characters are introduced. In the third book finally, Foreigner, the ideas of Freud are presented. This series gets progressively better as you read them. The plots are more interesting and the story improves in Fossil-Hunter and Foreigner. If you're into dinosaurs you'll learn a thing or two in this series. There is something really optimistic about this series, Sawyer believes in science and in our ability to surmount diffuculties.

Last and first men

Olaf Stapledon was a philosopher by profession and his book Last and first men is heavily influenced by this fact. The novel is written in the form of a history book. Stapledon undertakes a huge task in telling the future history of mankind from the 20th century and far into the distant future when mankind reaches out seeking new planets. By then, mankind has evolved into a being only remotely similar to what we are today. At several occasions in history, humanity is almost destroyed, but manages to rebuild society and continue to evolve.
I have never read a science fiction book so full of ideas and with such an imaginative view of what the future may hold in store for us. True, it's not an easy book to read, but rewarding none the less.

Starmaker

This book can be read as a sequel to Last and first men. The novel Starmaker tells the story of mankinds first encounters with alien beings. Starmaker is another highly imaginative novel crammed full of interesting ideas. Our galactic neigbours, out of reach with our limited technology, are instead reached not by rockets but rather by using telepathic powers.

Worldwar series

This alternate history series starts off with the volume Worldwar: In the balance. There are three more books that complete the series. At the time of America's entry in the Second World War all of mankind suddenly faces invasion by aliens of a humanoid-reptilian variety from another solar system. The aliens have earlier sent probes to Earth to evaluate our level of technology. The probes arrived in the Middle-Ages and that's what the 'lizards' think they are up against in terms of military ability when they reach Earth in 1942. They expect an easy victory.
The aliens have weapons of roughly the same quality as used in modern day warfare. The Second World War is of course ended almost immediately and the former opponents must now try to unite against the new threat. It turns out that the aliens are lacking in strategy and are very dogmatic.


This is an exciting alternate history series with some good characterizations. You can tell that Turtledove is well acquainted with the history of World War II. The story is told via various plots following soldiers and others involved in the war effort. There are Americans, Germans, Russians and others to make it a true epic story. The political leaders appear from time to time as well. Several plot lines tell the story from the aliens' perspective. Turtledove does not portray them as terrible monsters, they are rather likeable creatures with human sentiments. Most of the people appearing are fictional but there are some historic persons to be found as well. This mixture really adds some spice to this series.


If you're into alternate history this series is a compelling read. Turtledove is already writing three more books in the Worldwar series. These will take place around 1960 when a fleet of colonizers in the wake of the invasion forces arrives, expecting Earth to be completely conquered.

The Star Wars Series

This is the official sequel to the Star Wars movies. It's a trilogy consisting of 'Heir to the Empire', 'Dark force rising' and 'The last command'. The story begins five years after the events in 'Return of the Jedi'. Grand Admiral Thrawn, one of the Emperor's admirals, is now leader of the remains of the Empire and continues the battle against the Rebels.

This series is surprisingly good. Not as good as the movies mind you, but they do have the true feel of a sequel to Star Wars. All the memorable characters are there, easily recognizable. Zahn has constructed a good story, worthy of the Star Wars saga. He keeps a good balance between the original characters from the movies and his own. Zahn does tend to write rather technical for my taste, hard SF, but it really doesn't bog down the story that much.