Bottom Line: A good hard sci-fi read!
Once again, I couldn't help but stay up way past my bedtime to finish a book. This time it was because I got wrapped up in the end of Pushing Ice, by Alastair Reynolds, and couldn't put it down. I tried, but five minutes later I was heading out to the couch to keep reading into the wee hours without disturbing PDM.
An excerpt from the book description:
"2057. Humanity has raised exploiting the solar system to an art form. Bella Lind and the crew of her nuclear powered ship, the Rockhopper, push ice. They mine comets. And they're good at it.
But when Janus, one of Saturn's ice moons, inexplicably leaves its natural orbit and heads out of the solar system at high speed, Bella is ordered to shadow it for the few vital days before it falls forever out of reach.
In accepting this mission she sets her ship and her crew on a collision course with destiny-for Janus has many surprises in store, and not all of them are welcome... "
This is strong hard science fiction. The book benefits from the author's knowlegde of the science behind the fiction (Reynolds is a PhD astronomer who was an astrophysicist before he was a writer). The book is reminiscent of Clark's Rendezvous With Rama or Niven's Ringworld, but with a different twist. This tale is smaller in scope than Reynold's previous novels in the Revelation Space universe, but no less engaging. The only part of it that didn't work for me was the antagonistic relationship between the two leading female characters, which felt contrived at times and stiff - as if this aspect of their actions were needed purely as a plot device and didn't feel quite natural. But this is a small complaint. There are some interesting alien encounters, as well as some unusual human ones. The science is robust and is used well to bolster the story. The book makes you think about the big picture on human societal evolution and the eventual fate of any culture - human or alien. The ending is satisfying and not without surprises.
3 comments:
Thanks for the review. I'm always looking for something to read!
The story sounds interesting, but when you say something is "hard science fiction," does that mean it is really heavy on science and really light on the human element (meaning people with lots of depth and three dimensions)? For example, have you read any of the novels co-authored by Niven and Barnes, such as The Legacy of Heorot? That story isn't perfect, and it isn't entirely a character-driven story, but it definitely kept my attention. It is more of a survival/adventure story than anything else. It is not much like Ringworld, which is why I am differentiating between the two.
Good hard sci-fi uses the science and technology as a backdrop for the story, not as the main feature.
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