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couldbestephen's review
3.0
There’s something strangely comforting about classic science fiction. Most of the time, the technology and linguistic choices for “the future” don’t age well, there’s some “problematic” content that makes you wonder if it’s just a product of its time or if it wasn’t ok even then, and wow, the cover art for the books is… imaginative. But generally the stories are solidly written, the characters are three dimensional, and the world makes sense.
This collection of short stories sets the stage for the rest of the Talents Saga. It gave me similar vibes to Asimov’s Foundation, with the characters of Henry Darrow and Daffyd op Owen acting as the Hari Seldon of their series, all trying to establish a base for their people (Seldon and his Foundation, Darrow and Owen their Center). I did enjoy Pegasus more than Foundation. The characters are much more fleshed out and I actually cared what happened in the story. The politics feels incredibly real, the powers are “reasonable”, it’s just a solid science fiction entry all around.
On reread, finding the problematic elements is disappointing. There are moments of ableism (one character is mentally handicapped and his description is incredibly outdated), racism (a Roma character who gains powers becomes a thief, ethnicities in Jerhattan are… strangely handled?), and sexism (a lot of the female characters here only exist to please their generally older male counter parts… Anne, what we’re you doing there??). It bothered me enough that I couldn’t really rate this higher than 3 stars.
Book still holds up, but rereading with awareness of social issues does sour it a little.
This collection of short stories sets the stage for the rest of the Talents Saga. It gave me similar vibes to Asimov’s Foundation, with the characters of Henry Darrow and Daffyd op Owen acting as the Hari Seldon of their series, all trying to establish a base for their people (Seldon and his Foundation, Darrow and Owen their Center). I did enjoy Pegasus more than Foundation. The characters are much more fleshed out and I actually cared what happened in the story. The politics feels incredibly real, the powers are “reasonable”, it’s just a solid science fiction entry all around.
On reread, finding the problematic elements is disappointing. There are moments of ableism (one character is mentally handicapped and his description is incredibly outdated), racism (a Roma character who gains powers becomes a thief, ethnicities in Jerhattan are… strangely handled?), and sexism (a lot of the female characters here only exist to please their generally older male counter parts… Anne, what we’re you doing there??). It bothered me enough that I couldn’t really rate this higher than 3 stars.
Book still holds up, but rereading with awareness of social issues does sour it a little.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Ableism, and Racism
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