Reviews

Hammer of God by Arthur C. Clarke

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ninj's review against another edition

3.0

It wasn't bad, felt like a slightly elaborated novella, with a bit of a novel worked through the scene setting. Not surprisingly, when you read the author notes.
That said, it was quite readable, fairly entertaining.

borjarno's review against another edition

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The Songs of Distant Earth gave me the impression that I would enjoy Arthur C. Clarke's books. I do not.

danielgwood's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

xhoyenauthor's review against another edition

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hopeful informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

classicbeth's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5. Interesting premise and scientific basis, a fun trip to space

thymrman's review against another edition

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3.0

This book definitely shows its age and you can instantly tell that an old school sci-fi author wrote it. From the start it takes a different approach to building up to the climax and events of the story, in a kinda meandering way that makes me question how any of these events matter until they suddenly do. All this leads to a very satisfying conclusion that works well, if a little open ended.

But it isn’t without any issues at all, most of it comes down to character relations and romance I feel. An issue most of the old school sci-fi authors seem to suffer, they are great at big ideas but rather terrible at people. I wasn’t really crazy impressed by any of the characters, they fit into place and did what they needed but never really felt like they did more. And the main character I instinctively dislike due to the way he handles his relationships with his previous wife and kid. It almost comes off as a man who got tired of dealing with something and decided to just say “well that was fun for a while, time to see what else I can get though”. He acts like he fondly remembers the old times and reminisces, but just left them and started a brand-new family. And never do you learn what the various family members actually think about what happened and whether they actually care.

Overall for me, this is a classic sci-fi story. Read it for the ideas and science and future tech but expect nothing at all from the characters or relationships.