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jenthebest's review against another edition
2.0
I can see why this might have been really excellent sci fi in the year it was published. But I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it from the beginning, it felt really dated and sexist; I mainly stayed with it because I’ve had it sitting on my bookshelf for so long. It’s way longer than it needs to be, the lengthy hard-scifi explanations of space travel did not appeal to me, and it just took too long and convoluted a route to tell its story.
It did stick the landing and it was a cohesive first contact story, and it did propose a fair bit of technology that we take for granted today.
It did stick the landing and it was a cohesive first contact story, and it did propose a fair bit of technology that we take for granted today.
snarf137's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
A bitter, annoying, joyless story. And boring to boot. A dry amalgam of tired first contact ideas, meandering and shallow musings about the roles of men and women, and cookie cutout characters. Has some merit as an examination of conflict spirals and game theory, but would have been better as a hypotehtical problem in a textbook.
goodkoopa's review against another edition
4.0
This review sucks. Don't read it.
I liked the aliens a lot. The bodies, culture, planet, etc, all very well built by Niven.
I think parts of it were drawn out and too much boring talking and shit.
Overall, this is totally a book with words in it. Science fictiony words.
I liked the aliens a lot. The bodies, culture, planet, etc, all very well built by Niven.
I think parts of it were drawn out and too much boring talking and shit.
Overall, this is totally a book with words in it. Science fictiony words.
cesarbustios's review against another edition
3.0
Tenía mucho tiempo queriendo leer esta novela de Niven y Pournelle. Mis expectativas eran bastante altas pero la realidad fue distinta.
La humanidad hace contacto con una civilización extraterreste, ¡qué emoción! Pero, maldita sea, cuando la trama se vuelve demasiado lenta y densa es cuando empiezo a flaquear. Vengo de leer El problema de los tres cuerpos de Liu Cixin casi a finales del año, sería una locura comparar las dos novelas que se llevan 40 de nuestros años (¿ahora me creo pajeño?) pero estilos como esos son los que más disfruto. También hay cosas buenas: el worldbuilding, me gustó mucho.
Ha sido un viaje divertido. Lento pero divertido.
La humanidad hace contacto con una civilización extraterreste, ¡qué emoción! Pero, maldita sea, cuando la trama se vuelve demasiado lenta y densa es cuando empiezo a flaquear. Vengo de leer El problema de los tres cuerpos de Liu Cixin casi a finales del año, sería una locura comparar las dos novelas que se llevan 40 de nuestros años (¿ahora me creo pajeño?) pero estilos como esos son los que más disfruto. También hay cosas buenas: el worldbuilding, me gustó mucho.
Ha sido un viaje divertido. Lento pero divertido.
pfduchow's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
arn_thor's review against another edition
1.0
This book has simply not aged well.
The characters aren't as fleshed-out as one would expect in a modern space opera, it's quite gung-ho militaristic in its jargon and character selection, and the casual sexism reeks of the 70s. But the main problem is that it's lazy. Everything about it, from the plot to the world-building, just comes across as half-assed. The author takes shortcuts in the plot; creates convenient and brief setup-payback structures of the simplest kind; resorts to stereotypes rather than characters; and the one "twist" that is revealed to the characters toward the end of the book by way of a chapter's worth of conversation and literal recalls to previous parts in the book is infuriatingly banal. It's clear the author imagined he had set up a fantastically clever corner-piece in the plot, but it just isn't so.
Skip this one and pick up something of higher quality. It shouldn't be hard to find.
The characters aren't as fleshed-out as one would expect in a modern space opera, it's quite gung-ho militaristic in its jargon and character selection, and the casual sexism reeks of the 70s. But the main problem is that it's lazy. Everything about it, from the plot to the world-building, just comes across as half-assed. The author takes shortcuts in the plot; creates convenient and brief setup-payback structures of the simplest kind; resorts to stereotypes rather than characters; and the one "twist" that is revealed to the characters toward the end of the book by way of a chapter's worth of conversation and literal recalls to previous parts in the book is infuriatingly banal. It's clear the author imagined he had set up a fantastically clever corner-piece in the plot, but it just isn't so.
Skip this one and pick up something of higher quality. It shouldn't be hard to find.
imakandiway's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
kylek44's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0