Reviews

This book was really interesting, but I would be careful about who I would recommend this book to. If you are a scientist or someone who is interested in long and detailed conversations about scientific observations and theories, you may love this book. I also did approve of the way this book portrayed of politicians as bambiling idiots.

When reading a book written in the 1950s by a white man you come to expect some elements that are less than savory. Though there were a few small moments that were less than ideal, it held up surprisingly well. The only things that came out strange were the charecter's opinions on colonialism (something that didn't come up much) and the lack of women and people of color in scientific positions (something that is not explicitly pointed out). It made a nice change from the works of Asamov who I have also read recently.

It is a real shame that there are so few people I would recommend this book to, since there are so many elements that I think appeal to many people. The way that the world handled the threat of the sun being blotted out was fascinating. I loved how the group of scientists who saw ahead positioned themselves to be one of the most important sites in the world. In the last act of the book we got what I think is one of the most creative depictions of alien life that I have ever seen. The philosophical implications of this kind of life were fascinating.

acommet's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.75

milkfran's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I picked a copy of this up in Toppings on Easter Sunday cos the blurb intrigued me and I’m glad I did!

First of all I should probably say that I am a massive nerd when it comes to 20th century apocalyptic fiction and this certainly whizzes through all of the typical tropes you’d find: an elite group of Cambridge scientists doing calculations by a fire, a contempt for the political class, liberal use of nuclear warheads, cutting edge science that seems quaint to us now… you know all the usual kind of stuff you’d expect from a novel like this.

Fair warning then, that if this isn’t usually your sort of thing you’ll probably find it a bit dull but it scratched a particular itch in my brain. My eyes glazed over a bit at some of the more intricate descriptions of physics and astronomy but they weren’t crucial to understanding the plot and I appreciated the effort Prof. Hoyle put into making it a plausible story on an emotional and scientific level. The devastating impact that just a few degrees shift in climate can have across the whole world (and how developing nations are unfairly and disproportionately impacted) is still worryingly prescient.

Despite all this the book definitely has a streak of wry humour running through it that added a warmth and depth to it for me as the plot ratchets up a notch every chapter.

(Alexis Alexandrov, the token comedy soviet cursing “bastard in cloud” provided light relief during some tense moments)

Cleverer people than me have analysed the science behind it and also the not-so-subtle parallels between the characters in the book and Prof. Hoyle’s (aka Chris Kingsley) real life contemporaries and I can see it being a great film- thinking of Benedict Cumberbatch in the Imitation Game or Cilian Murphy in Oppenheimer and the real story being the interplay of the various different personalities and how they deal with seclusion in a rarefied atmosphere with the goal of cracking the enigma code/ splitting the atom.

Female representation is sadly very thin on the ground but it was published in 1957 and it’s certainly a novel of its time. Nevertheless Richard Dawkins described it as “one of the best works of science fiction ever written” and it’s certainly up there for me: not quite in the hallowed halls of Day of the Triffids or On the Beach but worth an honourable mention and 4 stars!

Content Warnings

gossamerwingedgazelle's review against another edition

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3.0

While the story wasn't fantastic, it had a plot that was easy enough to follow and was not miserable to read. The ending reminded me a lot of "They'd Rather Be Right" by Mark Clifton and Frank Riley. What I really liked about the book was the way that the science was rarely dumbed down.

benji_sherriff's review against another edition

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challenging informative mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

A big mixing pot of many of the tropes found in classic sci-fi, there’s lots on offer here. The first half felt much more grounded in reality before it really took off later on, but it just about holds on to feeling scientifically possible. Not the biggest fan of the pacing however, I think it’s the main issue: glossed over the implications for the whole world that the events have, and I just couldn’t shake the idea that it left out key points about the wider world.

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