ghost_name's review against another edition
2.0
Kept reading it because I was curious how the aliens/human interaction would go. Eh.
mj_james_writes's review against another edition
4.0
Mission to Methone is a classic alien contact science fiction novel. It is apparent that it was written with the intention of staying true to more the more classic style. I found the novel entertaining and worth the read, but it did fall short of spectacular.
I found the writing well done. While it was not overwhelmingly beautiful, it also was not distracting from the story. The characters were each distinct and unique, although the side characters could have been given more dimension. Chris, the main character, is (per the author) on the autism spectrum. There is nothing in the book that would spell this out, but there are fine points that the author wove in. I read the annotated version of this book (from PageHabit) and was minorly annoyed that the author called Chris someone the reader was not meant to like. Ok, I admit I was actually kind of pissed off. I found his character quite enjoyable and fitting. I thought the description of him being on the spectrum was suttle and mostly well played. I also enjoyed how he was able to stay in the center of the team making first contact. He was quite enjoyable, and having autism does not make one unlikable - although, I have been called that a bit in my life. So, maybe there is more truth to that then I wish to explore. But back to the review.
I did question some of the motivating factors of both the humans and the aliens. While I appreciated where Johnson went with the book, I also think that he could have gone further. It was still a solid read and well worth my time.
I found the writing well done. While it was not overwhelmingly beautiful, it also was not distracting from the story. The characters were each distinct and unique, although the side characters could have been given more dimension. Chris, the main character, is (per the author) on the autism spectrum. There is nothing in the book that would spell this out, but there are fine points that the author wove in. I read the annotated version of this book (from PageHabit) and was minorly annoyed that the author called Chris someone the reader was not meant to like. Ok, I admit I was actually kind of pissed off. I found his character quite enjoyable and fitting. I thought the description of him being on the spectrum was suttle and mostly well played. I also enjoyed how he was able to stay in the center of the team making first contact. He was quite enjoyable, and having autism does not make one unlikable - although, I have been called that a bit in my life. So, maybe there is more truth to that then I wish to explore. But back to the review.
I did question some of the motivating factors of both the humans and the aliens. While I appreciated where Johnson went with the book, I also think that he could have gone further. It was still a solid read and well worth my time.
sbisson's review against another edition
3.0
Recent Reads: Mission To Methone. Les Johnson's space exploration tale is reminiscent of Hogan's Giants series: artifacts found during routine space exploration change how we look at the universe. Another look at the Fermi Paradox, a cosmos at war and humanity in the sights.
wanderinglynn's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
I liked it. This was a traditional sci-fi story with an emphasis on the hard sciences. Les Johnson, a real-life NASA scientist, really brought this space adventure to life. 3.75 stars rounded up to 4.
The main character, Chris Holt, is almost a stereotypical scientist. Dr. Holt is on the autism spectrum, which was a nice change from the traditional sci-fi action hero. I enjoyed the diversity of the crew with scientists and astronauts from Japan, China, and the EU. I especially appreciated that the mission leader was a female Colonel. I could clearly see the other characters were drawn from the author's personal experience working at NASA and that made them feel very real.
The story itself is fairly straight-forward. Although the book dives a bit further into the political aspects than I expected, it was all done fairly well. However, there were a few scenes (view spoiler) that did feel a bit disconnected. It made sense to the plot but fell just a bit outside the main purpose that these scenes just didn't quite work. But they also didn't completely derail the story either.
Overall, classic sci-fi of humans meeting an alien-life form.
The main character, Chris Holt, is almost a stereotypical scientist. Dr. Holt is on the autism spectrum, which was a nice change from the traditional sci-fi action hero. I enjoyed the diversity of the crew with scientists and astronauts from Japan, China, and the EU. I especially appreciated that the mission leader was a female Colonel. I could clearly see the other characters were drawn from the author's personal experience working at NASA and that made them feel very real.
The story itself is fairly straight-forward. Although the book dives a bit further into the political aspects than I expected, it was all done fairly well. However, there were a few scenes (view spoiler) that did feel a bit disconnected. It made sense to the plot but fell just a bit outside the main purpose that these scenes just didn't quite work. But they also didn't completely derail the story either.
Overall, classic sci-fi of humans meeting an alien-life form.
lilyn_g's review against another edition
3.0
Full review to come, but in short:
Les Johnson's Mission to Methone was an enjoyable science fiction read that was somewhat hampered by the desire to interject an element of nation-against-nation thriller.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss for review consideration.
Les Johnson's Mission to Methone was an enjoyable science fiction read that was somewhat hampered by the desire to interject an element of nation-against-nation thriller.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss for review consideration.
bookteafull's review against another edition
1.0
DNF @ Page 85, about 29%
Welp, I said I'd get to at least 30% but I barely made it past page 50, so reading an extra chapter just wasn't gunna happen.
There's nothing horrendously wrong with this book, it's just boring. I actually quite like that the author works for NASA and is leading his first interplanetary solar sail mission - the information he presents is sound and rational; which is more than I can say for many sci-fi novels I read in 2018.
That being said, it's a wee bit excessive on the 'fun facts' and severely lacking in intrigue and entertaining plot lines to keep me invested. The characters are flat and there are Aliens who act and think more like humans than actual aliens - which was jarring and disappointing.
I can't rate this novel because I didn't finish it, but I can say that there are far more captivating sci-fi novels out there that grasp your attention within the first chapter.
** setting date read to a random year in the early 2000s so it doesn't interfere with my 2019 goals.
Welp, I said I'd get to at least 30% but I barely made it past page 50, so reading an extra chapter just wasn't gunna happen.
There's nothing horrendously wrong with this book, it's just boring. I actually quite like that the author works for NASA and is leading his first interplanetary solar sail mission - the information he presents is sound and rational; which is more than I can say for many sci-fi novels I read in 2018.
That being said, it's a wee bit excessive on the 'fun facts' and severely lacking in intrigue and entertaining plot lines to keep me invested. The characters are flat and there are Aliens who act and think more like humans than actual aliens - which was jarring and disappointing.
I can't rate this novel because I didn't finish it, but I can say that there are far more captivating sci-fi novels out there that grasp your attention within the first chapter.
** setting date read to a random year in the early 2000s so it doesn't interfere with my 2019 goals.
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