A review by andrew_f
Generation Ship by Michael Mammay
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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? No
3.5
For me the first half or so of the book was the most compelling, like 4 or 4.5 stars, but as the book started to reach the conclusion it started to lose me and the character decisions made less sense. I found the ending to be pretty abrupt and unsatisfying.
A colony ship from Earth is about to reach its destination in a few months. However, all the probes sent to find more information about the planet have malfunctioned. Sheila Jackson, the lead scientist on space exploration, can't understand why the probes are being lost but is able to get some pivotal information about the atmosphere. Because the probes are malfunctioning the governor asks here to keep the information secret from the 18000 inhabitants on the ship.
The secret about the atmosphere leaks and one of the members on this ship refuses to die after turning 75 because they're about to colonize a new planet anyway with resources that can support a larger population. This goes against the charter of the ship that has strict rules about how many people can live on the ship.
This event cascades into a much larger conflict about how things will change now that the supposed completion of the mission is in reach. The other characters are the ship's governor, a security officer, a hacker, and a farmer. Each have serve a pivotal role in all the events leading up to the story's climax.
I thought the beginning was excellent. The book hooks you from the beginning with the malfunctioning probes. Is there something wrong with the planet even though all signs are promising for life? The events of the story follow logically. Each decision causes another character to react that may lead to a different outcome than originally intended. I thought the book mastered cause and effect very nicely.
Because the book had a lot of time and ground to cover, we usually get a scene where decisions are made, but almost never see the action of that decision play out. Time will skip ahead with the decision implemented and we find out the results in a new scene. I thought this was a smart and effective choice that kept the plot from blogging down.
It could be my current mood, but I started losing interest in the second half of the book. The decisions by the characters started making less and less sense and the characters became less likeable. I liked all the stuff that had to deal with the planet and kind of wish there was more of that. And the ending felt a little too abrupt and a little too easy. This huge conflict was created and it seemed solved rather easily and I don't feel like any of the characters got a good ending.
I tend to weight a story's ending more than it's beginning and my rating represents that. I think it's a solidly written book that will appeal to many readers. If you like heavily political sci-fi with a bit of space exploration and alien planets, I would recommend this.
A colony ship from Earth is about to reach its destination in a few months. However, all the probes sent to find more information about the planet have malfunctioned. Sheila Jackson, the lead scientist on space exploration, can't understand why the probes are being lost but is able to get some pivotal information about the atmosphere. Because the probes are malfunctioning the governor asks here to keep the information secret from the 18000 inhabitants on the ship.
The secret about the atmosphere leaks and one of the members on this ship refuses to die after turning 75 because they're about to colonize a new planet anyway with resources that can support a larger population. This goes against the charter of the ship that has strict rules about how many people can live on the ship.
This event cascades into a much larger conflict about how things will change now that the supposed completion of the mission is in reach. The other characters are the ship's governor, a security officer, a hacker, and a farmer. Each have serve a pivotal role in all the events leading up to the story's climax.
I thought the beginning was excellent. The book hooks you from the beginning with the malfunctioning probes. Is there something wrong with the planet even though all signs are promising for life? The events of the story follow logically. Each decision causes another character to react that may lead to a different outcome than originally intended. I thought the book mastered cause and effect very nicely.
Because the book had a lot of time and ground to cover, we usually get a scene where decisions are made, but almost never see the action of that decision play out. Time will skip ahead with the decision implemented and we find out the results in a new scene. I thought this was a smart and effective choice that kept the plot from blogging down.
It could be my current mood, but I started losing interest in the second half of the book. The decisions by the characters started making less and less sense and the characters became less likeable. I liked all the stuff that had to deal with the planet and kind of wish there was more of that. And the ending felt a little too abrupt and a little too easy. This huge conflict was created and it seemed solved rather easily and I don't feel like any of the characters got a good ending.
I tend to weight a story's ending more than it's beginning and my rating represents that. I think it's a solidly written book that will appeal to many readers. If you like heavily political sci-fi with a bit of space exploration and alien planets, I would recommend this.