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Heaven's Shadow (2011)

by David S. Goyer(Favorite Author)

3.44 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

044102033X (ISBN13: 9780441020331)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Ace Hardcover

series

Heaven's Shadow

review 1: Having written a book about aliens in science fiction, I feel obligated to read every first-contact story that comes my way (which explains why I am always short on time). This book has a premise similar to Arthur C. Clarke's classic "Rendezvous with Rama" or Gregory Benford's and Larry Niven's recent (and more interesting) "Bowl of Heaven" series. A giant, seemingly natural object enters the Solar system, two crews are sent to explore, the object turns out to be an alien spaceship with a variety of environments...etc. Of course, I devoured the book, waiting for the appearance of the aliens. They did appear - and they were disappointing. Without giving away too much, let's just say that there was no frisson of wonder, no sense of "wow!" They were big and alien and they had... more wonderful machines and they wanted humans (can't imagine why, and apparently neither could the aliens - at least they offered no sensible explanation). Even more irritatingly, there was so much "human interest" in the story that whole swathes of it felt like the a hybrid of the Scientific American and the People magazine. And yet, I read it all and will probably get the second and third installments. Why? Well, because...aliens!
review 2: I liked that one. It's thrilling, fast-paced, has some fun moments (and to be honest - a few WTF? in a not good way moments too) and since it's deals with space flight and exploration - ♥I like that this book is set only a few years into the future (it's 2019 in the book) and that therefore the technology is a bit advanced but not too much. I like the little glimpses into the outside world with the short quotes of postings on websites at the beginning of the chapters. That's a nice touch. I like that there is a second space faring nation/colloberation that has its headquarters in India. I like the characters (yay, for having multiple races/nations up there and an handicapped POV character on Earth!) and I like the overall plot. Yes, there are a few things I'm not fond of (Like Pogo. I can't believe that a hothead like him would ever get the chance of being an astronaut but on the other hand - what do I know about the process of selecting astronauts? *hands*) and some decisions I have trouble to get behind (like, going into the interior of Keanu. Or taking the helmets off. These (and some other) decisions have been a bit "Hmmmm." to me.). Also, there are some repeat infos - be it background on characters or events. I caught myself thinking "I know that because you've told me that already!" a few times. Maybe that's because the book's been written by two authors or due to some other reason. But all in all, I like this book and I'm looking forward to reading the next part. less

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