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Titans (2000)

by Edward W. Robertson(Favorite Author)

3.03 of 5 Votes: 3

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English

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review 1: Continuing the theme of there is nothing new under the sun, in this story a hybrid Lazarus Long/Louis Wu style character meets up with a R. Daneel Olivaw style character. Together they keep an evil, hegemonic corporation from running roughshod over the rights of the first colonists to leave the solar system. The non-dying human uses his experience from Thermopylae to win the battle against the evil corporation.
review 2: Normally I avoid sci-fi because the science is either too technical or implausible. It also tends to bog down the story. This one wasn't. The science was there on the periphery, but it was the fiction and storyline that drove this book.The synopsis is fairly accurate with the exception that the book is open-ended. The whole "change the co... moreurse of human history in the stars" part isn't seen in this book. But hey, that's marketing hype for you.The story is driven by the two main characters, Rob Dunbar, who is essentially a really long-lived human, and Baxter, a human-like AI with a grudge. While Rob spends a lot of time musing and reflecting on his past, Baxter just wants to seek revenge. The two are an interesting duo that are appealing throughout different times in the story. And the story itself moves along at a fairly decent clip. The little flashbacks before each chapter are at first incomprehensible and distracting, but by the time you're halfway through they start to make sense. The characters are, for the most part, believable, and even the actions of the AIs (yes, there are several) are understandable. There isn't a whole lot to complain about here. The story is put together fairly nicely, the dialogue is mostly realistic, and even the action scenes seem real. All in all this is a solid book that you can read more than once.So why the four stars instead of five? A couple things. First, there are two side characters that act out of character more than once. One is supposed to be a real alpha persona but seems to spend a lot of time feeling down for no apparent reason. The other is extremely reminiscent of a stereotypical character in other stories where the life-altering decision just seems to come out of nowhere with no motivation. These are side characters, but their role in the story is important, so these two glaring "holes" will make you scratch your head if you think about it.All in all, again, this is a solid book and if you like the synopsis (even knowing that it is a bit hyperbolic), then you'll probably enjoy this read. less

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