Rate this book

Transcendental (2013)

by James Edwin Gunn(Favorite Author)
3.23 of 5 Votes: 3
ISBN
0765335018 (ISBN13: 9780765335012)
languge
English
publisher
Tor Books
review 1: I had a bit of an up and down experience with this book. After the first few chapters I was groaning about how bad this book was going to be and dreading reading the rest. It then started to impress me with its ability to combine Canterbury Tales with Darwinian evolution, and well to be frank...aliens. I will say though that the writing style wasn't really up my alley, and I thought the premise of the concepts and overall plot needed to be explained a bit more. I felt as though I was thrown into a tale that I had to draw a fair amount of conclusions myself, in order to comprehend what was going on. Also I could have used a bit more substance, the ending was very abrupt and very melodramatic. It left a fair amount to be desired, especially given that there was a large amoun... moret of promise. The majority of the book was a drawn out "whodunit" with a lacklustre ending and really could have used something more.
review 2: I anticipated that a novel entitled "Transcendental" would explore the provocative notion of transcendence through technological advances into some unimaginably more advanced state of intelligence or sentience. On this assumption I slogged through many pages of clunky dialogue and mundane machinations between humans and assorted aliens, only to find that 'transcendence' boils down to little more than the removal of warts and adjustment of cholesterol levels. Truly disappointing. less
Reviews (see all)
RainbowPoop
It's like Arthur C. Clarke or Isaac Asimov crossed with the Canterbury tales.
Buffy
Kind of reminds me of _Hyperion_, but more like old school space opera.
Sasha
pretty good, but kind of an abrupt finish.
WilmaMarie
Purchased from Hayward Bookshop
Write review
Review will shown on site after approval.
(Review will shown on site after approval)