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Summary: Good Book, Sad though...
Review: A great book all around, and interesting characters, even though they're peaceful. What I liked most about this book was that it was believeable, and therefore seemed more realistic than a normal book. One downfall to the realism is that the book has sad sections. If this book was written any other way, it would have been ruined. A good book to read.
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Summary: wonderful !
Review: This is a great book . Arguably ACC`s best book
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Summary: What sci-fi is meant to be.
Review: This story represents the essence of what science fiction novels have been missing for a very long time--imaginative tales about human beings. Laser cannon lovers and techno-geeks need not read.
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Summary: Clarke at it's best
Review: A friend convinced me to read 2001 of Clarke and so I bought some books. I was keen on reading this one, because I heard the music from Mike Oldfield which was inspired by the book. I love the music so I wanted to read that book. It's marvellous. Clarke's style is superb and reading every line was a pleasure. And now I also listen to the music differently. I think it's at least as good as 2001 although completely different. And even non SCI-FI guys like me should read it and will love it.
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Summary: Very Good, but Lacking
Review: This book details the encounter between two groups of humans on a planet fifty years from Earth. It lacks an interesting plot and well-developed characters, but still is very good. Clarke masterfully encompasses thousands of years in his story. The descriptions of the quantum drive are exciting, and seem convincing (at least to a layperson). The ending (Chapter 47 and on) is surprising, sad and poetic, though it recalls other Clarke books.Clarke acknowledges the inevitable evolution of human culture by describing people who lack jealousy, sexual posessiveness, superstition, and religion. However, he fails to fully develop this evolution---or consider revolutions---over the years his book encompasses. The changes that he does describe make the characters difficult to empathize with. The inevitable friction between groups who have these characteristics and groups who don't could have made for a far more interesting book.
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Summary: The best book I've ever read
Review: I've read a lot of sci-fi books, and this one is at the top of my list. It's the best book of any kind I've ever read. But don't expect shoot-em-up action, cyber sex, demonic aliens, or hollywood endings. This is not an action novel, and it's not a Rama book. This is a novel more than a sci-fi novel. It is a literary work that keeps you thinking days after you put it down. Clarke's writing is beautiful, poetic and imaginative. His story is unconventional in science fiction terms but excessively conventional in human terms. Clarke solves a conflict by not resolving the conflict at all. He leaves a subplot hanging because it's the only appropriate thing to do. He says more about religion in one paragraph than every religious leader combined has said in the last two thousand years. The end leaves you unfulfilled but fully satisfied. This book is awesome not because of what Clarke writes but because of how he writes it. It's Clarke's best work by far, and I loved the Rama series. Buy this one in hard back.
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Summary: Interesting, but missing a few things.
Review: I am new to Arthur C. Clarke, but I have a good idea of his style of writing. This book deals more with what happens in the future rather than the events at the stories setting. The only thing that I really didn't like was that the book held you in suspense because you thought a major event would take place but that event never occurs. A good interesting story that lacks a climax. I reccomend this book to people who like thought more than action or at least don't mind not having much.
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Summary: A lot better then Star Trek
Review: I like this book because Arthur C. Clarke at last address the more "real' problems involved in traveling from one solar system to another. In Arthur's more science version of the universe, it will take about 8 or 900 years to travel from one star to the next, there's no warp factor six here to get you there in a week. The Songs of Distant Earth is much better reading then ten Star Trek novels combined.
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Summary: Good but not great
Review: Thalassa is a watery paradise, just a few islands in a planetwide ocean, and home to a small colony founded by robot seedships centuries before. The book tells the story of a visit by the starship MAGELLAN, carrying one million refugees in suspended animation from the final days of Earth on their journey to a harsh world light-years away. The plan is for the small crew of the MAGELLAN to rebuild the great ice shield which protects the ship on it journey. Some members of the crew, however, aren't satisfied with prospect of leaving paradise... As Clarke explains in the Author's Note, this novel is an extensive reworking and expansion of a short story originally published decades ago. I know that I read it as a kid, but I can't say that it made any particular impression on me at the time. This version is typical Clarke -- a serviceable story, worth the time and effort to read it, but not the sort of book that penetrates to the core of your being. It's good and enjoyable, but not great. (Mike Oldfield's album of the same name, inspired by the book and approved by Clarke, is another story; I listen to it about once a week.)
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Summary: Interesting Ideas, but no Rama
Review: I have read a number of Clarke books the last 5 years or so and have become totally captivated with his writting. Although I believe that the 2001 and Rama Series' are his best works yet, this book definetly does not take second place. Showing a great deal about human nature I believe that it shows some ideas about people more than 1984 or A Brave New World ever did because it brings more aspects into account and is more realistic with our world. If you enjoy staying up till 3am reading and thinking, this is definetly the book for you!
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