Practice Effect (Bantam Spectra Book)

Rating:
Summary: I really hated this book
Review: Apparently lots of people like this book judging from the other reviews below, but I found it incredibly shallow and tedious. It had a premise with a little bit of promise, but the juvenile characterization really put me off. The characters seemed like cardboard cutouts of fantasy archetypes to me. In addition, I often felt like most twelve-year-olds could have seen right through the shallow notions of good and evil Brin works with.

Other people who enjoy lighthearted fantasy works may indeed enjoy this. I've enjoyed other fun works of fantasy like The Princess Bride, though I tend to prefer fantasy writers that are more serious, like Tolkein and Stephen R. Donaldson. I haven't read any of Brin's other works, so I don't know whether I have a problem with all of Brin's work, or just with this book in particular. In any case, you may agree more with the other reviewers and love this book, but I wanted to provide an alternate perspective.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting concept
Review: David Brin's earlier work have the show the same beginning skill as his newer novels. Here once again, he masterfully creates a world for his characters and he delivers this world to you in a way that makes the reading easy.

This novel centers around a physicist caught in the middle of office politics in the university he works in. This is not so much the basis of the story but the setting that the story begins with. At the university this physicist has created a device that enables you to explore other worlds on a different plane of existance. However, some minor problems with the use of this device ensue and the initial inventor of this device, who has been brushed aside due to these politics, has been asked once again to help with it.

Totally unarmed with previous information he is thrust into one of these anomaly worlds with only the idea that the physics in control of this world may be somewhat different. What a beginning!

As the main character Dennis Neul explores this world you understand his observations as all from earth would. However, pulling together his various theories based on Earth rules, don't add up and he is forced to adjust his earlier assumptions.

There is a complication that extends his visit and he is thrust in the middle of some hostilities that are currently dominating this world. He interacts with the locals and begins to understand more of the local customs and rules of physics.

This book is classic Brin. His well thought-out science that is so easily portrayed to the reader is a joy.

You will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful lighthearted fun
Review: Drama critics have long known that comedy is harder to direct and to perform than tragedy. The same goes for literature: being even slightly off the mark is all that it takes to ruin the endeavor. In science fiction and fantasy it's even tougher to write good humor because the reader first has to understand the "rules" of the culture or technology in which the story is set--and there's nothing worse than a joke that has to be explained. Connie Willis can pull it off, Robert Sheckley can pull it off...and so can David Brin.

This book is a treasure because it takes on that hardest of all SF writing tasks and hits a good solid home run. Read slowly to savor it...or better yet, do as I did and read it aloud to a family member who also appreciates good comic timing.

Rating:
Summary: Amusing....but not great
Review: I found this book to be very entertaining, for half of the book. The first half of the book kept me very entertained. Finding a new world, and explaining it, and how it exists was very good, as were the characters. The second half of the book became irritating to me. Every thing could be fixed with the practice effect, regardless that it was something that rarely had ever happened before in the world that the story takes place in. It became a nice easy way to get the characters out of trouble, and was relied on too much. Was the story entertaining none the less...Yes. I could look past those things I have mentioned, I just did not rate the book very high because of it. I am not going to give the plot away, but several of the characters kept the book amusing. I like to read a story and smile every now and then at cute things that put humor into a book even though a tale is being told, and for that I applaud the author. The book left me with several funny images that still run through my head.

Rating:
Summary: A delightful contrast
Review: I have all of Brin's books, but the one that finds itself back into my mind time after time is The Practice Effect. It is humorous adventure with a sci-fi/fantasy setting, which is difficult to do. The book pays obvious homage to my all-time favorites, the Harold Shea stories by L. Sprague de Camp. In fact, it is riddled with allusions to other science fiction works which I assume were favorites of Brin at the time the book was written.

I judge books by the ability they have to leave a lasting image in my mind. Two of David Brin's books have done that; The Practice Effect and the Postman. In each, there are word pictures painted of ordinary people who attained a sort of nobility through their efforts. In the Practice Effect, it was the aviation pioneers like Howard Hughes and Amelia Earhart. In the Postman, it was the mythical title character who did an everyday job with an immense sense of underlying duty. For those memorable scenes, both of these books were worth their purchase price.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging and entertaining
Review: Most SF contains one or more "What if"s. Brin has chosen one of the toughest---"What if I change some of the basic physical laws of nature?" From that simple premise, he manages to spin an interesting yarn, that's well thought out, and quite entertaining; it is certainly one of the more humorous novels I've read this year.

My only complaint is that the ending seems somewhat rushed; it seems as if Brin knew where he wanted to go, and cut out a scene or two along the way to get there. Other than that, though, it was highly enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: A terrific lighthearted "SF fantasy" novel
Review: Once every so often, SF authors escape their genre and write something on a lark that turns out to be really special. That's the case with The Practice Effect. While I've generally found Brin a bit tedious (overlong, overplotted, overwordy), I loved The Practice Effect the first time I read it and enjoyed it at least as much when rereading it years later. It reads like Harry Harrison's best, or (most aptly) like The Flying Sorcerors. The hero is a technologically adept person, thrown into a less technological environment, who learns to combine his modern-day savvy with the peculiarities of his new environs to his considerable advantage. And, of course, to the delight of his readers.

The gimmick in "The Practice Effect" is too entertaining to give up in a review, but you'll enjoy every minute of seeing it exploited. It's a short book (I wouldn't mind more of these, actually) but one you'll want to read and re-read every word of.

Rating:
Summary: A Case Study in the Growth of an Author (Before)
Review: The premise of this book is an interesting one. Unfortunately, Brin's writing talents at the time weren't what they are now. Basically, the writing is trite and juvenile. Looking at the copyright dates of his books, it looks like "The Practice Effect" is either his third or his fourth novel. The first novel was "Sundiver" (1980). The second was "Startide Rising" (1983). Then in 1984, he wrote (apparently) both this book and "The Uplift War." From a technical perspective (i.e., the style of the writing), it's hard to believe that he wrote this book right in the middle of his Uplift War saga. The writing style is far closer to that in his 1980 "Sundiver" (and "Sundiver" is FAR better than this book) than it is to his 1984 "The Uplift War." My guess is that he wrote this well before the rest, had it lying on a shelf, and just pushed it out to capitalize on his popularity.

Just for the sake of a comparison to his later works, and because the concept is so interesting, I do recommend people read it. Just don't expect too much out of it.

Rating:
Summary: Immature, but amusing
Review: This is certainly not Brin's best novel, and he clearly still had a lot to learn in his craft when he wrote it. However, it is based on an interesting concept and is entertaining enough to keep the reader amused.

Rating:
Summary: Fast and Ferocious
Review: This is one of David Brin's shorter books, but the length suits its purpose. The story moves quickly, not bothering with the lengthy descriptions that are characteristic of his other novels. Many traits of the characters are easy to discover by reading what they say, and placing the story in an Earth-like environment made it easy to picture how it looked. Most of it is hilarious, like when the main character, Dennis Nuel, discovers where he was, but throughout the story is the underlying problem of how he was going to get home. The Practice Effect has little to do with any other story Brin has written, but it is a wonderful book, easy enough for anyone to read and enjoy.