Echoes of Earth

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: I hesitate to say that I enjoyed this book, as there isn't much joy to be found in the story. However, I was sufficiently engaged in the story to keep reading the book and I cared about the characters enough to worry about what might happen to them.

I think the fundamental reason that I gave this book 3 stars instead of 4 or 5 is that the authors and I simply don't think in the same way. Many times in the book, the authors spent several pages on things that seemed less interesting to me while passing over things that I found fascinating with little comment. In addition, the authors make use of the technique of dropping the readers into the middle of things and leaving them to sort out what is going on as the story unfolds. While this is a valid literary technique, it happens to be one that I don't typically enjoy.

I'm not sure that I would recommend this book to a friend, but what I would do is highly recommend it to all the Sci-Fi book discussion groups out there. After I finished Echoes of Earth, the first thing I wanted to do was sit down with a book group, have a long discussion on the nature of humanity and the definition of life, and toss around words like "soul" and "corporeal."

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: I hesitate to say that I enjoyed this book, as there isn't much joy to be found in the story. However, I was sufficiently engaged in the story to keep reading the book and I cared about the characters enough to worry about what might happen to them.

I think the fundamental reason that I gave this book 3 stars instead of 4 or 5 is that the authors and I simply don't think in the same way. Many times in the book, the authors spent several pages on things that seemed less interesting to me while passing over things that I found fascinating with little comment. In addition, the authors make use of the technique of dropping the readers into the middle of things and leaving them to sort out what is going on as the story unfolds. While this is a valid literary technique, it happens to be one that I don't typically enjoy.

I'm not sure that I would recommend this book to a friend, but what I would do is highly recommend it to all the Sci-Fi book discussion groups out there. After I finished Echoes of Earth, the first thing I wanted to do was sit down with a book group, have a long discussion on the nature of humanity and the definition of life, and toss around words like "soul" and "corporeal."

Rating:
Summary: Evolution
Review: I read the first trilogy by Sean Williams and Shane Dix and was quite impressed with it, although it felt a little raw - had a 'new writers' feel about it (although I know Sean Williams is quite an accomplished author - so maybe I should say a 'new writing partners' feel about it). Echoes of Earth though, is a solid bit of work in its own right! Unlike the Evergence trilogy, this book is thought provoking, and uses science to introduce mind-boggling ways fight. There is plenty of action in these books, but its more at the level of incredible cyberwars that we can only imagine in these books, but could (but hopefully not) happen in the future. Its an unbelievable vision.

The climax is quite shocking and sends your mind reeling as you work out the repercussions. Tragically, Williams and Dix go on to write another chapter/epilogue that it has all the atmosphere of a damn squib fizzling out. They should have just wound everything up at the climax and reworked that final chapter as the opening to the next novel in the series (I am reassured that having "Book 1" plastered over it means there is more to come in this series!). In my youth, I would get angry and finish the series there, but such wonders as "Red Dwarf" have taught me not to diss a series based on the ending of the first book. So I shall hang in there and support the boys from Oz. But, you'd like to think Williams and Dix had enough experience and exposure between them to have not had such a rubbishy weak link leading into the next book...

Rating:
Summary: Unexpected and Entertaining
Review: I've been reading science fiction for 25 years, and these days it's rare for me to encounter something that evokes the same wonder and excitement I felt the first time I read Ringworld or the Foundation Trilogy. Echoes of Earth is just such a novel.

This book held my attention from cover to cover, starting with the mystery of an alien race that bestows wonderous technological gifts to the first human interstellar explorers, and continuing with the frightening and awe-inspiring discovery by the explorers of just why Earth fell silent 100 years earlier. The conclusion of this book is the most surprising of all, but I will say nothing of that here, save that Williams and Dix take their storyline to an extreme that few authors would dare.

One of the most gratifying things about Echoes of Earth is that the authors didn't just crank out a cookie cutter plot - there were plenty of unexpected surprises to keep me on my toes, and to lend a sense of freshness to the story. What's more, the choice of a damaged engram who is struggling to remain stable as the primary character adds another layer of interest to this novel. (An engram is a computer simulation of a human mind, based on the memories and personality of an actual person.)

I can't really think of anything negative to say about this book. You should be forewarned, however, that when you get to the end you will immediately want to run out and purchase the next book in the series: Orphans of Earth. I know I did, because it's just that good!

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Read
Review: If you like hard Sci-Fi, Echo's Of Earth will provide you with a few days enjoyment. The book reads quickly and does a good job of immersing the reader in an interesting universe without excessive buildup. One interesting touch is that the flawed hero is REALLY flawed, almost to the point that the reader would rather "be" someone else. I'm not a physicist so I can't really comment on the physics, though from a laymans perspective most of it seems believable in context. Echos Of Earth is short on biology and heavy on AI and technology. The biology extends only to say that cyanobacteria inhabit many planets and brief mention of the resemblance of some alien races to earth animals. With a decent plot and some interesting twists, you'll probably enjoy it like I did.

Rating:
Summary: Good hard science fiction with lots of ideas to ponder.
Review: Many different possible story lines in this one.

This book could have been exploded into several novels just to get to the point where the story picks up.

1. How the Earth and civilization changed during the 100 years the scouting team took to reach the star system.
2. How the scouting team developed its social and physical interactions.
3. More details on the gifts of the aliens.

Now if you don't like to dig facts out, this is probably not your book. Many aspects will keep you puzzeled until they are finaly revealed in the story line. I happened to like this but you may not. I would definitely say that there are more books coming out to make this into a trilogy because there are still some major questions left unanswered at the end of the book.

And uh, pay no attention the side plot that resembles a famous science fiction movie produced by Stanley Kubrick.

Overall, I liked it very much and I especially like the up-to-date, hard science that was put into the story. And yes, the hero-protaganist is a flawed, passive-agressive person. But it's done well. Buy it! Especially if you like hard science fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe It's Just Me
Review: Maybe it's just me, but I found this book hard to really like. It has some good elements: the aliens are intriguing and so is the technology, both human and alien. The premise of humans exploring beyond the solar system, encountering technologically superior aliens, and dealing with the consequences of such an encounter all appealed to me. Nor can I complain about the pace of the book. Events moved along and there was enough action to keep me involved. On the other hand, the story always had something of a cold, impersonal feel for me. I found it impossible to really care about the principal characters, most of whom are computer "engrams" (i.e. programmed personalities based on real people who remained back on Earth). These engrams run the starships while "inhabiting" a virtual environment within the starship computers. A "dead" engram is just a deleted program when all is said and done, and I just couldn't get emotionally involved with that. Further, what is done to humanity and to Earth, both by aliens and by ourselves and our own technology, felt both far-fetched and improbably grim to me.

I read this book all the way through but, while it was interesting, I can't say that I liked it very much by the time I got to the end. Intellectually stimulating perhaps, but not emotionally satisfying. Some readers will like it a lot, I'm sure, but I had a very mixed reaction to it. At this point, I'm not sure if I will read the next book in this series or not. I can't give ECHOES OF EARTH a strong recommendation. Proceed at your own risk.

Rating:
Summary: Kept My Attention Till The Very End...
Review: This book isn't the best that I have ever read, or the deepest novel, idea wise (but it wasn't exactly shallow either) but it kept my interest all the way through and was hard to put down. I read the last 1/3 in one go. Which is saying a lot comming from me because lately I have had a hard time finishing books - I have picked up a lot of novels but lost interest 2/3 of the way through and left them unfinished. But the last 1/3 of this novel was interesting enough to keep me reading - and wanting to read, and even *enjoying* the read.

Unfortunately - or not - this book is obviously part of a series (probably a trilogy)- as you will figure pretty quickly into the story (The "Orphans Series" as it is refered to in one part of the apendix - and that is the only place where it is acknowledged directly in the book that it *is* part of a series, but if you read it to the end it leaves many threads left hanging and many plot points unresolved) and you will have to wait for the next book, or books, in the series to find out how it all ends.

Still, like the previous "Evergence Series" (by the same authors) it is interesting and engaging enough to make you *want* to come back for more. And the universe that the novel takes place in is a place that is large enough in scope and wonder that, while you may not want to actually live there, it's a fun place to visit.

Not the greatest book every written, but better than most, and
a very good read. I recomend it.

Rating:
Summary: The end of the world in more ways than one.
Review: This is the first book in the Orphans of Earth trilogy. These are Science Fiction rather than Science Fantasy novels. A lot of thought has gone into the science behind this story of a sudden gift of alien advanced technology and the destruction of earth and humanity as we know it.

I have to say that I found this book slow going, especially in the early chapters. I wasn't expecting a novel that was so heavily science based. In the end I found this a well written story, with some very clever technological ideas, but at the same time a rather depressing book about a possible future for earth. We see our home destroyed in more ways than one and not just by aliens.

If you are after a real SF novel with well thought out science to back up an apocalyptic story then this book is for you - but I'm not sure its really my favourite type of story

Rating:
Summary: The end of the world in more ways than one.
Review: This is the first book in the Orphans of Earth trilogy. These are Science Fiction rather than Science Fantasy novels. A lot of thought has gone into the science behind this story of a sudden gift of alien advanced technology and the destruction of earth and humanity as we know it.

I have to say that I found this book slow going, especially in the early chapters. I wasn't expecting a novel that was so heavily science based. In the end I found this a well written story, with some very clever technological ideas, but at the same time a rather depressing book about a possible future for earth. We see our home destroyed in more ways than one and not just by aliens.

If you are after a real SF novel with well thought out science to back up an apocalyptic story then this book is for you - but I'm not sure its really my favourite type of story