Rating: 
Summary: Not really SF
Review: This is more of a popular fiction novel with a science fiction theme than a true science fiction novel. It is hard to explain the difference, but it has to do with the way that the novel sets up the characters and progresses through the plot, and the writing style itself. The idea is a good one, but the presentation left me cold. Maybe I'm just a "literary SF" snob, but if you are too, you'll be disappointed in this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Absorbing read
Review: When the pandemic virus struck the earth, no one knew its origin. All everyone understood was death and mutation. The extraterrestrial Kasaran had sent their friendly hello in a microscopic genetic package throughout the universe in search of intelligent life. When the probe reached earth, it took a wicked twist that its creators could not have envisioned: it had murdered billions without rhyme or reason. When the plague finally ended its devastating run, two humanoid geneses contend for planetary superiority. One group consisted of those former home sapiens that the virus transformed into an alien populace clamoring for contact with the mother species. The other group is the surviving members of Homo Sapiens who somehow contained a natural immunity to the virus and remain human. After the debacle of the first contact, they prefer nothing to with the Kasaran killing machine. The Bridge is an excellent science fiction thriller that centers on complex actions and reactions. The story line is crisp, fast-paced, and thought provoking as the reader realizes that even in the innocence of knowledge-seeking and friendships, death even holocausts, can occur. Anyone who enjoys classic Star Trek will fully relish Janine Ellen Young's awesome first contact tale and seek her debut novel, Cinderblock. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Absorbing read
Review: When the pandemic virus struck the earth, no one knew its origin. All everyone understood was death and mutation. The extraterrestrial Kasaran had sent their friendly hello in a microscopic genetic package throughout the universe in search of intelligent life. When the probe reached earth, it took a wicked twist that its creators could not have envisioned: it had murdered billions without rhyme or reason. When the plague finally ended its devastating run, two humanoid geneses contend for planetary superiority. One group consisted of those former home sapiens that the virus transformed into an alien populace clamoring for contact with the mother species. The other group is the surviving members of Homo Sapiens who somehow contained a natural immunity to the virus and remain human. After the debacle of the first contact, they prefer nothing to with the Kasaran killing machine. The Bridge is an excellent science fiction thriller that centers on complex actions and reactions. The story line is crisp, fast-paced, and thought provoking as the reader realizes that even in the innocence of knowledge-seeking and friendships, death even holocausts, can occur. Anyone who enjoys classic Star Trek will fully relish Janine Ellen Young's awesome first contact tale and seek her debut novel, Cinderblock. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting premise, uninteresting book
Review: While I found the basic concept of Young's "The Bridge" to be quite interesting, a distant alien race attempting to communicate by sending a message encoded in a virus, I found the story of this attempt to be slow and emotionally unmoving. The characters are generally unsympathetic and didn't evoke any feelings in me other than the hope that they'd just get on with it. They related as badly to each other as they did to me. The destruction of most of humanity, and the residual longing generated within the minds of the survivors of the virus for contact with the senders of the virus message, felt like a shakey foundation for a story that meandered to an equally shakey conclusion. I was not informed, I was not involved, I was not surprised, and I was not particularly happy to have spent the time that I devoted to this book. Not a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting premise, uninteresting book
Review: While I found the basic concept of Young's "The Bridge" to be quite interesting, a distant alien race attempting to communicate by sending a message encoded in a virus, I found the story of this attempt to be slow and emotionally unmoving. The characters are generally unsympathetic and didn't evoke any feelings in me other than the hope that they'd just get on with it. They related as badly to each other as they did to me. The destruction of most of humanity, and the residual longing generated within the minds of the survivors of the virus for contact with the senders of the virus message, felt like a shakey foundation for a story that meandered to an equally shakey conclusion. I was not informed, I was not involved, I was not surprised, and I was not particularly happy to have spent the time that I devoted to this book. Not a keeper.
Rating: 
Summary: I wouldn't bother
Review: While I found the idea of the book interesting, the execution was boring in the extreme. I'd be reading along and then find myself thinking about something else altogether (like, say housework). I think if the author had stuck to fewer, better developed characters, it would have been much more satisfying. As it is, it reads more like an outline than a book.
Rating:
Summary: I wouldn't bother
Review: While I found the idea of the book interesting, the execution was boring in the extreme. I'd be reading along and then find myself thinking about something else altogether (like, say housework). I think if the author had stuck to fewer, better developed characters, it would have been much more satisfying. As it is, it reads more like an outline than a book.
| 
