Voices of Hope

Rating:
Summary: Incomprehensible.
Review: I've read all of the Seafort Saga for the exception of this book. I think I managed about 75-100 pages before tossing this book in with the rest of the books I was marking to sell at a yard sale. One word surmises "Voices Of Hope", and that is: Incomprehensible. Most of the story is written in Trannie speak (Transient), which is a cross of jive, street talk, and harsh ebonics. Aside from reading paragraph after paragraph over and over again to figure out what a characters were saying, I could gather little from the plot for the exception that the book delved into the world of Nicholas Seafort, and his dealings with his runaway 12 yr old son. Lame ending to a great series of books. The author should get 10 lashings for it.

Rating:
Summary: Bitterly Disappointed
Review: I've read the first four in Feintuch's excellent Seafort saga and loved them all. Then I got this one and was bored to tears. It's very different to other's true but the formula of the rest of the series was fine with me.

What you basically have is a dull, story full of teenage kids you do not care about, the world is badly described, the story just poor. I put the book down after 100 pages, maybe it gets better but frankly I don't care.

Get back to space Feintuch.

Rating:
Summary: best yet
Review: In a series of entertaining and otherwise quality books David Feintuch's, Voices of Hope, far exceeds the previous four. His change in style from being entirely from Nick Seafort's perspective to the eyes of five different characters makes for an interesting twist. The previous four and their concentration on Captain Nicholas Seafort and his beloved Navy where enjoyable, don't get me wrong, but his change to following by and large the "trannies" was a welcome change. Who doesn't enjoy a good story about a bunch of half savage people living under the foot of a technologically advanced culture bent on destroying their way of life? All in all an exciting book that was difficult to put down until I was done.

Rating:
Summary: A compelling population polarization pageant.
Review: It is imperative for the Feintuch fan to read this book. The despair evident in Nick is manifested somewhat less in his son, Jared, who shares the family preoccupation with guilt. The quite possible social implications are enormously compelling and extraordinarily frightening. Not so much good vs. evil as the misled colliding. This book should appeal to the socially concerned as well as one just seeking a good read. Feintuch successfully makes you think!

Rating:
Summary: Worst. Feintuch. Ever.
Review: Just skip this one altogether, and go straight to Patriarch's Hope. Of all the people to whom I have lent the Hope series, no one was even able to get halfway through "Voices" without giving up in disgust.

A failed experiment, which, fortunately, he did not copy in the following two books, both of which are fine additions to the Seafort Saga.

Rating:
Summary: Worst. Feintuch. Ever.
Review: Just skip this one altogether, and go straight to Patriarch's Hope. Of all the people to whom I have lent the Hope series, no one was even able to get halfway through "Voices" without giving up in disgust.

A failed experiment, which, fortunately, he did not copy in the following two books, both of which are fine additions to the Seafort Saga.

Rating:
Summary: I don't believe this, he's done it again
Review: Rumour has it that David Feintuch is writing another book in this series, but frankly I can't understand how he's going to manage it. Most sci-fi writers would have difficulty making a good job of Midshipman's Hope, but carrying it on through five books? How can he make a *hero* - who is mostly just an ordinary person at heart - consistently realistic, interesting and captivating to read about? Some readers aren't fond of Voices of Hope because it jumps from character to character, and is the first book in the series not to be seen through Nick Seafort's eyes, but I found it refreshing. It was also a better way to bring out the subtle changes in his personality, and how having a family has altered him. Set mostly in the slums of New York, the transpops are losing their water supply to more "Uppie" towers and are appealing to "the Fisherman" for help. Meanwhile, Nick's son Phillip runs away to find his friend who has disppeared into the depths of the city during the most dangerous time it has faced. And so it starts: every page has action in it, every page is interesting and richly written. (However, I advise you to read Challenger's Hope and Fisherman's Hope first, or you won't have a clue what the trannies are talking about). As with all the Seafort books, read, enjoy, and find the rest of the series post haste.

Rating:
Summary: Voices is not only a good book, but an important commentary.
Review: Science fiction has the power to move us in ways no other genre can. It challenges our perception of reality and gives us glimpses of our future as it may be.

David Feintuch has shown us that he is especially adept at such glimpses, using what we know about human nature and about ourselves to create a future that may very well happen. Feintuch's future is one in which the rich rule our world and the poor are forgotten.

But also inherent to human nature is love. The tortured Nick Seafort despises himself, but loves God and mankind. He is incapable of forgetting the lost children of New York. He is incapable of watching passively as they are eliminated.

It was hard diving into Voices of Hope. Seafort is such a compelling character that giving him up in favor of the five new "voices" is rather like abandoning a best friend. But it's worth it. Towards the end of the story, Captain Seafort emerges once more, and finaly, at long last, he is given the triumphant, glorious ending that he so deserves after four gruesomely sad books. In the end, those of us who stood by Nick will finaly find peace, even as his own soul is satisfied.

The Hope series is not just a good read. It's an important set of works that deserves a great deal of attention. This is the first time since childhood that I have read a book with wonder and delight; drawn into the pages of a reality that may not have been my own, but was never-the-less all encompassing.

Voices of Hope is a true masterpiece

Rating:
Summary: Voices is not only a good book, but an important commentary.
Review: Science fiction has the power to move us in ways no other genre can. It challenges our perception of reality and gives us glimpses of our future as it may be.

David Feintuch has shown us that he is especially adept at such glimpses, using what we know about human nature and about ourselves to create a future that may very well happen. Feintuch's future is one in which the rich rule our world and the poor are forgotten.

But also inherent to human nature is love. The tortured Nick Seafort despises himself, but loves God and mankind. He is incapable of forgetting the lost children of New York. He is incapable of watching passively as they are eliminated.

It was hard diving into Voices of Hope. Seafort is such a compelling character that giving him up in favor of the five new "voices" is rather like abandoning a best friend. But it's worth it. Towards the end of the story, Captain Seafort emerges once more, and finaly, at long last, he is given the triumphant, glorious ending that he so deserves after four gruesomely sad books. In the end, those of us who stood by Nick will finaly find peace, even as his own soul is satisfied.

The Hope series is not just a good read. It's an important set of works that deserves a great deal of attention. This is the first time since childhood that I have read a book with wonder and delight; drawn into the pages of a reality that may not have been my own, but was never-the-less all encompassing.

Voices of Hope is a true masterpiece

Rating:
Summary: Need innifo ? I Trayfo. Tellaman 'boudit. Gwan' bitchgirl !
Review: Stupe Uppie ! Pook reads no book, noway nohow ! Uppie say "Cool meet.", "Fadeout. Evenup." ? Pook tell Uppie prong hisself. Mebbe want give nudder mouf wid shiv ? 'K. Pook kin do dat 'righ quickfas'. Wan' passby ? Need trayfo fo Pook. Ain' got huh ? Try swind Pook li' ol Changman usta huh ? You be meat den, Pook sho' can dissya good.