Rating: 
Summary: too implausible, story ran out of steam halfway through
Review: The novel had too many implausibles for me to suspend disbelief. Examples: Astronomers do not outwit spies. Humans do not outwit 7.5 million year old entities whose brains operate a million times faster. The rest of the world doesn't sit around and let the U.S. conduct negotiations with an alien that can destroy all of humanity. And there is no "Hawaiian chic".The story was essentially over by page 190 (of 371). What you learn from the subsequent pages has no effect on the story's denouement. Fat books sell better than skinny books, I guess. If you're like me, by page 250 you'll be hoping for some friendly rutting among the astronomers to relieve the monotony, but your hopes will be in vain. For good Benford, try Cosm or Timescape. For good Benford with rutting politicians thrown in as a bonus, try Shiva Descending.
Rating: 
Summary: The Black Hole Talks
Review: The problem with letting scientists write science fiction is that they are scientists. You run the risk of ending up back in the middle of a college lecture when all you really wanted was a good read. _Eater_ only occassionaly delves into hard science land while providing an amusing jaunt into the not-to-distant future where an intelligent black hole is approaching Earth with significantly gray motivations. Benford tames the science part of the science fiction while creating slightly two dimensional characters include the black hole. Yes, the black hole talks. What I particulary enjoyed about this read was Benford's gift for one liners & witty sayings ... "to the man who owns a hammer, every problem looks like a nail" He has a quick wit and so do his characters. In the end, the good guys do win in a less than believable fashion. But we're ok with that since this isn't science. It's science fiction.
Rating:
Summary: average sci-fi
Review: This book is a bit tedious. The writer has some good premsises but somehow the writing doesn't captivate. There is much made about the lifes of the scientists so I was hoping it would become an elegant book: but it did'nt.
Rating:
Summary: Going stale............a real shame
Review: This latest effort from the author of the "galactic center series" follows his continuing interest in the evolution of "magnetic minds". Unlike his previous attempts to imagine these intelligences, however, this particlar chap, based on or near the accretion disc of a wandering black hole is both irrational and thoroughly implausible in its attitude and motivation. One feels that an eight billion year old entity could think of something better to do than approaching a young planetary civilisations and killing a hundred thousand of its citizens to add their minds to its "collection". Not to mention patronising them to death! There are just too many alternatives, for example, it could hang around for a century or two, and give us the technology to simply "copy" minds without killing anyone. And get this - We have an incredibly powerful being, which has been poodling around for half the age of the Universe, which has studied, overcome or intimidated God knows how many thousands of other species, many of whom must be more intelligent or advanced than Humanity, suddenly throwing in the towel to little old Mankind! Wow! Homo Sapiens Rules, or what? Of course by Mankind, I mean, an American scientist and his wife. The idea of an intelligent black hole approaching Earth for a chat is a great idea (although not original) so the build up was very exciting but the idea of such a powerful creature being both irrational and so easily beaten let the whole story down. Didn't think much of the collection of imprisoned minds with their "..please kill us.." and "..thanks for killing us...." either. Could do better.
Rating:
Summary: Needs Some Trimming
Review: This story follows a secluded group of astronomers as they confront a peculiar and powerful life form which has invaded our solar system. The nature of this life form and the scientists's attempts at communication lay an intriguing foundation to this story that mixes hard science with wild speculation.
Outside of this central idea, however, the story begins to fall apart. Benford attempts to develop a secondary story line involving bureaucratic politics as factions of various world governments attempt to take control of the ET investigation. The complications that arise from this plot derivation only add confusion and several unnecessary chapters to the book.
A twist in character development also gives birth to a tertiary plot line that attempts to tackle the complex subject of artificial intelligence. Again, though, this offshoot, while it could have made a good subject for a book of its own, only distracts the reader from the meat of the story. The AI sections also generate, by explanatory necessity, an annoying stream-of-consciousness style in certain sections of the novel that slow the story down to a crawl.
Overall the core of the story is intriguing enough to trudge through the slow bits, but the central plot would have been much better presented on its own as a short story. I give it a C+.
Rating: 
Summary: another great one
Review: well, the great one does it again. here's another example that great SF has not died. this book delves into the actions of scientists and the world against an incredible extraterrestrial threat which seems to be able to destroy the world as we know it. definately worth reading
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