Rating: 
Summary: A Helpful Guide to Constructing Star Systems and Planets
Review: "World-Building" is the volume in the Science Fiction Writing Series edited by Ben Bova devoted to constructing star systems and life-supporting planets. Stephen L. Gillett has a doctorate in geology, was the science columnist at "Amazing Science Fiction" and has written SF under a pseudonym. My doctorate is in rhetorical studies, so I am starting at ground zero when it comes to understanding or at least appreciating the mathematical equations for escape velocity, scaling tidal forces or Roche's limit. While this book thoroughly convinced me that I have no aptitude for writing hard science, I can see how it would be extremely helpful to anyone interested in being on a strong scientific foundation when it comes to writing their own stories.Gillett's volume has eight chapters: (1) Why World-Build? looks at the necessity of using real science to create the requisite sense of wonder in your science fiction writing; (2) The Astronomical Setting covers the important differences between planets and stars in general and gravity, orbits, seasons and tidal action in particular; (3) Making a Planet details how the formation of a planetary system impacts the resulting planets and the options for story writing; (4) The Earth looks at the interconnected aspects that make interesting variations possible with the home worlds you create because of plate tectonics, water and air, magnetic field, colors, etc.; (5) The Ancient Earth deals with avoiding the "Cenozoic Earth Syndrome" (creating an alien world by making a few slight changes on ancient earth) by better understanding our ancient past as an inspiration for creativity; (6) The Other Planet looks at the wealth of data we have accumulated from our deep space probes as another source of inspiration; (7) Stars and Suns looks at how such heavenly bodies can supporting interesting planets as well; and (8) Not as We Know It discusses differences in volatile content (e.g., wetworlds, nitroworlds, brimstone worlds) as a final means of providing major scope for variation in words. Hopefully this will provide you enough information to decide if "World-Building" will help you in writing your own Science Fiction. I appreciate that for some people this book does not go far enough, but certainly for the vast majority of us it gives us enough information that we will not thoroughly embarrass ourselves when it comes to creating new worlds for our characters to inhabit and visit.
Rating:
Summary: A Helpful Guide to Constructing Star Systems and Planets
Review: "World-Building" is the volume in the Science Fiction Writing Series edited by Ben Bova devoted to constructing star systems and life-supporting planets. Stephen L. Gillett has a doctorate in geology, was the science columnist at "Amazing Science Fiction" and has written SF under a pseudonym. My doctorate is in rhetorical studies, so I am starting at ground zero when it comes to understanding or at least appreciating the mathematical equations for escape velocity, scaling tidal forces or Roche's limit. While this book thoroughly convinced me that I have no aptitude for writing hard science, I can see how it would be extremely helpful to anyone interested in being on a strong scientific foundation when it comes to writing their own stories. Gillett's volume has eight chapters: (1) Why World-Build? looks at the necessity of using real science to create the requisite sense of wonder in your science fiction writing; (2) The Astronomical Setting covers the important differences between planets and stars in general and gravity, orbits, seasons and tidal action in particular; (3) Making a Planet details how the formation of a planetary system impacts the resulting planets and the options for story writing; (4) The Earth looks at the interconnected aspects that make interesting variations possible with the home worlds you create because of plate tectonics, water and air, magnetic field, colors, etc.; (5) The Ancient Earth deals with avoiding the "Cenozoic Earth Syndrome" (creating an alien world by making a few slight changes on ancient earth) by better understanding our ancient past as an inspiration for creativity; (6) The Other Planet looks at the wealth of data we have accumulated from our deep space probes as another source of inspiration; (7) Stars and Suns looks at how such heavenly bodies can supporting interesting planets as well; and (8) Not as We Know It discusses differences in volatile content (e.g., wetworlds, nitroworlds, brimstone worlds) as a final means of providing major scope for variation in words. Hopefully this will provide you enough information to decide if "World-Building" will help you in writing your own Science Fiction. I appreciate that for some people this book does not go far enough, but certainly for the vast majority of us it gives us enough information that we will not thoroughly embarrass ourselves when it comes to creating new worlds for our characters to inhabit and visit.
Rating:
Summary: Wow, I never thought of that!
Review: Ben Bova has helped to write several books in this series, including Aliens and Alien Societies, Time Travel, and this one, World-Building. This book gives the science fiction writer the science needed to create worlds on which your stories can unfold. As a scientist myself, I knew much of the information included, but there were more than a few times where I found myself saying "Wow, I never thought of that!". I'm sure there are a lot of writers out there who aren't scientists like me, and I'm sure they would benefit from having this information so that their worlds will not only be more realistic, they'll be scientifically plausible.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I was hoping for
Review: Despite the book's prestigious author, the title is a bit misleading. Most of the book focuses on "world-building" is not a 'world' per se, but is is meant in the larger sense: planetary/star-system building. I was hoping for more. One of my fiction projects includes "world-building" societies: things like races, religions, language, culture, costume, architecture, flora, government, et al., and the book covers none of that. Although the book itself it good for what it covers, I wish it had a different title that more accurately reflected its content.
Rating: 
Summary: Useful for both SF writers and a General Reference
Review: I am not a SF writer and really do not have plans to become one, but since I have an interest in astronomy, I found myself, by turns, buying and looking over this book. The detail in the book is very good. While the equations and mathematics will turn off some, they ARE necessary in order to construct a "believable" science fiction world, and the authors do take pains to make it as "plug and play" as possible. The best part of the book is the last, with the authors imaginative and fanciful planetary settings for science fiction stories. The "clorox" world has to be read to be believed. The only caveat to the book is the inevitable march of planetary knowledge slowly rendering some details of our own solar system slightly incorrect.
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Summary: Invaulable guide to possible alien life and it's worlds
Review: I can not say enough about World Building. The whole Science Fiction Writing Series is fantastic, but World Building stands above them all. Stephen Gillett does a wonderful job of showing how planets, both exotic and ordinary, develop and how life would work on those worlds. I highly recomend this book to anyone writing science fiction!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing and Informative
Review: I could go on and on about how helpful this book is. It has been absolutely indispensible to me while designing my latest (and largest) world. There's a lot to think about, but this book helps you organize your thoughts, it's very easy to understand, and it presents the information in such a way that it's easy to look up things quickly when you need them. Awesome... ^.^
Rating:
Summary: Packed with information
Review: I have been extremely pleased with this book. I bought it because I wanted to know how to invent a planet that would look plausible scientifically. I am a neophyte in the sciences field, and as such found this book really excellent. It is full pack of information clearly presented, to understand how planets are formed, and what are the requirements for life (this is not simply air and water, but, for example, on the long run also requires volcanism and plate tectonics!). In fact, had I read this book when I was in college, I would have wanted to study chemistry and physics at university (instead of hating it). Lastly, for those wanting to create alien worlds, the end of the book also presents some examples, without which all the info presented may be of few use to design some original exo-planet. Overall, an excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: If you care about accuracy in your fiction, snag it!
Review: Last year I decided to get back into SF after an absence of over 15 years. I began a novel that I wanted to have the extra crackle of believability that comes from paying attention to simple physics. I wanted to use real star systems and design planets with orbits, years, and seasons consistent with their positions with respect to their stars. I had some writeups on how to do this (most skimmed from Web searches) but no systematic treatment. Well, here it is, gang. Pick a nearby star from the Gliese catalog. (Not included...but it's on the Web.) Choose Earth-normal illumination, calculate distance from the star, etc. etc. All the equations are here, with worked-out examples. Just like a Schaum's Outline. It's easy to read, easy to understand, and anybody who's gone through high school math and posesses a calculator can do it. I set up an Excel spreadsheet with formulas for the various equations, so I can change one value and see the changes that ripple through all the other values. Wonderful fun! Even if you're not intending to write an SF novel, this book is an excellent popularization of stars and planets and how they relate, with interesting suggestions as to what sorts of "exotic worlds" might be viable and what sorts just wouldn't exist. I had a blast with this book, and two years from now, if NO WAY IN HELL makes it into print, this book will bear a great deal of the blame, heh-heh.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading even if you're not a writer
Review: Required reading if you're an aspiring SF Writer. This book provides the basic information needed to design an "authentic" planet that is scientifically consistant. Most of the equations are in sidebars so they can be easily located and entered in a spreadsheet making it easy to try out a variety of scenarios for your planet and its environment. The author has packed lots of information in a small book. If you find this book useful you will also find "Energies: An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization" (available from Amazon) equally thought provoking and just as useful. While World-Building takes a look at planets in general it does focus on Earthlike planets in particular. Energies takes a wide-ranging look at Earth itself(its biomass, climate, animals and technology) with extensive charts, graphs and equations and fills in some areas where World-Building is thin. The books complement each other amazingly well. In addition, both list other references and resources for additional research.
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