Manhattan Transfer

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary, Bewildering, Intense!!
Review: I picked this book up in the library onboard the USS Santa Barbara. Friday nights in the middle of the North Atlantic can be kind of boring. The cover was quite interesting and I wasn't about to read a book on new fishing tackle. Needless to say, the next 3 days were the most excitment I had during my 9 month cruise. I had always loved hard sci-fi, but never imagined anything of this calibre existed. That was 4 years ago. Today I proudly own Mr. Stith's entire collection. His characters become your best friends as they're molded into the story. By the book's end you're paralized with shock, terror, and excitement all at once. Manhattan? Ripped from Earh. What happens? Read the book! Stith gives you every detail in picturesque painting that only he can. A must read.

Rating:
Summary: Kinda Average
Review: I picked up this book for 25 cents at a thrift store, and it was definitely worth the purchase. I don't know if I would have been as happy if I'd spent $...on a new copy, though. It's a decent read, but that's about it. Most of the ideas that drive the plot have been around for decades, and I thought the writing wasn't anything special. Overall, a decent read, but probably not a book that will stick with me months and years later.

Rating:
Summary: Kinda Average
Review: I picked up this book for 25 cents at a thrift store, and it was definitely worth the purchase. I don't know if I would have been as happy if I'd spent $...on a new copy, though. It's a decent read, but that's about it. Most of the ideas that drive the plot have been around for decades, and I thought the writing wasn't anything special. Overall, a decent read, but probably not a book that will stick with me months and years later.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing fazes New Yorkers!
Review: If any people on Earth can handle an alien abduction of their city, New Yorkers can. This is, indeed, an entertaining story that introduces us to a number of characters who try to play a part in solving their new dilemma. Things tends to all work out and wrap up a little too neatly by the conclusion, very "Hollywood." There should be enough suspense, however, to keep a reader interested throughout most of the book. There is obvious symbolism and commentary by the end of the story on how human beings have treated their own natural environment.

Rating:
Summary: Big ideas from a writer who SHOULD be a big name
Review: It always amazes me that John E. Stith --- author of such great books as REDSHIFT RENDEZVOUS, and this one, MANHATTAN TRANSFER --- isn't often mention in the same breath as Brin, Bear, Benford, Card, and other major SF writers. He's every bit their equal, as this story demonstrates. It's a sort of melding of KIDNAPPED and James Blish's CITIES IN FLIGHT (in that the whole city of Manhattan in kidnapped by aliens, and torn right off the planet into space). Actually, if it reminds me of any other book, it's probably Arthur C Clarke's RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA. That won a Hugo --- why didn't this?

Rating:
Summary: I liked it
Review: It had an intriquing premise, believable characters, and a great mystery about why Manhattan was ripped out of the earth and transported into outer space. My only problem with the book is that the technical information was a little excessive, but in most parts it made the story more credible.

Rating:
Summary: Should be filmed.
Review: Manhattan Transfer is a great present-day sci-fi adventure novel, filling all the requirements: dangers, aliens, technology and the rest. I believe this could be a box office hit if it's filmed.

Rating:
Summary: Who done it and Why did they do it?
Review: Stith does a very plausible rendition of a massive kidnapping of an entire island. The characters are clear, real and engaging. The story moves quickly and is very entertaining. Good excitement, reasonable science and lots of fun to read. My first exposure to Stith, I have already bought another based on the quality of this book.

Rating:
Summary: In My Top 10
Review: This original and facinating story ranks in my top ten favorite sci-fi novels. I rate it with some of Asimov's masterpieces. I've read it three times.

Rating:
Summary: In My Top 10
Review: This original and facinating story ranks in my top ten favorite sci-fi novels. I rate it with some of Asimov's masterpieces. I've read it three times.