Rating: 
Summary: Pournelle moves in mysterious ways
Review: Starswarm is more than a simple adventure story. In it Mr. Pournelle has introduced a truly unique alien species. Living computers! Symbiotic relationships with entities used as messengers! Old operating systems respected. The book is an excellent yarn.
Rating:
Summary: Starswarm is a Star
Review: Starswarm is one of my favorite books. It is the story of a boy with a computer chip implanted in his head. The chip keeps him company and helps him with homework. But as he gets older, and finds out new things about the chip and who put it there, he is caught in a thrilling adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Rating: 
Summary: Professional, predictable, and pedantic.
Review: Starswarm was written by someone who has fabricated several pounds of novels and read even more. The plot has been used in dozens of novels and hundreds of video games and thousands of movies. Viz: Plucky youth with secret identity sneaks thru villains to find the holy grail, claim his birthright, and win the girl. In this case the hero Kip is a "prince of the blood" gone into hiding with a faithful retainer, and a "magic" helper. An ursurper is on his tail. At no time is there any suspense. At no time is any character other than a cardboard cut-out. At no time is the history and society of Kip's world other than briefly sketched in. Been there, done that, have the T-shirt.
Rating:
Summary: Professional, predictable, and pedantic.
Review: Starswarm was written by someone who has fabricated several pounds of novels and read even more. The plot has been used in dozens of novels and hundreds of video games and thousands of movies. Viz: Plucky youth with secret identity sneaks thru villains to find the holy grail, claim his birthright, and win the girl. In this case the hero Kip is a "prince of the blood" gone into hiding with a faithful retainer, and a "magic" helper. An ursurper is on his tail. At no time is there any suspense. At no time is any character other than a cardboard cut-out. At no time is the history and society of Kip's world other than briefly sketched in. Been there, done that, have the T-shirt.
Rating: 
Summary: A reputable imitation of Robert Heinlein's juveniles
Review: The "Jupiter Series" was started by Jerry Pournelle and Charles Sheffield in "Higher Education," and that first novel is still the best book in the series. Several others have been written by Sheffield solo, and they're all worth reading. I wish the two would get together and write a sequel using the first novel's characters, since we were left with the implication that such was coming. "Starswarm" is Pournelle going at it alone, and like many of his solo novels, they're good, but not as good as his collaborations. Like Larry Niven in recent years, Pournelle and another writer together prove the whole is greater than the parts. In this one, Pournelle creates a very interesting alien, a series of exciting and escalating conflicts, and a creditable resolution. My one quibble with him is that I doubt the kids centuries from now are still going to be playing "Warcraft" as their video game of choice. If you like science fiction, have fond memories of reading Robert Heinlein's juveniles, or are a young reader looking for more of the "Jupiter Series," "Starswarm" won't disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: A reputable imitation of Robert Heinlein's juveniles
Review: The "Jupiter Series" was started by Jerry Pournelle and Charles Sheffield in "Higher Education," and that first novel is still the best book in the series. Several others have been written by Sheffield solo, and they're all worth reading. I wish the two would get together and write a sequel using the first novel's characters, since we were left with the implication that such was coming. "Starswarm" is Pournelle going at it alone, and like many of his solo novels, they're good, but not as good as his collaborations. Like Larry Niven in recent years, Pournelle and another writer together prove the whole is greater than the parts. In this one, Pournelle creates a very interesting alien, a series of exciting and escalating conflicts, and a creditable resolution. My one quibble with him is that I doubt the kids centuries from now are still going to be playing "Warcraft" as their video game of choice. If you like science fiction, have fond memories of reading Robert Heinlein's juveniles, or are a young reader looking for more of the "Jupiter Series," "Starswarm" won't disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD SCIENCE Fiction for Juveniles and Older
Review: The narrative flow sweeps the reader along. The characterization is adequate, but not as good as I suspect the author thinks. The plotting is not bad, but is a still a variation on the standard paranoid SF fare of the innocent good guy who can save the world which is in danger from powerful beings who are out to get him. The writing is solid, but no more than that. The sense of wonder is often lost in the push to get from point A to point B; a common flaw (more could have made of the emotional impact on each person's having to be up close and personal with centaurs, for example, instead of allowing the experience to become passe). What really sets the book apart from so much that passes for SF is that the science is real and it is worked into the narrative with enough naturalness that a person unfamiliar with AI research, the use of DNA as computer chips, the prospect of mass production of chips, etc., will not know how many scientific ideas they have absorbed! Arthur Clarke's sentient intelligent life that coalesced in a pond was almost an incidental idea, but one that filled me with wonder when I was a kid, in his-- I believe-- Childhood's End, and it could have served as an inspiration for Pournelle's starswarmm. Finally, I read this fine juvenile-and-up book as a result of reading the non-fictional introduction. I agree with Pournelle's editor, Gleason, that such introductions should be commonplace! What a great idea!
Rating:
Summary: Jerry Pournelle never disappoints
Review: There is a wonderful introduction to Starswarm, explaining how the book came into being. Fans of the author will love it. Newcomers to Pournelle's work will be impressed by his forward thinking, his seamless writing, his characterizations, and his attention to detail. I certainly am, and I've been reading him for years.
Rating:
Summary: Can we say, "Spot the Heinlein novels?"
Review: What a treat to read a good juvenile by an author whose adult fiction I have enjoyed greatly! It was even more fun to spot the plot similarities to Heinlein novels. The introduction gave it away a little, but it was with glee that I found first "RED PLANET," then "THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS," and "CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY." The last one was so obvious that I found myself saying, "Aw, gee, can you make more of a bow to the master?" A good yarn and one that you could give to your teenage to enjoy (after you read it yourself).
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