Rating: 
Summary: Scifi paradise
Review: Angelo Osic, an aging pharmacist in wartorn Panama, is drawn into a complicated political plot when he reaches out in compassion to help an injured woman fleeing shadowy forces. Osic kills a man, and is forced to flee Earth and make a new life among Latino refugee/mercenaries, hired to help a Japanese-derived culture on a distant planet defeat its cultural rival. Trained ruthlessly in war, he struggles to return to his own self image of a man of peace, a healer, and a man of compassion -- even as he sees these things fail and fade.For a scifi lover, this book is a feast for the mind; nay, more than a feast: a smorgasborg. Neural implants, brain transplant, genetic alteration, jacked-in training, bioweapons, AI, space travel, future weapons; you name it. Yet all of these technological developments are worked into the plot smoothly and believably. And most important, they are not the focus of the novel: that focus is the moral development of a man struggling to make sense of what his life has become; struggling to regain moral agency in an immoral world. Yet there are many other interesting ideas on display, as well: culture clash, the nature of reality, what it means to be human, and what the meaning of culture is. Most novels are fire and forget; they do not touch your self in any real way beyond the pleasure of escape. This one will have you thinking about it years after your read it for the nth time.
Rating:
Summary: Scifi paradise
Review: Angelo Osic, an aging pharmacist in wartorn Panama, is drawn into a complicated political plot when he reaches out in compassion to help an injured woman fleeing shadowy forces. Osic kills a man, and is forced to flee Earth and make a new life among Latino refugee/mercenaries, hired to help a Japanese-derived culture on a distant planet defeat its cultural rival. Trained ruthlessly in war, he struggles to return to his own self image of a man of peace, a healer, and a man of compassion -- even as he sees these things fail and fade. For a scifi lover, this book is a feast for the mind; nay, more than a feast: a smorgasborg. Neural implants, brain transplant, genetic alteration, jacked-in training, bioweapons, AI, space travel, future weapons; you name it. Yet all of these technological developments are worked into the plot smoothly and believably. And most important, they are not the focus of the novel: that focus is the moral development of a man struggling to make sense of what his life has become; struggling to regain moral agency in an immoral world. Yet there are many other interesting ideas on display, as well: culture clash, the nature of reality, what it means to be human, and what the meaning of culture is. Most novels are fire and forget; they do not touch your self in any real way beyond the pleasure of escape. This one will have you thinking about it years after your read it for the nth time.
Rating:
Summary: There Should be A Ten Star Rating For This Book.
Review: Hello: This book is everything the "positive reviews" above say, and more. From the first page, until the last paragraph, to the last three words of that last page, this book will awe, inspire, and haunt you in ways few other books ever will. It is a work of science fiction genuis that has been totally over looked and neglected for far too long. And that is a shame. This book should have won Hugo and Nebula and Campbell. Sadly it did not, as the politics of the day in the Sci Fi community were decidedly "anti-war" in any way when it was on the shelves. It is long past over do for a new printing, (but better cover plz) Like one reviewer above, I found six copies of this book at a book store and I bought them all. And I proceeded to hand em out, along with A.A Attanasios Radix. What a good year for books that was. Paradise and Radix combined could ruin you for other books for years to come. It's impossible to top this kind of quality. But back to this book... You are unlikely to find this books equal on any shelf today. The new Space Opera (my favorite) is sadly laced with affection for the Marxism that never happened (thank god) and the rest is now so PC and Left Wing, as to be nearly unreadable, or at best, as gray and boring as a crowd of people in Soviet Russias old days. (they all wore black or gray) If you read only one Sci Fi book in the next year, make it this one. And keep your copy, for you will need to read again one day. No one reads this book just one time, in their life time. It's simply that damn good. I wish Dave Wolverton would do this kind of book again, and do it well. Someone tell him he should. John H. Myers Jr.
Rating:
Summary: A timeless masterpiece - virtually unrivalled!!
Review: I don't know where to begin praising this literary jewel; this work of art is simply unprecedented. It is one of the deepest and most powerful books ever written, by anyone, period. I read it many years ago, and the characters in the book have never stopped haunting me. With this one book, Wolverton has propelled himself right up there with the other literary greats, and won a lifelong fan in me, who'll forever be hungry for his next project.
Rating:
Summary: An absolute classic
Review: I first read this book some years ago and was impressed with the breadth of vision and the sheer fun of reading it since I have loaned it to many a friend all gave much praise, and had some trouble getting it back. Recently I read it again and it was as fresh as all those years ago it is a rare find indeed a real ripper of a story
Rating:
Summary: The best SF book I ever read and reread and ...
Review: I know this book is long out of print and I agree with other reviewers that it should really be republished. It is simply the best SF book I have ever read. I just read it again for the third time and it is still as good as I remember it to be when it first came out. It is simply very hard to find a good book like this in the genre -- believe me I read SF almost fulltime! Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about other books Wolverton has written since his first book.
Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: I read a lot of science fiction and this is quite possibly the best sci-fi novel that I have ever read. The fact that the characters were latin american (and japanese, of course) was a refreshing change from the typical anglo american sci-fi character. It was nice to read about experiences from the perspective of characters with a little ethnicity. The ending wasn't a complete surprise, but the way that it was resolved was enlightening. I would recommend this book be read by one and all. Although not quite the same, you might also enjoy reading John Steakley's "Armor"
Rating:
Summary: This is one of those books that stays alive inside you
Review: I read avidly and appreciate quality work, and I read almost anything. This book crosses all the lines. It is Science. Fiction. Literature. Spiritual. Easily in my all time top ten, any genre. In used book stores there are two books I will always buy - Micheal Herr's "Dispatches" and Dave Wolverton's "On My Way to Paridise". Then I give them to someone.
Rating:
Summary: cant get enough
Review: i read the first 2 pages of this book when iwas ten. then 4 or 5 years later i found the book in the library and seince then i have bought it and read it several times and am not tired of it and it has not gotten old. so let me tell u one thing and thats buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: cant get enough
Review: i read the first 2 pages of this book when iwas ten. then 4 or 5 years later i found the book in the library and seince then i have bought it and read it several times and am not tired of it and it has not gotten old. so let me tell u one thing and thats buy this book.
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