Rating: 
Summary: Excellent hard science fiction
Review: This book is excellent hard science fiction. There are no fanciful or questionable technologies in this book, like transporters or warp speed -- not even artificial gravity! (other than centripedal force). All the technologies in this story are at least theoretically possible. For example, they never "break" the light speed barrier. Instead, they describe ways of coping with interstellar voyages that take years or decades. Obviously, in addition to bringing his own considerable knowledge about such things to bear, Buzz Aldrin also got a lot of input from all his astronaut and rocket scientist buddies. The only questionable thing the authors did was to make the aliens big, furry humanoids, but I suppose that is forgivable. Really a great book of truly an epic scope, yet the authors managed to completely refrain from any of that "ancient astronauts/Egyptian pyramids/Face on Mars" foolishness too! Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: Humanity and Science Future with a dash of Text Book
Review: This book was amazing. Even though the first chapters are slow therest are worth the time. It eloquently points out how "humanity" can spread out through time and space, and leaves you to decide if that is a good thing.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but Niven better
Review: This is a good read, but as your reviewer alex Cull says, Larry Niven's aliens are better (But I think particularly the Kzin in the Man-Kzin Wars). The trouble with these, not merely from another planet but another Star-system, is that they are too human-like. On the other hand, Buzz Aldrin knows his stuff (he would, wouldn't he?), and the aliens' politics are actually a perceptive and plausible description of human politics. It has its moments.
Rating:
Summary: Great example of science fiction
Review: This is a really good novel. It intruiged me from the beginning all the way until the end. It took me three days to read, and during that time, when I wasn't reading, I was wishing that I was. Anyone who doesn't give this more than 4 stars should pick another book to read, because they did not understand this book at all. I have always been a fan of science fiction, and I find it great!! I suggest EVERYONE who can read, should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Best space science SF ever written
Review: This is not a read for those who could "never get past the whale blubber" when trying to read the great Moby Dick. The space science, often engineering science, is real like you have never seen it before (just as Melville's account of whaling in the age of sail is authentic). There is a problem, however, especially in the beginning, in being able to always distinguish between what NASA has done, the technical ideas others have developed and that might be done, and authentic technical ideas by Aldrin and perhaps Barnes. It is a shame not to know which are Aldrin's ideas, for some of them are ingenious and created in me a sense of wonder. Do not skip the technological descriptions (hard to do anyway as they are ubiquitous), for as was true of Moby Dick, they provide the book's tone and ultimately define it. Melville's prose sometimes carried a rolling thunder to it, said to be the result of his reading Shakespeare and the King James Bible. This book does not have anything like that quality and therefore will not escape the genre label of SF. But the insights are sometimes astonishing. The whys and the ways of massacre warfare are flatly logically stated, and the killing is carried out by humans and aliens who you otherwise generally think of as good beings (the pain and killing at Kosovo could just as easily be explained). This is Barnes' contribution, I am sure. The nature of race and prejudice is explored with an at times subtle parallel to American history. The politics of space travel are laid out, and it is clear how much hangs on ulterior motives, reactive (as opposed to proactive) thinking, and chance, including disaster. Sad to say, Aldrin and Barnes' implication that it probably would take a Tiber Encyclopedia or planet crushing cloud of comets to galvanate Earthlings to reach for the planets, let alone the stars, is believable. The interelationships of people, whether human or alien, are at times insightful and good, but mostly they are described rather than revealed through their behavior. And a major character (the younger Terrence) is described at length in a way that is so flat and without the novelist's dynamic, that I wondered if it was Buzz Aldrin's autobiography. Nonetheless, the characters are well defined characters. In other words, the fictional quality is not as good as one would like but it works, partly because of the intelligence that has gone into it. The carefully constructed aliens, human characters, and plot, along with the technology, make this story plausable. You may have to remember the stories by the aliens are supposedly dumbed down translations for high school students. Many readers who equate SF with fantasy, whether they realize it or not, and many who want ceaseless action will drop by the wayside; they will never finish this long book. The book is long and alternates from one "novel" to another, but in the end the separate stories are nicely joined. Well done, Aldrin and Barnes.
Rating:
Summary: Best space science SF ever written
Review: This is not a read for those who could "never get past the whale blubber" when trying to read the great Moby Dick. The space science, often engineering science, is real like you have never seen it before (just as Melville's account of whaling in the age of sail is authentic). There is a problem, however, especially in the beginning, in being able to always distinguish between what NASA has done, the technical ideas others have developed and that might be done, and authentic technical ideas by Aldrin and perhaps Barnes. It is a shame not to know which are Aldrin's ideas, for some of them are ingenious and created in me a sense of wonder. Do not skip the technological descriptions (hard to do anyway as they are ubiquitous), for as was true of Moby Dick, they provide the book's tone and ultimately define it. Melville's prose sometimes carried a rolling thunder to it, said to be the result of his reading Shakespeare and the King James Bible. This book does not have anything like that quality and therefore will not escape the genre label of SF. But the insights are sometimes astonishing. The whys and the ways of massacre warfare are flatly logically stated, and the killing is carried out by humans and aliens who you otherwise generally think of as good beings (the pain and killing at Kosovo could just as easily be explained). This is Barnes' contribution, I am sure. The nature of race and prejudice is explored with an at times subtle parallel to American history. The politics of space travel are laid out, and it is clear how much hangs on ulterior motives, reactive (as opposed to proactive) thinking, and chance, including disaster. Sad to say, Aldrin and Barnes' implication that it probably would take a Tiber Encyclopedia or planet crushing cloud of comets to galvanate Earthlings to reach for the planets, let alone the stars, is believable. The interelationships of people, whether human or alien, are at times insightful and good, but mostly they are described rather than revealed through their behavior. And a major character (the younger Terrence) is described at length in a way that is so flat and without the novelist's dynamic, that I wondered if it was Buzz Aldrin's autobiography. Nonetheless, the characters are well defined characters. In other words, the fictional quality is not as good as one would like but it works, partly because of the intelligence that has gone into it. The carefully constructed aliens, human characters, and plot, along with the technology, make this story plausable. You may have to remember the stories by the aliens are supposedly dumbed down translations for high school students. Many readers who equate SF with fantasy, whether they realize it or not, and many who want ceaseless action will drop by the wayside; they will never finish this long book. The book is long and alternates from one "novel" to another, but in the end the separate stories are nicely joined. Well done, Aldrin and Barnes.
Rating: 
Summary: A Somewhat Jumbled Search for the History of the Future
Review: This novel is in every way very good. However, it comes across as not really knowing what it wants to be. There is the action novel part, with God-impersonation, biblical floods, and moon crashes. There is the political commentary, with communist monitors, ill-executed political space missions, and slavery. There is the technical manual, with zero-point lasers, interstellar travel, antimatter, and huge computers. There is the coming-of-age story, with young aliens going through puberty in space, culture fading over generations, and sons following in fathers' footsteps. The composition is just too jumbled, though. In an attempt to be the book about everything, the novel becomes a book without a point, without a climax, unsupported science, and with an unsatisfying ending. Too bad, too, because the beginning is positively riveting. I would recommend it, but don't expect the great American novel; this book was written for a purpose other than being a great book.
Rating:
Summary: A Somewhat Jumbled Search for the History of the Future
Review: This novel is in every way very good. However, it comes across as not really knowing what it wants to be. There is the action novel part, with God-impersonation, biblical floods, and moon crashes. There is the political commentary, with communist monitors, ill-executed political space missions, and slavery. There is the technical manual, with zero-point lasers, interstellar travel, antimatter, and huge computers. There is the coming-of-age story, with young aliens going through puberty in space, culture fading over generations, and sons following in fathers' footsteps. The composition is just too jumbled, though. In an attempt to be the book about everything, the novel becomes a book without a point, without a climax, unsupported science, and with an unsatisfying ending. Too bad, too, because the beginning is positively riveting. I would recommend it, but don't expect the great American novel; this book was written for a purpose other than being a great book.
Rating:
Summary: It's Buzz, after all! How can you NOT buy it?
Review: This one will win no great awards. The aliens are anthropomorphized far too much. The technical details, while impressive, are often overbearing. And the narrative is undercut with too much dreamy vision. HOWEVER, the actual story is really really good. And, believe it or not, all of the characters sing with consistency, believability and three-dimensional life. So, if you can tolerate Buzz's incessant self-aggrandizing style, and if you can forgive the overbearing technical precision of much of the science, then this is a highly enjoyable novel.
Rating:
Summary: It's Buzz, after all! How can you NOT buy it?
Review: This one will win no great awards. The aliens are anthropomorphized far too much. The technical details, while impressive, are often overbearing. And the narrative is undercut with too much dreamy vision. HOWEVER, the actual story is really really good. And, believe it or not, all of the characters sing with consistency, believability and three-dimensional life. So, if you can tolerate Buzz's incessant self-aggrandizing style, and if you can forgive the overbearing technical precision of much of the science, then this is a highly enjoyable novel.
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