Rating: 
Summary: Almost a great book. A very good novel.
Review: I wanted to like this one, because Jack Williamson has always been one of my favourites. Alas, he has presented us with a rambling, disjointed tale, populated by characters that are more suited to grade-school space opera fantasies. He has no respect for the readers' intelligence, and feels that he has to exagerrate every character trait to make sure we know who the good guys and bad guys are. The story drags when it should move, and leaps over important parts with little more than a flat statement that something happened. Subplots are left entirely unresolved and uncommented on, leaving the reader wondering why they were mentioned at all. All in all, not one of Williamson's best efforts.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Williamson's more forgettable works.
Review: I wanted to like this one, because Jack Williamson has always been one of my favourites. Alas, he has presented us with a rambling, disjointed tale, populated by characters that are more suited to grade-school space opera fantasies. He has no respect for the readers' intelligence, and feels that he has to exagerrate every character trait to make sure we know who the good guys and bad guys are. The story drags when it should move, and leaps over important parts with little more than a flat statement that something happened. Subplots are left entirely unresolved and uncommented on, leaving the reader wondering why they were mentioned at all. All in all, not one of Williamson's best efforts.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Williamson's Best.
Review: Jack Williamson's 51st novel is a classic science fiction tale combining high adventure and alien contact set on a far-distant world. A mixed group of 100 humans are hurled into space as the 99th and last ship of the StarSeed project. The people on board are using a type of wave propulsion that can only be stopped by an encounter with a massive gravitational field, so there is no way to know how far or how long they've been traveling. When they do finally stop, in what seems like an instant to them, they are at first unable to determine exactly what caused the end of their journey, as there is nothing apparent in their immediate vicinity. Finally they are able to detect the black sun of the title, a burned-out husk of a star. They also find a planet orbiting the star where they are forced to land, since their ship is not equipped to journey to another, more suitable destination.
On their way to touchdown, they detect strange, seemingly unnatural light signals coming from the bitterly cold, glaciated planet. Upon landing, more mysteries unfold as the crew discovers the remains of an ancient race that appears to have died out as much as a billion years before. In the meantime, the crew is dividing into two camps, the first led by the disgraced former head of the StarSeed project who took over as captain shortly before departure. This group is only interested in leading as comfortable a life as possible while futilely attempting to find a way to another star. The other group is composed of scientists and others who are determined to explore the planet and unlock its secrets in an attempt to find a way to build a new life where they've landed, possibly as the last remnants of the human race left in the universe.
The story unfolds with the lead protagonists (two scientists, a stowaway, and a beautiful woman and her two precocious children) embarking on a dangerous and fast-paced trek across half the planet in an effort to find the source of the light signals, and in response to strong compulsions fostered by strange bead-like objects found with the remains of the dead alien race. Along the way, we are continuously treated to new revelations and dramatic images about the aliens, as well as about the planet's history.
Williamson does a masterful job of weaving several different plot-lines together to forge a satisfying and uplifting conclusion to his exciting tale, while at the same time addressing important issues found in today's society, as well as in the closed society of his novel. This book shows once again why Jack Williamson has been successfully selling science fiction for 69 years. Let's hope he keeps it up for many more
Rating: 
Summary: Dull, predictable, and wordy.
Review: My first Williamson story; I was not impressed. I felt the story was dull and wordy (could have been condensed easily into a short story)
Rating: 
Summary: Spooky!
Review: The Balck Sun was an intriguing story. I was truly with the passengers on the wavecraft waiting for lift off from earth. I could feel the tension of not knowing where you will end up. There were a couple of empty spots that left me wondering what was going on. Exactly how many people were on this ship? Only a few were described to us. There really seemed to be problem after problem for these traveling earthlings. One thing that seemed to be far fetched was that they sure had a never ending supply of food. I didn't want the poor people to starve but it would have added to the drama a little bit if they had that to worry about. For the most part the story was really entertaining. I liked the whole idea of not knowing where you will end up and what would you do when you got there. It kept me turning the pages.
Rating:
Summary: Spooky!
Review: The Balck Sun was an intriguing story. I was truly with the passengers on the wavecraft waiting for lift off from earth. I could feel the tension of not knowing where you will end up. There were a couple of empty spots that left me wondering what was going on. Exactly how many people were on this ship? Only a few were described to us. There really seemed to be problem after problem for these traveling earthlings. One thing that seemed to be far fetched was that they sure had a never ending supply of food. I didn't want the poor people to starve but it would have added to the drama a little bit if they had that to worry about. For the most part the story was really entertaining. I liked the whole idea of not knowing where you will end up and what would you do when you got there. It kept me turning the pages.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not great.
Review: This book falls just shy of being a solid piece of sci-fi. I was captured by the beauty of the descriptions while the characters were on Earth, in the stars, and on the new planet. The story moved along very nicely with intrigue and faux-science throughout the book, until the end came in sight. The desperate situations and the human strength to overcome them are prevelant throughout this novel (really could you survive on this frozen planet?). What I found to be the slowing point is the unending description of the day to day mundane chores and and slow travel across what is described as a gray lightless surface as the characters were coming to the ending of the story. That coupled with the idea that when given the ability to leave again, they chose to stay. I would have given 4-5 stars and put it on the shelf to read again down the road had it not been for the boredome suffered by both the characters near the end and finally the "everythings happy" ending. I would, however, read a sequal to this book in hope that it would redeem and previous titles ending.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not great.
Review: This book falls just shy of being a solid piece of sci-fi. I was captured by the beauty of the descriptions while the characters were on Earth, in the stars, and on the new planet. The story moved along very nicely with intrigue and faux-science throughout the book, until the end came in sight. The desperate situations and the human strength to overcome them are prevelant throughout this novel (really could you survive on this frozen planet?). What I found to be the slowing point is the unending description of the day to day mundane chores and and slow travel across what is described as a gray lightless surface as the characters were coming to the ending of the story. That coupled with the idea that when given the ability to leave again, they chose to stay. I would have given 4-5 stars and put it on the shelf to read again down the road had it not been for the boredome suffered by both the characters near the end and finally the "everythings happy" ending. I would, however, read a sequal to this book in hope that it would redeem and previous titles ending.
Rating:
Summary: One of the better books in Science Fiction
Review: This book may not be the best peice of Space Science Fiction ever writtenit is, however, one of the better ones in the last five years.The story sometimes lacks believability - even if we compensate for the fact that it is science fiction. The emotoins, the way characters relate to each other just don't seem real enough.But if you like science fiction, if you like to read about space and other forms of life you will love this book
Rating:
Summary: black sun-less
Review: This was the most pathetic sci-fi book I have ever read. I have been reading sci-fi for over 45 years, and I am so mad that Williamson could write a book that apparently written for 10year olds or younger. He has no grasp of how people react to or with one another and is unable to put together a believable coherant story. My 15 year old daughter is able to write better than this person and I will NEVER read another of his books. I have 2 regrets; having read the book to the end; NOT being able to send this message to him personally!
| 
