Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not for everyone.
Review: A bleak story in an even bleaker future, wound together in an amazing novel. I've noticed that many reviewers here seem to be put off a bit by the amount, and sheer oddity, of the ... in this book. I was too until I realized what the authors were trying to convey...a future where the human race had already begun it's plummet into the abysses of eternity. The human race has nothing to live for and nothing to look forward to, so people only exist for the pleasure of the moment. If you can't understand why there would be a LOT of bizarre ... in a world and culture like that, this book is not for you. The bizarre ... of this novel forces you to realize that the Earth of the twenty third century is populated by people without morals, without caring, and without boundaries, and it forces you to come to grips with the desperation of the situation. You will also find youself debating whether mankind DESERVES its fate, or if we are all ultimately redeemable and deserve a second chance.The story itself is about the crew of the Mother Night, a small ship launched into the darkness of space, looking to change all that. They are looking for a new home, and a new future, for humanity. What they find, and the lessons they learn, cast a grim pall over the future prospects for mankind. It is a powerful story that makes the reader wonder once more, "Why are we here, and what do we hope to accomplish?" If you can avoid fixating on the ..., Alpha Centauri is a moving story that asks several deep philosophical questions. I recommend it strongly to anyone with an open mind.
Rating: 
Summary: Barton and Cappobianco deliver, though in some erie ways
Review: As always with William Barton's work, both alone and with Cappobianco, Alpha Centuri is bleak but occasionally uplifting. Rather too sexual, even considering the sexual nature of the topic (which is, really, reproduction) the authors give us a future where various members of various powers vie for the future of humanity. The twist, here, is that one of the possible futures, indeed, the likely one, is extinction. Similar in many ways to Barton's recent works, this is space-opera for the postmodern age, with believable science (though one doesn't WANT to believe it) and great characters. A must read, though these two have done better.
Rating:
Summary: If I could give this book zero stars I would!
Review: Avoid this book at all costs. A waste of time to read let alone stomach. I was interested in the background of a dreadfully overpopulated Earth, and a exploration to Earth's nearest neighbor Alpha Centauri. I was expecting some action, suspense, and some revelation. Instead, I was treated to severe boredom, nauseating sex scenes, incest, and assorted perversions. I was disappointed with time travel scanner, that allowed the crew to observe alien life as it existed billions of years ago. I felt the time scanner device was out of place in the story as is the gross sexual content that really didn't contribute to the story at all. After reading about 100 pages of the book, I decided to stick with it in hopes that in some manner the story would become interesting. In approach of the last 50 pages with no action or suspense in sight, I wearily finished the book with a lesson learned. What is that lesson you ask? Stay away from these 2 authors. Hard to believe it took 2 people to write this book. A real time waster.
Rating:
Summary: Poorly plotted, badly written and a complete waste of time
Review: I bought this in the airport hoping to have something to read on a trip to New Orleans. Crediting the authors with writing a distrubing but failed vision of the future is simply too generous. I assume they sat down and said well let's see, sex always sells and if a little is good a lot is better, also it should be as kinky as possible. Since this is science fiction we need aliens and wouldn't it be brilliant if the aliens had 4 sexes and if they were also vampiric by nature because (don't you know) vampires are always related to sex. Now to finish the book we only need to craft a shell of a story around the sex scenes, and if it's confusing and far-fetched, well it won't matter because our readers are only going to be interested in the sex scenes. Wrong!! Save your money. D. Fitzgerald
Rating:
Summary: Wanders between bizarre sexual fiction and science fiction
Review: I bought this novel after quickly looking at the back cover and the first few pages. I was hoping for a 'wagon train to the stars' (which I was in the mood for). My mood quickly changed after the first chapter's abrupt flashback to a childhood voyeuristic experience and the second chapter's ritual abuse of a child. At that point, I could not finish the book. I understand that the authors are trying to paint a bleak picture showing the motivations for their characters -- but this was just too much. It puts the book into the 'ought to be in a plain brown wrapper' category as far as I'm concerned. I'm going to try to get my money back.
Rating:
Summary: Appalling Book
Review: I did not get beyond the first 50 or so pages of this book and that is very rare for me. I still hesitate to write a bad review, but i am becoming convinced that the author could have done less extreme sex and more plot in the beginning at least. I don't think the child sex, the weird sex and whatever sex was warranted, regardless of the "point" that was trying to be made. I love Sci Fi, and there WERE parts of this book that seemed interesting, but - well, call me a prude - I just could not get beyond the distasteful sex acts in this book
Rating:
Summary: There's "sexuality" and then there is porn
Review: I did not get beyond the first 50 or so pages of this book and that is very rare for me. I still hesitate to write a bad review, but i am becoming convinced that the author could have done less extreme sex and more plot in the beginning at least. I don't think the child sex, the weird sex and whatever sex was warranted, regardless of the "point" that was trying to be made. I love Sci Fi, and there WERE parts of this book that seemed interesting, but - well, call me a prude - I just could not get beyond the distasteful sex acts in this book
Rating:
Summary: Sexual obsession and high drama.
Review: I know there is an excellent science fiction tale lying somewhere deep at the core of this novel, but it is really so hard to wade through the piles of sexual dramatics. And it doesn't matter if it is straight, gay, multi-sex or a-sexual -- it just bogs down the storyline to the point of excess. There are good scientific extrapolations, interesting conflicts and some interesting philosophizing, but the tale felt as if it couldn't decide what it really wanted to tell the reader. Stylistically interesting; a story of great promise, but the execution just left me a little cold. Recommended, but be warned it's a challenging read
Rating: 
Summary: This book wanders aimlessly and is obsessed with sex.
Review: I must admit that there could have been a worse book than this, but it's difficult to imagine how it could get much worse. The top problem is the book's intense focus on human sexuality (and that, to me, is an understatement.) This is a book where two (yep, two) men have their reproductive organs removed bloodily, another is a man-woman, and yet another has no genitalia. Why is this important? It's not! It has absolutely no bearing on the plot. The book explores sexual histories of a few of the characters, and the rest of their past lives without ever connecting it. Even without the repeated sexual acts, the book flows jerkily, like a dense philosophical piece, in and out of character's heads with no warning in what I would describe as "very modern" (with a sneer). The "hard sf" so frequently touted wound up simply boring me, as I raced through in a desparate attempt to reach the end (which was a real letdown, unless you are looking for abstract philosophy-which was beyond my ability to grasp. Finally, there is no action in this book. Zero. And don't believe the back cover about a "mysterious alien relic," because no such thing exists. -Whew- If anyone cares to point out exactly what makes this book an engaging and worthwhile read, I'd be happy to hear about it. P.S. When I gave my friend this book, he put it down after seeing male gonads referred to as the "cargohold of ultimate destruction," (or something to that effect)- and that kind of summarizes the whole book...
Rating: 
Summary: Finish the book no matter how you feel
Review: I think that it is just as confusing to write a review of this book as it was when I first starting reading this book. But here it goes. At first, I wanted to throw this book into the trash. The writing style was hard to follow (initially)and the subjects that were discussed in the novel were....uncomfortable. Which made me want to throw it away all the more. But I continued to read it and boy am I glad that I did. This book deals with so much more than those who have given it negative reviews here. Yes it deals with sex and sexuality. Yes it deals with science and the science of sex and sexuality. Yes it deals with science fiction and the sex behind the science fiction. But if that is all you get out of this book than you didn't dive deep enough into it or didn't finish it. It deals with human nature and our place within the cosmos based on an extinct alien society that is discovered. It plunges head long into human weaknesses and our lack of understanding. It deals with uncomfortable situations with uncomfortable characters. It asks us "do we have the right to be immortal?" "Should we want to be immortal?" Oh yes, folks. This book deals with much more than sex. Pick it up and don't throw it down...although you WILL feel like it, trust me.
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