Rating: 
Summary: A fine concept, good story, and intelligent, thought-provoki
Review: A fine concept, good story, and intelligent, thought-provoking ideas. D'Alembert handles complex mathematics, physics, chemistry, and genetics with ease and grace, providing simple explanations of the phenomena that drive his story in a way that even non-math people can grasp. The scientific portions of his work are among the best, in terms of the quality of writing, and he clearly has a passionate interest in his subject matter which translates clearly to the reader. The basic setup, which is anything but basic, is that a scientist monitoring transmissions recieved from an exploding supernova discovers an oddity in the data: hidden in the star transmissions is another set of transmissions, consisting entirely of pseudo-prime numbers (read the book; I can't explain what they are). Working secretly under government auspices, separate American and Japanese teams race to decode the message, using powerful computer networks and the best brainpower of both countries. The race is marred by espionage and fraught with difficulties for both teams, culminating in the message's creation (using robot technology and biological matter) of a deadly airborne virus and its attempted takeover of the supercomputer systems of both countries. The American and Japanese work ceases through agreements between their governments, but a team of Chinese spies copies the stored data and begins the entire process over again in an enclosed base on the moon. Eventually, the American, Japanese, and Chinese teams have to work together to protect life on earth from what has been created from those seemingly harmless transmissions, and to interpret the message in its full, frightening import. The book has been compared with Sagan's Contact, as is perhaps inevitable due to its subject matter. As a non-math-non-science person, I am perhaps not in the best position to compare the two. However, I believe that D'Alembert has moved into new territory with his "characterization" of the alien entity and the chemical/biological focus of the "message." The books have a different focus; Sagan's work is essentiallly hopeful, and the alien power is benevolent, while D'Alembert's concept of the alien entity is that it cares no more for humanity than a man cares for an ant . . . and perhaps worse, that it is not capable of caring even that much. While I did enjoy reading the books, to the point of making myself late for class, I hesitate to recommend them unconditionally. Either D'Alembert or his editor has an extremely odd way of handling dialogue and all of the verb tenses associated with it, to the point where reading some of the dialogue scenes became difficult. Neither the words spoken, nor their bracketing phrases (i.e. "'Hello,' spoke Susan"), are natural, and the conversations are usually stilted. (Not so with the scientific explanations, mosf of which were a joy to read). I cannot say to what degree this flaw affected my view of the work as a whole, but I would like to forewarn future readers of them. I might venture to suggest to the author that future work be professionally edited. One other qualm (I am picky) has to do with the author's handling of "the outside world" -- the socio-political framework in which the story takes place. Some of his ideas (i.e. the WorldNet) are intriguing, but overall the complexity of the modern world as we know it is either oversimplified or ignored, leaving the focus either on the science, which is a good thing, or on the somewhat tepid characters, which is not. Overall, I believe that D'Alembert could write some excellent stuff with a careful editor, and I personally would like to read more of him. . . . .
Rating:
Summary: Don't keep your imagination
Review: Dear Reader: This is a "hard" Science-Fiction story and is based on strong, scientific background data. Hard Sci-Fi stories can be funny as well, and my intentions with this novel is to transform the exciting, but sometimes tiresome, scientific knowledge into a more readable and affordable task. Many concepts in this story, such as self-organization, chaos, and fractals, are in the unexplored frontier of science. They are no less interesting because of this, but rather, just the opposite--they capture our imagination. I hope you'll enjoy this trip. The work may not be a literary masterpiece, but I hope it will capture your attention and give you something to think about. Thanks. Arthur D'Alembert
Rating: 
Summary: Puts hard in hard SF
Review: Dr Susan Kimmerly Horowitz is a scientist analyzing radio emission records from the death of a star -- supernova 1987-A. She finds pseudo primes, Carmichael numbers. In a story filled with scientific detail, a team is formed to analysis the data and translate the message. The team includes a schizophrebic cryptograhicoligst and several sworn to secretcy scientists. United States and foreign competitors find a virus -- a deadly virus from space.
Rating: 
Summary: Imaginative
Review: Enjoyed the imaginative and original story. Made me wonder if something like this could really happen. We'd be shocked for sure.
Rating: 
Summary: Pseudo scientific fiction, it has very basic mistakes
Review: I've read the first three chapters, I enjoyed them and plan to buy the book to read the rest, BUT I should say that the author, trying to sound very knowledgeable, committed a basic mistake. He's talking about pseudo-prime numbers, even has a web page warning us about Feb/29th/2000. However, in chapter 2, Susan, the scienfific girl, is studying tapes with recorded data between 25th and 29th of February, 1987. I can't remember that date, Feb/29th/1987. There has never been such date in calendar, so I guess I should read the book in a very forgiving mood; because if the rest is written with that care, I will find more basic mistakes like that. Perhaps if this novel had appeared before Carl Sagan's "Contact", it would have been a hit. In the other hand, I enjoyed the basic idea; identifying an ET contact thru mathematics using number sequences not found in nature. I guess we should watch the next books from the author, I hope he learns to concentrate to avoid these basic mistakes
Rating:
Summary: Pseudo scientific fiction, it has very basic mistakes
Review: Small publishers sometimes have difficulty with the layout, and editing of a small press production. This book is no different. While there are numerous editing errors, the book is still worth a read in my opinion. Not for the "literary" reader, but for the reader that enjoys science fiction and or science in and of itself- the book is quite well done. Is humankind ready for extraterrestrial contact ? A mysterious coded message from space arrives, leaving the characters in Song of the Swan to determine who sent it and why, what it means, and if it means anything at all. The characters are a bit flat- however they serve their purpose in making the investigation into these questions understandable to the average reader. The destiny of humankind is in their hands, this small group of scientists that were selected to decode and understand the message, so while the characters may not excite you or intrigue you, their mission certainly will. The book is written with intelligence- although the editing errors may prevent the pickiest of readers to agree. D'Alembert does a great job of holding the reader's interest to the end. It's a good quick one night read, that will leave you pondering the future of our planet. Leslie Blanchard Editor A Writer's Choice Literary Journal ISSN: 1521-2319 http://members.spree.com/writer/ & The Bear's Den- Spoken Word Poetry http://members.tripod.com/bearpoet icq# 33958401
Rating:
Summary: If you enjoyed CONTACT, you may well enjoy this as much.
Review: Small publishers sometimes have difficulty with the layout, and editing of a small press production. This book is no different. While there are numerous editing errors, the book is still worth a read in my opinion. Not for the "literary" reader, but for the reader that enjoys science fiction and or science in and of itself- the book is quite well done. Is humankind ready for extraterrestrial contact ? A mysterious coded message from space arrives, leaving the characters in Song of the Swan to determine who sent it and why, what it means, and if it means anything at all. The characters are a bit flat- however they serve their purpose in making the investigation into these questions understandable to the average reader. The destiny of humankind is in their hands, this small group of scientists that were selected to decode and understand the message, so while the characters may not excite you or intrigue you, their mission certainly will. The book is written with intelligence- although the editing errors may prevent the pickiest of readers to agree. D'Alembert does a great job of holding the reader's interest to the end. It's a good quick one night read, that will leave you pondering the future of our planet. Leslie Blanchard Editor A Writer's Choice Literary Journal ISSN: 1521-2319 http://members.spree.com/writer/ & The Bear's Den- Spoken Word Poetry http://members.tripod.com/bearpoet icq# 33958401
Rating:
Summary: The story is definitely one that sets your mind thinking
Review: The Song of the Swan by Arthur D'Alembert This is one of those books that grabs your attention from the first page and that's actually hard to put down. In 1987 a supernova explodes and five years later Susan Kimmerly Horrowitz decides to analyze some of the data that was collected from the explosion. That's when she sees it, the data set includes pseudo prime numbers that doesn't have any normal reason for being there. She cross checks with a data set obtained in Japan, and the results are the same. The race is on to figure out what this is all about, and Susan might not be the only one that knows. One question remains though, are the human race really ready for what they might find? The story is definitely one that sets your mind thinking, what if? The worst thing is that everything seems so realistic and possible... Could this really happen? Scientific facts is the foundation for the story and it really seems that the author knows what he talks about, this is not just make believe, it's based on mathematical and astronomical facts. This is actually what I really like about this novel. A fast pacing story based on real science that is just under 200 pages long. I would highly recommend this story to everybody that likes to be a bit shocked by the possibilities and the simple question, WHAT IF?
Rating:
Summary: The story is definitely one that sets your mind thinking
Review: The Song of the Swan by Arthur D'Alembert This is one of those books that grabs your attention from the first page and that's actually hard to put down. In 1987 a supernova explodes and five years later Susan Kimmerly Horrowitz decides to analyze some of the data that was collected from the explosion. That's when she sees it, the data set includes pseudo prime numbers that doesn't have any normal reason for being there. She cross checks with a data set obtained in Japan, and the results are the same. The race is on to figure out what this is all about, and Susan might not be the only one that knows. One question remains though, are the human race really ready for what they might find? The story is definitely one that sets your mind thinking, what if? The worst thing is that everything seems so realistic and possible... Could this really happen? Scientific facts is the foundation for the story and it really seems that the author knows what he talks about, this is not just make believe, it's based on mathematical and astronomical facts. This is actually what I really like about this novel. A fast pacing story based on real science that is just under 200 pages long. I would highly recommend this story to everybody that likes to be a bit shocked by the possibilities and the simple question, WHAT IF?
Rating:
Summary: Has promise but perhaps still needs a lot of work
Review: Upon picking up the book, it looks like it was either self-published or that the publishers don't have the vaguest idea of what entails publishing a book. The back cover blurb is headed by the word "Synopsis", which is in the field of writing what a writer presents to the editor in summarising their book. The front cover is also somewhat off-putting; it appears to be a computer printout of a planet image. A poor resolution one at that. I could not believe the cover price of US$19.95 -- especially not for a book this thin. However, all of this does not tell us about the quality of what is written on the pages within. The best part of this book is that I learnt what pseudo-prime (or Carmichael) numbers are. I had never heard of them prior to this. The book itself was not altogether original -- anyone who has read Sagan's _Contact_ will see this. Pseudo-primes = prime numbers. Details for creating a machine = details for creating a wormhole device. And so on. I must admit though, that the idea of having a computer program totally change the _insides_ of a computer to be a new one. I would not know if this would be possible -- you'd have to ask a computer engineer that -- but I must say that I found it entertaining. The plot was well done, and engrossing to a point, but the characters are leaden and it destroys the effect that the plot created. The characters are little more than pawns twisted and turned to lead the plot on, but could never sustain their own ground. The only character whose viewpoint I thought was strong did not last very long. The main characters though, or what I think were supposed to be the main characters! -- were weak and did nothing for the story. One thing that was somewhat annoying what D'Alembert's constant explanations of common acronyms. There were explanations of CIA and NSA, which any person who reads this type of book should already know from previous encounters. There were a number of typos that I gritted my teeth over -- but then, I'm pedantic and get into a snit whenever a typo breaks my concentration of a story. Something that he should not have done was begin chapter five in the way he did. It appears like he had a long spell where he did not write anything and then came back to the manuscript without reading what he had done previously. Going over the characters again when he had introduced them well - one could say almost too well - in the previous chapters is overkill. I believe that perhaps his editor should have gone over the manuscript a little more carefully and picked up on the things I have mentioned. His writing does have some promise, but this book should have been published much later, when D'Alembert had the time to look upon it cold and work with it until the obvious flaws had been ironed out.
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