Probability Moon (Probability Trilogy (Paperback))

Rating:
Summary: A quick, entertaining read with some neat SF ideas.
Review: "Probability Moon" is an easy read, much less challenging than Kress's "Beggars in Spain." The story takes place mainly in two settings: in orbit of the alien planet aboard a human starship with a military crew sent to examine the ancient artificial moon of the planet, and a scientific team on the planet's surface sent to keep good relations with the native race.

My favorite aspect of the novel was the "head pain" that the natives experience whenever they encounter information or experiences that do not jive with their preconceived notion of "reality." Such a trait has encouraged their society to be very homogeneous and peaceful. However, if the humans among them prove to be "unreal" they may be killed. Kress's eventual explanation of the evolution of this head pain is creative, but perhaps not so believable.

Many rituals of the society of the native population revolve around the adoration and exchange of flowers; their "god" is called the "First Flower." Some of their customs are quite beautiful.

The main native character (whose name escapes me at the moment) who befriends the humans is quite lovable, and her struggle with the "unreality" of the humans among her people is fascinating. There is something of a parallel phenomenon among some of the human characters, who daily take a drug regimen to get them in the appropriate mental and physical state for the day's activities. Although, to us, the humans are indeed "real," are they true to themselves?

Okay enough philosophizing. The secondary plot, in which the humans in orbit study the ancient machine moon and vie for control of it against the advanced alien Fallers, converges with the planet-bound plot in an intricate way towards the end of the novel.

Nancy Kress has written an entertaining adventure. I'll surely pick up the sequel, "Probability Sun," some day soon.

Rating:
Summary: A disappointment from a great author
Review: After the "Beggars" series, and her short stories, which I loved, I found this book to be second-rate Kress. There are a lot of intriguing elements here, none of which are fully developed, and all of which are looking for a story to be part of. There is a lot of noodling about in the general vicinity of the question of "What is (subjective/objective/collective) reality?" but the novel "bounces harmlessly off the surface" of that question.

The society of the World is sketchily drawn, and beyond the fact that it causes big headaches, the way "shared reality" really affects the culture and its development is left vague. The characters are also vague and two-dimensional. I wondered if the author wasn't teasing us, when an important plot point revolved around whether the Terrans were "unreal" to the Worlders - they certainly seemed unreal to me! And I won't even get started on the whole subplot about the Fallers and the devices that can alter quantum probability.

The book tries to raise questions about what it is we believe, and why, and what is true, or "real", and how we can lie to ourselves and others. And questions like these have been rich ground for centuries. But this story only provides half-hearted attempts to rake over that ground, leaving a confused, fairly boring tale that is ultimately unsatisfying.

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining read
Review: Although the plot of Probability Moon had elements in it that have been done before in science fiction, they were brought together in a way that I found to be fresh and engaging through the different points of view of the various characters --- including the alien characters. Kress' writing style is clear and her prose does not get in the way of the story and the characters, though not all totally three dimensional, were, for the most part, fleshed out nicely. I especially enjoyed the character of Enli, the Worlder who has to spy on the humans in order to atone for her crime and become "real" again so she can again truly be an insider in her culture. I also liked the fact that the plot was driven by a combination of physics and anthropology, a usually uneasy marriage of disciplines. Many previous reviewers obviously did not care for the book, but I liked it and will read more of her work, including the sequel Probability Sun. So there.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the other reviews lead you to believe
Review: I am glad that I bought this book and read it before reading the other reviews here on Amazon.com. I found both this and Probability Sun to be very engaging volumes. To me, they were more readable than the critically acclaimed Beggars series, which I also enjoyed. Perhaps this is a result of Ms. Kress venturing away from her scientific specialty, genetics, and into a field where she is less knowledgeable, physics.

The character development is certainly the strongest feature of the book. Enli, an outcast in her own civilization, makes an ideal bridge between human and Worlder cultures. The concept of shared reality is well explored and thought-provoking.

The writing is strong throughout and pulls the reader from start to finish.

If you were tempted to read this book until you read the reviews here, ignore them and read it anyway. I predict that you will not be disappointed. While some of the objections in the reviews here are valid, this book is still a strong effort by a Hugo and Nebula award winner, and it shows.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth reading
Review: I slightly prefer Kress' Beggars trilogy, but this has strong characterization, interesting science, plot twists, a plausible almost-human society - you could do quite a bit worse

As for others' critiques, well -

Not all plausible characters are cultured well-balanced people.

Not all strong storylines have a solitary focus or fit neatly in a market niche.

Demonstrating trust in a nearly-human, pacifist society by bringing kids along is both entirely plausible -and a phenomenal opportunity to study such a society in all age groups-

The physics, biology, psychology and anthropology are actually plausibly worked out. Physics and biology I know something about. I checked references for the rest. Both Kress and Charles Sheffield - her husband who happens to be a well-respected scientist, hard science fiction author, and almost certainly read drafts of this - are not exactly novices at writing about science-related topics

Rating:
Summary: Not your average predictable SF novel
Review: More accessible than the Beggar's series, Kress' latest series of novels deals with a number of difficult concepts. She manages to deal with the idea of shared or collective reality and how we define it in ways that Phil Dick would have imagined. She also brings a hard science edge to her writing that has, until recently, been on the back burner and secondary to her literary skills. Probability Moon is the first in a trilogy that deals with a number of common themes in a fresh way--first contact and humankind's responsibilities role in the universe.

Well writen and with a quick pace, Probability Moon isn't as powerful as her best work (Beggar's in Spain) but still manages to inject new life into a number of older sf themes. One of her strengths has always been character and narrative and, while both are important in this novel, they seem to be secondary to the hard sf setting and scientific details. Nevertheless, Kress' book is better written and thought out than most of her contemporaries. She's still one of the best writers working in a medium and genre that has fallen on cliches and formulas in the post Star Wars world.

Rating:
Summary: Not your average predictable SF novel
Review: Not sure why some reviewers wrote so negatively, I think this is a very good book. It has a good and well developed story line that doesn't follow the Science Fiction receipe for the puny hero who defeats the omnipotent/all powerful villian by the virtue of his/her humanity and a lot of luck.

Instead, there are a handful of everyday Joes, each with different strengths and weaknesses, that are basically in over their heads and the ultimate result is... well... failure, but not defeat! That is what is so great about the story! We can't win all the battles, but we never give up the fight! Maybe not the most romantic storyline, but Kress makes it work. I am alway looking for a good SF story that breaks the mold and Kress delivered.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting alien culture + some annoying characters
Review: Probability Moon initially seemed something like an old style Ursula LeGuin novel, studying an intriguing (and technologically somewhat primitive) semi-alien culture within a larger context (in this case, a major interstellar war). And that's pretty much what it was, except the larger context got somewhat short changed, two of the four point of view characters were unlikeable and some of the ideas and logic struck me as pretty fuzzy. The anthropology and details of the alien culture are the strongest elements of the book (or so it seemed to a non-expert); some of the other scientific/logic issues aren't handled as well. The plot has some interesting ironies and unexpected outcomes.

There aren't any out and out villains or heroes in the book, everything tends toward shades of gray. I did find the chief anthropologist pretty admirable throughout, though not always effective, and his Iranian background gave him some interesting/useful insights in a couple of areas. Recommended if you like books about alien cultures.

Rating:
Summary: A Shared Reality
Review: Probability Moon introduces a neat idea: along with the standard forces of gravity, strong and weak nuclear forces, and electromagnetism, there is a fifth force, probability, which can be controlled (in this case, via a left-over artifact of a long vanished civilization). The major effect: the ability to make almost any element radioactive (after all, the fission of an atom, proton, meson, etc, is all described as a probability of decay in a given time period). At a different 'power' setting, it can used to affect how the human brain works, by changing the probability of which (and how) neurons fire. It's this latter item that forms the basis for this novel: an entire world, under the artifact's influence for several thousand years, has developed a society that has 'shared reality', where quite literally people can feel another's pain, where there is only one view of the world, and new and different ideas can cause serious 'head pain'. As such, it paints a picture of a type of utopia, with never the less some warts, some people who don't quite fit, or who have performed some action beyond the pale that gets them labeled 'unreal' (and therefore not just stigmatized but almost literally unseeable). Into this world come the Terrans, at war with a truly alien species, and most anxious to grab and understand the ancient's artifacts, which includes not only the 'small' device affecting the world, but the entire moon of the planet.

The good things about this book are decent hard science concepts and competent characterization. What drags it down is an almost stereotypical plot in terms of both the Terran war and the changes caused in the society by Terran interference. I felt that her depicted society could have used a lot more exposition; in too many places how it really works is only briefly sketched. And the near mindless depiction of the Terran military is poor, a prop used to bring 'action' to the plot. But her prose is very readable, and the story flow is smooth, with a net result of a quick read with some excitation of the reader's 'sense of wonder', a prime ingredient in a 'hard' SF work.

This is my first introduction to Kress at novel length - she has been a rapidly rising star at shorter lengths as evidenced by her Hugo and Nebula awards. From the evidence here, she will be a fine addition to the limited stable of 'hard' SF writers as her story telling ability at longer lengths improves.

Rating:
Summary: loose ends
Review: this is no _beggar's trilogy_, that's for sure. the novel seemed hurried near the end-as if she had some deadline.

my main criticism is that there's no point to giving all the detail about the alien-enemy subplot. kress tells us a fair amount of "mysterious" stuff about the hostile aliens that we never see-but never clears anything up about them.

i also agree that having the two children involved seemed to be pointless and an emotional cheapshot.

all in all-this was not finely crafted like some of her other works. the plot devices were pretty obvious and the characterizations were not richly textured.