Sister Alice

Rating:
Summary: Deceptively good book
Review: I say deceptive, because the name "Sister Alice" sounded rather hokey to me. In fact, this was one of those "best looking book on the shelf" pick ups for me, but I was glad I picked it up. A very far reaching book, the ideas are well developed and the narrative keeps you interested, even when the material has gone way above your head. I especially enjoyed the "space chase" scenes in the book, definately a FAR CRY from Buck Rogers, thats for sure.

Rating:
Summary: High concept SF with all-too-human immortals
Review: Reed has created a fantastic but logically self-consistent galaxy of immortals descended from the original 1000 families chosen for immortality. The immortals know their roles in life. They are there to serve the all too mortal citizens of the galaxy. Their families once helped to avert a galactic war and, naturally, they profited from their endeavours but that is fair, isn't it?

But what is a god to do when everything else has been done before, and so often? How can a god prove that he, or she, is truly godlike. How conceited can a god become? How far from hummanity, and all its foibles, is a god-like immortal? And why does this god choose to spend her time with the youngest, the baby?

This is a wonderful book. It takes you on a fantastic journey from the edge of the galaxy to the wonder at its core.

Reed's beautiful descriptive prose affords the reader a wonderous view of the galaxy of the immortals. He is clearly one of the top high concept SF writers of the modern age.

Rating:
Summary: Another Hit for Rober Reed
Review: The first book I read by Robert Reed was Marrow. I so throughly enjoyed the book that I have since purchased and read several of his earlier novels. What impresses about this author is how easy his stories are to read. He make difficult concepts, difficult for those who don't read allot of science fiction, easy to understand.

His character developement is wonderful. So much so it reminds me of how David Brin writes. You actually become attached to the characters.

Another tribute I would add is that the author has a wide array of ideas. The premises of the Lee Shore, the Hormone Junglge", "Beyond the Veil of Stars", "Marrow", and now this book are as different as night and day. Too often an author will have success writing one type/style of book and then try to pattern future works along the same line. Invetibly the work gets stale (i.e. Larry Niven and yes, even Issac Asimov).

I'll let the other reviewers describe the book in more detail. I just wanted to say that Rober Reed is the best science fiction writer that you've never heard of. I can't wait for his next book, the "Well of Stars".

Rating:
Summary: Craptacular!
Review: This is the second book in a row I've read, that turned out to be a big disappointment. This "author", and I use that term loosely, has written one of the most confusing books ever. Imagine a race of immortals that rule humanity. You're told that said immortals have these uber healing powers and brilliant intellects.

Makes sense right? You can image this type of character.

Then as the story progresses the "author" will describe one of these characters like this,

"Ord was yelling, yelling from every mouth, waving every hand with all limbs and yet none. If there was time Ord would look with his thousand eyes, but he had to look with ancient ones"

This is not a direct quote, I'm just make an example of his idiocy.

Now can you imagine still the same immortal characters with this type of description?

Stay with me now, it gets better.

I believe it's about 1/3 way into the book you're told the immortals can turn themselves into starships.

That's right, starships.

It was at this point I felt the "author" should be forced to pay for every single tree that was killed for paper to print his book.

If you want good science fiction that makes you think, one that pushes the boundaries of fantastic go with Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series. Not this drivel.

Avoid Sister Alice as if it was the Plague!

Actually better yet, if someone asks for a book recommendation, recommend Sister Alice...it will be fun cruel joke. That's all this book is a cruel joke on the SciFi community.

Thanks Robert Reed, here's hoping you stop writing.

Rating:
Summary: Great SF
Review: While earthlings have voyaged to the stars, nations remain on the brink of war on the home planet. Desperate for peace, the world's leaders conclude that a super group must be formed if humanity is to survive. An elite thousand is chosen to make up the selected Families, earth's greatest gene pool that continuously will improve generation after generation.

The all but immortal members of the Families have ensured a Ten Million Year Peace. However, brilliant terraformer scientist Alice, the twelfth generation of the Chamberlain Family, now hides in her ancestral home. Distraught, bordering on suicidal, the millennium old Alice eventually informs her young relative Ord that she and her peers tried to build a new galaxy that has begun exploding killing billions. The Nuyens see this misfortune as a chance to gain supreme power by getting the Chamberlains and their allies outlawed for the genocide caused by Alice. Only Ord, secretly endowed with Alice's powers, is the hope the universe has to halt and hopefully reverse the destruction of the galaxy.

Fans of epic science fiction adventures will fully appreciate SISTER ALICE. The story line is action packed yet makes sure that the key characters are genuine and the laws of physics especially pertaining to the Families and Alice's experiment are consistent and feel scientifically based. The plot also provides cautionary themes that absolute power and unchecked science will turn arrogant and corrupt. If you have to choose one futuristic outer space adventure, Robert Reed's latest thriller should be on the short list as one of the year's best.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Great SF
Review: While earthlings have voyaged to the stars, nations remain on the brink of war on the home planet. Desperate for peace, the world's leaders conclude that a super group must be formed if humanity is to survive. An elite thousand is chosen to make up the selected Families, earth's greatest gene pool that continuously will improve generation after generation.

The all but immortal members of the Families have ensured a Ten Million Year Peace. However, brilliant terraformer scientist Alice, the twelfth generation of the Chamberlain Family, now hides in her ancestral home. Distraught, bordering on suicidal, the millennium old Alice eventually informs her young relative Ord that she and her peers tried to build a new galaxy that has begun exploding killing billions. The Nuyens see this misfortune as a chance to gain supreme power by getting the Chamberlains and their allies outlawed for the genocide caused by Alice. Only Ord, secretly endowed with Alice's powers, is the hope the universe has to halt and hopefully reverse the destruction of the galaxy.

Fans of epic science fiction adventures will fully appreciate SISTER ALICE. The story line is action packed yet makes sure that the key characters are genuine and the laws of physics especially pertaining to the Families and Alice's experiment are consistent and feel scientifically based. The plot also provides cautionary themes that absolute power and unchecked science will turn arrogant and corrupt. If you have to choose one futuristic outer space adventure, Robert Reed's latest thriller should be on the short list as one of the year's best.

Harriet Klausner