Genesis

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but not a great story
Review: A fascinating book on the possibilities of evolution on a distant planet. Any sci-fi fan with an interest in biology will love this book!

Rating:
Summary: Terrible book
Review: Completly disjointed, incoherent, depressing book. Don't waste your time or money in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but not a great story
Review: Genesis is a well-written book containing much interesting speculation, but overall it doesn't hold together so well as a story. Most of the plot is unsuprising - I felt I could predict the characters' actions well in advance, and very little occurred in the course of the story that the characters could not control. I was hoping for a surprising ending in which Gaia's plan is revealed as something interesting and original, but in fact the ending is unspectacular and her plan turns out to be nothing remarkable. But the prose is very evocative, and the book is short and easy to read.

Rating:
Summary: Is it Real or is it Memorex..?
Review: I am particularly fond of what has come to be termed "Hard" Science Fiction. As one who understands the concepts of quantum mechanics if not the math, I find it refreshing to read a book without wincing, if you know what I mean. I am reminded of the many errors that were made in "Sphere" (some of which, thankfully, were worked out for the movie, bad as it was). Be that as it may, I was not really happy with the diminishing returns I got from this book. The idea was good and, I suppose, there is validity in the way things eventually wound down, but it was disjointed and hard to read, the characters seemed made of paper mache, and, believe it or don't, it seemed rushed. Despite the fact that there were parts of the book that read so slowly I almost fell alseep at the switch. Thing is, I love Poul's writing. I thought Starfarers, for instance, was an excellent book, with characters so endearing that I was brought to tears more than once. Perhaps therein lies the problem; I'm used to better.

Rating:
Summary: Life in a billion years
Review: In the classic short story "Day Million," Frederik Pohl tried to envision what life would be like millenia from now. Poul Anderson tries to do the same here a few galactic revolutions (and hundreds of millions of years) on.

It's no longer possible to separate humans from computers. Formerly biological intelligences get uploaded into immortality, then downloaded when they want to experience existence as living beings again. Minds join and separate at will. The universe (or the galaxy, at least-it's not entirely clear) is well-explored.
Against this surrealistic backdrop, one of the main minds of the universe (call it Alpha) wishes to check up on the mind that's still on earth (Gaia). The latter is refusing assistance in helping to save earth from collision with a massive interstellar dust cloud a few thousand years hence (an eyeblink in this era). Why? Well, Alpha downloads an emissary and sends him along to find out.

Saying much else would start giving things away, but let's just say Gaia is doing some interesting experiments. And let's say, too, that there's still room for love in what may seem a sterile universe.

It's not always an easy read and ends in an unsatisfying way to me. But there appears to be room left for a sequel, so perhaps satisfaction is still to come. A solid though not to my mind classic work by one of the masters of the genre.

Rating:
Summary: Very (poor)
Review: Poul Anderson ought to be ashamed of himself. He took the worked-to-death theme of sentient machines, presented the same dead-tired ideas in a grandious backdrop - I suppose that was an attempt to make his readers think he said something new - integarated them loosely with some old short stories of his and called it a "new" book. What little story the book has lurches along until Anderson apparently got tired of writing and quit. It certainly had no ending in the normal sense of a novel. At times, Anderson's prose is almost poetry. It flows beautifully. Unfortunately, when examined for meaning, it's often complete nonsense. Add the fact that the only two characcters in the book are two dimensional strawmen that Anderson made no effort whatsoever to flesh out and what you get is a real stinker. The only interesting aspect is whether Anderson is a cynical old man trading on his reputation to grub some easy money or whether he's really that far over the hill.

Rating:
Summary: emotional view
Review: This book deals with the future assimilation of humans into electronic existance ,much like the famed "Tommorow and tommorow" of Charles Sheffield. True ,it's lingering taste is more emotional ,as Gaia trys to give the human-race the choise to live ,because she is more human then all other nodes in the galactic-brain ,but in the science-fictional aspect I feel "T&T" has been more wild ,maybe more ingenius. I've been more dumb-founded by the sheer influence of Drake Merlin on the universe ,Than touched with the understanding of Gaia's motives.

Maybe it's only me ,though I'm not a "only hard" sci-fi man ,but I believe "T&T" and "Genesis" investigate the same sector of the future ,and although "Genesis" is an excellent book - "T&T" is better. Still I recommend "Genesis" it as a great read.

Rating:
Summary: emotional view
Review: This book deals with the future assimilation of humans into electronic existance ,much like the famed "Tommorow and tommorow" of Charles Sheffield. True ,it's lingering taste is more emotional ,as Gaia trys to give the human-race the choise to live ,because she is more human then all other nodes in the galactic-brain ,but in the science-fictional aspect I feel "T&T" has been more wild ,maybe more ingenius. I've been more dumb-founded by the sheer influence of Drake Merlin on the universe ,Than touched with the understanding of Gaia's motives.

Maybe it's only me ,though I'm not a "only hard" sci-fi man ,but I believe "T&T" and "Genesis" investigate the same sector of the future ,and although "Genesis" is an excellent book - "T&T" is better. Still I recommend "Genesis" it as a great read.

Rating:
Summary: A disappointing hodgepodge
Review: This book struck me as hastily thought out and written, with no love or energy expended on it.

The grand concept is not particularly interesting, and the bits and pieces stuck together to flesh out the concept are hackneyed.

I found it slow going and confusing, and not at all worth the time or effort.

Not recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A good read, if a little tough to identify with at times
Review: When I read this book I immediately thought of Olaf Stapledon's book "Last and First Men." Both books are very well written, explore some very interesting ideas, and cover such a wide swathe of time that you really have no individual characters to identify with. They are almost closer to history books than they are to science fiction novels (merely an observation, not a criticism).
Having said that, "Genesis" does maintain some characters throughout the book, and somehow this makes it easier on the reader when Poul Anderson starts to really push and question what it means to be human, both mentally and biologically (if you can make that distinction).
This is not a light summer read. It is good solid science fiction that pushes the reader outside of his or her comfort zone and into a world where "human" is not a clear-cut concept, but is more a question of perspective.