Psychlone

Rating:
Summary: Get the REAL message
Review: I can't understand the bad reviews. This book is important, not for the surface plot, but for the REALLY creepy idea that Bear purports - that mankind has become so powerful that we can now kill souls. This power has been ursurped from God (or whatever name you prefer) and we now face the consequences. This idea gave me the whillies. What a horrific thought. I am a reader of scifi, horror, etc., and this is the first time I ever came across this idea. Read it with an open mind and consider the possibilities.

Rating:
Summary: Why all the bad reviews?
Review: I got Psychlone real cheap at the library a few years ago and I thought it was cool. I always like reading sci-fi and things to do with weather and Psychlone is a good sci-fi book to read. I thought the freezing of the lynx and how the storm made a huge rock figure that looked like a huge pig was awesome. Psychlone has a lot of good suspense in it and all the stories will keep you wanting to read on to see what happens next.

Don't listen to them other reviews, this is a good book and it's well worth its price.

Rating:
Summary: Defining book, and classic Sci Fi
Review: I read this book when it first came out, and was the first Greg Bear book I had read. As such, it holds a special place in my mind and heart. I enjoyed reading (and re-reading) this book. It is a classic escapist Science Fiction, hard to put down, and totally entertaining.

Read it for yourself, but get your own copy. :-)

Rating:
Summary: Defining book, and classic Sci Fi
Review: I read this book when it first came out, and was the first Greg Bear book I had read. As such, it holds a special place in my mind and heart. I enjoyed reading (and re-reading) this book. It is a classic escapist Science Fiction, hard to put down, and totally entertaining.

Read it for yourself, but get your own copy. :-)

Rating:
Summary: Get the REAL message
Review: I write this with all due apology for what I will say next: Bear is a good writer, and I enjoyed Darwin's Radio, but this Psychlone is not one of his best works. Not at all. It could be the worst book I've ever read by such a promising author.
Not that anything was bad with the idea: some unknown force with unnatural powers shows up, scientists try to deal with it. But somehow, a little kid is drawn up into the plot. This kid had powers, or maybe not. The truth is that I don't know. I couldn't tell. At the end of the book, several people die. Or maybe not. Yet again, I was unable to tell. This is a BOOK. In books, the writer tells you what happens. Or he's supposed to.
The characters were shallow, and the three plotlines never met up or formed any coherent anything. There was an interesting theory that atomic bombs could destroy the human soul, and that the Big Bang had caused our souls to split from God, but that is never addressed. Something about dead WWII vets who return home as evil ghosts to kill their hometowns. Why would they do such a thing? I couldn't tell.
The main character, though he's a scientist, is also an idiot. He seems unable to do anything on his own. His love interest is mentioned four times in the ENTIRE BOOK. There are simply too many flaws to name.
I will never again read a book where the title is spelled "All hippity hop"

Rating:
Summary: I'm sorry, Mr Bear.
Review: I write this with all due apology for what I will say next: Bear is a good writer, and I enjoyed Darwin's Radio, but this Psychlone is not one of his best works. Not at all. It could be the worst book I've ever read by such a promising author.
Not that anything was bad with the idea: some unknown force with unnatural powers shows up, scientists try to deal with it. But somehow, a little kid is drawn up into the plot. This kid had powers, or maybe not. The truth is that I don't know. I couldn't tell. At the end of the book, several people die. Or maybe not. Yet again, I was unable to tell. This is a BOOK. In books, the writer tells you what happens. Or he's supposed to.
The characters were shallow, and the three plotlines never met up or formed any coherent anything. There was an interesting theory that atomic bombs could destroy the human soul, and that the Big Bang had caused our souls to split from God, but that is never addressed. Something about dead WWII vets who return home as evil ghosts to kill their hometowns. Why would they do such a thing? I couldn't tell.
The main character, though he's a scientist, is also an idiot. He seems unable to do anything on his own. His love interest is mentioned four times in the ENTIRE BOOK. There are simply too many flaws to name.
I will never again read a book where the title is spelled "All hippity hop"

Rating:
Summary: Awful. Just awful.
Review: I'm afraid that this particular book was terrible. It had a nice start, but that was about it. About halfway through the book you'll find yourself wondering why on earth anyone would publish it. Science Fiction? Not in my world. It fits under the imaginary genre of "New Age / Action / Anti-War Junk." The plot was in shreds, several inconsistant ideas running along side of eachother at mixed paces, the story was confusing... Man, this book was terrible. I wish I could relcaim the time it took to read it! Mr. Bear seems to like filling his book with psychic nonsense, which ultimately ruins it. Cant we just have a good science fiction story? Not as long as Greg Bear is out there... Of course, I have heard good things about him, so perhaps this was just a bad example of his work... I hope, for his sake, that it was.