A highly recommended, character-driven sci-fi novel in the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein.
In Siemsen’s (The Opal, 2013, etc.) sci-fi novel, scientists embark on a long-distance, one-way voyage—and encounter disaster.
Minerva “Minnie” Sotiras is one of a small group of Earth scientists who’ve devoted their lives to studying the indigenous inhabitants of the planet Epsilon C from the orbital safety of their spaceship. The aliens have formed two polarized civilizations: the Hynka, a brutal, warlike people who live on one side of the planet, and the Threck (Minnie’s specialty), a peaceful, advanced people who live on the other half. Siemsen skillfully sketches in the basic interpersonal dynamics between Minnie and her shipmates, and then kicks off the main plot: a catastrophe renders the ship uninhabitable and sends its occupants fleeing into space in escape pods. As ill luck would have it, the pod containing Minnie and the ship’s captain lands in Hynka territory, and the story rapidly and expertly unfolds into a classic tale of alien survival and adaptation. Siemsen does a seamless job of blending the tech-speak of hard sci-fi and the exotica of alien worlds; the story’s technology is internally consistent and very well-explained, and the bizarre, terrifying animal life-forms of Epsilon C are vividly realized. Best of all, his well-drawn characters are emotionally resonant. Minnie, in particular, is a heroine to root for; she constantly strives to overcome not only the limitations of salvaged equipment, but also her own preconceptions about her colleagues and the natives of Epsilon C. The author has carefully worked out every detail of his story, and manages to infuse a genuine sense of urgency and humanity into a basic, clichéd plot. The action alternates steadily, building to a series of climaxes that, although predictable, are tense and satisfying; the tale also has an appealing sarcastic undertone. Readers of last year’s surprise sci-fi hit, Andy Weir’s The Martian, will find the same great blend of technology and storytelling here.
A highly recommended, character-driven sci-fi novel in the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein.Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2015
ISBN: 978-1940757230
Page Count: 438
Publisher: Fantome, Incorporated
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
