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Title: Titan by Stephen Baxter ISBN: 0-06-105713-4 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 November, 1998 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.25 (69 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Gloomy and wonderless
Comment: Titan is a frustrating book because it is obvious that Baxter could've spun a believable and moving tale. The science, as far as I can tell, is accurate, and the mission to Titan, cleverly orchestrated. Why is it so frustrating? Because the message is unrelentlessly negative and pessimistic, and there isn't a single likable character in his very very long tale. One wonders what motivates Stephen Baxter, because if this book is any indication, it appears that everything is dismal and worthless to him. In his world, no one has a sense of wonder, humor, or hope. He complains through one character after another, that the current generation no longer cares about science and space exploration. All they truly care about are themselves, and oh yeah, the internet. He's relentlessly negative about that, too. Even the heroes and heroines of the mission to Titan, spend page after page complaining and whining to one another, with no encouraging words, love, or friendship shared among them. They are on a mission to another world for heaven's sake, you'd think they'd be a little ~excited~ about it. Once they finally get to Titan (a ~7 year trip through space), it's described as a hostile and bitterly cold hell of little to no scientific value. They begin to ask themselves why they bothered to go at all. After reading this novel, an unencouraging, dreary, pessimistic, and humorless adventure, you'll ask yourself why you bothered to tag along.
As a side note, take a trip to SETI@home and check out the downloads (>700 000 at last count), or the keen interest in NASAs Pathfinder Project to Mars, and then tell me people don't care about the universe around them.
Rating: 4
Summary: Deja Vu
Comment: I, like millions of others around the world, sat horrified watching the events of the real life tragedy of the space shuttle Columbia crashing to Earth in Feb 2003. One of the first things that came to my mind was that I read a similar scenario back in 1997 in Stephen Baxters 'Titan'. I quickly grabbed the book and started browsing through the first couple of chapters to discover, to my horror, that the space shuttle portrayed in Titan was Columbia. I remembered back to when I read the book and thought it was one of the best introductions to a SF book I had read in ages. It was my first 'Baxter" novel and I was amazed at the detail of the description of the events of Columbia going down. There was a survivor in the book which helped develop the plot, but the timing early 21st century and naming the shuttle is just a bit to eerie for me. I hope the rest of the events in the book do not lead to fruition as it is quite depressing for mankind. The current events in the world make it hard to be optimistic.
Getting back to the book I found the majority of it a great read, it did have parts that seemed to drag on but Baxters knowledge of Titan is first rate. I have just read Ralph Lorenzs non fiction book 'Lifting Titans Veil' and many of Baxters Titan sequences are acknowledged by Lorenz. I found the last chapter a bit too far fetched and probably would have benefited to being left out all together.
I hope the rest of Titan remains in the fiction category and that man pushes forward into space and one day can visit a wonderous place like Titan.
Rating: 3
Summary: Dark and scary
Comment: Except from being a textbook which must be an obligatory read for every NASA employee, it offers a very scary and freighting future for mankind. I have to admit that I did like the textbook science parts put I couldn't quite cope with the negative aspects of the whole story. According to Murphy's Law 'If anything goes wrong it will', the book develops a future where the USA withdraws from all international efforts for peace and development. The newly elected president and his cabinet believe that science has reached its limit and that it can't advance anymore. This nutty leadership committee defines a new society strongly based on religious ambitions. The churches welcome this of course and help to turn the nation's mindset into a backward society based on religion (science is prohibited). On top of that, the USA consistently threatens China with biological warfare. Oh yes, I forget the comet which is approaching earth! This doesn't sound like a story about a mission to Titan at all!? Yes agreed, the main plot is about a mission to Titan but Stephen Baxter tries to enhance the boring story (a 7 years flight through the darkness is not quite entertaining) with elements about mankind screwing up big time. The aspect of the USA screwing up is certainly within the realm of reality and I think this is what most people found so disturbing in that story. The entire narrative would be of great epic ambitions, however, the negative touch and style is so very unpleasant that I was really happy when I finished the book.
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Title: Moonseed by Stephen Baxter ISBN: 006105903X Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Voyage by Stephen Baxter ISBN: 0061057088 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 November, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter ISBN: 0061056480 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 January, 1996 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Manifold: Time by Stephen Baxter ISBN: 034543076X Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 28 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Manifold: Space by Stephen Baxter ISBN: 0345430786 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 02 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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