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Title: Higher Education by Charles Sheffield, Jerry Pournelle ISBN: 0-8125-3890-0 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 15 April, 1997 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.71 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Return of the Golden Age
Comment: Charles Sheffield and Jerry Pournelle have produced a feat of metallurgical wizardry: they took a plot worthy of the best of Golden Age hard science fiction and alloyed it with up-to-date characters, biting social commentary, and the best of modern space science. Given Dr. Pournelle's history in human factors studies in the space program and Dr. Sheffield's background in -- I believe -- satellite imaging, the realistic science is not surprising. Yet this book DOES surprise, in more than one instance. In a world of predictable plots, I find art that surprises me is GOOD art. "Higher Education" is good art. Because I think the surprises are integral to enjoying this book, I will praise them, but I won't describe them. For the plot, you can read the cover blurb, or the Amazon.com synopsis which covers the same essentials. In a nutshell: restless youth can't fit into the mundane world, and goes to space for a career and an escape. It's no coincidence that many reviewers have invoked the name Heinlein when discussing this book: readers of many of the late Robert A. Heinlein's works (especially his juveniles) can sketch out the broad outlines of the plot from there, as the protagonist grows and learns and becomes worthy of the appelation "hero". Said readers will expect one or more tough-but-caring mentor figures, at least one point where the protagonist realizes just how much he has changed, and a climax wherein his newly mastered skills are key to the resolution. Sheffield and Pournelle, both long-time Heinlein fans, haven't disturbed a formula perfected in works such as "Starship Troopers". Instead, they updated it, added in the aforementioned surprises, and underlaid the whole novel with a subtle primary theme which hides behind the more obvious Heinleinesque themes. And I think Heinlein would be proud: it's a theme he supported in many of his essays. There is one other reason why this book grabbed my attention, and why I expect to reread it very soon. It is my personal perception that the science fiction section of most bookstores is being inundated with the extremes: either fantasy, or else far future space opera that might as well be fantasy. Technological or "hard" science fiction, a staple of the Golden Age, has been a rarity for more than a decade; and hard SF set in the near future in the Solar System has become almost non-existent. It is as if this sub-genre, which in the Golden Age inspired the early pioneers of the space program, has lost its luster, as if this frontier-next-door isn't exotic or exciting enough for modern tastes, no matter how many exotic, exciting Golden Age stories prove otherwise. Recently, Allen Steele and others have been bucking this trend with stories of the next half-century in space. With "Higher Education", Sheffield and Pournelle have added another excellent counter-example: no aliens, no big explosions, no firefights, but a darn good story set in the day after tomorrow. We can only hope it inspires some future engineers like Heinlein inspired them.
Rating: 5
Summary: Almost as good as Heinlein's juveniles
Comment: "Higher Education" is the best science fiction novel written for young people since Robert Heinlein stopped writing juveniles in the early 60s. Using a future history that is both shocking and sad in its predictions (the satire on education alone will make any student or teacher love the book), Pournelle and Sheffield quickly capture the reader's attention with a classic prank. Like all of Heinlein's juveniles, "Higher Education" is a coming-of-age story, rife with the hardships of that perilous journey. The science is dead-on accurate; the adventure is even better. This is just a first in a series called "Jupiter Novels" all set in this future; while the other novels aren't sequels in the strictest sense of the world (and when will we get that sequel, Dr. Pournelle? Dr. Sheffield?), they are just as wonderful to read. I've taught this novel to high school freshmen over the last several years, and most of them go on to read the other "Jupiter Novels." As an adult who grew up reading Heinlein's juveniles, "Higher Education" brought me back that same sense of wonder.
Rating: 5
Summary: Good sci-fi for young adults
Comment: This book is written in the best tradition of Robert Heinlein. It is a well written story of a young man thrown from the dubious comfort of a failing public school system into the opportunities and dangers of young adulthood.
This is "hard" science fiction. No magic space rays or mysterious alien technology. Everything works. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It brought back memories of the books I enjoyed in high school.
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Title: The Billion Dollar Boy : A Jupiter Novel by Charles Sheffield ISBN: 0812538919 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 15 July, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Putting Up Roots: A Jupiter Novel by Charles Sheffield ISBN: 0812538927 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: November, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Cyborg from Earth: A Jupiter Novel by Charles Sheffield ISBN: 0812571843 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Starswarm by Jerry Pournelle ISBN: 0765345315 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 13 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Cold As Ice by Charles Sheffield ISBN: 0812511638 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 15 June, 1993 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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