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Title: Tuf Voyaging by George R. R. Martin ISBN: 1-59222-005-3 Publisher: Meisha Merlin Publishing Pub. Date: August, 2003 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.76 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Space Opera for the Thinking Person
Comment: So you liked A Game of Thrones, didn't you, and thought you'd check out what else George Martin has written since you can't wait for the next installment of A Song of Ice and Fire? Well, you may be surprised to learn that George Martin has been writing terrific, award-winning science-fiction and fantasy for years now. Though "Tuf Voyaging" has an entirely different setting than "A Game of Thrones" and its sequels, I couldn't imagine any fan of the genre being disappointed. So if you can track down a copy of this...gem, grab it.
In the first of the stories in the volume, which takes place thousands of years into the future, Haviland Tuf is an interstellar merchant who joins a group of adventurers on a perilous mission to recover the Ark, a millenia-old "seed-ship" engineered through lost Old-Earth technology to enable its owner to clone a vast array of plant and animal species and deploy them to either revitalize or destroy entire planets and ecosystems.
In the stories that follow, the reader joins Tuf on a series of picaresque adventures through the galaxy as he encounters duplicitous rogues, jaded politicians, false messiahs and others, many of whom attempt to seize the Ark from Tuf and bend it toward their own malign purposes. To them all, at first, Tuf appears to be easy prey: he is an obese, eccentric, albeit startlingly intelligent recluse, and is the sole occupant of the Ark, save for a litter of cats. However, Tuf, with his cunning, foresight and acumen in drawing upon the powerful resources of the Ark, is not to be underestimated. Tuf, in his benign, but sometimes coldly analytical way, cures blights, stems alien invasions and transforms worlds. As the stories unfold, he and the reader are forced to consider many of the most pressing social, environmental and moral issues faced by any society and attempt to work out a solution.
The stories here are delightful. Martin is truly a gifted writer and the prose sings from the pages. You will be delighted by the clever turns of the plot and of Tuf's many, often scathing, quips. Perhaps you'll wonder, like me, if in Tuf, an introverted creative genius, we are not catching a glimpse of George Martin himself.
Rating: 5
Summary: Incredible stories, incredibly written
Comment: I first came across these stories when reading "The Plague Star" in an issue of my father's Analog magazine. Ever since, I've avidly consumed everything I could find by Martin. This collection of stories is such a pleasure to read, I can't do it justice here. If they book has any weakness, it is that the stories were written over a fairly large span of time (ten years, or more - I can't remember). Because of this, the quality of the written varies, growing better as Martin developed his skills.
The stories work on so many levels, and Tuf is such a singular character, the stories remain in my mind almost daily even ten years after I've read them. The fact that these stories live in the 'ghetto' of science fiction shouldn't scare away those who don't typically read it. Martin's grasp of humor, horror and the human condition is unmatched. I've often compared him to Mark Twain, in that his writing is so simple and universally appealing, yet contains so much more moving beneath the surface.
It's a wonder to me that with Martin's forays into screenwriting that he's never decided to pitch "Plague Star". It works almost perfectly as a feature film, with just the right length, rhythm and imagery. Perhaps the one thing holding him back is the lack of the standard 'human' element in all these stories - Tuf is profoundly asexual, and indeed, seems to have almost no typical heartwarming hooks that Hollywood demands be in virtually every film it rolls out. There are no love interests, no (traditional) paternal emotions. There's no boy meets girl here, just boy meets destiny. Yet I think that it could appeal to a wide variety of viewers nonetheless. The book after "Plague Star" has a fairly strong 'population control' message that might not appeal to the religious right, but I have a feeling the message would go right over their heads - history has shown us that people aren't to quick to pick up these subtleties.
Accessible and rewarding. If you can find this gem, don't let it slip through your grasp.
Rating: 5
Summary: Pleasant surprise- fun, readable, non-insulting Science Fict
Comment: I picked this book up on a whim, I have always been a fan of the movie Silent Running and thought this had a similar premise (turns out it doesn't really, but that's ok).
First off I have to say that the book is a little oddly constructed. I am tired of the one line author bios ("Lives in Maine with his wife and four cats...") but in the end papers of Tuf Voyaging we get Mr. Martin's CV for goodness sake. The man has a lot to be proud of, but really, come on. Let's keep the ego in check a little.
Besides, the book speaks for itself. I understand it is "cobbled" together from stories published previously, but for myself, coming in unawares, the chapters work just fine. The opening chapter deals with how Tuf gets an amazing space ship, a bio-engineering "ark" (in one of the less subtle moments the ship is named, um, The Ark). Then we get introduced to an over populated planet in need of help (and desiring The Ark). Then a few more chapters, cleverly showing how Tuf uses the Ark in unexpected ways to both help people and satisfy his sense of morals.
The books works because a) it is endlessly inventive, always the hallmark of good science fiction, and b) clever in execution. Each chapter lays out an interesting problem which Tuf then proceeds to, in his own droll way, solve. Not always the way people expect or want him too, but in a way which is interesting nonetheless.
I do have to agree the novel ends some what poorly. Martin boxes himself into a corner and then offers a fairly mediocre (if not logical) way out, but the rest of the book more than makes up for it.
Hey, it's a fun read, it makes you think (and imagine) and yet does not dumb things down or present silly ideas just for shock or novelty value. Highly recommended.
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Title: A Song for Lya: And Other Stories by George R. R. Martin ISBN: 1930235119 Publisher: Babbage Press Pub. Date: December, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3) by GEORGE R.R. MARTIN ISBN: 055357342X Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 04 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4) by George R. R. Martin ISBN: 0553801503 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 24 June, 2004 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
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Title: A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) by George R.R. Martin ISBN: 0553573403 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 04 August, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Dying of the Light by George R. R. Martin ISBN: 0671228617 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: June, 1982 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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