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Title: The Getaway Special by Jerry Oltion ISBN: 0-312-87777-3 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 20 December, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Great Trip Through Space
Comment: Jim Oltion takes us on the trip we all wanted to go on when we were kids: through space, using old backyard junk as our spaceship. On the trip, we also meet alien intelligence and, strangely, alien beings seem to think and operate similarly to humans. Oltion revives those fantastical, six-year-old, "I Want To Be an Astronaut" feelings.
Rating: 5
Summary: Original, Fast-Paced Hard SF With a Hint of Nostalgic Yore
Comment: An elegant homage to vintage science fiction. Characters are real, though they move through far-fetched scenarios. We want the heros, Judy and Allen, to succeed, because they're 'good people.'
Clear, high-crafted writing. The 'science-in-the-fiction' has been thought out, but technical moments don't distract from story. 'TGS' could be a good juvenile read, too, because it's so superbly written -- even though its themes of disarmament and 'Whom Can We Trust?' are executed in a fully mature fashion -- and it's more a tale of adventurous exploration than it is of laser-cannon fire and adolescent angst.
The Getaway Special has a fast-paced, movie-like story and asks, "What if we got it all wrong -- what if spaceflight is truly SIMPLE and everyone could go to the stars from their backyards by simply re-building homespun 'Trek' shuttlecrafts?" (It'll make the home-project nuts -- the workshop tinkerers -- start daydreaming about going to Alpah Centauri for less than $200.)
As 'TGS' gets underway, we begin to appreciate the invisible premise of the book used deftly by the author. It's a supremely relaxed, very 'There's-good-everywhere-if-you-look-in-the-right-place' philosophy, and I found it credible while refreshing. Characters, though present-day and scientifically trained, don't always have to be working; they enjoy sipping beer and kissing almost as much as exploring or hypothesizing about how best to avert galactic war.
Without showing his hand, Mr. Oltion reinvigorates the idea of the 'Compassionate Narrator' -- a soulful way of telling a tale that's concomitant, I'll venture, with the author's own generosity. (I was reminded of a non-religious C.S. Lewis, especially in the inspired sense of wonder; also in the benevolent way the author moves through the character's choices while still keeping each genuine, humane.)
Mr. Oltion is a bit hard on the French, but I found myself believing in them as 'bad,' at least for THIS book, and laughing about it, all the while. (If anybody can get an ocean-going sub in orbit around another planet in three days, it's the French.)
A definite winner in originality. A book that begs for a sequel.
Rating: 3
Summary: Lighten Up!
Comment: Is it realistic? Is it hard science? Does it make sense? Probably not. But is it fun? You bet. How cool to think space travel could be for anyone. How cool to think that with a star chart and some nerve you could go anywhere in the universe before lunch. And why shouldn't trees move around? I loved it. I have always wanted to go into space just for the view. The idea I could go in the confort of my minivan is a fun thought. The book did read like a short story, but I am a working wife and mother. I need a quick read sometimes. I need one dimensional characters who are too good to be true, and I need intelligent, beautiful butterflies with timy cameras. I thought this was a great rainy day book and would highly recommend it if you feel like you will keel over from one more super-serious scifi melodrama.
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Title: Omega by Jack McDevitt ISBN: 0441010466 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: 04 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: The Sundering : Dread Empire's Fall (Dread Empires Fall) by Walter Jon Williams ISBN: 0380820218 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 24 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Singularity Sky by Charles Stross ISBN: 0441010725 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: 05 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Abandon in Place by Jerry Oltion ISBN: 0312873166 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Golden Transcendence: Or, the Last of the Masquerade (Golden Age) by John C. Wright ISBN: 0765307561 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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