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Title: Coalescent by Stephen Baxter ISBN: 0-345-45785-4 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 02 December, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: An Engaging Read
Comment: I too enjoyed reading Baxter's account of a hive mentality and how he alternated the story line between the past and present.
My overall impression was that it was smartly written and thought out. I found it easy to relate to the protagonist George Poole, a man in his forties coming to grips with his family and the problems facing him.
For the most part, I found the entire tale realistic and plausible. The life story and tribulations of Regina, the progenitor, comprising a good portion of the book was detailed, cogent, and interesting.
The ending was not what I expected yet satisfying, excepting the role Peter (George's friend) played in the end, where I found it to be a bit far fetched.
So while the book is not what one may think of as stereotypical Stephen Baxter, vis-à-vis the Manifold Trilogy, all in all, with this book, I've come to the conclusion that anything he writes, is worth reading. Mr. Baxter is just that good.
Rating: 5
Summary: Exploring a new theme
Comment: I liked this book more than some of the other reviewers. The theme clearly extends from his earlier works, most notably, Evolution. In this case the pace is slower, as our 2 protagonists, one in the ancient Roman empire, and the other contempory, spin the texture of the novel. The central concept, the evolution of a human hive species, while not original, is reasonably, if a little implausible biologically, characterized. More importantly, we are given a rationale for its existence and structure. We are are also given tantalizing clues as to where Baxter may want to go with this idea. In one case, the hive engineers the destruction of a another, nearby. In the second, we see a vignette of a familiar Baxterium universe where hive societies have spread out to the stars.
The book is weakest with its side plot of the discovery of an alien artifact in the Kuiper belt, and the possible suggestion of detection of a photino bird. I sense that Baxter wants to ensure the threads of his Xeelee sequence are incorporated into the plot, but in this book, the first of a promised series, this thread seems gratuitious. Perhaps the following novels will expand on this backdrop.
As other reviewers have argued, the hive is a living cellular automata. Because the rules for this particular hive were created by a founder, there is the possibility of exploring other structures based on different rules, defined by different constraints. Given the space of viable possibilties, one can easily see this idea expand like another "Manifold".
In summary, this book is a solid read, which entertained this reader with an interesting theme, painted against a detailed historical backdrop. I look forward to more in the series.
Rating: 4
Summary: A different Baxter
Comment: From the boundless imagination of Stephen Baxter comes another novel from his enviable arsenal of story telling. A different Baxter I thought compared to his previous works, more gritty, more wordy but none the less compelling. I fancied the book was still cold from the cargo hold of a 747 when I got my hands on the book having travelled from the UK to Australia! Stephen has done some marvellous research of Roman Britain of 400 C.E., warts and all, with some nice touches of historical (or fictional?) figures. The alternating chapters of the past and current day works especially well and hold your attention to the very end. Once again, as in his ground breaking Manifold series, he tackles another aspect of the Fermi Paradox with a satisfying conclusion.
The most important science fiction writer of this generation once again affirms his place. How long I wonder, before the next part of the Trilogy? Not too long I trust.
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Title: Time's Eye (A Time Odyssey, Book 1) by Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen Baxter ISBN: 0345452488 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 13 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Evolution by Stephen Baxter ISBN: 034545782X Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Ilium by Dan Simmons ISBN: 0380978938 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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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: Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson ISBN: 0765302624 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 02 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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