PG16- "Harvest of Stars" series (some v,some x)

Poul Anderson is one of Sci-fi's greats. He has claim to seven Hugos and three Nebula awards... an impressive total. While I am of the opinion that he can sometimes slip into overdescription of incidentals, I am also of the opinion that his works almost always provoke deep introspections and soaring emotions. Also, I must say that while I might care less about some of the sorts of details that Poul writes into his stories, other authors appreciate it in a different light.. To quote another of the greats: "Perhaps what really impressed me was the book's wealth of detail. Poul puts into a whole new world. Poul has traced a thousand trends, pulled them tightly together and created a masterpiece."

If its good enough for Larry Niven (author of Ringworld, and Known Space) it has to be good eh?

Title: Harvest of Stars
Rating: 4 3/4 Good stuff, makes you introspect, and lets you look at the forest without noticing the trees. Isn't that what good sci-fi should do?
Series: This novel precedes The Fleet Of Stars chronologically, however it is enjoyable reading the books of the series in reverse order. Don't worry about it.
Synopsis: Poul writes the epilogue first. When you are done with the book, read it again.
The book is devided relatively cleanly into two halves. In the first half we deal with the Avantists, who have attempted to gain control of Fireball. Anson Guthrie, or at least a download of him, was none too pleased with the matter, but he played it prudenty. Anson knew that he would have little chance if the authorties got ahold of him, after all, how much can you do when all you can do is look around, listen, and speak through a speaker? And, after a time, Anson realizes that the Avantists must have subverted his copy.. making it many times harder to regain control of Fireball and return to the status quo.
The Selenarches (members of the Lunarians) eventually aid Guthrie (and Kyra, who plays a HUGE part in Guthrie's escape) in his escape from the anti-Guthrie, however they manage to subvert his message to Earth, and a rebellion breaks out as a result.
Gutrie realizes in his pragmatic way that it will be impossible for Fireball to remain, given what ithad to do to defend itself during the crisis.. so Fireball expends itself making an interstellar colony-ship bound for Alpha Centuari (The hardware that is now the anti-Guthrie once walked on the planet Demeter under the Centuri suns), where a habitable world waited...
In part two, we deal with tieing things up. Demeter will end catastrophically in 1000 Earth-years when a rogue planet crosses its path. Kyra dies. The Selenites discover new technologies. Earth evolves a new society, and breaks off contact with Centauri.

Title: The Fleet Of Stars
Rating: 8/10
Alpha Centauri has been colonized. A completely different race of humanoids, the Selenians were produced by genetic manipulation. The quantum theories of conciousness were discovered.. The result? Humanity flung between three star-systems, and intelligent.. truely concious machines advising the humans of Sol System.
These machines are smarter than any human. Orders of magnitude smarter.. And they have humanities best interest at heart.. But what is best for humanity? Is the machine mind hiding something from the humans of Sol system?
Poul Anderson is another of Sci-Fi's great writers, and he shows his colors in this book too. Like Niven, and indeed many of Sci-Fi's greats, he puts his emphasis on describing the characters through their thoughts and deeds rather than through anything else. Poul Anderson's style can be likened to a Neal Stephenson's, for those who have read Stephenson's books. He often jumps around from one character to another, spelling out the story from multiple viewpoints simultaneously. The Fleet Of Stars is medium to hard sci-fi, depending on the reader's background.

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Last Updated: December 31, 1999

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