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infinispace's review against another edition
1.0
I vaguely remember reading this as a kid in 1976/77 and remember that I loved it. So I picked it up at a used book store for nostalgia's sake. Yeahhhhhhhhhhh...didn't hold up well to a re-read 20 years later.
mefrost's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
dina_s's review against another edition
Honestly no clue what I was reading. It felt like it moves simultaneously too fast and too slow to follow
gnug315's review against another edition
2.0
A now ancient science fiction novel, it’s worth reading more out of curiosity than anything else.
Hoyle the Astronomer enjoys hiding his predictions in his novels, and couldn’t help himself prefacing the book with A Medsage to the Reader asking us to take chapter 14 quite seriously. Indeed, the final chapter had a momentary visionary prediction that lifted the book considerably. If only the rest of it was half as fun.
I enjoyed The Black Cloud a lot more; check it out.
Hoyle the Astronomer enjoys hiding his predictions in his novels, and couldn’t help himself prefacing the book with A Medsage to the Reader asking us to take chapter 14 quite seriously. Indeed, the final chapter had a momentary visionary prediction that lifted the book considerably. If only the rest of it was half as fun.
I enjoyed The Black Cloud a lot more; check it out.
thehoodofswords's review
3.0
Have a feeling that maybe Hoyle isn’t for me, still have a couple more of his books that I for sure want to read but 2 books now into his and neither have grabbed me the same way Ballard did. This was alright, but at times the language got so dense I couldn’t really understand what was happening. Character felt pretty flat.
katmarhan's review
2.0
5/10
Somewhat dated (written in 1966) but that is not the main problem I have with this book. It's short, as many SF books were at that time, but it's short at the expense of understanding. I can see that the driving force of the story is to lead us to the decisions that Richard (the narrator) and John Sinclair ultimately have to make, but in the drive to get us there, so much is left unexplained and unexplored. I feel like this was but a chapter in a much larger story.
As a sidelight, I liked the music-math connection that was so prominent in the story, and the power of music that springs form and therefore touches our emotions.
Somewhat dated (written in 1966) but that is not the main problem I have with this book. It's short, as many SF books were at that time, but it's short at the expense of understanding. I can see that the driving force of the story is to lead us to the decisions that Richard (the narrator) and John Sinclair ultimately have to make, but in the drive to get us there, so much is left unexplained and unexplored. I feel like this was but a chapter in a much larger story.
As a sidelight, I liked the music-math connection that was so prominent in the story, and the power of music that springs form and therefore touches our emotions.
malencia's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
c3j's review
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
abetterjulie's review against another edition
2.0
Memorable, yes. Odd, yes.
The concept here is interesting. The bizarre music element keeps you riveted because you want to see where that unusual hook might take you, but the payoff let me down.
I kinda want someone to make a weird Sunday afternoon matinee movie using this book as the template. With cheesy wardrobes and bad mustaches.
The concept here is interesting. The bizarre music element keeps you riveted because you want to see where that unusual hook might take you, but the payoff let me down.
I kinda want someone to make a weird Sunday afternoon matinee movie using this book as the template. With cheesy wardrobes and bad mustaches.
nwhyte's review
http://nhw.livejournal.com/702033.html[return][return]One of the famous astronomer's sf novels, a very short book (170 pages) featuring a contemporary 1966 world where suddenly large chunks of the Earth are sent back to different times - western and central Europe to 1917, the Balkans to classical times, other parts to who knows where. Our narrator is a musician, his friend a brilliant mathematician. Hoyle works in a lot of his own personal obsessions - mountains, classical music.