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gossamerwingedgazelle's review against another edition
4.0
A very interesting and enjoyable read. I think any fan of old science fiction would enjoy this.
tstevens3's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
jonathanpalfrey's review against another edition
4.0
This is Clement's third novel, and clearly the best of them. It was nominated for the Retro-Hugo award for 1954, but was up against strong competition from [b:Fahrenheit 451|13079982|Fahrenheit 451|Ray Bradbury|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1383718290l/13079982._SY75_.jpg|1272463], [b:Childhood's End|414999|Childhood's End|Arthur C. Clarke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320552628l/414999._SY75_.jpg|209414], [b:The Caves of Steel|41811|The Caves of Steel (Robot #1)|Isaac Asimov|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335782224l/41811._SY75_.jpg|140376], and [b:More Than Human|541024|More Than Human|Theodore Sturgeon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403192694l/541024._SY75_.jpg|988613]; it lost to [b:Fahrenheit 451|13079982|Fahrenheit 451|Ray Bradbury|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1383718290l/13079982._SY75_.jpg|1272463].
It's an old favourite of mine, and in my younger days I might have given it five stars; now I don't think it's quite that good, but I'll still give it four.
It's the story of a long voyage across the surface of a most unusual heavy planet (called Mesklin) with a gravity that varies from extremely high to merely high. A whole series of interesting puzzles pop up and are duly solved during the voyage, in the course of a running conversation between visiting humans and an organized group of intelligent but scientifically backward natives. The humans can visit (with difficulty) only the lowest-gravity places on the planet, but they urgently need to retrieve something from a high-gravity area, for which they need much native assistance. Much of the conversation takes place by radio.
The scenario and the various puzzles are interesting, and the story-telling and descriptive prose are good enough by the standards of 1950s sf. Characterization is rudimentary, although I seem to be easily satisfied with rudimentary characterization in the case of non-human creatures. The travellers progress perhaps a bit too obviously from one puzzle to another; and the degree of communication achieved between humans and non-humans seems rather too good to be true.
Clement explains that the natives (Mesklinites) have slightly worse-than-human eyesight because their eyes are smaller. I think their brains must be smaller too, but they seem to have at least human intelligence; he doesn't explain this.
But overall it's a good yarn, as long as you bear in mind that this is sf from 1953, and the author was more of a scientist than a writer of literature. Wikipedia tells me that he had a degree in astronomy and higher degrees in chemistry, and later taught both subjects at school.
It's an old favourite of mine, and in my younger days I might have given it five stars; now I don't think it's quite that good, but I'll still give it four.
It's the story of a long voyage across the surface of a most unusual heavy planet (called Mesklin) with a gravity that varies from extremely high to merely high. A whole series of interesting puzzles pop up and are duly solved during the voyage, in the course of a running conversation between visiting humans and an organized group of intelligent but scientifically backward natives. The humans can visit (with difficulty) only the lowest-gravity places on the planet, but they urgently need to retrieve something from a high-gravity area, for which they need much native assistance. Much of the conversation takes place by radio.
The scenario and the various puzzles are interesting, and the story-telling and descriptive prose are good enough by the standards of 1950s sf. Characterization is rudimentary, although I seem to be easily satisfied with rudimentary characterization in the case of non-human creatures. The travellers progress perhaps a bit too obviously from one puzzle to another; and the degree of communication achieved between humans and non-humans seems rather too good to be true.
Clement explains that the natives (Mesklinites) have slightly worse-than-human eyesight because their eyes are smaller. I think their brains must be smaller too, but they seem to have at least human intelligence; he doesn't explain this.
But overall it's a good yarn, as long as you bear in mind that this is sf from 1953, and the author was more of a scientist than a writer of literature. Wikipedia tells me that he had a degree in astronomy and higher degrees in chemistry, and later taught both subjects at school.
rheren's review against another edition
5.0
Very clever early sci-fi book. The storyline is pretty straightforward and there's not a lot of character depth or any complex subplots, but this is a great read as a remarkable early example of an author taking a very interesting idea (a world that is spinning so fast that it is squashed into an oval, where gravity at the poles is hundreds of times what it is at the equator) and running with it for an entire book, in all the interesting directions that it takes. I enjoyed reading it.
coris's review against another edition
4.0
Set on the frozen planet Mesklin, its disc-shape formed by its crushing gravity, this story is narrated partly by a human inside comprehensive safety gear, and partly by one of the 15 inch long creatures who've evolved there. The humans have lost something, and are trying to work with the Mesklinites to find it. Complexities ensue. I enjoyed the alien POV most, especially the detail around not being able to imagine projectile weapons -- anything thrown would hit the ground a nano-second later due to the gravity -- and having a deep, rational fear of falling any distance at all, for the same reason. However, this is also a fluffy book in some ways, and change happens rather more smoothly and conveniently than it would be if written today. Fifties sci-fi really just got on with the story! However, it's a fun, short read; recommended to anyone who'd like to try hard science fiction, without committing to a 600 page "physics textbook with plot."
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
timbo001's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
chromium_misting's review
3.0
I expected to like this book because it's partly from the perspective of some unique aliens and scientifically the planet it takes place on was believed to be possible to exist in our universe at the time of writing but it didn't really catch me. It wasn't that interesting and the aliens didn't have much of a unique culture, they kinda felt like tiny humans being scared of heights.
I liked the ending though and it made me consider continuing with the series for a moment.
Also a lot of actual science explained in a way you could understand or atleast pretend to understand.
I liked the ending though and it made me consider continuing with the series for a moment.
Also a lot of actual science explained in a way you could understand or atleast pretend to understand.
mike_word's review
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jonmhansen's review against another edition
4.0
Hardest of hard SF, excepting the aliens are 15" centipede merchant-pirates, sailing the methane seas. Quite good.