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strangecandy's review
4.0
Half Way Home is the story about our world trying to reach out and claim planets for their resources and the price someone is willing to pay to make money. When fifteen year old Porter is awakened 15 years earlier than he should have he realizes that their being saved was a decision the AI made after it discovered something on the planet that at first was deemed nonviable. With only a fraction of the 500 member crew surviving it's up to him and his group of companions to decide if fate will destroy them all of if they have the strength to create their own future on this planet.
I thought that this was a great story, it was a quick read, the characters were well developed and the story line unique. The book was originally published in 2010 so I am guessing there won't be a follow up though the story did end with what could be a great series. It was a good story on it's own as well. A good choice for readers of Andy Weir.
I thought that this was a great story, it was a quick read, the characters were well developed and the story line unique. The book was originally published in 2010 so I am guessing there won't be a follow up though the story did end with what could be a great series. It was a good story on it's own as well. A good choice for readers of Andy Weir.
andimontgomery's review
3.0
After reading and enjoying Wool Omnibus so much, I wanted to check out some of Hugh Howey's other works. Sadly, this one was a bit of a disappointment.
Half Way Home could really be considered a novella, at just under 200 pages. It just didn't hold my interest as I would have hoped. While the premise is fascinating - a colony of 50 teenagers is awakened abruptly by their artificial intelligence (called "Colony") 15 years too early and struggling to survive - it just didn't have the pacing I was hoping for. It also reminded me of Lord of the Flies, albeit with a sci-fi tone.
This book was well-written, but I only wish that more had happened to fill the pages!
Half Way Home could really be considered a novella, at just under 200 pages. It just didn't hold my interest as I would have hoped. While the premise is fascinating - a colony of 50 teenagers is awakened abruptly by their artificial intelligence (called "Colony") 15 years too early and struggling to survive - it just didn't have the pacing I was hoping for. It also reminded me of Lord of the Flies, albeit with a sci-fi tone.
This book was well-written, but I only wish that more had happened to fill the pages!
jannem's review against another edition
4.0
Hugh Howey does it again. His way of creating exciting new worlds, new environments, or dystopian, yet hopeful stories...it's simply stunning. I really enjoyed this sci-fi adventure, and would really like to know more about this colony, or other colonies, and the world that made them possible!
storyonlystory's review
5.0
I cry easily … I’ll revise that. I have the urge to cry easily and often shed a tear or two. I’m not a sobber but I’m a very sensitive person. That said, I can’t remember the last time a book made me cry. It might have happened some time in my teenage years but I can’t think of an instance. For some reason, as much as I get into my reading, it doesn’t trigger the same response in me as a movie or hearing terrible things in the news.
Half Way Home made me cry. In a good way.
Porter is a boy who was conceived on earth and born hundreds of years later … on another planet … at the age of fifteen.
Earth Has sent out tens of thousands of colonial space ships consisting of an AI that runs things and 500 carefully chosen human embryos. The ship arrives on a distant planet a few hundred years later and begins its work in determining whether the place is “viable” or not. If it is viable then the humans are grown but kept inside vats and taught their careers through a virtual reality world. In thirty years when their education is complete they are woken up in order to form a colony and work the planet’s mines, sending anything valuable back to Earth.
If the planet is not viable the AI can abort everything at any time by burning and then nuking itself (to make sure no patentable information can be stolen). On this planet the AI is in the middle of self destruct when it seemingly changes its mind and the result is about 50 naked fifteen year olds running from the burning vats and rushing around into the rain and mud of their new home.
One thing you’ll notice when you look at this book on Amazon is that there are no bad reviews and no ratings below 4 stars. Most of them are five star and the reviews are enthusiastic. I am just as enthusiastic about this book.
Half Way Home replaces The Four Fingers of Death as my latest and greatest and most favorite. I want to urge everyone to buy it along with Howey’s excellent series Wool. His works are extremely cheap as ebooks.
Half Way Home made me cry. In a good way.
Porter is a boy who was conceived on earth and born hundreds of years later … on another planet … at the age of fifteen.
Earth Has sent out tens of thousands of colonial space ships consisting of an AI that runs things and 500 carefully chosen human embryos. The ship arrives on a distant planet a few hundred years later and begins its work in determining whether the place is “viable” or not. If it is viable then the humans are grown but kept inside vats and taught their careers through a virtual reality world. In thirty years when their education is complete they are woken up in order to form a colony and work the planet’s mines, sending anything valuable back to Earth.
If the planet is not viable the AI can abort everything at any time by burning and then nuking itself (to make sure no patentable information can be stolen). On this planet the AI is in the middle of self destruct when it seemingly changes its mind and the result is about 50 naked fifteen year olds running from the burning vats and rushing around into the rain and mud of their new home.
One thing you’ll notice when you look at this book on Amazon is that there are no bad reviews and no ratings below 4 stars. Most of them are five star and the reviews are enthusiastic. I am just as enthusiastic about this book.
Half Way Home replaces The Four Fingers of Death as my latest and greatest and most favorite. I want to urge everyone to buy it along with Howey’s excellent series Wool. His works are extremely cheap as ebooks.
c_linee's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
steph_davidson's review against another edition
2.0
Hm. I'm really not sure what to make of this one. I liked the characters, and I was beginning to like the world, but I could have done without the morality lesson. And I wanted a lot more for the narrator. He certainly deserved more.
iridaceae's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
2.0
whitepaperbag's review against another edition
5.0
Filed under: Books that make me feel good about being human(along with the rest of Howeys catalog of books I've read).
With story telling, matched with the talent of Kurt Vonnegut in my own personal views, Hugh Howey again captures what it means to be a human that prevails in an absurd existence and takes pride in what it means to just be oneself against all odds.
A perfect blend of Sci fi, social commentary/analysis, and humanism, Howey pulls clear inspiration of concept from the classic "Lord of The Flies" and applies it to a seemingly distant future that isn't so distant upon taking a closer look into what's being written.
With story telling, matched with the talent of Kurt Vonnegut in my own personal views, Hugh Howey again captures what it means to be a human that prevails in an absurd existence and takes pride in what it means to just be oneself against all odds.
A perfect blend of Sci fi, social commentary/analysis, and humanism, Howey pulls clear inspiration of concept from the classic "Lord of The Flies" and applies it to a seemingly distant future that isn't so distant upon taking a closer look into what's being written.