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tobinlopes's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good space adventure that I enjoyed. It was compelling enough to keep reading even with cookie-cutter characters seemingly pulled off the shelf of your local sci-fi movie company.
Upon reflection I think the book suffered from a horrible book jacket editor who gave away the ending and, with it, the whole point of reading.
I liked it, but only have it a 7/10 on my personal scale. I recommend it for people who like space and adventure stories that are plot, not character, driven. I would also recommend NOT reading the book jacket until you finish the whole thing.
-tpl
Upon reflection I think the book suffered from a horrible book jacket editor who gave away the ending and, with it, the whole point of reading.
I liked it, but only have it a 7/10 on my personal scale. I recommend it for people who like space and adventure stories that are plot, not character, driven. I would also recommend NOT reading the book jacket until you finish the whole thing.
-tpl
mxsallybend's review against another edition
2.0
In my mind, there are generally 3 ways to approach the good ol' first contact story:
1. Make it about the mystery, embrace the unknown, and keep the aliens under wraps and off the page. Tease us, but save the aliens for the big reveal (or don't show them at all).
2. Go all-out with the monster angle, use the readers' fears against them, and exploit the very nature of being alien. Tease the readers for a bit, then allow the monsters to explode from the page.
3. Make it about the integration of two different worlds, and explore the society angle. Drop the aliens on the reader right away, integrate them into the world, and explore what happens.
The problem with Heaven's Shadow is that, for a long time, it doesn't seem to know which approach it wants to take, resulting in a novel that samples them all, and providing us with a story where the whole doesn't live up to sum of its parts. The best parts of the story are in the first third, where the astronauts begin to realize that their rogue asteroid isn't wholly natural, and may in fact be home to the remnants of an alien civilization.
The struggle between the duty of exploration, the joy of discovery, and the fear of the unknown is handled very well, with the astronauts coming across as both human and professional. The second third has its moments, particularly in the first reveal of the sentinels and the remnants, but the story just can't sustain matters. As for the final third, it just becomes a jumbled mess that fumbles nearly all of the many of the balls it was juggling. The sheer lack of professionalism at NASA is ludicrous, the almost complete lack-of-reaction to the impact of alien probes is ridiculous, and the blink-and-you'll-miss-it Rapture would be comical, if it wasn't so strained and out-of-place.
It also needs to be said that the portrayal of women in this book is atrocious, and that's not an issue I generally take notice of. They're all weepy, emotional, fragile wrecks who are defined as much by their relationships as their reactions . . . and who, it is suggested, are possibly not fit to be astronauts in the first place. It didn't really strike me until near the end, but if it wasn't for their crying, bleeding, and overreacting, first contact could have gone much better. At almost every stage, it's the mistake or overreaction of one of the women astronauts that acts as a catalyst for disaster. Once you realize it, it makes for a very uncomfortable read.
All-in-all, a novel that begins well, stumbles in trying to find a direction, and ultimately falls face-first in choosing the wrong direction. There's a sequel to come, but no interest here.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
1. Make it about the mystery, embrace the unknown, and keep the aliens under wraps and off the page. Tease us, but save the aliens for the big reveal (or don't show them at all).
2. Go all-out with the monster angle, use the readers' fears against them, and exploit the very nature of being alien. Tease the readers for a bit, then allow the monsters to explode from the page.
3. Make it about the integration of two different worlds, and explore the society angle. Drop the aliens on the reader right away, integrate them into the world, and explore what happens.
The problem with Heaven's Shadow is that, for a long time, it doesn't seem to know which approach it wants to take, resulting in a novel that samples them all, and providing us with a story where the whole doesn't live up to sum of its parts. The best parts of the story are in the first third, where the astronauts begin to realize that their rogue asteroid isn't wholly natural, and may in fact be home to the remnants of an alien civilization.
The struggle between the duty of exploration, the joy of discovery, and the fear of the unknown is handled very well, with the astronauts coming across as both human and professional. The second third has its moments, particularly in the first reveal of the sentinels and the remnants, but the story just can't sustain matters. As for the final third, it just becomes a jumbled mess that fumbles nearly all of the many of the balls it was juggling. The sheer lack of professionalism at NASA is ludicrous, the almost complete lack-of-reaction to the impact of alien probes is ridiculous, and the blink-and-you'll-miss-it Rapture would be comical, if it wasn't so strained and out-of-place.
It also needs to be said that the portrayal of women in this book is atrocious, and that's not an issue I generally take notice of. They're all weepy, emotional, fragile wrecks who are defined as much by their relationships as their reactions . . . and who, it is suggested, are possibly not fit to be astronauts in the first place. It didn't really strike me until near the end, but if it wasn't for their crying, bleeding, and overreacting, first contact could have gone much better. At almost every stage, it's the mistake or overreaction of one of the women astronauts that acts as a catalyst for disaster. Once you realize it, it makes for a very uncomfortable read.
All-in-all, a novel that begins well, stumbles in trying to find a direction, and ultimately falls face-first in choosing the wrong direction. There's a sequel to come, but no interest here.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
badazz_knitter's review against another edition
3.0
An imaginative and well thought out science fiction story concerning a future space-bound generation. Great story, and there is a unique voice in the writing. The style is a little raw, but that is part of the appeal. - I received this book free from Good Reads First Reads.
leyaruth42's review against another edition
3.0
This book was interesting. I liked the NASA focus. It does get a bit slow and tedious on all of the detailed descriptions of everything.
pjonsson's review against another edition
2.0
I did not really like this book. It almost got a one star rating. I was expecting some first contact story where science and exploration was in the front seat.
The book is almost completely devoid of any real science. It contains a good amount of fairly ridiculous and illogical plot elements like aliens that grab “candidates” but cannot control them so they kill some of the next “candidates” and paranoid government operatives planting nukes on the starship of Earth’s first contact…what the f…?
To me the entire book more resembles a bad script for a B-movie out of the 70’s. There’s a second book in the series coming out. I doubt that I will read it.
The book is almost completely devoid of any real science. It contains a good amount of fairly ridiculous and illogical plot elements like aliens that grab “candidates” but cannot control them so they kill some of the next “candidates” and paranoid government operatives planting nukes on the starship of Earth’s first contact…what the f…?
To me the entire book more resembles a bad script for a B-movie out of the 70’s. There’s a second book in the series coming out. I doubt that I will read it.
ruyanda's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
mferrante83's review against another edition
3.0
A little over a year ago I read and reviewed the classic science fiction novel Rendezvous with Rama. David S. Goyer and Michael Cassutt’s Heaven’s Shadow is in many ways a modern update to that story and tries to blaze a new path employing tropes and scientific concepts that weren’t as familiar or at all extent during Arthur C. Clarke’s time. Heaven’s Shadow opens as two competing spacecrafts, one from America and one an alliance of Europe/India/Russia, race to intercept a Near Earth Object (NEO) amusingly dubbed Keanu. It of course becomes obvious that Keanu isn’t quite what it appears to be; it is not a simple asteroid but rather a ship sent by mysterious alien entities. Heaven’s Shadow owes a lot to Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama. How much? Keanu, the NEO detected in the novel, would have been found by the Spaceguard program. The Spaceguard program, founded in 1992, is inspired by the organization of the same name in Clarke’s novel. Rama, I should add, was also mistaken for a NEO.
My main issue with Heaven’s Shadow is that it gets bogged down in details of operations. As I’ve said countless times I really do love a good science fiction story that focuses on the discovery and exploration of an alien spaceship. The problem with Heaven’s Shadow is that a lot of the exploration just never happens. The story spends a lot of time focusing on NASA Command seeing how they manage to revelations regarding alien life. That reaction is very much endemic to modern cynicism in how big government operates. Honest in some ways but lacking the optimism of classic science fiction. Indeed that response, and the similar tension regarding the potential threat of the non-American crew of the Brahma spacecraft, reveal an atmosphere more in line with the old Cold War era space race than today’s more egalitarian level of cooperation.
I didn’t really connect with any of the character aboard Keanu. For some reason none of the characters, particularly the Destiny mission commander Zack, really seemed to come together in a meaningful way. Despite being the novel’s protagonist Zack remained a difficult character to understand. While he seems adept at making decisions over the course of the novel his willingness to abandon important personal relationships, particularly with his girlfriend and daughter, seemed a bit strange. In fact many of the secondary characters had more interesting relationships. I rather liked the blustery and rough-around-the-edges Harley Drake whose no-nonsense attitude and straight-shooting personality felt more real to me than dispassionate feeling Zack.
That same habbit of showing rather than telling later extends to the aliens who sent Keanu. Any information we glean about them is through dialogue and hazy at best. There is a clumsiness to the scenes where Zack question’s the alien’s mouthpiece and while some of what we learn is interesting there is a certain letdown to the casual, almost flippant, air in which that information is conveyed. On the other hand Goyer and Cassutt manage to convey some awe inspiring and truly wonderful scenery both with the views from space and of the bizarre interior of Keanu. The moments when Keanu are at its strangest, when the writers move away from staid character interaction to fantastic description, are when Heaven’s Shadow shines the brightest.
The pacing of Heaven’s Shadow is never perfect and this is unfortunately more true the further into the novel one progresses. The final third seems to drag as very little forward progress is made and almost no answers to questions posed early in the novel are forthcoming. The ending of the novel is disappointing answering almost nothing and raising a lot more questions in the process. Thankfully there is another book in the works: Heaven’s War.
I listened to the audio version of Heaven’s Shadow produced by the folks at Random House Audio. Narrator Joe J. Thomas does a good job offering accents for some characters (his Harley Drake is probably part of the reason I felt drawn to the character) and manage to employ slight variations in tone and pitch to create distinct voices for everyone (important to note, since the audiobook I’m currently listening too is entirely less successful at doing this). Some of the novels pacing issues, parts that might be easily glossed while reading text, are a bit of a trial in the audio format but by and large I found the added character provided by a talented narrator made the book a bit more palatable to my tastes.
In the end Heaven’s Shadow is both a promising and disappointing read. Despite the question’s raised at its conclusion, or maybe because of them, I am curious to see where things will go in Heaven’s War. Characterization remains an issue throughout the novel but the sense of wonder and the fantastical nature of Keanu’s interior make up for those issues. Furthermore, though I can’t quite corroborate this, the operational aspects of the novel ring true (at least to someone unfamiliar with NASA operations). Heaven’s Shadow has been optioned by Warner Brothers and I definitely think, especially given my experience with Joe Thomas, that the right characters could at the very least gloss over the deficiencies in characterization. Disappointment aside I look forward to seeing where this series goes in both print and film.
My main issue with Heaven’s Shadow is that it gets bogged down in details of operations. As I’ve said countless times I really do love a good science fiction story that focuses on the discovery and exploration of an alien spaceship. The problem with Heaven’s Shadow is that a lot of the exploration just never happens. The story spends a lot of time focusing on NASA Command seeing how they manage to revelations regarding alien life. That reaction is very much endemic to modern cynicism in how big government operates. Honest in some ways but lacking the optimism of classic science fiction. Indeed that response, and the similar tension regarding the potential threat of the non-American crew of the Brahma spacecraft, reveal an atmosphere more in line with the old Cold War era space race than today’s more egalitarian level of cooperation.
I didn’t really connect with any of the character aboard Keanu. For some reason none of the characters, particularly the Destiny mission commander Zack, really seemed to come together in a meaningful way. Despite being the novel’s protagonist Zack remained a difficult character to understand. While he seems adept at making decisions over the course of the novel his willingness to abandon important personal relationships, particularly with his girlfriend and daughter, seemed a bit strange. In fact many of the secondary characters had more interesting relationships. I rather liked the blustery and rough-around-the-edges Harley Drake whose no-nonsense attitude and straight-shooting personality felt more real to me than dispassionate feeling Zack.
That same habbit of showing rather than telling later extends to the aliens who sent Keanu. Any information we glean about them is through dialogue and hazy at best. There is a clumsiness to the scenes where Zack question’s the alien’s mouthpiece and while some of what we learn is interesting there is a certain letdown to the casual, almost flippant, air in which that information is conveyed. On the other hand Goyer and Cassutt manage to convey some awe inspiring and truly wonderful scenery both with the views from space and of the bizarre interior of Keanu. The moments when Keanu are at its strangest, when the writers move away from staid character interaction to fantastic description, are when Heaven’s Shadow shines the brightest.
The pacing of Heaven’s Shadow is never perfect and this is unfortunately more true the further into the novel one progresses. The final third seems to drag as very little forward progress is made and almost no answers to questions posed early in the novel are forthcoming. The ending of the novel is disappointing answering almost nothing and raising a lot more questions in the process. Thankfully there is another book in the works: Heaven’s War.
I listened to the audio version of Heaven’s Shadow produced by the folks at Random House Audio. Narrator Joe J. Thomas does a good job offering accents for some characters (his Harley Drake is probably part of the reason I felt drawn to the character) and manage to employ slight variations in tone and pitch to create distinct voices for everyone (important to note, since the audiobook I’m currently listening too is entirely less successful at doing this). Some of the novels pacing issues, parts that might be easily glossed while reading text, are a bit of a trial in the audio format but by and large I found the added character provided by a talented narrator made the book a bit more palatable to my tastes.
In the end Heaven’s Shadow is both a promising and disappointing read. Despite the question’s raised at its conclusion, or maybe because of them, I am curious to see where things will go in Heaven’s War. Characterization remains an issue throughout the novel but the sense of wonder and the fantastical nature of Keanu’s interior make up for those issues. Furthermore, though I can’t quite corroborate this, the operational aspects of the novel ring true (at least to someone unfamiliar with NASA operations). Heaven’s Shadow has been optioned by Warner Brothers and I definitely think, especially given my experience with Joe Thomas, that the right characters could at the very least gloss over the deficiencies in characterization. Disappointment aside I look forward to seeing where this series goes in both print and film.
csdaley's review against another edition
4.0
This is not usually the type of science fiction I like. It reads like a summer blockbuster. There were a few "really" moments. Too many "really" moments and I tend to give up on a book. I don't like it when characters do things that make me doubt the writers skill.
Despite this I tore through this book. It was definitely a popcorn read. I was clearly in the mood. It was filled with fun cliff hangers and non stop action. Add in the fact that the ending surprised me a little and I was genuinely entertained. It is pretty amazing when a book overcomes logic flaws for me but this one did. I sat back and embraced the summer movie vibe. Will keep reading this series.
Despite this I tore through this book. It was definitely a popcorn read. I was clearly in the mood. It was filled with fun cliff hangers and non stop action. Add in the fact that the ending surprised me a little and I was genuinely entertained. It is pretty amazing when a book overcomes logic flaws for me but this one did. I sat back and embraced the summer movie vibe. Will keep reading this series.
david_agranoff's review against another edition
4.0
The Big Dumb Object sub-genre of Science fiction was the cornerstone of Arthur C. Clarke's fiction(although his best novel Songs of Distant Earth was not in it). He was the master because he was a great storyteller who was not afraid to tell a story with a mystical mystery component but he also knew science. I think it takes some serious nads to get in this ring and try to tell this kind of story in a novel form. The science and details are far more forgiving in a film so I was surprised when two writers known more for film and TV set out to do it.
Goyer is known as a Screenwriter (Blade, batman begins) and director (The Unborn,Blade 3) and his Partner Cassutt (Twilight Zone) had developed the story as a film treatment. I don't work for NASA or know a lot about that world so I can only say that the details seem well researched, and with that element in place I was ready for a wild Sci-fi ride.
The story takes place three years after a Near Earth Object (thought to be a comet or space) is seen heading towards earth. Two space programs are competing to land on the object first. Once they get there the mystery slowly unravels and we discover that of course it's some kind of starship. Don't worry these are not bumpy headed Trek aliens, the authors do a good job of not anthropomorphizing the alien life forms or their technology which is thousands of years beyond ours.
The characters are well defined and introduced with a economy of story time, I would myself caring for them and generally being concerned. I am trying to be general about the plot because I think you are better served going in as blank as possible. I had one small nitpick with the novel that I will address in at the end of this review.
I am a fan of Goyer's writing, enjoyed a talk he gave at a screenwriting conference (in 2003) and was excited to see what he did with the novel form. In much the same fan his one time collaborator Guillermo Del Toro did when he wrote his strain trilogy. You can sense the film just under the surface, mostly in the way the stories cut and weave. The no non-sense approach to the story telling. Heaven's shadow doesn't waste a lot of time with internal monologues and the cuts in the action are pure screenwriting.
That's not a negative. Perhaps the only book I read recently that flowed the same way was Hogan and Del Toro's second book the Fall. The chapter breaks are perfect, and the the various plot threads are paced apart to keep tension high. I saw a review where a reader complained that after a cliffhanger end to a chapter they had to read through four chapters to find out what happened next. Of course the other four threads will building at the same time. That is on purpose ding-a-ling. That's why you read sixty pages of this book without realizing that time flew by.
This is an excellent addition to the the Big Dumb Object genre and my favorite Sci-fi novel I have read so far this year. The authors have built groundwork for a trilogy that cannot stay in the same sub-genre. That's great I am excited to see these characters again and the different direction the story will have to go into. The only real flaw with the novel is something I can see them fixing in the second or the third book. I was thinking it was spoiler, but frankly it's on the dust jacket of the book so...
Like many others who read the book I have a hard time excepting the fact that the aliens feel they need to contact humans for any reason. I am hoping the second book will explain why in the second book because to me it's still mystery. Is that a nitpick or not? I can't tell until I read book two, and that is already on my list.
Goyer is known as a Screenwriter (Blade, batman begins) and director (The Unborn,Blade 3) and his Partner Cassutt (Twilight Zone) had developed the story as a film treatment. I don't work for NASA or know a lot about that world so I can only say that the details seem well researched, and with that element in place I was ready for a wild Sci-fi ride.
The story takes place three years after a Near Earth Object (thought to be a comet or space) is seen heading towards earth. Two space programs are competing to land on the object first. Once they get there the mystery slowly unravels and we discover that of course it's some kind of starship. Don't worry these are not bumpy headed Trek aliens, the authors do a good job of not anthropomorphizing the alien life forms or their technology which is thousands of years beyond ours.
The characters are well defined and introduced with a economy of story time, I would myself caring for them and generally being concerned. I am trying to be general about the plot because I think you are better served going in as blank as possible. I had one small nitpick with the novel that I will address in at the end of this review.
I am a fan of Goyer's writing, enjoyed a talk he gave at a screenwriting conference (in 2003) and was excited to see what he did with the novel form. In much the same fan his one time collaborator Guillermo Del Toro did when he wrote his strain trilogy. You can sense the film just under the surface, mostly in the way the stories cut and weave. The no non-sense approach to the story telling. Heaven's shadow doesn't waste a lot of time with internal monologues and the cuts in the action are pure screenwriting.
That's not a negative. Perhaps the only book I read recently that flowed the same way was Hogan and Del Toro's second book the Fall. The chapter breaks are perfect, and the the various plot threads are paced apart to keep tension high. I saw a review where a reader complained that after a cliffhanger end to a chapter they had to read through four chapters to find out what happened next. Of course the other four threads will building at the same time. That is on purpose ding-a-ling. That's why you read sixty pages of this book without realizing that time flew by.
This is an excellent addition to the the Big Dumb Object genre and my favorite Sci-fi novel I have read so far this year. The authors have built groundwork for a trilogy that cannot stay in the same sub-genre. That's great I am excited to see these characters again and the different direction the story will have to go into. The only real flaw with the novel is something I can see them fixing in the second or the third book. I was thinking it was spoiler, but frankly it's on the dust jacket of the book so...
Like many others who read the book I have a hard time excepting the fact that the aliens feel they need to contact humans for any reason. I am hoping the second book will explain why in the second book because to me it's still mystery. Is that a nitpick or not? I can't tell until I read book two, and that is already on my list.