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theatlantean's review against another edition
4.0
I've been eyeing this book since it came out, and putting it off, because for some reason lost in my young teenage past, I thought I knew what it was about....
Well, I was wrong, and pleasantly so, although a bit annoyed at myself for not picking it up sooner. A very enjoyable fantastical SF adventure, with good characterisation, despite the rather large ensemble cast, which did make it difficult remembering who was who, and whose side they were on, particularly during the climax. But the evocation of the setting was immersive, and the premise behind the story, interesting and well-written. I'll be looking for the next one soon.
Well, I was wrong, and pleasantly so, although a bit annoyed at myself for not picking it up sooner. A very enjoyable fantastical SF adventure, with good characterisation, despite the rather large ensemble cast, which did make it difficult remembering who was who, and whose side they were on, particularly during the climax. But the evocation of the setting was immersive, and the premise behind the story, interesting and well-written. I'll be looking for the next one soon.
heyt's review against another edition
3.0
I wasn't sure what to expect with this one as it took about a hundred pages to move past the set up mentioned in the blurb but once it got going I enjoyed myself. This was a little dated in terms of social norms but overall wasn't too glaringly awful. I enjoyed the adventure style of the story and while this ended at a point where there are still some aspects that are open ended I enjoyed my time with it enough to eventually look up the rest of the series. I also liked the note at the end of the book that explained the influences on the story and the world building. You can see hints of the mythologies being used even though they are more springing off points rather than retellings.
katmarhan's review against another edition
4.0
8/10
A definite slow-starter. The author lays a lot of ground work and introduces two fistfuls of characters in the first many chapters, seemingly with no connection to each other. But once the connection is made, the story takes off.
I shelved this book as science fiction because of the initial setting in the future, the presence of alien sentient races, and the time travel aspect, yet much of the flavor is fantasy with a healthy dose of Celtic mythology and pinches of other ethnic folklore. Some aspects of the book have not aged well but reflect both the period in which the book was written and the themes the author was weaving through the story—gender roles, slavery and power, physical appearance and ability/disability, the role of religion.
Looking forward to discovering the rest of the series.
A definite slow-starter. The author lays a lot of ground work and introduces two fistfuls of characters in the first many chapters, seemingly with no connection to each other. But once the connection is made, the story takes off.
I shelved this book as science fiction because of the initial setting in the future, the presence of alien sentient races, and the time travel aspect, yet much of the flavor is fantasy with a healthy dose of Celtic mythology and pinches of other ethnic folklore. Some aspects of the book have not aged well but reflect both the period in which the book was written and the themes the author was weaving through the story—gender roles, slavery and power, physical appearance and ability/disability, the role of religion.
Looking forward to discovering the rest of the series.
ewanmitchell's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting scenario that is let down by the one-note characters, which are constantly increasing instead of developing the characters there are, and monotonous dialogue.
Fairly early on I could not stop noticing that everyone spoke the same, they may have varying opinions or backgrounds but they all used the same wordy vocabulary even the apparently less intelligent characters. I’ve never had this problem before when reading a book.
As interesting as the setting is and the potential for the exotics culture to be explored, I felt I was just reading through mundane chapters to get to something interesting. Even just a compelling conversation.
There are moments I enjoyed, Richard was a character I enjoyed as he was all about self interest, in the same vein as Han Solo. Some of the environment descriptions were beautiful or horrific, the mushroom forest being a standout. The initial reveal was quite exciting as I had gone into the book pretty much blind.
But unfortunately by the end of the day I was happy to have it finished, as by the last couple of chapters I just did not care.
I may pick up the second book to see if things improve but not for a long while as I am just not invested in the plot, characters or prose.
Fairly early on I could not stop noticing that everyone spoke the same, they may have varying opinions or backgrounds but they all used the same wordy vocabulary even the apparently less intelligent characters. I’ve never had this problem before when reading a book.
As interesting as the setting is and the potential for the exotics culture to be explored, I felt I was just reading through mundane chapters to get to something interesting. Even just a compelling conversation.
There are moments I enjoyed, Richard was a character I enjoyed as he was all about self interest, in the same vein as Han Solo. Some of the environment descriptions were beautiful or horrific, the mushroom forest being a standout. The initial reveal was quite exciting as I had gone into the book pretty much blind.
But unfortunately by the end of the day I was happy to have it finished, as by the last couple of chapters I just did not care.
I may pick up the second book to see if things improve but not for a long while as I am just not invested in the plot, characters or prose.
nh64's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
oleksandr's review against another edition
2.0
This is a SF novel that mixed a lot of themes. The book was nominated for Nebula, Hugo and Locus Awards after it was published in 1981. I read is as a part of monthly reading for March 2020 at SciFi and Fantasy Book Club group.
This review contains spoilers for setting up the story, but not of how the story went off. Because it is the first volume of the trilogy, the setting is quite long, roughly a third of the book.
Humans made contact with extraterrestrials in the early XIX century, allowing to solve Earth environmental problems, settle hundreds of colonies and allowing for very long and productive lives due to rejuvenation and regeneration. Moreover, latent psychic powers are liberated, so there are telepaths, kinetics, pyromancers among humans.
On the basis of new knowledge a human scientist created a time travel machine, which can go only in one direction – past, all 6 million years of it – to Pliocene. The scientist dies, but his widow started to use the machine to send to the past all misfits, who ask for it.
There are quite a few characters presented by the author: an anthropologist Bryan, who follows his love; a giant berserk of a man, Stein Oleson, who dreams of going a-Viking; a disgraced space captain Richard Voorhees; a female athlete and emphate Felice Landry from high-gravity world, striving to be accepted as she is; a telepath Elizabeth Orme, who after regeneration lost her talent; a sociopath Aiken Drum; Sister Annamaria Roccaro and Polish exopaleontologist Claude Majewski, who lost his wife and decided to leave the world.
The abovementioned people are grouped together and sent to the past only to find out that there are remnants of extraterrestrial civilization from another galaxy…
I’m sure that I’d have ranked this action-adventure book very high as a teen. It is not a YA novel, most characters are quite mature and there are some adult themes, but the wealth of world-building is great: time travel, psi-powers, aliens, pirates, knights, dwarfs you name it. However right now I see that it is not a serious SF, more an excuse for great adventure with extremely unlikely coincidences and attempts to wove aliens into European folklore (erm, the earliest human ancestor usually assigned to Australopithecus species, who lived 2 million years later than the time period of the book and in Africa, not Europe).
This review contains spoilers for setting up the story, but not of how the story went off. Because it is the first volume of the trilogy, the setting is quite long, roughly a third of the book.
Humans made contact with extraterrestrials in the early XIX century, allowing to solve Earth environmental problems, settle hundreds of colonies and allowing for very long and productive lives due to rejuvenation and regeneration. Moreover, latent psychic powers are liberated, so there are telepaths, kinetics, pyromancers among humans.
On the basis of new knowledge a human scientist created a time travel machine, which can go only in one direction – past, all 6 million years of it – to Pliocene. The scientist dies, but his widow started to use the machine to send to the past all misfits, who ask for it.
There are quite a few characters presented by the author: an anthropologist Bryan, who follows his love; a giant berserk of a man, Stein Oleson, who dreams of going a-Viking; a disgraced space captain Richard Voorhees; a female athlete and emphate Felice Landry from high-gravity world, striving to be accepted as she is; a telepath Elizabeth Orme, who after regeneration lost her talent; a sociopath Aiken Drum; Sister Annamaria Roccaro and Polish exopaleontologist Claude Majewski, who lost his wife and decided to leave the world.
The abovementioned people are grouped together and sent to the past only to find out that there are remnants of extraterrestrial civilization from another galaxy…
I’m sure that I’d have ranked this action-adventure book very high as a teen. It is not a YA novel, most characters are quite mature and there are some adult themes, but the wealth of world-building is great: time travel, psi-powers, aliens, pirates, knights, dwarfs you name it. However right now I see that it is not a serious SF, more an excuse for great adventure with extremely unlikely coincidences and attempts to wove aliens into European folklore (erm, the earliest human ancestor usually assigned to Australopithecus species, who lived 2 million years later than the time period of the book and in Africa, not Europe).
bethanharcourt's review against another edition
4.0
This is a really interesting concept of a world of misfits. I really liked going through everyone's individual stories to begin with. I hope to see more character development and back story of some of the main characters in the next few books.
ejimenez's review against another edition
2.0
This was recommended as a fun romp, and I kept expecting the fun to begin, but it never did. I gave up a little more than halfway through.
steventhesteve's review against another edition
4.0
Solid start to a series, the story ends just at the culmination of one set of events whilst leaving plenty to move onto. This is excellent science fantasy, I find myself comparing it at once to Zelazny's lord of light (as the divide between masters with both scientific and mental/magic abilities and the downtrodden who serve them is quite similar in both tales) and Peter F Hamilton's work (as it's a broad sweeping space opera backdrop with multiple story threads to follow through connected events).
It's even got time travel, sabre toothed tigers, and gladatorial combat. What's not to love?
It's even got time travel, sabre toothed tigers, and gladatorial combat. What's not to love?
vintonole's review against another edition
4.0
Possibly better the second time around. I first read this sometime in high school in the mid-80s and liked it enough to later buy the rest of the series. Which I still own but haven't yet read. I remember liking the idea of the book, but had completely forgotten the details. The second time reading it I think I enjoyed it more because the detailed descriptions of the Pliocene geology and ecosystems made more sense. Now I'm looking forward to learning how the plot turns out and may have to read this and the two other associated series.