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shane_tiernan's review against another edition
2.0
I've read Cordwainer Smith in the past I remember his books being very "colorful". They were unique and fun, not too serious but not completely silly either. This one was different for me. It was REALLY strange. In the end I kept reading because I was just curious to see how bat-shit insane this guy could get. It's funny because there are a lot of authors out there trying to be really strange. I didn't feel like Mr. Smith was trying.
So this was unique, sometimes fun but really just left me scratching my brain wondering if the drugs the author was on when he wrote this were still in circulation.
So this was unique, sometimes fun but really just left me scratching my brain wondering if the drugs the author was on when he wrote this were still in circulation.
smkingsland's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
spacecomics's review against another edition
4.0
I had higher expectations for this. It is fantasy, rather than science fiction. Comparable to Dune in some ways, though much shorter (which is good). I liked the first part best.
misanthrope's review
Hopelessly dated and juvenile. Reminds me of Alfred Bester's writing. I could not find the "genius" in either of these writers.
smcleish's review
4.0
Originally published on my blog here in October 2001.
Four linked short stories, set later in Smith's imaginary future than any of his other completed fiction have been put together to make up this novel. They all concern the character Casher O'Neill, exiled from the planet Mizzer when his uncle, its dictator Kuraf, is deposed. (The names in the stories tend to refer to other things; Casher's sounds like a Cairo street name, Mizzer like the Arabic name for Egypt, and Kuraf is an anagram of that of Faruk, Egypt's last king.) Although Casher didn't approve of his uncle's corrupt regime, he doesn't think much of the man who has taken over either, and begins a quest to try and improve things on his home planet. This leads him to sort out bizarre problems on other worlds in the hope of obtaining help, and these problems are the subjects of the original stories.
These three stories are fascinating, and Casher is an interesting character who grows as a result of his experiences. The final story, originally entitled Three to a Given Star, does not fit in so well, Casher's involvement being tangential and the major tension of the novel already resolved. It is also one of Smith's poorest stories and by appearing as the ending of Quest of the Three Worlds, can only serve to undermine its quality as a novel.
Four linked short stories, set later in Smith's imaginary future than any of his other completed fiction have been put together to make up this novel. They all concern the character Casher O'Neill, exiled from the planet Mizzer when his uncle, its dictator Kuraf, is deposed. (The names in the stories tend to refer to other things; Casher's sounds like a Cairo street name, Mizzer like the Arabic name for Egypt, and Kuraf is an anagram of that of Faruk, Egypt's last king.) Although Casher didn't approve of his uncle's corrupt regime, he doesn't think much of the man who has taken over either, and begins a quest to try and improve things on his home planet. This leads him to sort out bizarre problems on other worlds in the hope of obtaining help, and these problems are the subjects of the original stories.
These three stories are fascinating, and Casher is an interesting character who grows as a result of his experiences. The final story, originally entitled Three to a Given Star, does not fit in so well, Casher's involvement being tangential and the major tension of the novel already resolved. It is also one of Smith's poorest stories and by appearing as the ending of Quest of the Three Worlds, can only serve to undermine its quality as a novel.
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