Scan barcode
A review by lizabethstucker
A Meeting with Medusa / Green Mars by Arthur C. Clarke, Kim Stanley Robinson
4.0
Howard Falcon had been seriously injured while piloting a test flight of the Queen Elizabeth IV thanks to a news camera platform that crashed through the dirigible. Doctors had put him back together, giving him some extras that will come in handy with his next adventure: a trip to Jupiter, the first gaseous planet to be explored by man.
If this type of story was more Clarke's usual output, I might be able to understand why he was considered one of the Big Three in science fiction. The sense of adventure is neatly woven into the story, particularly the suppositions made by Clarke about what might be found on and above Jupiter if we continue with ever closer flybys that can delve deeper into the atmosphere. I will say that the extent of Falcon's "enhancements" took me a bit by surprise, making me wonder just what was left of his physical self. Best guess would be his brain and nothing else. Fascinating and disturbing in equal measures. 4.5 out of 5.
If this type of story was more Clarke's usual output, I might be able to understand why he was considered one of the Big Three in science fiction. The sense of adventure is neatly woven into the story, particularly the suppositions made by Clarke about what might be found on and above Jupiter if we continue with ever closer flybys that can delve deeper into the atmosphere. I will say that the extent of Falcon's "enhancements" took me a bit by surprise, making me wonder just what was left of his physical self. Best guess would be his brain and nothing else. Fascinating and disturbing in equal measures. 4.5 out of 5.