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A review by xaymaca
Titan by John Varley
5.0
Refreshed review:
Perhaps I might be biased on this one due to the feelings nostalgia that this invoked in me but if it were possible to give this book a 6th star I would. This book was way ahead of the literature mainstream at the time of its printing, like good science fiction is supposed to be. In spite of it's age, it's held up well. The artifacts of the decade are in here of course but many of the cultural challenges of gender, war and peace are still relevant. The world building and xenobiology are on a higher level than most of what I've read lately. The aliens seems real, not just props for the story. On the meta side, IMO, it's a love letters to the great SF writers of that era as well. Not every book I read when I was younger has stood the test of time but I'm so glad that this one did. I'm going to pause here on the trilogy re-read. Will pick back up Book 2 (Wizard) in the summer maybe?
Side note: One of the things I miss about paper books, esp from back in the day was the beautiful cover art and sometimes interior art you'd get with the book. Here is the one you'd find in the old paper version of Titan.
Would love to see the e-book formats support both color and B+W interior art.
Perhaps I might be biased on this one due to the feelings nostalgia that this invoked in me but if it were possible to give this book a 6th star I would. This book was way ahead of the literature mainstream at the time of its printing, like good science fiction is supposed to be. In spite of it's age, it's held up well. The artifacts of the decade are in here of course but many of the cultural challenges of gender, war and peace are still relevant. The world building and xenobiology are on a higher level than most of what I've read lately. The aliens seems real, not just props for the story. On the meta side, IMO, it's a love letters to the great SF writers of that era as well. Not every book I read when I was younger has stood the test of time but I'm so glad that this one did. I'm going to pause here on the trilogy re-read. Will pick back up Book 2 (Wizard) in the summer maybe?
Side note: One of the things I miss about paper books, esp from back in the day was the beautiful cover art and sometimes interior art you'd get with the book. Here is the one you'd find in the old paper version of Titan.
Would love to see the e-book formats support both color and B+W interior art.