BookWyrm

David Whitmarsh rated Many Different Kinds of Love: 5 stars

Michael Rosen: Many Different Kinds of Love (Hardcover)

Many Different Kinds of Love by Michael Rosen

David Whitmarsh rated The Prestige: 5 stars

Christopher Priest, Christopher Priest: The Prestige (1997)

The Prestige by Christopher Priest, Christopher Priest

The Prestige is a 1995 novel by British writer Christopher Priest. It tells the story of a prolonged feud between …

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David Whitmarsh reviewed Sparrow, The by Mary Doria Russell

Mary Doria Russell: Sparrow, The (AudiobookFormat, 2008, Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged Lib Ed)

The Sparrow is a novel about a remarkable man, a living saint, a life-long celibate …

Ambitious but flawed

3 stars

Content warning Some hints as to the outcome

An ambitious work, long and complex in its plotting, alternating between time periods before and after the expedition to gradually reveal the events that occurred on the alien world, though it is so slow to get going that I nearly gave up; the first third develops so slowly that I felt mired in mud as I tried to get to the meat of the story. Although spirituality and religion are key components, the long and detailed expositions of Sandoz's state of mind become repetitive and tedious.

The characters are well-drawn both physically and in personality. Their back stories are interesting and detailed, so that we can really engage with them.

There are aspects of the plot that are implausible. I winced at the description of how interstellar travel was achieved --- anyone with a passing familiarity with the rocket equation will understand why. More serious is the sheer thoughtlessness of a group of supposedly intelligent and educated protagonists in their dealings with the alien species. The harm they do is well-drawn, but the lack of awareness of the characters is not believable.

I was not convinced either by the climax which, for me, failed to deliver on the promise of the rest of the story. The sudden reveal of the relationship between the two alien species was obvious from early on, and the rationale for Sandoz's behaviour after his return was unconvincing, as was his so easy redemption.

David Whitmarsh rated The separation: 3 stars

Christopher Priest: The separation (2005, Old Earth Books)

The separation by Christopher Priest

David Whitmarsh rated Borne: 1 star

Jeff VanderMeer: Borne (2017, MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

In a ruined, nameless city of the future, a woman named Rachel, who makes her living as a scavenger, finds …

David Whitmarsh reviewed Sparrow, The by Mary Doria Russell

The Sparrow is a novel about a remarkable man, a living saint, a life-long celibate …

Ambitious but flawed

3 stars

Content warning Some hints as to the outcome

An ambitious work, long and complex in its plotting, alternating between time periods before and after the expedition to gradually reveal the events that occurred on the alien world, though it is so slow to get going that I nearly gave up; the first third develops so slowly that I felt mired in mud as I tried to get to the meat of the story. Although spirituality and religion are key components, the long and detailed expositions of Sandoz's state of mind become repetitive and tedious.

The characters are well-drawn both physically and in personality. Their back stories are interesting and detailed, so that we can really engage with them.

There are aspects of the plot that are implausible. I winced at the description of how interstellar travel was achieved --- anyone with a passing familiarity with the rocket equation will understand why. More serious is the sheer thoughtlessness of a group of supposedly intelligent and educated protagonists in their dealings with the alien species. The harm they do is well-drawn, but the lack of awareness of the characters is not believable.

I was not convinced either by the climax which, for me, failed to deliver on the promise of the rest of the story. The sudden reveal of the relationship between the two alien species was obvious from early on, and the rationale for Sandoz's behaviour after his return was unconvincing, as was his so easy redemption.

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David Whitmarsh reviewed Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy by Arik Kershenbaum

Arik Kershenbaum: Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy (2020, Penguin Books, Limited)

DISCOVER HOW LIFE REALLY WORKS - ON EARTH AND IN SPACE

We are unprepared for …

Long-winded, but provides an interesting perspective

3 stars

In the absence of any examples of alien life, there is little we can definitively say about it, but Arik Kershenbaum in this book makes a respectable stab at deducing some constraints on the physical forms, consciousness, sociability and languages of alien species by working from the physics of the likely environments for life to occur, and on the processes of evolution.

Much of the argument is, to me at least, clear and sensible. There are areas that the author suggests are harder to constrain - biochemistry, genetics, reproduction. A particularly interesting passage discusses the genetics of bee reproduction and how that relates to the altruism of the worker bees.

Whilst I found much of the argument persuasive, the text can be somewhat repetitive and long-winded. It could have been condensed to half the size. The section on artificial intelligence came across as somewhat muddled. The author implying, without clearly …

In the absence of any examples of alien life, there is little we can definitively say about it, but Arik Kershenbaum in this book makes a respectable stab at deducing some constraints on the physical forms, consciousness, sociability and languages of alien species by working from the physics of the likely environments for life to occur, and on the processes of evolution.

Much of the argument is, to me at least, clear and sensible. There are areas that the author suggests are harder to constrain - biochemistry, genetics, reproduction. A particularly interesting passage discusses the genetics of bee reproduction and how that relates to the altruism of the worker bees.

Whilst I found much of the argument persuasive, the text can be somewhat repetitive and long-winded. It could have been condensed to half the size. The section on artificial intelligence came across as somewhat muddled. The author implying, without clearly stating, that evolutionary and competitive pressures would be equally applicable to artificial life - an interesting hypothesis in itself that would merit further exploration.

The last part of the book is a comprehensive bibliography of material that supports the authors arguments - a valuable resource in itself.

As an aspiring writer of hard sci-fi, I found it a thought-provoking read, worth the time spent on it. It underlined to me that, when devising alien species in fiction one should consider how the physical form relates to their environment and their ecosystem and the evolutionary process that led to that form.