posted
Funny, I rarely see this excellent book mentioned on this forum. Did it do badly for sales, or something? I just discovered it in a used-book store yesterday, and stayed up late finishing it. I can't recall seeing it new anywhere, either. Has anyone else read it?
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Many of us who have read it are unable to avoid desperate internal turmoil when discussing it, because the topic of its sequels invariably comes up, and we are impatient. *smile/grumble*
Posts: 6213 | Registered: May 2001
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posted
Well, what's wrong with Amazon? I came across it quite by chance in a used-book store, said to myself "ooh, OSC", and picked it up. It's not as though I was looking for it.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
About sequels, I don't know. Without wanting to do a pocket psycho-analysis of OSC, it seems to me that the main moral questions are resolved by the end of the book : Lovelock has decided that he has the right to strive for his species' survival, even at the expense of Faith. He has also discovered that there do exist humans decent enough to help him with his goal. The remaining question, perhaps, is whether Carol Jeanne and the other main human characters can make that choice; and I don't know if that's really so interesting.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
The second is ostensibly the story of Rasputin, a witness cat sent to kill Lovelock. From what I hear, the book (or its authors, anyway) hit a block at chapter seven. Card takes all the blame here because the next chapter is his turn, except that he also says the reason for the block is that subconsciously he realizes the story has gone the wrong way. I don't know that he takes blame for that part. *smile*
posted
This will probably be the last OSC novel I read because it has a coauthor. I read OSC's novels because I like OSC's voice, and the voice of an OSC-and-coauthor novel is not going to be OSC's voice.
Actually, since people say it's good, I may read it sooner than that; but it will be for a change of pace and not because it has OSC's name on it.
Posts: 781 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
I had the same thought, Omega, but I decided to pick it up and was very glad I did. I find it comparable to the rest of the OSC library.
Posts: 83 | Registered: Oct 2004
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I thought it was as good as the others; maybe it doesn't get the same press because it's the only book set in that particular universe.
Posts: 1877 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
I ought to read it again sometime. It was the only OSC book that I have not liked, and I've read virtually all of them. Maybe I missed something, or was in the wrong frame of mind or something.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I think I may have said it was my favorite from time to time. At the August signing I think he said he realized he didn't like the characters he was writing about and felt he could successfully resolve the block by shifting characters. I took that as a hopeful sign.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
I read this book about 8 years ago. One of my favorite OSC works, even if the sequels never materialize. Excellent characterizations and insights throughout.
Posts: 187 | Registered: Jul 2003
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