Starfarers

Starfarers #1

by Vonda N. McIntyre

Construction of the spaceship Starfarer is almost completed – its vast solar sails accelerating and widening its orbit around Earth. Its crew of specialists, headed by dedicated scientist Victoria MacKenzie, is prepared to make history with America's second attempt at interstellar exploration. The first research ship, unfortunately, was never heard from again...

But that is only the beginning of Starfarer's problems. The U.S. government has decided to reassess the spacecraft's objectives, to place the vessel in the hands of the military.

Victory MacKenzie has other ideas. And she plans to uphold the Starfarer's original scientific purposes – the exploration of space and the search for intelligent life – even if it means hijacking the ship...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space, Space Opera, LGBT, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy

280 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1989

About the author

Vonda Neel McIntyre was a U.S. science fiction author. She was one of the first successful graduates of the Clarion Science fiction writers workshop. She attended the workshop in 1970. By 1973 she had won her first Nebula Award, for the novelette "Of Mist, and Grass and Sand." This later became part of the novel Dreamsnake, which won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. The novelette and novel both concern a female healer in a desolate primitivized venue. McIntyre's debut novel was The Exile Waiting which was published in 1975. Her novel Dreamsnake won the Nebula Award and Hugo Award for best novel in 1978 and her novel The Moon and the Sun won the Nebula in 1997. She has also written a number of Star Trek and Star Wars novels, including Enterprise: The First Adventure and The Entropy Effect. She wrote the novelizations of the films Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Starfarers as (what ended up being) an asychronous buddy read with the aptly-named Buddy Reads group. When I happened to find the paperback for it on my home bookshelf, it also became part of my ongoing long-term project to read the SFF books by women that have been on my TBR since before 2000. This novel adds Vonda McIntyre to my slowly-growing list of read authors and is from 1989.

This novel made me ponder what it means to say "I just want to read a good story." Mainly because, for the majority of its length, this book didn't accomplish that for me. It wasn't just glacial pacing, though a long mid-book slump didn't help matters. Whatever magical combination of character, setting, concept, event, etc. that creates a good read, was missing for me here. Any of those things can be simple or largely absent and I'd still enjoy a book, I think, but for all of them to not quite be on par makes for a book that's fun at points, but on the whole not very satisfactory.

Characters: Kolya Cherenkov was only one who really caught my interest. There was a rainbow coalition of race, sexual orientation, age, and so on. As mentioned, this came out in 1989--as I say often regarding older SFF, Starfarer was not ahead of its time, specifically here in including diversity but that diversity being a kind of wallpaper and not crucial to either the characters or the story. Its being from 1989 also includes an aura-reading mood-crystal-and-silk-shirt-wearing character. :D

Setting: Starfarer, the ship, is quite cool. I know that the idea of a "biosphere in a big ol' cylinder" isn't all that unique, but filigree like the hobbit hole-like dwellings, and the rock foam, and the tiny horses, and so on, made it feel distinctive. Another aspect of the setting that stood out for me is a love for the Pacific Northwest, its sea and its shores, and for its ecology. I'm rather sad to think that there might not be any more of the PNW in the subsequent volumes of this series, now that Starfarer has arrived at Tau Ceti.

There were a few sentences on one page, and a couple of phrases in other places, that were vividly erotic, and hinted at the author's own quirks peeking through. How often do you see the word clitoris in a book that isn't primarily smut? Male SFF authors get away with this stuff, and with a much higher word ratio, all the time--and absolutely did in 1989--so why not.

One thing for a potential reader to bear in mind is that this book is the prologue of a much longer story that spans four books, and ends on a cliffhanger. Those who insist on each book in a series having a definitive beginning, middle and end, are bound to be disappointed with this one.

I enjoyed this, and as always when I read books for this project, it was of interest as a time capsule just as much as it was as a story in its own right. Unfortunately, it didn't quite have enough going for it for me to continue or finish this series. I'm still interested in checking out Dreamsnake or some of McInyre's Star Trek books sometime.

[DivaDiane SM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel, but so many things left unresolved! Such a cliffhanger, really. I will definitely be continuing the series.

McIntyre did a good job of introducing and developing so many characters. When they were seemingly unrelated to the starship their inclusion gave really good background to both the society and the expedition and all the other interlinking characters. Movement backwards and forwards in time was never confusing or random.

And the starship itself was almost another character it was so vivid. Really well done.

McIntyre’s style is very easy to read and feels familiar even if the situation is not at all familiar, she draws you in.

[Elizabeth Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was wonderful to see a cast with so many women. It rather highlights how much we’ve backslid since 1989. I also enjoyed the sea-space connection. Given the strong focus on politics, some readers are going to find it a slow story. However, I found it had some pertinent parallels to current political situations.

[Dawn F · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sadly didn't live up to the amazing Dreamsnake, or even her fantastic Star Trek novel The Entropy Effect. I just wasn't captured by the story, despite an interesting mix of characters.

[Micah Sisk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be SF written very light. There's nothing that really stood out for me as either good or bad. For the amount of time it spends on character and plot set up, for all its emphasis on cutting edge biology and space travel, for the amount of talk dedicated to politics...none of all that--characters, technology, politics, or world creation--was handled to a truly satisfying degree. It all felt under-drawn, but without anything majorly wrong. So in all, it was a very light, quick read that was mildly entertaining.

Frankly that's a bit disappointing because there's enough meat here for a very enriching and deep SF thriller. Instead, we're left with the frothy uncomplicated beginning of a space adventure. It seems a bit rushed and glossed over. Rather than being plunged into deep waters, we're skipped over the surface of a deeper tale.

I suppose there's nothing wrong with an uncomplicated space adventure, and I wouldn't mind continuing the story (if I found the rest at a very cheap price). But I thought the book seemed a bit perfunctory and I'll not be actively seeking out the rest of the series.

[EDIT: NOTES ON eBOOK EDITION] It appears that the eBook edition was created using an Optical Character Recognition program because it's littered with odd formatting errors. Things like unnecessary spaces after quotes, misspelled words and incorrect letter substitutions. It's readable, but indie authors who publish with this number of errors are often crucified in reviews for not having had an editor. You can be sure McIntyre had professional editors involved in her original publications...unfortunately, it appears that eBook publishers don't feel it's necessary to have anyone check their work before selling it to us. I've seen the same issue with other older publications translated to eBook. Yet another reason I feel traditionally published eBooks are overpriced.

[Jenne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This came out in 1989 but it feels pretty contemporary (lots of diversity, the US government is unstable and wildly unpredictable, Russia is a thing)...and at the same time charmingly old-fashioned (orcas! triple marriages! Russia is a thing!).
I found it through a list of "SF with middle-aged or older main characters" and it definitely delivers.
I kept wondering how they were going to wrap up the whole story in the amount of pages that were left and then realized later that it's actually the first of a series of four! Aha.
I'll definitely check out the next one...maybe Stephen Thomas, Most Irritating Character, will get a chance to redeem himself.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd love to read the sequels. There are so many characters that I care about, and I want to learn how they cope with all that's been, and being, changed about their plans and their world.

McIntyre writes one of the kinds of SF that I like. I think that's part of her success as a Star Trek writer. Intelligent, exciting, high stakes, interesting characters... but still not too heavy or challenging.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 1989 booklog says, A-, good characters, brisk pace. Memorable. So, 3.5 stars by the GR scale, rounded up. Memorable cover art too. Wonder if I kept my copy?

Review prompted by Linda Nagata's awful news about VNM at https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

First in a series of 4.
It could be humanity's most glorious accomplishment - an interstellar ship designed for a peaceful scientific mission of exploration and searching for sentient life elsewhere in the universe.
Unfortunately, international politics being as you might expect, not everything is running as smoothly as the researchers might wish - as a matter of fact, some countries have pulled out their personnel, funding to the ship has been cut, and there are plans afoot to scuttle the whole mission, arm the ship with nuclear devices and use it as an orbiting weapons platform, never to leave our solar system.
Against this background, the book focuses more on interpersonal relationships and politics than on action - we get to know Victoria, Satoshi and Stephen Thomas - partners in a multiethnic group marriage that old-timers find shocking and young folks feel is old-fashioned. Theoretical alien-contact specialist J.D. and her genetically altered 'diver' friend Zev. Elderly ex-General Cherenkov - former hero or terrorist? And possibly, the screwdriver in the works - undercover agent and militarist Griffith...

Good, but the book ends leaving you feeling like it's all a set-up for events yet to come... luckily I've got the next book!

[Elsa Lacruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un grupo de científicos y personal técnico se prepara para llevar la nave Starfarers en un complicado salto a otro punto del universo, pero las cosas en la Tierra amenazan la misión.
Personajes interesantes y bien desarrollados, relaciones dentro de un grupo confinado en un espacio limitado y reacciones a los cambios de política terrestre. Científicos de todo tipo, astronautas retirados, un equipo especialista en contacto alienígena y un jardinero son algunos de los protagonistas.
Treinta años tiene esta novela y podría escribirse igual hoy. Merece la pena leerla y deja con ganas de empezar la siguiente.

[Leticia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the writing style of this book and will surely go on reading this series!

[Jason Bleckly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Starfarers Quartet. I’m not entirely sure what to make of this book. It ends at the beginning. The entire book is a prologue for the series.

As with the other books by Vonda that I’ve read it is heavily character driven. There is a bevy of characters, though only one villain. Each character is introduced with their own back story of how they came to be on the Starfarer. As a result you are nearly half-way through the book before the plot begins to emerge.

The plot has some world-building issues. The project is an international venture with governments from all over the world contributing resources and personnel, think the ISS. But then the US makes decision to cut the US funding and repurpose the ship as a US military resource. This doesn’t make sense. Is it an international project or a US one?

The other world-building problem I have is the scale is unclear. The ship is both massive and minute. It’s using a solar sail to accelerate, but you need a 640 square kilometre of solar sail to accelerate 1kg at 0.5g. Solar sails are great in concept, but not if you want to move something big. And the ship is big, it’s an O’Neill cylinder. Towards the end of the book the wild cylinder is stated as sixty square kilometres. To put these numbers into perspective, the Space Shuttle Orbiter (the plane like bit) has a dry mass of about 80,000kg. To accelerate the shuttle at 0.5g (ie 5m/s/s, gravity is 9.8 m/s/s) would require a solar sail 5 times the size of the entire United States. The Starfarer is way, way, way bigger than the shuttle.

But that brings me to the science described in this book. Solar sails, orbital mechanics, O’Neill cylinders, cosmic strings, these concepts are explained beautifully in isolation. It’s only when they get combined that the cracks appear in the science. This is SF with some nice science, but certainly not hard SF. I loved that the onboard AI/computer/communication web network is called Arachne.

Vonda also has a thing for aquatic people. In Superluminal, one of her other books, she also has humans modified as amphibians who are persecuted minority.

But all of this can be glossed over while you’re reading as the characters are engaging, once established. And the interactions between them drive a plot with interesting intrigues. Even the villain of the story is given a sympathetic aspect.

The last issue is this was clearly never intended to be a standalone. There is a resolution to the major plotline of this book, but at the same time so much of this book is setting up the backgrounds of the characters and the situation for the next book as they boldly go forth.

[charlotte, · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rep: bi mcs

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mankind is finally preparing a mission to a different star, one they believe holds intelligent life. It's an international effort full of scientists, and after years of preparation, they're months away from launch... but political winds are starting to shift, and the US is interested in converting the ship towards more military purposes back home, purposes that would put the entire mission at risk.

This is a bit of a weird book, firstly because it's clearly the first part of a series. And, while I suppose it might count as a spoiler, I don't think it's too big of one to say that this novel focuses on the beginning of the mission rather than the full purpose of the mission. So, obviously, it feels somewhat incomplete on it's own, like a lot of buildup, but where only, at best, half the story is told (though from what I understand, it's a four book series). Some characters are introduced and given some depth, but then play very little role in the story (and much of that, isolated from the rest), because it's clear they're intended to play bigger roles in the next books. And some people might be disappointed by the lack of things that they're hoping for when they read a book about a mission to another star to meet aliens.

That said, the book was fairly enjoyable. It had a mix of interesting worldbuilding (with the world in question being a mostly plausible near future Earth), a set of appealing characters, and just was an overall pleasant read. Even when the characters were just discussing fairly dry planning details or dealing with mundane day to day life, I enjoyed reading it. A few of the antagonist characters seemed on the one-dimensional side and designed to elicit certain reactions, but even they got more sides to them as the story developed.

I wouldn't call the book one of my favorites overall, but it was one of my favorites of the ebook bundle I got it in (a Women in SF bundle), and I liked it enough that I probably will try to track down at least the next book in the series.

[Cornelia Johansson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delight! I knew going in that this was a queer novel, but what with it being published in the 80s I still expected it to be kind of subtextual and sneaky about it. Not so! It's entirely open with its central relationship being an interracial married triad who are neither romanticized nor demonized but rather portrayed with all the complexities you'd expect from an m/f relationship. They are openly loving and unquestioning in their relationship, but also struggling with communication and and navigating each other after the grief of losing a shared loved one. It makes for a very grounded relationship rarely seen portrayed.

Aside from their general presence, the book is also happy to get into discussions relating to queerness, polyamory, and the various forms and struggles a relationship can take. There really isn't any subtext to it, it's all incredibly open and portrayed in a natural manner where the discussions feel very true to character.

Outside of the queerness, it's also an interesting story as a sci-fi of its time, dealing with cold war politics and American interventionism. It's argues staunchly against militarization and for cooperation across borders, generations, and professions. It uplifts a large cast of people from various walks of life, from scientists and artists to gardeners and grandmothers, and makes a point of all of their importance.

The plot itself is quite slow, focusing heavily on getting to know the ensemble cast and the overall political climate. The whole thing feels a little bit like a prologue or even a prequel, building up to actual first contact with aliens in the sequel.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read. Science has not has come as far in the past couple of decades as we'd like to believe. Vonda was on top of some stuff long ago.

[PAR · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars! Super great. The characterizations and backstories are so well done. The bits of humor mixed in are great. Loved everything about it. It reminded me a bit of Bujold’s Vorkosigan books. Just more chill. Can’t wait to continue the series. Enjoy!

Quotes:
- “I cannot tell you what scientific advances will result from the deep space expedition. If I could, there would be no need for us to go on the voyage at all. I could speculate. So could anyone with a minimal level of scientific literacy. But speculation is a game. The history of humanity is a record of explorations intended for one purpose that have completely different effects.” (p24)
- “Science is not meant to create useful applications of scientific knowledge.. A proven hypothesis may have useful applications. However, a scientist does not do an experiment to prove a hypothesis. A scientist does an experiment to test a hypothesis.” (p24)
- “The faculty member smiled. That's interesting, Floris thought, that a smile upside down still looks like a smile, and not like a frown. She had never had occasion to observe this before.” (p56)
- “That's a tough word, 'believe.' Believing, and knowing what the truth is—you're talking about two different things. Human beings are perfectly capable of believing one thing metaphorically, and accepting evidence for a completely different hypothesis. That's the simplest definition of faith that I know. It's the people who don't have any faith, who can't tell the difference between metaphor and reality, who want to force you to believe one thing only.” (p104)
- p214-215
- “There's too much blood already, on the land I came from. Blood is too expensive to use as fertilizer.” (p215)
“You cannot get freedom by shedding more blood in my country! You can only get more blood!” (p216)

[Liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

exquisite. slow & ponderous until it's not, and splitting at the seams with joy and sensuality and life from the start. i've got no words for how much i adore this book. you can really feel vonda having fun as she writes, and my god is it shot through with such a blazing tendril of hope ❤❤❤

[David Caldwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

The starship, Starfarer, is almost completed. But changing political situations on Earth have people doubting if the Starfarer will ever launch. A few of the scientists are willing to do nearly anything to make that launch actually happens.

This is an old book. It was published in 1989, I found this copy at a library book sale (or used book store, not sure which anymore). It is out of print. There is an ebook version which is available on a website that can be found if you check the author's webpage. I also found out this is the first book in a four book series. (The other books are also out of print and only have limited ebook availibilty.)

As stated in other reviews (which I only looked at after I finished reading the book), this book has one big problem. A book called Starfarers should have space travel in it. Even the back of the book, makes it sound like there will ne lots of space travel in it. But in reality, it is only in the final few pages that the ship does more than travel within the orbit of the moon. Most of the book seems to be a bereaucratic fight to keep the scientific mission on course.

There are several sidelines that don't really add to the story that much. The modified Divers and the Grandparents in Space both just seem to be tacked into the story with little reason. There are also elements that are mentioned that aren't reallt explored. The first inerstellar voyage that disappears without a trace. A lot of what is going on Earth is talked about without really being attached to the story These elements seem to be more fitting to discuss with the story as it is presented.

As a first book, this was very slow with little to recommend it. As part of a series, it might be a good start but to be truthful, it wasn't good enough to make me want to track down and order used copies. (This is especially true since I got the first book for less than a dollar and the other 3 would cost around 50 dollars.) It might be worth tracking down the ebooks but I wish I could get them through my normal ebook distributor.

[Tbfrank · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of an interstellar university chartered to explore new worlds and search out alien life forms has a certain appeal, particularly given the current political climate which threatenes to undermine the importance of education in the arts and sciences. I read volume two first and felt it suffered from not knowing what went before. Volume one supplied much of the information lacking but still gave the impression of starting the story in the middle - essentially how the world reached its current state. The strongest elements involved the physical description of the starship, the physics of a cosmic string, the potential changes to human physiolgy, the computer web accessed through direct mental links. The human interactions and drama are modestly engaging but the villians are rather stock as is the precipitating crisis. Imagining such a technological marvel as the Starfarer operating without a dedicated crew requires a considerable amount of disbelief. Still, Starfarers is an enjoyable diversion.

[Stephen Poltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts out incredibly slowly, so slowly that I never thought I’d get through it. I could barely get ten pages read a night before passing out from exhaustion and well, boredom. Very little happened and I couldn’t see where it was going. Then Saturday came and I picked it up after a good night’s sleep. What I thought was boring was well over a hundred pages of character introduction and world-building. It slowly began to pick up its pace and then finished with a hundred pages of breakneck action. It’s the first of a four part series and this book serves as the introduction to the remaining three books. With a title like “Starfarers”, you’d think this book was about space travel. Well, since it’s an introduction, it’s everything that leads up to the space travel part. You could easily see this book as the first season of a TV series with terrific cliffhanger for the last episode.

Come visit my blog for the full review…
https://itstartedwiththehugos.blogspo...

[NinjaMuse · Rating 2 out of 5]

In brief: A generation-style ship, crewed by some of the best and brightest academics, hoping to make first contact, is nearly ready to launch. Unfortunately, the Americans think it’s better used to shoot nukes at the Middle East, and it’s up to a group of polyamorous scientists and their friends to find a solution. First in a series.

Thoughts: This was slower than I expected, but I think that’s a factor of its age and the expectations of the time. There’s a lot of set-up—how they’ve designed the ship and why, who the cast is and what drives them, discussions of the political situation, and so on. It’s sort of a mix between character drama and the Big Dumb Object novel, but there’s also a side plot with some humans artificially adapted to ocean life. Lots of cool science and thinking through that science, and I liked a lot of the characters, but it never felt like the plot had much momentum? Plus it felt very much like McIntyre was constantly setting the sequel.

6/10

[Gingaeru · Rating 2 out of 5]

"As Victoria left the house, she saw Satoshi's porcelain bowl in the center of the table. The gnarled sea-worn stones lay artlessly, precisely placed within its smooth white concavity. Victoria gazed at the stones, at the bowl. The arrangement's effect was calming, yet it was also arousing, and in a definitely sexual way. Victoria wondered how Satoshi had managed that."
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"A mosquito landed on her arm. She watched it dispassionately. Unlike a fly, it wasted no time with careful grooming. It set itself among the fine dark hairs and plunged its proboscis into her skin. She submitted to the thin, keen pain. She had read that the insect would bite, drink, and neutralize its own hemolytic enzymes before it withdrew.
The mosquito had read different texts. It filled itself with Chandra's blood and whined away; then Chandra watched the itchy lump of the mosquito bite swell and darken. She concentrated on the unpleasant sensation."
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"Smells carried poorly in air, compared to water, and the wet suit covered all the places that would send off useful odors."
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"Suddenly something protruded from the diver's crotch. Chandra watched, startled, as the male diver, whom she had assumed to be female, extruded his penis and began to pee on the floor.
'Wait! Stop! What are you doing?'
His penis slid back inside. 'Peeing,' he said, equally startled. He looked down. 'I never did it on land before. It is not very aesthetic, is it?'"

[What is this book?!]

I read this because the sequel, "Transition," was included with some books I purchased online (I'm compelled to read books I've paid for before passing them on). I was also intrigued by the history of its creation, which sounds remarkably like the premise of "All My Colors" by David Quantick (which I have not read because nobody seems to recommend it). I wouldn't recommend this novel to anyone. There's nothing of substance here. The characters are unlikable, unreal, and uninteresting. Some of the things they think and say are unbelievably dumb. There isn't much of a story (it's obvious this book was always meant to be followed up with sequels). There are things here that don't make any sense. The vocabulary is extremely repetitive.

The story concerns the starship Starfarer. Its intended mission is to quickly travel all the way to Tau Ceti via some "transition" or "cosmic string" or whatnot. I feel like she was going for "hard" science fiction, which, ironically, is often considerably less believable than standard science fiction.

Starfarer is the least-believable ship I've encountered to date. It's way too massive (in the sequel, it's explained that it's barely big enough to enter "transition"). Evidently, it's composed primarily of materials from Earth's moon ("... thick skin of lunar rock"). It has two enormous spinning cylinders, one of which remains empty for some unexplained reason (the sequel says it's a backup). They call it the "wild cylinder." But the other cylinder contains a vast wilderness all along the interior (with 7/10ths Earth's gravity). There are meadows, salt marshes, trees, streams, freshwater lakes, etc., all within this one cylinder (they call it a "campus"). It has its own seasons and weather patterns, including rain... There's a herd of mini horses the size of dogs running around, and the faculty and staff (they don't like to be called "crew") live in hobbit-holes in the hillsides...

I'd like to know just what the author had in mind if the cylinder were ever to stop spinning. Also, there's talk of sunlight, but the explanation for it is kind of glossed over, so it's easy to miss (in the sequel, she talks about the "sun tube" a lot; that's the only reason I now understand where the light comes from). When the characters look "up," they see the "ground" on the other extreme of the diameter. That's why I couldn't grasp what the light source was. But there's a tube running through the entire cylinder, which somehow reflects starlight that's adjusted to give the illusion of a day/night cycle.

Anyway, I find the whole project highly unlikely at best. Who on earth would fund it? Who would allow it? The governments in the story are against it, but only now, at the very last minute, as it's almost ready to take off, do they object... A project of this proportion would take years of planning, even more years of building, and countless dollars. Nothing about it makes sense.

Their ultimate hope of going to Tau Ceti is to find intelligent life. So there's an alien contact team. But many people have abandoned the project (for political reasons, I guess), so only a skeleton crew is left on board. Another thing that's hard to swallow is how casual and unprofessional everyone is. The not-crew all act pretty irresponsibly, and nobody ever seems to be around. Who exactly is running the ship, anyway? There's a scene where the sail is tested, and everyone's floating around, watching. Stephen Thomas opens a bottle of champagne (the cork doesn't harm anyone), the liquid spews everywhere, and people suck it out of the air. Imagine someone pulling a stunt like that on the ISS.

There's also this program, "Grandparents in Space." They bring this random 80-year-old woman up from Earth for absolutely no reason. Several characters question the program's merits throughout the book, and I nod in agreement each time. It's so ridiculous. And there's this "artist" on board, who makes a convincing artificial fossil of a non-existent biped, only to bury it in the cylinder in the hopes that it will one day fool someone, thereby causing the finder to question their beliefs... I reiterate: she buries it inside a starship!

Then there's the disturbing polygamous (they prefer "family partnership") three-way relationship between Victoria, Satoshi, and Stephen Thomas. (By the way, this guy is only ever referred to as "Stephen Thomas" every single time he's mentioned. He says they're both last names, and he has a third.) There was a fourth partner, Merit, aka "Merry" (the author deliberately conceals the gender of this person), who apparently brought them all together. But they died before the beginning of the story. The trio flirt with the idea of adding Feral and possibly J.D. to their little harem. It's uncomfortable to read these characters' too-silly dialogue and overly dramatic interactions.

There are hovering (?) robots stupidly called "artificial stupids" or "ASes." "Artificial stupid" is only used once in the first chapter (it isn't even explained), so the reader has to infer what an "AS" is on their own.

Towards the end, a transport shuttle with fresh people arrives at the last minute. But the Starfarer should be in lockdown at this point. So how exactly did that shuttle get clearance? Especially considering that not even the armed military missile carrier is able to overtake the ship during that part.

J.D. brings "357 kilos" (787 lbs) of physical books (possibly all science fiction) on board as "equipment..."

More than once, wrapping paper is mentioned as being a precious resource on the ship. Who cares? If you want to give someone a gift, simply give it to them.

It's very 1989. The fashion, politics, orcas, etc. Because politics are meaningless to me, I wasn't able to grasp what the "Mideast Sweep" is supposed to be.

On p. 66, Chandra learns that Zev knows J.D. However, on p. 132, she is surprised to learn (for the second time!) that Zev knows J.D.... Similarly, J.D. had been swimming with Zev and his family for at least two months, but she is only now (p. 46) meeting his mother (the leader of the family) for the first time? There are only about 24 divers in this family; I don't buy it. J.D. is also "heavyset," but the author doesn't let you know until long after she's introduced (p. 71). And I just can't realistically see a heavyset woman engaging in the level of diving that J.D. had been with the "divers" and the orcas. Speaking of orcas, Victoria says, "I can't imagine a cetacean on board a starship." Vonda N. McIntyre wrote the novelization of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home..."

"Her first novel had enjoyed less than magnificent success. Critics complained that it made them feel off balance and confused. Only a few had realized that it was supposed to make them feel off balance and confused; of those, all but one had objected to the experience. That one reviewer had done her the courtesy of assuming she had achieved exactly what she intended, and she valued the comments." I hate it when authors write only to satisfy themselves with their cheap gimmicks, having no regard for the reader. It's a fictional author here, but a real author wrote her, and real-life authors are sometimes guilty of this (Chelsea Quinn Yarbro). Just reading this fictional passage fills me with rage.
...

Main Characters:
Victoria Fraser MacKenzie: physicist; Black Canadian, female, uses "eh?" (but only sometimes).
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Stephen Thomas Gregory: geneticist; male, has long blond hair (not like the mullet on the cover), wears flashy clothes and earrings, can "read auras." (Don't call him "Steve.")
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Satoshi Lono: geographer; Hawaiian, male, mild-mannered. Not a morning person.
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Feral Korzybski: reporter (self-employed); male, cooks as a hobby.
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J.D. Sauvage: "alien contact specialist"; female, has five biological parents, "plain," "heavyset," has a built-in "metabolic enhancer" (evidently for swimming), wanted to become a "diver," novelist.
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Zev: a "diver," a race of (now illegal) genetically altered humans who live in the Pacific; male, naive, way too playful for a someone his age (17-18), likes ice cream.
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Nikolai Petrovich Cherenkov, aka "Kolya": legendary cosmonaut; male, elderly, stuck in space because he was sentenced to death and will be killed upon returning to Earth, keeps to himself, likes his privacy, hermit.
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Marion Griffith: military/government spy; male, has a serious case of hero worship for the above.
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Infinity Mendez: gardener; male.

Side Characters:
Floris Brown: "grandparent"; random lonely old lady, has a very unique hairstyle.
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Chandra: "sensory artist" (has extra nerves, and records experiences to be sold to others); female, makes poor decisions in order to experience and record new sensations. (I've seen this exact concept before in Larry Niven's "Flare Time" (1982), and I didn't care for it there either.)
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Iphigenie DuPre: "sailmaster"; female.
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Professor/Dr. (the author couldn't decide which) Miensaem Thanthavong: legendary geneticist; female, elderly, absorbed in her ever-continuing work, evidently made some kind of antivirus in the past.

Very Minor Characters:
Gerald Hemminge: assistant chancellor; British, male, snob.
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Crimson Ng: "artist"; female, wastes time on pointless "fossil" project.
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Fox: Satoshi's graduate student; female, minor, niece to the president of the US, doesn't want to return to Earth.
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Alzena Dadkhah: chief ecologist; female, the only ecologist left on board, desperately wants to leave the ship because of her family's traditions.
-
Lykos: Zev's mother.
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Chancellor Blades: chancellor; male, ever-absent. (Seriously, where is this guy?!)
...

The Vocabulary:
I wish I had known at the start just how much the words "lay" and "plunge" would be used. It's an obscene amount. (In the next volume, she seems to have caught herself and toned it down somewhat.)
-
Other oft-repeated words include, but are not limited to: "outrageous," "rose" (verb), "translucent," "eerie," "drily," "silver," "recalcitrant," "glow," etc.
-
"loom": x4
"here and there": x2
"[this] here, [that] there": x1
...

Releasing held breath:
"Satoshi released the breath he had been holding."

I hate when literary characters "shiver, though not from the cold":
"The chill that centered in J.D.'s spine, just behind her heart, had nothing to do with wind or water or waves."
...

"... earth, vulnerable and without boundaries, whole in their sight, a sphere they could cup in their hands." (p. 6)
-
"He had known, intellectually, how far he would be from the planet, but the distance struck him emotionally only when he could hold out his hands and cup the world between them." (p. ?)

"There was blood all over... covering Stephen Thomas's face..." (p. 269)
-
"... there was so much blood, it covered his face..." (also p. 269!)
...

I don't believe you can use "lack" in this way; it makes no sense. I've never seen it elsewhere. (I assume it's just one of those things the author learned wrong as a kid.):
"It lacked at least an hour till darkness."
-
"... it lacked only a few minutes till the transport's departure."

"... angry at Stephen Thomas more because he was right then because he was telling Feral everything." (than)

It's irksome when an author misspells their own character's name. But both names?!:
"Stefan Tomas" (Stephen Thomas)
...

"Let's go to bed and screw like weasels..."
-
"Christ on a mongoose..."
-
"Christ on a unicorn..."
...

4/10

[Lianne Burwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an SF novel originally published in 1989 that is almost scary in its prescience. It's centered around a starship being prepared to use a new (handwavium) technology that lets it travel to a different star system. But when the expedition comes under threat, the scientists steal the ship and continue with the original plans.

But consider some of these elements
- A newly-elected anti-science president wants to cancel the science and turn the ship into a military platform over the Middle East
- One character is an independent reporter who posts his stories to a network that isn't really the Internet (which didn't actually exist at the time the book was written)
- Another character makes a living recording experiences for sale (Influencer?)
- There's a character just arrived on the ship from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to evaluate the ship for money wasted and how to redirect it to the government priorities (DOGE anyone?)
- There's a new human subgroup that have engineered themselves to live in the sea. The US government has made modifying yourself this way illegal (attacks on trans rights?), but also want to force these aquatic humans to spy/fight for them in the Middle East. They flee to Canada for refuge.

The more I read, the more I was weirded out by the parallels to current times, more than three decades after the series was originally published.

[Mseitz · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story starts out ever so slowly and never goes anywhere interesting in the end. Yes, cliffhanger.

McIntyre had a talent to write obnoxious and evil people in a very realistic way. Which makes reading about these people ... as bad as actually talking to such people.

The relationships between different people on Starfarer and within the main characters group of the alien contact team are grating and irritating. If bickering is your thing, you will love Starfarers. Otherwise, stay faaaaaar away from all four Starfarers books. The bickering never ends!

Throughout the Starfarers series, you won't encounter a single relatable (human) being or relationship. The bickering between people who, supposedly, love each other is made worse by descriptions of the physical manifestations of said love. Yes, I just called sex a physical manifestation (of "love"). Because, that's what it is in all four books of Starfarers. There is no emotion, suspense or eroticism to be found anywhere. The various sex scenes are mechanical and cold. Damn, the whole Starfarer series can be described a cold fish. A fish so cold, rotten, and hollow, not even Zev would eat it.

[Miki · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mission of a self-sufficient, highly advanced, huge spaceship orbiting the Earth, carrying all the people and equipment necessary to soon start travelling across galaxies, hopefully in search of alien civilizations, or inhabitable planets, or other huge scientific discoveries, is suddenly hindered by political changes and threats of war back on Earth. Many of the staff and passengers already left and many others are ready to leave, as required by their governments, while the spaceship is going to be kept in orbit for military purposes. Except some of the crew, including the main characters in the novel, are going to try their best, all kinds of desperate measures to be able to still carry out their mission, and to get the spaceship to start its interstellar journey. A great first part of a quadrilogy.

[Robbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an exciting start to a series! It builds rather slowly, creating the world that it is set in, which is supposed to be about a generation or so from now. The tech and science are pretty believable and I'm kind of surprised that this was first published in 1989 because they got some things quite right. I can also believe that it was published in 1989 based on the political background behind the story, though that's not to say anything felt dated (sadly). The characters are interesting and delightful and the diversity fills the story with so much promise. I love the way that you can feel the pure excitement of research and discovery coming from the main characters. And the ending is sooooo exciting! I'm glad that I don't have to wait a year for the next volume to be published and can dive right in.

[Douglas Milewski · Rating 1 out of 5]

Starfarers by Vonda McIntyre is about as useless of an SF book as you can get. The plot starts around page 200 and the book wraps up on page 289. Whatever this book was supposed to be, it completely passed me by. If you've read the back of the book, then you've read the entire plot. This is not hyperbole because page 200 is where the blurb begins.

As far as I am concerned, this is a book of filler, the sort that you write to fulfill contractual obligations. Just skip to page 200 and call it a novella.

The book features characters, enough that I lost track and didn't think anything of any of them. To say that I felt disconnected fails to capture the depths of my apathy.

For me, this book didn't work. Once I began skipping through the boring parts, I wound up skipping most of the book.

[Reader Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Starfarers more than 30 years after it was published explains some of it's more outdated themes. Themes that can be easily overlooked and only form minor distractions.
I felt it took a fair way into the book before the plot became apparent. Since it started out with JD and the Divers and their aquatic world and although this kept my interest, I found myself asking, where is this story going. A lot of the story is spent on characters and relationships, before getting into what the expedition is all about. However, it was the micro plots, the scifi concepts and the politics, that kept my interest. These kept the pages turning. Although, waiting for the action was frustrating. Until it happens, late in the book and then the book becomes unputdownable.

[Kiri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an odd book. I liked the setup, with a very cool exploratory spacecraft getting ready to head to another star system and look for other civilizations. I found it a lot harder to get to know, or like, the characters. The old Russian cosmonaut, Kolya, was the most interesting person to me - he was a little mysterious, but definitely well characterized - his dialogue and mannerisms gave him a unique and intriguing identity. Zev, the genetically modified "diver" who can survive in Earth's oceans, never came across to me as more than a surface sketch, which is too bad because what a cool story element that is! The political elements of the book were very dark and almost cartoonish - good riddance to that USA. I wish the starfarers luck as they journey onward!