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Alphanauts
After nearly fifty years in suspended animation a crew of human space explorers return to Earth, only to discover a medical side effect that prevents them remaining on their home planet. Now, in a desperate bid for survival, they must return to space and attempt to colonize an alien world under an alien sun.
- GenresScience Fiction
325 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 3, 2018
Une histoire de première colonie dans l'espace par un petit groupe de scientifiques façon années 80
Malheureusement, l'auteur est polarisé sur la découverte d'une AI naufragée depuis des millénaires sur la même planète (avec une science assez simpliste et permettant tout) au détriment du développement crédible des découvertes et de l'adaptation au nouvel environnement du groupe humain
Aucune réponse sur l'installation, sur la culture etc Il faut attendre plus de 75 % du livre pour savoir si ces colons communiquent encore ou non avec la Terre
Par ailleurs malgré le petit nombre de personnages, aucun n'a véritablement de visage ni même parfois de nom malgré leur petit nombre, et donc ils sont assez fades ...
Bref, j'ai lu péniblement jusqu'au bout même si je reconnais quelques qualités à l'écriture et rien de m'a paru nouveau ni ne m'a donné le fameux "sens of wonder" que j'attends à chaque livre que j'ouvre ...
Malheureusement, l'auteur est polarisé sur la découverte d'une AI naufragée depuis des millénaires sur la même planète (avec une science assez simpliste et permettant tout) au détriment du développement crédible des découvertes et de l'adaptation au nouvel environnement du groupe humain
Aucune réponse sur l'installation, sur la culture etc Il faut attendre plus de 75 % du livre pour savoir si ces colons communiquent encore ou non avec la Terre
Par ailleurs malgré le petit nombre de personnages, aucun n'a véritablement de visage ni même parfois de nom malgré leur petit nombre, et donc ils sont assez fades ...
Bref, j'ai lu péniblement jusqu'au bout même si je reconnais quelques qualités à l'écriture et rien de m'a paru nouveau ni ne m'a donné le fameux "sens of wonder" que j'attends à chaque livre que j'ouvre ...
June 1, 2022
I would have rated this higher but 1. The title is awful and 2. A gay character is more-or-less "cured" of his homosexuality upon merging his mind with an alien intelligence; a centuries-old sentient derelict spaceship that's crash-landed on a habitable planet that the titular group of protagonists encounters, and his boyfriend just disappears from the narrative shortly thereafter. More than anything, that plot development feels wholly unnecessary, and puzzling, given than the novel ends with the protagonists intercepting a group of elitist white-supremacists (picture the end of the film Don't Look Up, basically) who have secretly planned to colonize the same planet as the (sigh) alphanauts, with our protagonists literally clashing with them, which is a liberal or even progressive conclusion to the story.
July 4, 2012
review circa 2006
Calgary (Alberta) author J. Brian Clarke writes good old-fashion hard SF. Indeed, much of this novel previously appeared in Analog as a series of short stories, now blended into a larger narrative.
The storyline concerns the adventures of a group of astronauts who first colonize a planet of Alpha Centarui (thus the neolgisim, 'Alphanauts'). There are encounters with aliens and hyperinteligent computers and white supremist terrorists — in other words, the usual. I found Alphanauts an enjoyable, slightly nostlalgic, read: Clarke successfully transported me back to the summer when I was 13 and working my way through my brother's collection of Ace Doubles. As an adult, I have a couple of reservations, but my inner child pretty much loved this book.
The novel is divided into six parts, roughly corresponding to the six novellettes upon which it was originally based. The first story is my least favorite: the premise did not make sense and some of the reactions seemed a bit extreme. But to his credit, Clarke never tires to explain 'the why' of the story, but simply poses the question of 'what if'? The premise is no more illogical than a typical Star Trek episode, and if I am not mistake this section started life as a cover sotry in Analog so maybe it is just me.
The rest of the novel is pretty entertaining, with some engaging aliens and situations. Carke's one flaw is that his protagonists are always to instantly deduce (correctly) what is going on and how everything works. They take a single glance at this alien or that artifact and announce the explanation to their colleagues (and the reader). The addition of a few wrong guesses, or various characters arguing for competitng interpretations, would have gone a long way towards making the novel more credible. I also had a minor problem with the coincidence of two alien cultures evolving in exactly the same way at the same pace to that they have identical outcomes when discovered by our heroes. But the foreshortening of the process of discovery to get on with the action, and the occasional lapses in logic, are very remininscent of television pacing, so again, reading Clarke is very much like watching new episodes of Star Trek. Worth tuning in for.
I should also mention the decent and relevant cover art by David Willicome, and the Rober Sawyer introduction, further examples of Edge 'getting it right'. If you happen to come across a copy of th pre-release edition with the other cover (still okay!) or lacking the Sawyer intro, no problem: the introduction's only purpose is to provide a big name testimonial. What makes the inclusion of the introduction truly fascinating is not what Sawyer has to say, but that he is writing this at all. Sawyer has his own Canadan SF imprint, so it speaks volumes about the Canadian SF community, and Robert J. Sawyer, that Sawyer is still willing to push books from a potential competitor. Feels good!
Calgary (Alberta) author J. Brian Clarke writes good old-fashion hard SF. Indeed, much of this novel previously appeared in Analog as a series of short stories, now blended into a larger narrative.
The storyline concerns the adventures of a group of astronauts who first colonize a planet of Alpha Centarui (thus the neolgisim, 'Alphanauts'). There are encounters with aliens and hyperinteligent computers and white supremist terrorists — in other words, the usual. I found Alphanauts an enjoyable, slightly nostlalgic, read: Clarke successfully transported me back to the summer when I was 13 and working my way through my brother's collection of Ace Doubles. As an adult, I have a couple of reservations, but my inner child pretty much loved this book.
The novel is divided into six parts, roughly corresponding to the six novellettes upon which it was originally based. The first story is my least favorite: the premise did not make sense and some of the reactions seemed a bit extreme. But to his credit, Clarke never tires to explain 'the why' of the story, but simply poses the question of 'what if'? The premise is no more illogical than a typical Star Trek episode, and if I am not mistake this section started life as a cover sotry in Analog so maybe it is just me.
The rest of the novel is pretty entertaining, with some engaging aliens and situations. Carke's one flaw is that his protagonists are always to instantly deduce (correctly) what is going on and how everything works. They take a single glance at this alien or that artifact and announce the explanation to their colleagues (and the reader). The addition of a few wrong guesses, or various characters arguing for competitng interpretations, would have gone a long way towards making the novel more credible. I also had a minor problem with the coincidence of two alien cultures evolving in exactly the same way at the same pace to that they have identical outcomes when discovered by our heroes. But the foreshortening of the process of discovery to get on with the action, and the occasional lapses in logic, are very remininscent of television pacing, so again, reading Clarke is very much like watching new episodes of Star Trek. Worth tuning in for.
I should also mention the decent and relevant cover art by David Willicome, and the Rober Sawyer introduction, further examples of Edge 'getting it right'. If you happen to come across a copy of th pre-release edition with the other cover (still okay!) or lacking the Sawyer intro, no problem: the introduction's only purpose is to provide a big name testimonial. What makes the inclusion of the introduction truly fascinating is not what Sawyer has to say, but that he is writing this at all. Sawyer has his own Canadan SF imprint, so it speaks volumes about the Canadian SF community, and Robert J. Sawyer, that Sawyer is still willing to push books from a potential competitor. Feels good!
August 3, 2007
Alphanauts, J. Brian Clarke, Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, 2006
A small group of explorers have just returned to Earth after a several year trip to an earthlike planet of Alpha Centauri. They find, to their dismay, that they, literally, can’t live on Earth at all. Anyone who has been away for at least 3 full years contracts a murderous disease called Earth Allergy Syndrome, or EAS. Also, relativity has reared its head; the toddler daughter of one of the explorers is now a middle-aged grandmother. The explorers are forced to return to Alpha Centauri, to what is now called Genser’s World (after one of their group who succumbed to EAS).
Back on Genser’s World, the colonists find the de-evolved descendants of another spacefaring race, and their empathic symbionts. Think of the symbionts as flying creatures the size of a hawk, with the face of a cat, and they love to be petted and scratched. They form bonds with humans almost instantly, a bond that becomes impossible to break. The colonists also come into contact with two cyborg intelligences, and a computer intelligence which is about to evolve into something that could easily wipe out the humans.
Suddenly, all contact with Earth is lost. By this time, the intelligences have modified the colonist’s ship so that a trip of several years duration back to Earth has been reduced to several weeks. A group of colonists returns to Earth, and finds a scene of total devastation. Just before "The End," an asteroid was hollowed out and turned into a colony ship. It was launched toward Genser’s World, with over 500 people on board. Their intention is to turn Genser’s World into a fascist utopia.
This is a first-rate planetary colonization story with lots of science. Engineers and scientists will enjoy this book; so will everyone else who likes good, interesting writing.
A small group of explorers have just returned to Earth after a several year trip to an earthlike planet of Alpha Centauri. They find, to their dismay, that they, literally, can’t live on Earth at all. Anyone who has been away for at least 3 full years contracts a murderous disease called Earth Allergy Syndrome, or EAS. Also, relativity has reared its head; the toddler daughter of one of the explorers is now a middle-aged grandmother. The explorers are forced to return to Alpha Centauri, to what is now called Genser’s World (after one of their group who succumbed to EAS).
Back on Genser’s World, the colonists find the de-evolved descendants of another spacefaring race, and their empathic symbionts. Think of the symbionts as flying creatures the size of a hawk, with the face of a cat, and they love to be petted and scratched. They form bonds with humans almost instantly, a bond that becomes impossible to break. The colonists also come into contact with two cyborg intelligences, and a computer intelligence which is about to evolve into something that could easily wipe out the humans.
Suddenly, all contact with Earth is lost. By this time, the intelligences have modified the colonist’s ship so that a trip of several years duration back to Earth has been reduced to several weeks. A group of colonists returns to Earth, and finds a scene of total devastation. Just before "The End," an asteroid was hollowed out and turned into a colony ship. It was launched toward Genser’s World, with over 500 people on board. Their intention is to turn Genser’s World into a fascist utopia.
This is a first-rate planetary colonization story with lots of science. Engineers and scientists will enjoy this book; so will everyone else who likes good, interesting writing.
July 22, 2013
Old fashion space opera - well written with not a lot of clutter - need more of them
February 6, 2017
A sometimes fascinating and sometimes frustrating exploration of the human condition under a wide range of emerging circumstances.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews