Певците на времето

by Frederik Pohl, Jack Williamson, Фредерик Пол

Хората ги нарекли „Костенурките“. Били представители на висша раса, дошла да завладее Земята с мирните средства на търговията. За човечеството настъпили времена на изобилие и привидно спокойствие, докато един ден… Майката на всички Костенурки изчезнала. Надменните завоеватели били принудени да търсят помощта на човешката наука, обявена от тях за ерес. Хора и извънземни се отправили на дръзко и рисковано пътешествие отвъд пределите на вселената.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adult

392 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Frederik George Pohl, Jr. was an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine IF winning the Hugo for IF three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.

Reviews

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Човечеството се е подчинило на мирни търговски завоеватели, които са спрели всички войни и са донесли нови технологии. Срещу едно простичко условие: да предаде на чуждоземците всички еретични стари записи от старата земна наука и никога повече да не я развива.

Но Хокинг, Айнщайн, Планк, Ферми отказват да замълчат и няколко укрити стари записа ще решат съдбата и на човечеството, и на неговите господари, които съвсем не са толкова неуязвими, колкото са мислели.

Най-интересната част са двайсетте стегнати и завладяващи интерлюдии между всяка глава, онагледяващи теориите и мисловните експерименти на квантовата физика, наличието на паралелни вселени, измеренията, как електронът може да е в много точки едновременно, историята на вселената, проходите на дървоядите и какво ли още не. Сюжетът е просто приятна и бързо забравима добавка в стил комикс, особено във втората част, и е почти изцяло в ролята на пуканките по време на филма. Стивън Хокинг и теориите му обаче си заслужават!

2,5 звезди, само заради интерлюдиите слагам 3 - те направо си плачат да са отделна книжка.

***
”Когато говорихме за образуването на частиците, на някои от вас им бе трудно да възприемат двойствеността на вълновите частици. Предполагам, че този въпрос ви е станал ясен, а ако не е, то вероятно няма да си вземете изпитите, така че е все едно. Сега ще опитам нещо друго.
Нека за малко забравим за вълновата част от двойствеността и да поговорим за друга малка особеност на частицата като такава.
Когато разглеждаме електрона като частица, вероятно си го представяте като малък, твърд и кръгъл — като миниатюрна версия на планета като Земята. Това е вярно, но само донякъде. Моментът, в който престава да бъде вярно, е когато завъртите тази частица.
Ще ви дам пример.
Да си представим, че взимаме ивица хартия, огъваме я като пръстен и залепваме краищата.
После взимаме едно мънисто с размер на електрон — на практика това е невъзможно, но ние само си представяме, — и го пробиваме, така че да можем да го нанижем на хартиения пръстен. (Този пръстен, разбира се, трябва да е много малък). Да речем, че това мънисто с размерите на електрон има някакви ясно видими белези по повърхността — може би изглежда като земен глобус, — така че във всеки един момент можете да кажете коя негова част е обърната към вас. Сега гледате Еквадор. Северният полюс на мънистото сочи главата ви, южният — краката.
Направихте ли го? Добре, сега да направим нашия експеримент.
Придвижваме мънистото по цялата дължина на пръстена. Когато то се върне в изходното си положение, пред нас отново ще застане Еквадор. Мънистото се е завъртяло на 360 градуса и е точно в същото положение. Никой, който не ви е видял да го движите, няма да знае, че сте го завъртели. Не може да се приложи никакъв тест, който да докаже дали мънистото е въртяно или не. Така че обективно погледнато, няма никакво значение дали мънистото е било завъртяно на 360 градуса или не.
Но при електрона не е така.
Ако искаме да повторим същия експеримент с истински електрон, а не с мънисто с размерите на електрон, ще трябва да направите пръстена по друг начин. Тоест, ще трябва да усучете ивицата хартия на 90 градуса преди да залепите краищата й.
И това, разбира се, превръща хартиения пръстен в така наречената ивица на Мобиус.
Сега вече можете да направите въображаемия експеримент и ще видите, че се получава нещо любопитно. Плъзгането на електрона по пръстена става по по-различен начин. Пред вас отново е Еквадор, но останалата част от глобуса се е преобърнала обратно. Оказва се, че Северният полюс е заел мястото на Южния. Сменили са местата си.
Възможно е това да се поправи, но изисква допълнително действие. Ако искате да върнете електрона в първоначалното му положение, налага се да го плъзнете по ивицата на Мобиус още веднъж. Сега всичко си е на мястото, и отново липсва тест, който да докаже, че електронът е бил въртян.
Така че в определен смисъл, от гледна точка на електрона окръжността има 720, а не 360 градуса.
Това обърква ли ви?
Добре! Нека ви напомня казаното от Нилс Бор преди много време: „Ако човек не се чувствува замаян, когато за пръв път чува за квантума, то той не е разбрал нито думичка“.

[TMarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor character development and a predictable ending. Frederik Pohl is the author of my favorite sci-fi story, Tunnel Under the World, which is why I had such high hopes for this book. The plot read like a 90s tv movie script that was thrown together for ratings.

[Jim Greene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very imaginative. Some good characters. Interesting plot

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very boring read, it took more than 50% before I became at all interested in it. The characters were 2D, and hard to become invested it.

[Nikky3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turtles vrs cows! Who will win!!?!?!?

[Evelyn Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this book in Spain when I had nothing left to read. The early parts were entertaining, but once the group of characters piled onto their waveship, the story got boring. Characters would take turns standing at the controls or telling each other to go get some rest. This story could be improved by eliminating the girl and her Taur (bull-pet). The girl had no value except maybe some general sweetness, but otherwise provided nothing to the story. The bull-pet began interestingly enough, as almost a budhist-style character, but then just became a friendly, big "dog" with the ability to hear what they had to do next. No figuring out anything, just listen to the bull-dog guy moan about what they had to do. Oh, and the only one who could translate what he had to say was the girl. Hmmm. Dull. Enjoyed the chapters explaining the science about time and dimensions.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow building book with many characters that don't seem to fit together. I liked the chapters being followed by a scientific lecture. These snippets got easier to understand as the story progressed. I felt like time was wasted on romantic entanglements, that added nothing to the story. Overall an intriguing sci-fi opera worthy of a tv movie. I wish there was more time devoted to the machine people Daisy Fay McQueen & Marco Ramos. They were my favorite characters!

[Nat]

I was given a copy of this book over 20 years ago at a yard sale. The lady said I could have it for free if I promised to read it. Well, it took me that long, but I finally have. It was worth every penny. 😉
It was alright. Not mind-blowing, but still interesting enough. I feel like there were a few loose ends, but overall not too bad. Thanks, yard sale lady.

[Aili Alechnowicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful!!

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My prior experience with the Pohl and Williamson writing team was the YA Jim Eden Under the Sea series. Those were pretty typical for the time they were written, fast paced with a little bit of science. On a par with Heinlein, Asimov and the YA series books of the day. Singly I've read the two authors, and I think one can get a feel for the split in writing this book.

The truly hard science, most of which is presented as excerpts from university lecture tapes, deal with physics and quantum mechanics. Based off of Man Plus this seems to be the portion done mostly by Pohl. The parts sets in the "modern day" have more of Williamson's touch for pacing and character.

Lets be honest I was not expecting a 30 year old novel written, at the time, by two fairly old white males, to deal with polyamory, subjugation via commerce, and how willing humans would be to submit based on their worship of the all-mighty dollar.

At an unstated time in the future a race called the Turtles by humans makes first contact. They don't want to conqueror by force, but they are very willing to trade their superior technology for goods. To do so eventually means the end to war, most poverty, improved healthcare, and all it costs is letting the Turtles run the place on their terms.

Pretty easy roadmap to conquest? Pacify them and then take over.

But, a terrible event takes place. The Turtle home world disappears, looks like its has been destroyed, along with the lone female who can give birth to more turtles. The solution-recruit humans and their banned science to find a way yo keep the Turtles going.

What keeps this being a higher rated book is the level of characterization done for all of the humans. They're pretty much two-dimensional. The concepts, science, etc. are of much higher level than the characterization.

[Grayson Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally read this novel years ago, when it was newly published. I have since reread it about 2 or 3 times, and I've always enjoyed it. It may start off a little slow, but once the action begins, it kept me on the edge of my seat.

I also credit this book with helping me wrap my brain around the concept of quantum physics, and more specifically, string theory (it helped me grasp those concepts better when I later read Brian Greene's "The Elegant Universe" and "Fabric of the Cosmos").

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. The first half of the book's worldbuilding is overshadowed by the lack of character development later on. I understand why the book ended the way that it did (it was the whole purpose of their mission), but it felt like slowly wading through a lot of unnecessary character side conflicts just to end up going nowhere.

[Elar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked first half of the book - setup of the story and introduction to characters much more than hunting for new turtle like alien mother. Best part about the book is that it has little excerpt from nowaday physics and they are quite educational.

[Denis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Frederick Pohl’s writing and have enjoyed many Williamson stories. This was a good collaboration. I enjoyed this novel just fine. I especially loved the quantum physics lectures inserted throughout (Frederik Pohl’s contribution, I suspect). It was a little soapy in parts, yet cool that there was a Dyson Sphere involved in it at some point… a Good enough Read.

[Kevin Reynaga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tengo una tortuga, en general me gustó pero muchas partes son lentas. La explicación de los aiodoi y los sh'shrane me gustó mucho, mi parte favorita.

[Clayton Barr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weak characterization, but some interesting concepts. It reads rather like a young adult novel, but it's not labeled as such.

[Kevin Driskill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never say die. Even when things seem darkest there is hope at least for the singers. A rollicking joyride of a story.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good but the ending left something to be desired.

[Cristiana Facchini · Rating 5 out of 5]

E se in futuro la razza aliena dominante non fossero gli uomini ma le tartarughe, uniche resistenti alle radiazioni delle stelle?
Ma se anche loro fossero sull'orlo dell'estinzione?
E la fisica quantistica come mai non si può più nè insegnare nè leggere perchè eretica?

Un viaggio pazzesco, letteralmente cavalcando le onde del tempo.
Un mix perfetto fra scienza, profezie e Prescelti, alieni più o meno amichevoli e gli umani che, scusate, ci fanno poi sempre la figura dei migliori.

[Nathan Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is classic early 80's style SF with Williamson/Pohl's classic humor mixed with hard SF issues.

The "Turtles" came to Earth in the latter part of the 20th century, picking up a few isolated humans near death to learn everything they could about the human race. Then they came down with a plan - to eliminate war and poverty though trade. With their wealth and technology, they conquered the planet with kindness.

Now, a hundred years later, humans live in peace and prosperity.. but without their own developments in science and technology, human science having been eclipsed by the more advanced technology of the Turtles... until a disaster strikes the Turtles home world.. and only the heretical ideas of Earth's 20th century astrophysicists can save the day.

At its core, this is a hard SF adventure novel - with each chapter interspersed by late 20th century university lectures on the nature of the universe and its creation. The main characters are somewhat flat, however, and the writing style somewhat dated. The characterizations are more reminiscent of early Perry Mason novels than anything else that comes to mind.

Overall, an entertaining and lightly humorous novel that combines a fun adventure to save the multi-verse with deep conceptualization on the nature of the Universe itself.

[Rhys Galloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

The singers of Time takes a interesting look on what would happen if an alien race encountered us. In the story, earth has been in some ways sold, to an extremely advanced race of aliens which us humans call the turtles. Through trade they have bought off all of our weapons, they convinced us that nations were no longer important, and forced us to stop all earthly science and religion.

The story begins when the single female of the turtle race dies. The once all powerful turtles have to turn to human help to find a new mother. Since I don't want to give to much away and ruin a good story I'll just tell you that the search for a new mother takes a group of humans and a pair of turtles on a wild adventure through space and time.

[Lyl Lyl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, this book had some creative elements, and some fun intertwining of space and time theory, but overall, I was very disappointed. This book was obviously written for adults, yet it had more repetition than a child's book. The editing was a little lack luster, and the ending very much so. The overall story could have been great, if you just didn't have to read the exact same thing stated and re stated over and over again, nor, the over-explanation of emotions or situations, that detracted from the moment. I had to make myself finish this book, which hasn't happened in a LONG time.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pohl's collaborations are not as cohesive as his solo efforts. Mars Plus and this book are co-written examples that read like they were written by two authors. It's true, but that's probably not what co-authors want in a finished product.

I enjoyed the book, but it is too long by about 50 pages. The science is fun, but the love story is too much soap/space opera silliness with a twist but no payoff.

[Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very average, predictable science fiction novel. Its redeeming quality is the attempt to explain quantum physics in the context of the story.

[Scythan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthwhile read.

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good old-fashioned idea novel.

[Otonashi Taiho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Развива въображението. Препоръчвам.

[Nachtkind · Rating 3 out of 5]

three and a half stars really

[Dnabgeek · Rating 3 out of 5]

my review can be found here: http://obsessivebookworm.wordpress.co...