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Einstein's Bridge
In 2004 in a possible universe, the DOE’s Superconducting Supercollider has been constructed in Waxahachie, Texas and is beginning operation, making unintended trans-dimensional signals that are being received in other universes and are attracting the attention of powerful and intelligent aliens, benevolent and hostile. This is a novel about cutting-edge physics, alien contact, wormholes, time travel, the politics of large-scale physics, and the race to change history and prevent the destruction of humanity.
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First published January 1, 1997
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About the author
John G. Cramer
136 books21 followersJohn G. Cramer is a professor of physics at the University of Washington in Seattle, the United States. When not teaching, he works with the STAR (Solenoidal Tracker At RHIC) detector at the new Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the particle accelerator at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. He is currently engaged in experiments at the University of Washington to test retrocausality by using a version of the delayed choice quantum eraser without coincidence counting. This experiment, if successful, would imply that entanglement can be used to send a signal instantaneously between two distant locations (or a message backwards in time from the apparatus to itself). Such "spooky communication" experiments have never been successfully conducted, and only attempted a limited number of times, since most physicists believe that they would violate the no-communication theorem. However, a small number of scientists (Cramer among them) believe that there is no physical law prohibiting such communication.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
September 17, 2020
My 1998 booklog:
In an alternate universe, the Superconducting Supercollider was finished in Texas. Hijinks ensue.....
2020 reread:
Rather than writing a full review, I will point you to Christian Weisgerber's, http://sites.inka.de/mips/reviews/Ein... -- the best I saw online. In fact, it may well have been his review that led me to read it. Start here.
Another good review: https://www.sfsite.com/05b/bridge01.htm
My comments:
The book held up pretty well. If you are looking for a character-driven SF novel, this isn't it. The physics extrapolations are accurate and fun. The author gives a detailed discussion of what's fictional and what's not in an extensive appendix. You won’t be surprised to learn that the Truth about Quantum Physics turns out to be the author’s own theory — which has been published in a reputable journal. Some of the fictional inventions: reading and writing your own genome! -- you will hope they happen. And the story of that one is very nice, indeed. Plus: high density magnetic batteries! And more stuff that would revolutionize the world if they happen. This one will appeal to Hard SF fans (me, me!)
The parts that didn’t hold up were the slow start (just be patient) and the political shenanigans in the last third (which I wish he’d skipped). I think this would have been a better (and shorter) book had he ended with the Hive defeated, happy ending, The End. Anyway, for the book at hand: 3.5 stars, courtesy round up (since there's so little decent hard SF around.)
I read the ebook from our library, so check yours if this sounds like your sort of book. Used mmpbs are inexpensive, but lack the appendix, I think. Ah, here it is online, thanks to another Goodreads reviewer: http://faculty.washington.edu/jcramer...
Author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G....
I didn’t realize that Kathryn Cramer, widow of David G. Hartwell , was his daughter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn...
In an alternate universe, the Superconducting Supercollider was finished in Texas. Hijinks ensue.....
2020 reread:
Rather than writing a full review, I will point you to Christian Weisgerber's, http://sites.inka.de/mips/reviews/Ein... -- the best I saw online. In fact, it may well have been his review that led me to read it. Start here.
Another good review: https://www.sfsite.com/05b/bridge01.htm
My comments:
The book held up pretty well. If you are looking for a character-driven SF novel, this isn't it. The physics extrapolations are accurate and fun. The author gives a detailed discussion of what's fictional and what's not in an extensive appendix. You won’t be surprised to learn that the Truth about Quantum Physics turns out to be the author’s own theory — which has been published in a reputable journal. Some of the fictional inventions: reading and writing your own genome! -- you will hope they happen. And the story of that one is very nice, indeed. Plus: high density magnetic batteries! And more stuff that would revolutionize the world if they happen. This one will appeal to Hard SF fans (me, me!)
The parts that didn’t hold up were the slow start (just be patient) and the political shenanigans in the last third (which I wish he’d skipped). I think this would have been a better (and shorter) book had he ended with the Hive defeated, happy ending, The End. Anyway, for the book at hand: 3.5 stars, courtesy round up (since there's so little decent hard SF around.)
I read the ebook from our library, so check yours if this sounds like your sort of book. Used mmpbs are inexpensive, but lack the appendix, I think. Ah, here it is online, thanks to another Goodreads reviewer: http://faculty.washington.edu/jcramer...
Author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G....
I didn’t realize that Kathryn Cramer, widow of David G. Hartwell , was his daughter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn...
January 6, 2009
This is a book of hard science fiction written by a physicist who really should have hired a ghost writer. It's an interesting concept but too frequently reads like a textbook on theoretical physics. The characters are two dimensional and thoroughly unbelievable and the pacing is terrible.
In this 300 page book, the characters are all unaware of the conflict until about 100 pages in and the climax happens roughly 100 pages from the end. In the hands of a more skilled writer the 100 page epilogue could have been an political-thriller sequel with a sci-fi twist, but in Cramer's novel it is instead a further lesson in physics. In the last dozen pages or so he steps away from the science lesson in order to deliver via his main character, a diatribe about Washington's failure to adequately support American scientists.
In this 300 page book, the characters are all unaware of the conflict until about 100 pages in and the climax happens roughly 100 pages from the end. In the hands of a more skilled writer the 100 page epilogue could have been an political-thriller sequel with a sci-fi twist, but in Cramer's novel it is instead a further lesson in physics. In the last dozen pages or so he steps away from the science lesson in order to deliver via his main character, a diatribe about Washington's failure to adequately support American scientists.
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June 29, 2022This one takes me back. I read it around the time the paperback was published (circa 1997 or possibly '98,) and I remember struggling at first, but enjoying it overall. More than I thought I would, in fact. But other than a couple details, I'm drawing a blank. I want to reread it now, for sure.
June 23, 2009
Fun stuff! Lots of detailed physics. Better biology this time around, too.
Time travel is, of course, hugely overdone in sci-fi--it's way too handy as part of a plot. But here it's just one aspect of the story, as well as very nicely done.
I love Cramer's voice! He's a sensible scientist who doesn't take himself too seriously, and his characters are people I would have lots in common with.
Things get a little over the top at the end. The power that the characters wield--my goodness, I kept thinking of "absolute power corrupts absolutely", but those few with power used it only for good, with no struggles or second thoughts. While Cramer is great with the science, has an interesting plot, and creates characters with tons of curiosity and logic, he's a little lacking when it comes to complex motivations.
Still lots of fun, though.
Time travel is, of course, hugely overdone in sci-fi--it's way too handy as part of a plot. But here it's just one aspect of the story, as well as very nicely done.
I love Cramer's voice! He's a sensible scientist who doesn't take himself too seriously, and his characters are people I would have lots in common with.
Things get a little over the top at the end. The power that the characters wield--my goodness, I kept thinking of "absolute power corrupts absolutely", but those few with power used it only for good, with no struggles or second thoughts. While Cramer is great with the science, has an interesting plot, and creates characters with tons of curiosity and logic, he's a little lacking when it comes to complex motivations.
Still lots of fun, though.
July 6, 2022
My brain is Quantum expanding! Review to come.
October 17, 2013
(Warning: this review contains mild spoilers!)
Einstein's Bridge is a novel about ideas, and on the basis of its ideas it works pretty well. I don't think it's giving anything away to mention that the story deals with contact with an alien species, and in some ways the aliens do what one would expect them to do in such a story; but I thought that the plot twist concerning that species' relationship to Earth was interesting. Similarly, the story introduces us to a world in which the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) project was not cancelled but instead went on to become fully functional. I wondered for a while why the story had that discrepancy with the real world, and I was pleased to discover that that question was resolved before the end of the book.
This book adds the subtitle: "A novel of hard science fiction." Claims like that are problematic, I think, because they invite the reader to judge the story on that basis. I'll take the author's word for it that his writing about details of high-energy physics are "hard" (i.e., accurate and more or less adhering to actual science), but it's difficult to carry that claim out to other realms of science addressed in the story; details of the aliens' contact with humanity, for example, take a number of convenient (and common) liberties.
Unfortunately, putting "hard science fiction" on the cover also suggests that the author's primary concern is with the ideas of the story. This is where Einstein's Bridge falls down, for while the ideas are creative, the characterization is flat. None of the characters we meet are three-dimensional. None of them show much of an emotional response to anything, even when faced with death and heroic self-sacrifice. One character, introduced early on in the story, apparently exists solely to initiate a subplot for one of the main characters; having done that, the secondary character drops out of the story very obviously and is given only one fleeting mention for the entire rest of the novel. The first version of Alice that we encounter, serving as a soft protagonist for the initial story, comes across as rather annoying and self-absorbed in her pursuit of a plot for her new thriller novel. I was relieved to find her mostly sidelined in the second half of the book, where she becomes much more palatable. I also found the various references to the works of Lewis Carroll to be a little disjointed, like a half-baked idea. If you're going to talk about Snarks for half the book, why not make the obvious connection to Boojums? I can't decide whether that omission is a missed opportunity or a stroke of subtlety on the author's part.
Einstein's Bridge is a novel about ideas, and on the basis of its ideas it works pretty well. I don't think it's giving anything away to mention that the story deals with contact with an alien species, and in some ways the aliens do what one would expect them to do in such a story; but I thought that the plot twist concerning that species' relationship to Earth was interesting. Similarly, the story introduces us to a world in which the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) project was not cancelled but instead went on to become fully functional. I wondered for a while why the story had that discrepancy with the real world, and I was pleased to discover that that question was resolved before the end of the book.
This book adds the subtitle: "A novel of hard science fiction." Claims like that are problematic, I think, because they invite the reader to judge the story on that basis. I'll take the author's word for it that his writing about details of high-energy physics are "hard" (i.e., accurate and more or less adhering to actual science), but it's difficult to carry that claim out to other realms of science addressed in the story; details of the aliens' contact with humanity, for example, take a number of convenient (and common) liberties.
Unfortunately, putting "hard science fiction" on the cover also suggests that the author's primary concern is with the ideas of the story. This is where Einstein's Bridge falls down, for while the ideas are creative, the characterization is flat. None of the characters we meet are three-dimensional. None of them show much of an emotional response to anything, even when faced with death and heroic self-sacrifice. One character, introduced early on in the story, apparently exists solely to initiate a subplot for one of the main characters; having done that, the secondary character drops out of the story very obviously and is given only one fleeting mention for the entire rest of the novel. The first version of Alice that we encounter, serving as a soft protagonist for the initial story, comes across as rather annoying and self-absorbed in her pursuit of a plot for her new thriller novel. I was relieved to find her mostly sidelined in the second half of the book, where she becomes much more palatable. I also found the various references to the works of Lewis Carroll to be a little disjointed, like a half-baked idea. If you're going to talk about Snarks for half the book, why not make the obvious connection to Boojums? I can't decide whether that omission is a missed opportunity or a stroke of subtlety on the author's part.
June 29, 2014
This story was HARD, HARD sci-fi. I very much enjoyed it, but my degree is in Math and so I was not lost in the physics and pseudo-physics discussed in the book. There were some ideas that i have never seen or heard of before used in the book. It is fun to read something that is not a rewrite of someone else's work.
October 22, 2015
I read this book every year. It's my favorite book. I own a first edition hardcover signed copy (signed twice - once generically, and a second time personalized to me).
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May 22, 2015Here's a fun little excerpt from Einstein's Gate...
"...That's the argument we're using to persuade the Food and Drug administration, so they'll approve our application for preliminary human trials to try small doses on certain retarded children, alzheimer's patients, and other that show evidence of synaptine deficiency."
'Morons and the hopelessly senile, he thought. What a waste.'
Wow... I have never wanted book characters to all die more. May there be a horrible accident at the Superconducting Supercollider that kills them all horribly and slowly. Do I really have to finish this book!?!?!?!?
"...That's the argument we're using to persuade the Food and Drug administration, so they'll approve our application for preliminary human trials to try small doses on certain retarded children, alzheimer's patients, and other that show evidence of synaptine deficiency."
'Morons and the hopelessly senile, he thought. What a waste.'
Wow... I have never wanted book characters to all die more. May there be a horrible accident at the Superconducting Supercollider that kills them all horribly and slowly. Do I really have to finish this book!?!?!?!?
November 29, 2009
This book is very fast paced hard science fiction. High energy physics and technological understanding meet doom invasion scenarios, (very well done though instead of campy) multiple main characters, time travel, and even some thoughtful social criticism toward real life politicians which gives the book a political thriller twist for the second half. Once I got going I couldn't put it down.
I'll certainly check out Twistor (also by Cramer) in the future.
I'll certainly check out Twistor (also by Cramer) in the future.
November 28, 2016
My first hard science fiction novel was a delight. Spellbinding drama in the world of scientific research combined the best of quantum physics, wormholes, aliens, and time travel. I saw elements of my college quantum physics, relativistic physics, and astrophysics; then similarities to sci-fi books I have loved: Ender’s Game – the hive, Outer Limits – aliens and parallel universes, Star Trek – wormholes, and dealing with the paradox of time travel and changing the future.
July 22, 2013
I have to say that this is one of my favorite hard Science fiction books.
If you haven't read it you should.
A note.. To become a favorite a book has to have that something special to it that makes you want to read it more then once. I have read this 3-4 times and honestly i will probably read it again 2-3 more times before i take a dirt nap.
If you haven't read it you should.
A note.. To become a favorite a book has to have that something special to it that makes you want to read it more then once. I have read this 3-4 times and honestly i will probably read it again 2-3 more times before i take a dirt nap.
March 24, 2021
The core science fictional concept was interesting, and could have made for a good novel, but the writing and structure and pacing was, at best, clumsy, and quite often just terrible. Human dialogue (particularly casual or personal dialogue) is by and large painful, either trite and tacky, or coming off like pre-rehearsed canned interviews, though in contrast to some other reviewers, I thought the science-related info-dumps were well-handled and worthwhile.
The only major female character (if any female scientists are mentioned even in the background, I missed it) is an author of pulp monster insect novels, a subplot that serves no purpose and ultimately goes no where, and mostly seems to function as the author's commentary on how he perceives popular entertainment, a sentiment I tend to agree with but in practice only served to cheapen his own novel.
It takes nearly a hundred pages to get to the heart of the plot, where things seem like they're about to get interesting, but then every worthwhile concept for the story is rushed past and glossed over in a hundred pages, leading to the last third of the story that it feels like was the author's true purpose, a hundred page diatribe about politics.
I can't recommend this, which is a shame because the Big Sci Fi Ideas of this novel are legitimately distinctive and interesting, and if some other author had taken the middle third of the story and rewrote it into a full novel it could have been great.
The only major female character (if any female scientists are mentioned even in the background, I missed it) is an author of pulp monster insect novels, a subplot that serves no purpose and ultimately goes no where, and mostly seems to function as the author's commentary on how he perceives popular entertainment, a sentiment I tend to agree with but in practice only served to cheapen his own novel.
It takes nearly a hundred pages to get to the heart of the plot, where things seem like they're about to get interesting, but then every worthwhile concept for the story is rushed past and glossed over in a hundred pages, leading to the last third of the story that it feels like was the author's true purpose, a hundred page diatribe about politics.
I can't recommend this, which is a shame because the Big Sci Fi Ideas of this novel are legitimately distinctive and interesting, and if some other author had taken the middle third of the story and rewrote it into a full novel it could have been great.
January 23, 2025
Starts as a quantum physics text book, moves to first contact thriller and then metal big apocalypse and ends with a strange future political thriller?
I enjoyed the first half but god it turned into a slog, clearly written by a professor and not an author. PASS
I enjoyed the first half but god it turned into a slog, clearly written by a professor and not an author. PASS
May 2, 2020
Einstein's Bridge begins with three intertwined plot elements -- the aliens, the scientists, and the writer of potboiler monster novels.
The Hive Mind is spreading from universe to universe, and another super-intelligent species in another universe is trying to stop them. High energy collisions in a supercollider on Eart generate signals that alert these two species of the existence of our universe and provide the information necessary to build Einstein bridges -- tunnels from their universes to ours.
Meanwhile back on Earth, scientists are struggling with problems related to the operation of the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) in Waxahachie, TX.
And a woman writer of monster scifi novels (mutant animals and instects that threaten to kill everyone) poses as a science report and thereby gains access to the SSC and gets the cooperation of the scientists. Evidence seems to indicate that ants may be eating critical components deep underground and hence causing the operational problems. That would fit in well with the kind of story she's interested in writing -- the radiation could cause mutations in those ants...
That was plent enough plot to make a novel. But in 1993, while Cramer was still working on Einstein's Bridge, Congress concelled the SSC project. So the story turned out quite a bit different than originally planned.
The benevolent aliens make contact with the scientists and offer them knowldge and expanded mental powers far beyond current capabilities, hoping to hlep them stop the Hive. But the Hive attacks sooner than exptected and destroys our universe -- all because of the SSC.
Fortunately, at the last moment, the key scientists escape to the past, and a whole new plot unfolds. Their mission now is to use what they know from the benevolent aliens to subtley, unobtrusively change the course of history -- in particular to make sure that Congress defeats the SSC and hence saves the universe.
It's a fun ride from start to finish.
The Hive Mind is spreading from universe to universe, and another super-intelligent species in another universe is trying to stop them. High energy collisions in a supercollider on Eart generate signals that alert these two species of the existence of our universe and provide the information necessary to build Einstein bridges -- tunnels from their universes to ours.
Meanwhile back on Earth, scientists are struggling with problems related to the operation of the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) in Waxahachie, TX.
And a woman writer of monster scifi novels (mutant animals and instects that threaten to kill everyone) poses as a science report and thereby gains access to the SSC and gets the cooperation of the scientists. Evidence seems to indicate that ants may be eating critical components deep underground and hence causing the operational problems. That would fit in well with the kind of story she's interested in writing -- the radiation could cause mutations in those ants...
That was plent enough plot to make a novel. But in 1993, while Cramer was still working on Einstein's Bridge, Congress concelled the SSC project. So the story turned out quite a bit different than originally planned.
The benevolent aliens make contact with the scientists and offer them knowldge and expanded mental powers far beyond current capabilities, hoping to hlep them stop the Hive. But the Hive attacks sooner than exptected and destroys our universe -- all because of the SSC.
Fortunately, at the last moment, the key scientists escape to the past, and a whole new plot unfolds. Their mission now is to use what they know from the benevolent aliens to subtley, unobtrusively change the course of history -- in particular to make sure that Congress defeats the SSC and hence saves the universe.
It's a fun ride from start to finish.
January 28, 2016
Readability 6. Rating 7. Written by a practicing physicist, this book is noted as a “novel of hard science fiction”. Very interesting genre. Cramer sets his tale in a world in which the superconducting supercollider is built, and the energies released by it attract the attention of hostile and friendly aliens from other bubble universes. As a result, this world is destroyed, and then erased, and the new world is prevented from developing the SSC by two of the protagonists, with the aid of the knowledge of the friendly aliens who tried to protect humanity. The setting, the science, the politics, the premise, and the friendly aliens are all quite compelling. The unfriendly aliens are a little cliche, and the characters, while quite sympathetic, sometimes lack depth and occasionally fail to maintain credibility - as if Cramer wanted to move ahead with the plot even if it meant skipping by some interactions that could have added a great deal of depth and verisimilitude. All in all, tho, a very good effort. I will continue to watch both the genre and Cramer going forward.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2018
If your a fan of hard science fiction stories, then this is a definite must read.
Professor Cramer concise approach deals with the subjects of alternate realities, time travel, genetic manipulations, search for and first contact with multiple alien species, causes and effects involving domestic and international politics, future WMDs and finally nano-technology is a lot to put on one's plate. But Cramer handles this masterfully wonderfully spinning tales of alien invasions attempts.
The hard scientific jargon is not overwhelming and is sprinkle sporadically within the novel, just enough to flavor the story. Knowledge about the terminology is not necessary, context can be inferred via usage and once established is revisited multiple times so if it flies over your head in the initial use encounter, by the second or third time used its meaning is well understood.
Professor Cramer concise approach deals with the subjects of alternate realities, time travel, genetic manipulations, search for and first contact with multiple alien species, causes and effects involving domestic and international politics, future WMDs and finally nano-technology is a lot to put on one's plate. But Cramer handles this masterfully wonderfully spinning tales of alien invasions attempts.
The hard scientific jargon is not overwhelming and is sprinkle sporadically within the novel, just enough to flavor the story. Knowledge about the terminology is not necessary, context can be inferred via usage and once established is revisited multiple times so if it flies over your head in the initial use encounter, by the second or third time used its meaning is well understood.
October 7, 2013
A solid and entertaining hard science fiction novel by a well-known professional physicist: alternate histories, good aliens, bad aliens, super technologies, magic genetics and quantum communications, and the destruction of humanity by monster bugs, undone by intrepid inter-universal travelers.
http://skefia.com/2013/10/07/einstein...
http://skefia.com/2013/10/07/einstein...
to-read-5-planning-on-it
March 5, 2010The hardcover version included an afterword and glossary. These may be found online: http://faculty.washington.edu/jcramer...
The author's site: http://faculty.washington.edu/jcramer/
The author's site: http://faculty.washington.edu/jcramer/
June 28, 2013
Read this book when I first moved to Texas and was fascinated to learn that a supercollider was supposed to be built nearby but construction was halted. This is the [fictional] story of why it didn't get built, and it is a fun read.
February 17, 2010
An interesting story using Einstein-Rosen bridges to connect multiple universes and alien races together, some benevolent and some malevolent.
May 2, 2013
super fun, super deep science, pretty compelling story
October 18, 2018
I bought this book because it was referenced in a Wikipedia article about a quantum physics idea that I was interested in. (I don't remember what.) Before starting it, I opened it up randomly to a couple different spots, and the writing was so bad I decided not to read the book. Honestly, I'm not even passing it on... I'm recycling it.
Here are the two excerpts:
page 15
page 110
Here are the two excerpts:
page 15
"I'm single" said Roger. "In the U.K. I had rooms at Cambridge before coming to CERN." Roger felt a twinge that might have been guilt. He never mentioned King's Lynn, where he'd spent the first ten years of his life in near poverty. "Now I have a nice flat in a housing complex in St. Genis, across in France. It's near a wooded area with a path beside a stream where I like to walk, and my flat has a pleasant view of the Jura Mountains. As a theorist it would have appealed to me to live in a town named Thoiry, which is just down the road, but I couldn't afford the rents there. How's the housing situation at the SCC? Where do people live?"
page 110
The warm water felt wonderful. He turned his body slowly under the stream, thinking. He would need to talk to someone about this Snark thing very soon. Alice was fine, it had been nice having breakfast with her and discussing the Snark. She was excited and acted almost proprietary about the thing, and she was going to come to his office this afternoon to discuss it further. And they had another dinner date for tomorrow night. But at the moment George needed to talk to someone who knew some physics. Preferably, more physics than himself, which narrowed the choices considerably. Who...?
June 4, 2017
The author sets his book in and around the Superconducting Supercollider in Waxahachie but admits in a prologue he had to rewrite it after Congress cancelled the project in a fit of pique. It shows. The book reads like parts of three books cut up and randomly jammed together. The entire first half is taken up with introducing the three main characters and endless, mind-numbing, exposition on subatomic physics, most of which has absolutely nothing to do with the plot and is offered almost exclusively in the most annoying "well, as you know, Greg" style. By the time the story actually gets started, the reader is already exhausted. Then it shifts to an extremely unconvincing political potboiler where the heroes perform everything absolutely perfectly without a single misstep or setback. Overall, disappointing.
June 23, 2023
Help me read more books
Interesting story. I especially like the appendendicies at the end explaining the science and politics of the story. That all by itself was fascinating reading.
The story also didn't really explain why it was the original occurrence couldn't happen anyway even without the construction of the super collider. I don't know if this was deliberate (as may have been hinted by the last chapter), or if it was simply an oversight. The reader is led to believe all is solved, then there's a (small) glimpse of what might happen anyway. It leads to interesting speculation on the world introduced in the story.
Anyway, a nice story for many scifi fans.
Interesting story. I especially like the appendendicies at the end explaining the science and politics of the story. That all by itself was fascinating reading.
The story also didn't really explain why it was the original occurrence couldn't happen anyway even without the construction of the super collider. I don't know if this was deliberate (as may have been hinted by the last chapter), or if it was simply an oversight. The reader is led to believe all is solved, then there's a (small) glimpse of what might happen anyway. It leads to interesting speculation on the world introduced in the story.
Anyway, a nice story for many scifi fans.
December 28, 2020
I need to re-read this book after reading the other reviews, as my intuition says a lot of the criticisms are very valid. I read it first 15 or so years ago in middle school, so I was not very critical at the time and may have missed several problems. That being said, I gave the book 5 stars because it was very influential about how I think about sci-fi and the world in general. This is mostly due to a small-ish plot device, namely the nano-machines the main characters are given that allow them to modify their bodies at will.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2021
I've read this book three times in the past 20 years and each time I run across it again I forget that I've read it and read it again. I finally figured out why this is. The ending is forgettable.
I do enjoy the science. This is what they call a hard science science fiction book. And the story is certainly imaginative. But the ending was very weak. It felt like it needed another chapter, or maybe another volume. But overall reading Einstein's Bridge is thoroughly enjoyable and I look forward to forgetting that I've read it again!
I do enjoy the science. This is what they call a hard science science fiction book. And the story is certainly imaginative. But the ending was very weak. It felt like it needed another chapter, or maybe another volume. But overall reading Einstein's Bridge is thoroughly enjoyable and I look forward to forgetting that I've read it again!
November 15, 2024
I enjoyed this book on several fronts, but still it's nowhere near the kind of quality writing I look for in this genre, so.. four stars. I actually worked at the Fermilab accelerator in 1993 when the SSC was cancelled, and so a lot of this was very familiar and fascinating for that reason. I really liked the central idea of the book and thought that made up for a lot of pretty flat writing. I also appreciated the fact that he is actually a physicist with experience in this area, so his descriptions and ideas around the science fiction were pretty compelling most of the time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2021
Endless Exposition: The Novel
Part of the second star that this novel gets is the creative way in which the author avoids adding any excitement to the novel. Cramer works hard to steer clear of having any action, preferring instead to have characters tediously describe everything that has happened (or will happen). He manages to only include action for about 10 pages, and it is an incredible feat.
Part of the second star that this novel gets is the creative way in which the author avoids adding any excitement to the novel. Cramer works hard to steer clear of having any action, preferring instead to have characters tediously describe everything that has happened (or will happen). He manages to only include action for about 10 pages, and it is an incredible feat.
June 3, 2024
If you like Hard Science fiction, you will like this. It's an interesting premise and the execution of the book is good. The characters are a little flat and one area of the book that could be improved, but the story and science behind it make up for that in my opinion. It's been a while since I read this book, but I just read Fermi's Question which is good also so I'm re-reading this one.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews