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Hardfought/Cascade Point
Together in one volume: two award-winning stories by two bestselling authors, providing double the excitement. Authors Greg Bear (Eon) and Timothy Zahn (The Last Command) provide non-stop, heart-pounding action that will keep readers on edge until the final page.
192 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 1988
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118 people want to read
About the author
Greg Bear
231 books2,097 followersGreg Bear was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict (Forge of God books), parallel universes (The Way series), consciousness and cultural practices (Queen of Angels), and accelerated evolution (Blood Music, Darwin’s Radio, and Darwin’s Children). His last work was the 2021 novel The Unfinished Land. Greg Bear wrote over 50 books in total.
(For a more complete biography, see Wikipedia.)
(For a more complete biography, see Wikipedia.)
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 20, 2022
This is the second book in Tor's double series, in which two novellas were published back-to-back in reverse of one another, each with its own cover, in the style of the old Ace doubles. This one was a really neat idea; both stories were originally published in 1983, and Bear's Hardfought won the Nebula Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America for best novella of the year while Zahn's Cascade Point won the Hugo Award for best novella as voted on by members of the World SF Convention. Both are speculative hard-science works. In Hardfought we have a war involving aliens and post-humans set many thousands of years in the future. Bear did an excellent job of making both sets truly alien, but in so doing he made up words and concepts so far-out that I couldn't follow it too well. I just wasn't sure what was going on much of the time. Zahn's Cascade Point is one of my favorites, in which alternate realities meet in hyper-space. There were a few points that didn't quite convince me, but it's a good story with sympathetic characters, a suspenseful plot, and some thought-provoking ideas. I rated the former at two and the latter a four.
January 15, 2019
This is Tor Double #2, of a series of 36 double books published from 1988 to 1991 by Tor Books. It contains two novellas, bound together tête-bêche in mass market paperback – back-to-back, inverted, with two front covers and both titles on the spine. The novellas are listed here alphabetically by author; neither should be considered “primary.”
Hardfought, Greg Bear (1983)
This was originally published in the February 1983 issue of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and won the 1984 Nebula Award in the novella category. Told in alternating form, Hardfought follows two story lines. On one side, Aryz, a branch mind of the Senexi tasked with discovering a way to communicate with the humans they’ve recently captured so as to fight their species. On the other side is Prufax, a post-human fighter being trained in the ways of war against the Senexi. Primed for her first battle, little does she know she will soon meet Aryz on his turf - a gas planet. Be aware that hard-sf emphasizes concept over character.
Cascade Point, by Timothy Zahn (1983)
This was originally published in the December 1983 issue of Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact Magazine, and won the 1984 Hugo Award in the novella category. Faster-than-light travel is accomplished by moving through the nodal points of reality straining the mental and physical stamina of the pilot. Durriken, captain of Aura Beauty, is planning to make a delivery with his run-down interstellar freighter, but things quickly go wrong. Two of the passengers, a psychologist and his patient, have requested permission to stay awake during the cascade point transfer, typically only the captain remains conscious. Durriken grants them permission, but upon exiting nodal travel the crew discovers the planet they have arrived at is not the one they intended. Be aware that hard-sf emphasizes concept over character.
Hardfought, Greg Bear (1983)
This was originally published in the February 1983 issue of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and won the 1984 Nebula Award in the novella category. Told in alternating form, Hardfought follows two story lines. On one side, Aryz, a branch mind of the Senexi tasked with discovering a way to communicate with the humans they’ve recently captured so as to fight their species. On the other side is Prufax, a post-human fighter being trained in the ways of war against the Senexi. Primed for her first battle, little does she know she will soon meet Aryz on his turf - a gas planet. Be aware that hard-sf emphasizes concept over character.
Cascade Point, by Timothy Zahn (1983)
This was originally published in the December 1983 issue of Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact Magazine, and won the 1984 Hugo Award in the novella category. Faster-than-light travel is accomplished by moving through the nodal points of reality straining the mental and physical stamina of the pilot. Durriken, captain of Aura Beauty, is planning to make a delivery with his run-down interstellar freighter, but things quickly go wrong. Two of the passengers, a psychologist and his patient, have requested permission to stay awake during the cascade point transfer, typically only the captain remains conscious. Durriken grants them permission, but upon exiting nodal travel the crew discovers the planet they have arrived at is not the one they intended. Be aware that hard-sf emphasizes concept over character.
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September 24, 2013Hardfought
Hardfought by Greg Bear was nominated the Hugo Award for Best Novella and won the Nebula Award for Best Novella in 1984. The events of the novel take place in the far, far future, where what we know of humanity has become essentially unrecognizable. The story goes back and forth between Aryz, a Senexi--an ancient alien species--and Prufrax, a human girl who is growing up and being tailored to fight.
The text is densely written and makes no apologies about being so. Some of the language is difficult to grasp even, until you learn to make a cognitive leap. I think Bear wanted to be purposively disruptive to create a distance between the reader and the events related in the story.
The Senexi are very alien. A hive mind of a sort and not based on a carbon lifeform. Aryz is tasked with understanding humans, and in doing so it is recognized that he will be corrupted and will die, but the Senexi are grappling with how to fight humanity. Prufrax in her own way is being led to understand the Senexi. She hates initially because that's what she has learned, but under the care of a mentor, Prufrax learns of humanity's history and strives to understand better the Senexi. This is a story that is best appreciated by reading it, letting the piling up of details and character development make the connections. Well worth the read.
Cascade Point
Pall Durriken is captain of a low-class passenger starship called the Aura Dancer. In Cascade Point, interstellar travel is accomplished via a hyperspace of some sort called Colloton space. One aspect of this space is that those who are awake during it witness themselves in parallel universes stretching out infinitely. Thus, Durriken, who is awake for the first jump, witnesses himself sitting in the navigator's chair over and over again--sometimes in a luxury passenger liner's captain's uniform. The effects of Colloton space can be psychologically depressing. Fortunately, most people sleep through it or are on much more financially enriched ships that can afford an auto-navigator. Zahn goes into a lot of detail about how interstellar travel works, noting that the size of the ship, its shape, and the volume of ming metal (a alloy with specific properties) influences the jump.
When psychiatrist Dr. Hammerfeld Lanton and his patient, Rik Bradley, join the flight, however, things go awry. Lanton hopes to learn if Colloton space and assist Bradley in a recovering. He fails to note or simply doesn't know (in the novella he claims to not know) that one of his devices contains ming metal, and that unshielded ming metal results in a the Aura Dancer not just traveling through space but through universes. As the crew works to figure out how they return to their own universe, questions arise on how it will affect Bradley, who had demonstrated some improvement.
The story is quite simple in that the ship flies out and flies back and in the intervening travel determine that it has switched universes and then working their way back. Two characters are really the focus of the novella: Durriken and his first mate Alana Keal. Durriken is haunted by a rash action years before that sent him down the path, and the Colloton space luxury passenger ship version of him gives him insight into what might have happened had he acted differently. Keal is largely a mystery to her captain, who describes her as somebody that finds damaged people in an effort to fix them. Keal gravitates to Bradley.
I thought the novella missed some opportunities in really exploring having alternate realities demonstrated to you or the idea that regardless when infinite universes show all possibilities, some version of "you" made each of those decisions. Some weighty philosophical themes are possible, and though they are touched on, they do not come out in full force, for Zahn prefers to stick to mechanics of navigating Colloton space or the character's immediate actions.
The characters are finely drawn, even the minor characters. The story itself is well told, though weakened by an overly "happy" ending I think. A much younger Zahn wrote this, and you can see many of the tell-tale aspects of his later writing. Worth a read.
Hardfought by Greg Bear was nominated the Hugo Award for Best Novella and won the Nebula Award for Best Novella in 1984. The events of the novel take place in the far, far future, where what we know of humanity has become essentially unrecognizable. The story goes back and forth between Aryz, a Senexi--an ancient alien species--and Prufrax, a human girl who is growing up and being tailored to fight.
The text is densely written and makes no apologies about being so. Some of the language is difficult to grasp even, until you learn to make a cognitive leap. I think Bear wanted to be purposively disruptive to create a distance between the reader and the events related in the story.
The Senexi are very alien. A hive mind of a sort and not based on a carbon lifeform. Aryz is tasked with understanding humans, and in doing so it is recognized that he will be corrupted and will die, but the Senexi are grappling with how to fight humanity. Prufrax in her own way is being led to understand the Senexi. She hates initially because that's what she has learned, but under the care of a mentor, Prufrax learns of humanity's history and strives to understand better the Senexi. This is a story that is best appreciated by reading it, letting the piling up of details and character development make the connections. Well worth the read.
Cascade Point
Pall Durriken is captain of a low-class passenger starship called the Aura Dancer. In Cascade Point, interstellar travel is accomplished via a hyperspace of some sort called Colloton space. One aspect of this space is that those who are awake during it witness themselves in parallel universes stretching out infinitely. Thus, Durriken, who is awake for the first jump, witnesses himself sitting in the navigator's chair over and over again--sometimes in a luxury passenger liner's captain's uniform. The effects of Colloton space can be psychologically depressing. Fortunately, most people sleep through it or are on much more financially enriched ships that can afford an auto-navigator. Zahn goes into a lot of detail about how interstellar travel works, noting that the size of the ship, its shape, and the volume of ming metal (a alloy with specific properties) influences the jump.
When psychiatrist Dr. Hammerfeld Lanton and his patient, Rik Bradley, join the flight, however, things go awry. Lanton hopes to learn if Colloton space and assist Bradley in a recovering. He fails to note or simply doesn't know (in the novella he claims to not know) that one of his devices contains ming metal, and that unshielded ming metal results in a the Aura Dancer not just traveling through space but through universes. As the crew works to figure out how they return to their own universe, questions arise on how it will affect Bradley, who had demonstrated some improvement.
The story is quite simple in that the ship flies out and flies back and in the intervening travel determine that it has switched universes and then working their way back. Two characters are really the focus of the novella: Durriken and his first mate Alana Keal. Durriken is haunted by a rash action years before that sent him down the path, and the Colloton space luxury passenger ship version of him gives him insight into what might have happened had he acted differently. Keal is largely a mystery to her captain, who describes her as somebody that finds damaged people in an effort to fix them. Keal gravitates to Bradley.
I thought the novella missed some opportunities in really exploring having alternate realities demonstrated to you or the idea that regardless when infinite universes show all possibilities, some version of "you" made each of those decisions. Some weighty philosophical themes are possible, and though they are touched on, they do not come out in full force, for Zahn prefers to stick to mechanics of navigating Colloton space or the character's immediate actions.
The characters are finely drawn, even the minor characters. The story itself is well told, though weakened by an overly "happy" ending I think. A much younger Zahn wrote this, and you can see many of the tell-tale aspects of his later writing. Worth a read.
August 1, 2022
Hardfought: 2 stars
Cascade Point: 4 stars
Cascade Point: 4 stars
December 1, 2007
Part of the reason I was so hard on Cascade Point, I've realized, was that it's in my least favorite segment of speculative fiction -- the future as a simple mapping of the past* -- the starship version of a tramp steamer is even called a "tramp starmer", which really rings hollow to my ears. And it had a side helping of "the technical problem with your imaginary technology" ala the technobabble problem of the week on Star Trek: TNG. Boo, I say.
These problems are highlighted by the nature of Cascade Point's companion novella in this Tor Double -- Greg Bear's Hardfought. Hardfought is truly speculative fiction -- a look at a battle between a completely alien race and a humanity so far removed from us that they are on their way to becoming alien as well. There're plenty of universal questions pondered -- the nature and limits of war and what it means to be human -- but there's also some pretty far out stuff. I mean, there are flashbacks in this story to the year 29,000! In 85 pages, Cascade Point felt like a stretched out short story. Clocking in at 92 pages, Hardfought feels like a vast novel whizzing by.
* Which, of course, can be done well -- Firefly's future as old west, for example. But I still don't like it in general.
These problems are highlighted by the nature of Cascade Point's companion novella in this Tor Double -- Greg Bear's Hardfought. Hardfought is truly speculative fiction -- a look at a battle between a completely alien race and a humanity so far removed from us that they are on their way to becoming alien as well. There're plenty of universal questions pondered -- the nature and limits of war and what it means to be human -- but there's also some pretty far out stuff. I mean, there are flashbacks in this story to the year 29,000! In 85 pages, Cascade Point felt like a stretched out short story. Clocking in at 92 pages, Hardfought feels like a vast novel whizzing by.
* Which, of course, can be done well -- Firefly's future as old west, for example. But I still don't like it in general.
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July 5, 20161/5 Hardfought (1983) - read about 10% & gave up.
4/5 Cascade Point (1983)
4/5 Cascade Point (1983)
April 1, 2020
Greg Bear's Hardfought is packaged with Timothy Zahn's Cascade Point in this Tor Double. I read (and liked) Cascade Point in ages past so today's review will pinpoint Bear's contribution. Even though Hardfought was composed several decades ago it still holds up perfectly, both in terms of construction and theme. This is one of my favorite types of SF story, as it features truly alien aliens. Star Trek is great but typically features what I call "brow-ridge aliens" or aliens whose morphology is only slightly different than ours. (Yes Virginia I know what a special effects budget is. It just gets old after a while.) The aliens in Hardfought are radically different from humanity, both in terns of basic chemistry (their natural environment is liquid ammonia) and thought processes. This type of story can take a little extra effort to read but usually the payoff is commensurate, and that is true here. The conflict between humanity and the Senexi has continued unabated for centuries. In order to win has humanity become more like it's enemy than it realizes? Good stuff.
March 9, 2025
I picked this one up for Cascade Point, so I'll start with a review of that story.
Cascade Point is a classic sci-fi story problem, where a voyage among the stars using a particular technology (in this case one that shows possible alternate universes as a side effect) goes awry. The captain, his first mate, and their passengers have to solve the problem in order to get home safely. The characters are generally likeable, but I did find myself skimming a couple sections that got more into the technicalities of the tech. Probably something like 3.75/5 for me.
Hardfought is a far future story detailing a war between the Senexi (a gas giant based alien race) and post-humans. The basic concept of the story was OK, but the ending was telegraphed halfway through and felt a little ham-handed (spoiler, war is bad and dehumanizing your opponent leads to the loss of your humanity). Not a bad story, but I would rate it at a 3/5.
I did enjoy the shorter nature of the stories, and this book felt like reading an older era of hard sci-fi, in a good way.
Cascade Point is a classic sci-fi story problem, where a voyage among the stars using a particular technology (in this case one that shows possible alternate universes as a side effect) goes awry. The captain, his first mate, and their passengers have to solve the problem in order to get home safely. The characters are generally likeable, but I did find myself skimming a couple sections that got more into the technicalities of the tech. Probably something like 3.75/5 for me.
Hardfought is a far future story detailing a war between the Senexi (a gas giant based alien race) and post-humans. The basic concept of the story was OK, but the ending was telegraphed halfway through and felt a little ham-handed (spoiler, war is bad and dehumanizing your opponent leads to the loss of your humanity). Not a bad story, but I would rate it at a 3/5.
I did enjoy the shorter nature of the stories, and this book felt like reading an older era of hard sci-fi, in a good way.
July 6, 2018
Of the two novellas in this book, I preferred Cascade Point over Hardfought. Cascade point was a character study within a science fictional story problem. A starliner arrives at its destination only to find the planet deserted. It was thought that during the jump into hyperspace that they arrived in a parallel universe version. I'd give this story a 4.4
Hardought is about a far future war between humans and radically non-humans. This story was over-complicated to the extreme. The basic theme was that in order to have wars, one must dehumanize the opponent. Even in this case when the opponent is non- human. Even though I do like Greg Bear's writing, he over did the beginning to this story, I give it a 3.4
Hardought is about a far future war between humans and radically non-humans. This story was over-complicated to the extreme. The basic theme was that in order to have wars, one must dehumanize the opponent. Even in this case when the opponent is non- human. Even though I do like Greg Bear's writing, he over did the beginning to this story, I give it a 3.4
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December 12, 2022Hardfought: Interesting far future military sci-fi story about two entirely alien cultures (far future humans on one side, aliens from population II stars on the other) locked in endless war. Annoyingly though it doesn't actually really *go* anywhere and instead ends without things changing.
Cascade Point: Tight story about a jump drive jump gone wrong and the crew of the ship who needs to fix it. Felt like a lost Star Trek script. The only real detriment is that it relied pretty heavily on a selective blind spot and the entire issue would have been avoided with better carry-on baggage inspection.
Cascade Point: Tight story about a jump drive jump gone wrong and the crew of the ship who needs to fix it. Felt like a lost Star Trek script. The only real detriment is that it relied pretty heavily on a selective blind spot and the entire issue would have been avoided with better carry-on baggage inspection.
May 7, 2022
Cascade Point is amazing and everyone should read it. It’s sort of like psychological science fiction. But I don’t mean psychological… Like it’s into the psyches of the characters. I mean it’s like science-fiction where the science is psychology. But there’s also lots of other crazy science in it.
Hard Fought was incomprehensible and I quit reading. I’m sure I’m missing some great twist that justifies the insufferable made up slang, but I didn’t care about anything happening. So I quit.
But CASCADE POINT, bros. That’s good.
Hard Fought was incomprehensible and I quit reading. I’m sure I’m missing some great twist that justifies the insufferable made up slang, but I didn’t care about anything happening. So I quit.
But CASCADE POINT, bros. That’s good.
April 2, 2018
Two morsels of new wave SciFi. I'm both cases, the premises are compelling. Greg Bear challenges the reader to infer from a limited perspective, to some impact. Timothy Zahn's contribution feels more polished, dwelling on possibility and regret.
March 3, 2019
I enjoyed this si fi story. I am going to try more.
January 21, 2020
I struggled with this book when I first read it many years ago but it stayed in my memory. I must dig it out of my bookshelf and read read it!
September 7, 2021
Hardfought: clash of advanced human culture with methanes from galactic center.
December 31, 2023
Hardfought - 2 stars
Cascade Point - 3 and half stars
Cascade Point - 3 and half stars
May 8, 2024
Hard-fought was bad.
August 18, 2024
It's nothing special, but both stories are good reads.
February 28, 2008
Alright, I don't remember this at all but I've got a soft spot for double bks (y'know the ones where there's a novella that reads thru from one cover & then ya flip the bk & read the other novella thru from the other way) so this has got me hooked from the start. Add to that that one half is by Greg Bear. IMO Bear & Greg Egan are the 2 greats of what some people call "Hard Science" SF. Bear usually has ambitious & visionary plots that he sees thru thoroughly. Sometimes the writing's not as fluid or challenging as I'd like but the ideas are almost always special so I forgive him.
January 6, 2023
Cascade Point: At least my third time reading this novella, and I'll read it again. Cleverly plotted, space opera, good fun. Interesting concept--and side effects--of space travel, with relatable characters.
Hardfought: First read. This one's clever too but in creating a future level of humans it became unrelatable to me. Too much mental energy required to figure out what it all meant. I stuck with it to the end and eventually got it but didn't like the ending. It's worth the 5-star rating but didn't work for me.
Hardfought: First read. This one's clever too but in creating a future level of humans it became unrelatable to me. Too much mental energy required to figure out what it all meant. I stuck with it to the end and eventually got it but didn't like the ending. It's worth the 5-star rating but didn't work for me.
October 28, 2009
hardfought is the reason this book gets the 5-star special! so poetic and beautiful. it really gets my imagery going. i have to close my eyes and read about 10 times to try and see what he is describing.
January 18, 2008
I read Hardfought in another collection of Greg's. Very stretching in many respects. Definitely one of those amazing stories you keep thinking about long after you finish reading.
June 1, 2014
Hardfought Blew my mind. It starts slow, it builds the picture. This is the book i will read again.
Cascade point is an easy read, but it did not impress me
Cascade point is an easy read, but it did not impress me
September 19, 2014
Only "Cascade Point" (1983), Hugo Award winner 1984.
*3 stars!
*3 stars!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews