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Saturn Run
Fans of The Martian will enjoy this extraordinary new thriller of the future from #1 New York Times bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning author John Sandford and internationally known photo-artist and science fiction aficionado Ctein.
In 2066, a Caltech intern notices an anomaly from a space telescope—something is approaching Saturn, and decelerating. Space objects don’t decelerate. Spaceships do...
A flurry of top-level government meetings produce the inescapable Whatever built the ship is at least one hundred years ahead of our technology, and whoever can get their hands on it will have an advantage so large, no other nation can compete.
The race is on, and a remarkable adventure begins. Soon a hastily thrown-together crew finds its strength and wits tested against adversaries of this earth and beyond. So buckle up, because two perfectly matched storytellers are about to take you for a ride...
In 2066, a Caltech intern notices an anomaly from a space telescope—something is approaching Saturn, and decelerating. Space objects don’t decelerate. Spaceships do...
A flurry of top-level government meetings produce the inescapable Whatever built the ship is at least one hundred years ahead of our technology, and whoever can get their hands on it will have an advantage so large, no other nation can compete.
The race is on, and a remarkable adventure begins. Soon a hastily thrown-together crew finds its strength and wits tested against adversaries of this earth and beyond. So buckle up, because two perfectly matched storytellers are about to take you for a ride...
582 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 2015
2039 people are currently reading
8626 people want to read
About the author
John Sandford
234 books9,630 followersJohn Sandford is the pen name of John Roswell Camp, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author known for his gripping thrillers and popular crime series. After earning degrees in history, literature, and journalism from the University of Iowa, Camp began his writing career as a reporter, first at The Miami Herald and later at The Saint Paul Pioneer Press, where he earned critical acclaim for in-depth series on Native American communities and American farm life. His work won him the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 1986.
In 1989, Camp transitioned into fiction, publishing two novels: The Fool's Run under his real name and Rules of Prey under the pseudonym John Sandford. The latter launched the long-running “Prey” series, starring Lucas Davenport, a sharp, fearless investigator navigating politically sensitive crimes across Minnesota and beyond. The series grew to include spin-offs and crossovers, notably featuring characters like Virgil Flowers, a laid-back BCA agent with a sharp wit, and Letty Davenport, Lucas's equally determined daughter, who stars in her own series starting in 2022.
Sandford’s books have consistently appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, with over two dozen debuting at number one. Known for his dynamic storytelling, fast pacing, and keen attention to detail, Sandford combines his journalistic roots with a gift for character-driven narratives. He remains an avid reader and outdoorsman, and continues to write compelling fiction that resonates with readers who enjoy intelligent thrillers grounded in realism and driven by memorable protagonists.
In 1989, Camp transitioned into fiction, publishing two novels: The Fool's Run under his real name and Rules of Prey under the pseudonym John Sandford. The latter launched the long-running “Prey” series, starring Lucas Davenport, a sharp, fearless investigator navigating politically sensitive crimes across Minnesota and beyond. The series grew to include spin-offs and crossovers, notably featuring characters like Virgil Flowers, a laid-back BCA agent with a sharp wit, and Letty Davenport, Lucas's equally determined daughter, who stars in her own series starting in 2022.
Sandford’s books have consistently appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, with over two dozen debuting at number one. Known for his dynamic storytelling, fast pacing, and keen attention to detail, Sandford combines his journalistic roots with a gift for character-driven narratives. He remains an avid reader and outdoorsman, and continues to write compelling fiction that resonates with readers who enjoy intelligent thrillers grounded in realism and driven by memorable protagonists.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,967 reviews
September 13, 2021
John Sandford (aka John Camp) and Ctien wrote this book in 2015. Sandford (Camp) lived in the Twin Cities from 1978 and stayed until 1990 writing for the Pioneer Press and wining the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. He’s prolific with over 50 novels written. He largely writes crime drama.
His co-writer (on “Saturn Run”) is Ctien who is a well-known photographer and writer, largely writing articles and manuals on photography. He has a double degree from Caltech in English and Physics.
I’m always a sucker for first contact stories, but I was also intrigued by this unlikely pairing of a crime author, combined with a professional photographer. The additional fact that Sandford (again aka Camp), had lived in the Twin Cities was enough for me to give it a whirl.
While I’m a confirmed science fiction fan, I usually don’t enjoy the ‘hard’ fiction side of sci-fi as much. Give me wonder, fast moving, lots of atmosphere, and big ideas and I’ll tolerate any amount of ‘handwavium’. This novel fits firmly in the hard science fiction category. The story starts with clear evidence of alien activity around Saturn, then takes well over 100 pages before the ‘Saturn Run’ even begins. Then it was another 150 pages before we arrive in Saturn’s orbit! It’s almost feels like space flight, long periods where little happens, followed by brief moments of exhilaration. I found a new trick for this novel, and I’m going to employed with every ‘hard’ sci-fi book from now on. While I read, I had Amazon Alexa play Pink Floyd and Radiohead on Pandora! This worked, it added the atmosphere that I needed. I’m not saying I disliked this book, there is much to enjoy. It just has the pacing of a typical ‘hard’ sci-fi novel.
Let me cover what I liked about this book. I did appreciate the science – orbital mechanics, spaceship drive designs, and what not. I mean I occasionally read physics books for fun. There are also several near-future ideas to make the science interesting. But it is a hit on the pacing. I also appreciated the plot – there was clearly massive work that went into the storyline. While the science slows us down, there is constant conflict added throughout. There were several strong twists towards the end, and while I guessed one or two, the story was not predictable for me. Characters are well developed and unique. Plus, you always had to lure of the ‘prize’ orbiting Saturn that helps the pages turn.
I do feel like the book has some flaws beyond the pacing. For a book that relies so much on science, I thought the technology to deal with excess heat from the propulsion system was ridiculous. I’m no scientist, but it was beyond me to believe a system like that could be developed and tested so quickly and deployed in space with relative success. While the book is never graphic, it explores some sexual situations that don’t really add to the overall plot. Finally, first contact books always have the challenge of living up to the anticipation and expectations that first contact implies. Without spoilers, I’ll say I enjoyed the scenario that was described, but I think some would be disappointed.
A slow burning, well-plotted, and researched hard sci-fi first contact novel with good character development that’s entertaining but falls short of exceeding the many works that have explored the scenario in the past.
His co-writer (on “Saturn Run”) is Ctien who is a well-known photographer and writer, largely writing articles and manuals on photography. He has a double degree from Caltech in English and Physics.
I’m always a sucker for first contact stories, but I was also intrigued by this unlikely pairing of a crime author, combined with a professional photographer. The additional fact that Sandford (again aka Camp), had lived in the Twin Cities was enough for me to give it a whirl.
While I’m a confirmed science fiction fan, I usually don’t enjoy the ‘hard’ fiction side of sci-fi as much. Give me wonder, fast moving, lots of atmosphere, and big ideas and I’ll tolerate any amount of ‘handwavium’. This novel fits firmly in the hard science fiction category. The story starts with clear evidence of alien activity around Saturn, then takes well over 100 pages before the ‘Saturn Run’ even begins. Then it was another 150 pages before we arrive in Saturn’s orbit! It’s almost feels like space flight, long periods where little happens, followed by brief moments of exhilaration. I found a new trick for this novel, and I’m going to employed with every ‘hard’ sci-fi book from now on. While I read, I had Amazon Alexa play Pink Floyd and Radiohead on Pandora! This worked, it added the atmosphere that I needed. I’m not saying I disliked this book, there is much to enjoy. It just has the pacing of a typical ‘hard’ sci-fi novel.
Let me cover what I liked about this book. I did appreciate the science – orbital mechanics, spaceship drive designs, and what not. I mean I occasionally read physics books for fun. There are also several near-future ideas to make the science interesting. But it is a hit on the pacing. I also appreciated the plot – there was clearly massive work that went into the storyline. While the science slows us down, there is constant conflict added throughout. There were several strong twists towards the end, and while I guessed one or two, the story was not predictable for me. Characters are well developed and unique. Plus, you always had to lure of the ‘prize’ orbiting Saturn that helps the pages turn.
I do feel like the book has some flaws beyond the pacing. For a book that relies so much on science, I thought the technology to deal with excess heat from the propulsion system was ridiculous. I’m no scientist, but it was beyond me to believe a system like that could be developed and tested so quickly and deployed in space with relative success. While the book is never graphic, it explores some sexual situations that don’t really add to the overall plot. Finally, first contact books always have the challenge of living up to the anticipation and expectations that first contact implies. Without spoilers, I’ll say I enjoyed the scenario that was described, but I think some would be disappointed.
A slow burning, well-plotted, and researched hard sci-fi first contact novel with good character development that’s entertaining but falls short of exceeding the many works that have explored the scenario in the past.
March 7, 2022
When I heard John Sandford announce a couple of years ago that he was writing a science-fiction novel, my first reaction was to be disappointed, principally because that meant there would be no Virgil Flowers novel published in 2015. I'm a big fan of Virgil's and I'm not that big a fan of sci-fi, so I figured that, on balance, this would be a loss. As is so often the case, though, it turns out that I was wrong. Even though this is a sci-fi tale, it has all the trademarks of a John Sandford novel, which means that it's very entertaining.
This is not a story featuring strange alien creatures from distant worlds set far out into the future. Rather, it focuses principally on people from earth on a journey through space in the relatively near future. In 2066, the United States has sophisticated space stations orbiting the earth and China, now the nation's principal superpower rival, is preparing a mission to colonize Mars. But then an intern at Caltech, running a routine check after adjustments to a space telescope, discovers an anomaly in some photographs taken in the direction of Saturn. And even someone who doesn't normally read science fiction realizes that when somebody discovers an anomaly, this is probably a pretty big deal.
And so it is.
The computers confirm that some giant object is approaching Saturn and, more important, that it's decelerating. The fact that it's slowing down can only mean that it's a spaceship of some sort--natural objects don't behave this way in space. Since this was a totally random discovery, for the moment only the U.S. realizes what has happened. Very quietly, under directions from the president, a U.S. space station is reconfigured as a space ship to go to Saturn and figure out what the hell is going on out there. The official story is that we've decided to join the Chinese on their mission to Mars, and the hope is that before the Chinese or anyone else discovers what we're really doing, the U.S. will have a head start toward Saturn and no one else will be able to do anything about it.
Those plans are upended, though, when the mysterious space vehicle leaves Saturn in a blaze of propulsion that is noticed around the world. The secret is out and the Chinese quickly repurpose their Mars expedition to go to Saturn. Thus the race is on as the two superpowers compete to see which can get to Saturn first and perhaps gain an advance in knowledge that would give them world domination for years to come and, perhaps, forever.
Sandford and his co-author Ctein, have created a great cast of characters. Fans of Sandford's will recognize the type of characters that he likes to create and will bond with them pretty quickly. Sandford's quirky humor is also on display and, while none of the cast is on a level with that F***in' Flowers, at least a couple of them are a lot of fun. The technology involved is, for the most part, based on science that is readily available now and does not require any real suspension of disbelief. No one in this book, for example, will suddenly be going into Warp Drive.
As is the case with any novel by John Sandford, the story moves at a rapid pace and the suspense is palpable. The stakes in this race are very high, and the payoff at the end is well worth waiting for. I'm really glad that I finally got around to reading this book, but that said, I'm also very happy to know that I now have a new Virgil Flowers novel waiting in the wings as well.
This is not a story featuring strange alien creatures from distant worlds set far out into the future. Rather, it focuses principally on people from earth on a journey through space in the relatively near future. In 2066, the United States has sophisticated space stations orbiting the earth and China, now the nation's principal superpower rival, is preparing a mission to colonize Mars. But then an intern at Caltech, running a routine check after adjustments to a space telescope, discovers an anomaly in some photographs taken in the direction of Saturn. And even someone who doesn't normally read science fiction realizes that when somebody discovers an anomaly, this is probably a pretty big deal.
And so it is.
The computers confirm that some giant object is approaching Saturn and, more important, that it's decelerating. The fact that it's slowing down can only mean that it's a spaceship of some sort--natural objects don't behave this way in space. Since this was a totally random discovery, for the moment only the U.S. realizes what has happened. Very quietly, under directions from the president, a U.S. space station is reconfigured as a space ship to go to Saturn and figure out what the hell is going on out there. The official story is that we've decided to join the Chinese on their mission to Mars, and the hope is that before the Chinese or anyone else discovers what we're really doing, the U.S. will have a head start toward Saturn and no one else will be able to do anything about it.
Those plans are upended, though, when the mysterious space vehicle leaves Saturn in a blaze of propulsion that is noticed around the world. The secret is out and the Chinese quickly repurpose their Mars expedition to go to Saturn. Thus the race is on as the two superpowers compete to see which can get to Saturn first and perhaps gain an advance in knowledge that would give them world domination for years to come and, perhaps, forever.
Sandford and his co-author Ctein, have created a great cast of characters. Fans of Sandford's will recognize the type of characters that he likes to create and will bond with them pretty quickly. Sandford's quirky humor is also on display and, while none of the cast is on a level with that F***in' Flowers, at least a couple of them are a lot of fun. The technology involved is, for the most part, based on science that is readily available now and does not require any real suspension of disbelief. No one in this book, for example, will suddenly be going into Warp Drive.
As is the case with any novel by John Sandford, the story moves at a rapid pace and the suspense is palpable. The stakes in this race are very high, and the payoff at the end is well worth waiting for. I'm really glad that I finally got around to reading this book, but that said, I'm also very happy to know that I now have a new Virgil Flowers novel waiting in the wings as well.
February 26, 2016
(I received a free copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for this review.)
I’ve read a lot of John Sandford novels so I was a little confused at first when there wasn’t a serial killer on the spaceship.
In the year 2066 telescopes spot what can only be an alien ship near Saturn as it docks with a previously unknown object in orbit. The governments of the United States and China both want to get there first which leads to a rushed program to quickly put together ships capable of making the long journey. Political tension and potential sabotage make the voyage into space even more dangerous as crews from both nations race to Saturn.
Sandford (Real name John Camp.) regularly puts two new crime thrillers on the best seller’s list every year so it seems a little odd that he’d forgo one of them to team up with photo-artist Ctein to do a pure sci-fi novel. However, Sandford’s bio and his books have also highlighted his interest and knowledge of subjects like art, photography, archaeology, surgery, and computer technology so it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise that his mind might turn to this kind of book outside his normal genre.
There’s an authors’ note at the end in which they explain that the core of the idea was based on needing to get to Saturn in a certain time frame. From the details in that you can tell it was the focus of their thinking on how come up with some realistic near-future spaceship propulsion methods. By working up a couple of different ways to accomplish this they set up a kind of tortoise and the hare race between the Americans and Chinese which also helps set up the drama to the story. (The authors’ note also provides a very satisfactory answer as to why they decided to name the US ship after Richard Nixon.)
It also helps that Sandford has had a lot of practice at creating characters in familiar genre situations while still making them seem like real people who all work, bitch, commiserate, screw, take drugs, drink, scheme, and joke while risking their lives as part of a potentially disastrous contest with a rival nation to try and meet some aliens.
There are a few things here that make clear that Sandford’s not working on his usual turf. One of his strengths is writing scenes in which people have to act fast when things start going wrong, and generally his pacing is nearly flawless when it comes to building tension. However, the nature of this story requires a timeline in which months of boring traveling is involved, and while they do their best to use this downtime to set up story, build characters, develop the setting, and add humor, it just doesn’t have the sense of frantic momentum that Sandford can usually deliver except for a few scenes.
Plus, this is the only book of Sandford’s I’ve read which doesn’t focus on one single lead. While Sandy Darlington seems like he’s going to be the main character at first this actually turns into much more of an ensemble book, and that added to a sense that the story is drifting at times. I also question how much time and effort was spent describing the various cameras and the best way of using them, but that’s what happens when one of your authors is a photographer.
There’s also a slight letdown related to what they discover when they get to the alien object. It’s not a complete fumble, but it does show that Sandford and Ctein put more thought into how they’d get to Saturn rather than what the characters would find when they got there.
It’s still an entertaining read with some exciting fast paced parts, but those not interested in problems like how you vent excess heat from a spaceship engine might find it a bit dull at times.
3.64 stars.
(Also posted at Kemper's Book Blog. I also wrote a similar, but different, review for the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog for which I was paid after I had written and posted this.)
I’ve read a lot of John Sandford novels so I was a little confused at first when there wasn’t a serial killer on the spaceship.
In the year 2066 telescopes spot what can only be an alien ship near Saturn as it docks with a previously unknown object in orbit. The governments of the United States and China both want to get there first which leads to a rushed program to quickly put together ships capable of making the long journey. Political tension and potential sabotage make the voyage into space even more dangerous as crews from both nations race to Saturn.
Sandford (Real name John Camp.) regularly puts two new crime thrillers on the best seller’s list every year so it seems a little odd that he’d forgo one of them to team up with photo-artist Ctein to do a pure sci-fi novel. However, Sandford’s bio and his books have also highlighted his interest and knowledge of subjects like art, photography, archaeology, surgery, and computer technology so it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise that his mind might turn to this kind of book outside his normal genre.
There’s an authors’ note at the end in which they explain that the core of the idea was based on needing to get to Saturn in a certain time frame. From the details in that you can tell it was the focus of their thinking on how come up with some realistic near-future spaceship propulsion methods. By working up a couple of different ways to accomplish this they set up a kind of tortoise and the hare race between the Americans and Chinese which also helps set up the drama to the story. (The authors’ note also provides a very satisfactory answer as to why they decided to name the US ship after Richard Nixon.)
It also helps that Sandford has had a lot of practice at creating characters in familiar genre situations while still making them seem like real people who all work, bitch, commiserate, screw, take drugs, drink, scheme, and joke while risking their lives as part of a potentially disastrous contest with a rival nation to try and meet some aliens.
There are a few things here that make clear that Sandford’s not working on his usual turf. One of his strengths is writing scenes in which people have to act fast when things start going wrong, and generally his pacing is nearly flawless when it comes to building tension. However, the nature of this story requires a timeline in which months of boring traveling is involved, and while they do their best to use this downtime to set up story, build characters, develop the setting, and add humor, it just doesn’t have the sense of frantic momentum that Sandford can usually deliver except for a few scenes.
Plus, this is the only book of Sandford’s I’ve read which doesn’t focus on one single lead. While Sandy Darlington seems like he’s going to be the main character at first this actually turns into much more of an ensemble book, and that added to a sense that the story is drifting at times. I also question how much time and effort was spent describing the various cameras and the best way of using them, but that’s what happens when one of your authors is a photographer.
There’s also a slight letdown related to what they discover when they get to the alien object. It’s not a complete fumble, but it does show that Sandford and Ctein put more thought into how they’d get to Saturn rather than what the characters would find when they got there.
It’s still an entertaining read with some exciting fast paced parts, but those not interested in problems like how you vent excess heat from a spaceship engine might find it a bit dull at times.
3.64 stars.
(Also posted at Kemper's Book Blog. I also wrote a similar, but different, review for the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog for which I was paid after I had written and posted this.)
November 25, 2015
Strong points: Characterization and the science. We can classify this pretty easily as a realistic SF, even including the the scenes of "Meet The Aliens". It's a Go To Saturn and Come Back novel, after all. No real need for anything truly out of the ordinary. After all, the novel's strong points are in its characters.
I like Sandy and Crow. What can I say? The hooks were fantastic and strange and they just kept coming, adding some truly oddball mixes to the MCs. I never once got bored with any of the peeps.
The science, on the other hand, seemed like an old primer recapitulating on all the things we need to do a run toward Saturn. I mean, I can recall the first few novels I'd read that did this. A. C. Clarke was quite fun, after all, but after the eighth... well... there's gotta be something quite good about the novel for me to care about rehashing the same science over such a long stretch of pages. There wasn't anything wrong with it that I could tell. Nothing super obvious. Hell, to me, that's just an added bonus, especially since I read SF for the stories, not always to learn something new. Consistency is truly wonderful, but consistency can be internal or universal and still make a great tale either way. This one aimed for universal, and that's great. It can be a bit boring, to be perfectly honest, but I can appreciate it.
The characters made up for most of anything that went wrong in the novel. I truly enjoyed them. Hell, I think I enjoyed all of them. The author has a talent at writing engaging characters. What I didn't appreciate so much was the rather black/white depictions of governments and government functionaries. Sure, having a villain is good, sometimes, but turning the Chinese into such an obvious black hat and relatively incompetent to boot just stretched a lot of credulity. It's the whole culture-centric thing played relatively straight for American readers, and it's so ham-fisted that the cover artist should have added some red to the design. Then we'd all know, as prospective readers, that this was obviously a propaganda piece.
Fortunately, it also pulled off a good yarn, or at least a fairly satisfying one.
All in all, the good guys win, and don't we all love a great celluloid ending?
I like Sandy and Crow. What can I say? The hooks were fantastic and strange and they just kept coming, adding some truly oddball mixes to the MCs. I never once got bored with any of the peeps.
The science, on the other hand, seemed like an old primer recapitulating on all the things we need to do a run toward Saturn. I mean, I can recall the first few novels I'd read that did this. A. C. Clarke was quite fun, after all, but after the eighth... well... there's gotta be something quite good about the novel for me to care about rehashing the same science over such a long stretch of pages. There wasn't anything wrong with it that I could tell. Nothing super obvious. Hell, to me, that's just an added bonus, especially since I read SF for the stories, not always to learn something new. Consistency is truly wonderful, but consistency can be internal or universal and still make a great tale either way. This one aimed for universal, and that's great. It can be a bit boring, to be perfectly honest, but I can appreciate it.
The characters made up for most of anything that went wrong in the novel. I truly enjoyed them. Hell, I think I enjoyed all of them. The author has a talent at writing engaging characters. What I didn't appreciate so much was the rather black/white depictions of governments and government functionaries. Sure, having a villain is good, sometimes, but turning the Chinese into such an obvious black hat and relatively incompetent to boot just stretched a lot of credulity. It's the whole culture-centric thing played relatively straight for American readers, and it's so ham-fisted that the cover artist should have added some red to the design. Then we'd all know, as prospective readers, that this was obviously a propaganda piece.
Fortunately, it also pulled off a good yarn, or at least a fairly satisfying one.
All in all, the good guys win, and don't we all love a great celluloid ending?
August 8, 2016
In the year 2066 an unidentified object is spotted approaching Saturn and slowing down speed as if to land. The government is sent into a flurry of activity trying to figure out how to build a ship that will make the journey to Saturn before the Chinese can launch their own mission in a race to see what is out there and obtain the technology that would be needed for such a ship.
I had such high hopes for this novel when I first read about it but unfortunately this is another case of it just wasn't for me. The synopsis sounded like a great sci-fi thrill ride but to me it reads more like a text book with all the technological and scientific information constantly included which made the actual story and characters get buried under my boredom of information overload.
The first half or so reminded me greatly of the space race back in the sixties where the US was in a rush to be the first into space and then to actually land on the moon. It was the gathering of the team to take on the task, the building of a ship and all that should end up exciting waiting to see if they launch and make it to space but instead it's detail after detail of every little part of the build. From there I'd hope it'd pick up but unfortunately it really didn't.
In the end just not my cup of tea but not a bad read if you like overly descriptive technological details to support a plot.
I won this book from Goodreads First Reads.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
I had such high hopes for this novel when I first read about it but unfortunately this is another case of it just wasn't for me. The synopsis sounded like a great sci-fi thrill ride but to me it reads more like a text book with all the technological and scientific information constantly included which made the actual story and characters get buried under my boredom of information overload.
The first half or so reminded me greatly of the space race back in the sixties where the US was in a rush to be the first into space and then to actually land on the moon. It was the gathering of the team to take on the task, the building of a ship and all that should end up exciting waiting to see if they launch and make it to space but instead it's detail after detail of every little part of the build. From there I'd hope it'd pick up but unfortunately it really didn't.
In the end just not my cup of tea but not a bad read if you like overly descriptive technological details to support a plot.
I won this book from Goodreads First Reads.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
June 13, 2020
4.0 Stars
This was an engrossing near-future science fiction thriller that held my attention from start to finish. The premise was SO just intriguing. I was dying to know what they would find on Saturn. I thought the characters were decent, if a little stereotypical, but they weren't the strongest aspect of the book.
Instead, what I absolutely loved about this novel was the science! Co-written by a physics major, this thriller incorporated some fascinating theories and ideas that made the story feel so credible. While there was a lot of science included in this book, it was clearly written with a wide audience in mind because everything was explained in simple ways with lots of funny analogies to make the story accessible to laypeople without a science background. At the end of the book, the authors discussed the scientific theories behind the story, which was fascinating to read. I particularly enjoyed learning how they researched orbital mechanics with software programs in order to determine the accuracies of the launch windows and travels times.
Overall I really enjoyed this one. I would recommend this book anyone who enjoys scifi thrillers. I think this one will especially appeal to readers who loved The Martian because it had a lot of the same hard science, humor and suspense.
I read this novel via audiobook, which was a fantastic experience because the narrative gave a very engaging performance.
This was an engrossing near-future science fiction thriller that held my attention from start to finish. The premise was SO just intriguing. I was dying to know what they would find on Saturn. I thought the characters were decent, if a little stereotypical, but they weren't the strongest aspect of the book.
Instead, what I absolutely loved about this novel was the science! Co-written by a physics major, this thriller incorporated some fascinating theories and ideas that made the story feel so credible. While there was a lot of science included in this book, it was clearly written with a wide audience in mind because everything was explained in simple ways with lots of funny analogies to make the story accessible to laypeople without a science background. At the end of the book, the authors discussed the scientific theories behind the story, which was fascinating to read. I particularly enjoyed learning how they researched orbital mechanics with software programs in order to determine the accuracies of the launch windows and travels times.
Overall I really enjoyed this one. I would recommend this book anyone who enjoys scifi thrillers. I think this one will especially appeal to readers who loved The Martian because it had a lot of the same hard science, humor and suspense.
I read this novel via audiobook, which was a fantastic experience because the narrative gave a very engaging performance.
February 27, 2017
I read one or two of his Lucas Davenport (Prey) series, but never managed to find them all in order so didn't read the series. Still, it was interesting & when I saw he'd written an SF book I was intrigued. Then one of my GR friends raved about it & my library had it so I took a flyer. I wasn't expecting much, but have been very pleasantly surprised.
The writing is very good; great characters, believable plot, & good SF elements. Even better, he's scattered some fun references throughout. One that made me chuckle today was Sandy reading a book by the Go master Nicholai Hel, the main character in Shibumi. There were quite a few other easter eggs like that, but some would be real spoilers. Fun!
The plot was somewhat typical, but that's not a negative. An alien craft is sighted & the world responds some 60 years into the future. China & the US are the big dogs in space, so politics flies to the forefront. Definitely realistic & not boring at all as they scramble. This plays out throughout the book in some predictable & unpredictable ways. Very well done.
Best of all was the tech. I'm no expert, but I've had a love of space all my life & read quite a few popular articles. This is 60 years in the future - enough time to allow for steady, believable progression in tech. Nothing crazy or magical. This, as much as the politics, keeps the situation tense. Very realistic to me. There was an afterword that was well worth listening to. I found out that the tech was so realistic & good because they spent hundreds of hours making sure it was.
Aliens... Can't say without a terrible spoiler, save that it was fantastically well done. Not what I expected, but it made such perfect sense that I had no trouble believing it.
I'm tempted to give this 5 stars. It's the single best first contact novel I've read in ages & it was so unexpected from a guy who cranks out a mystery thriller series even though he only co-wrote it. I really can't recommend this highly enough to all SF fans. It has humor, drama, excellent characters, a good plot, & solid tech. What more could anyone ask?
The writing is very good; great characters, believable plot, & good SF elements. Even better, he's scattered some fun references throughout. One that made me chuckle today was Sandy reading a book by the Go master Nicholai Hel, the main character in Shibumi. There were quite a few other easter eggs like that, but some would be real spoilers. Fun!
The plot was somewhat typical, but that's not a negative. An alien craft is sighted & the world responds some 60 years into the future. China & the US are the big dogs in space, so politics flies to the forefront. Definitely realistic & not boring at all as they scramble. This plays out throughout the book in some predictable & unpredictable ways. Very well done.
Best of all was the tech. I'm no expert, but I've had a love of space all my life & read quite a few popular articles. This is 60 years in the future - enough time to allow for steady, believable progression in tech. Nothing crazy or magical. This, as much as the politics, keeps the situation tense. Very realistic to me. There was an afterword that was well worth listening to. I found out that the tech was so realistic & good because they spent hundreds of hours making sure it was.
Aliens... Can't say without a terrible spoiler, save that it was fantastically well done. Not what I expected, but it made such perfect sense that I had no trouble believing it.
I'm tempted to give this 5 stars. It's the single best first contact novel I've read in ages & it was so unexpected from a guy who cranks out a mystery thriller series even though he only co-wrote it. I really can't recommend this highly enough to all SF fans. It has humor, drama, excellent characters, a good plot, & solid tech. What more could anyone ask?
January 23, 2016
DISCLAIMER- I have never been a fan of SCI-FI !
I might be changing my mind after reading THE MARTIAN and now-SATURN RUN! Since I am a big fan of John Sanford 's Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers books. After the first few chapters,I was hooked! Very entertaining and enjoyable from start to finish.
I might be changing my mind after reading THE MARTIAN and now-SATURN RUN! Since I am a big fan of John Sanford 's Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers books. After the first few chapters,I was hooked! Very entertaining and enjoyable from start to finish.
July 3, 2015
www.melissa413readsalot.blogspot.com
This book wasn't entirely a book for me. I was thinking it was going to be a whole different story about astronauts going to find this space ship and making some kind of contact with aliens. They do go and find the space ship, but that is all I'm going to say, no spoilers.
It took me a little bit to get into the book. There were a lot of slow parts for me, but this is because I'm not really into all of the technical stuff that confuse my small brain. I think this is a very good book for those die hard science fiction fans that love that kind of detail and can understand it.
There are many characters in the book and they all have detailed stories of their lives and what they bring to the mission. There are some that stick in my mind more than others.
I was thinking about giving this book 3 stars for not being able to get into a lot of the detailed stuff as I mentioned before. After reading the book, I found there were several areas that I really enjoyed, I would say the most exciting for me was the ship finally making it to Saturn and the descriptions of all that you could see.
I wasn't too thrilled with all of the fighting with the Chinese on who is getting to the space ship first and all that conspired afterward.
After reading the author's note I can see why this book was written in this format and I appreciate all of the information that he gave about these particular things. It also made me thing about the book more and change my view on my rating. Sometimes you just need someone telling things to you in a different light for you to see where they were going and I think all of the hard work put into the book deserves a better rating.
I do wish I had better brain cells to enjoy the book more, but I like I said before I enjoyed the parts I could understand.
I recommend for all of you hardcore sci fi fans, but if your looking for people going out to meet some aliens, you probably won't enjoy the book.
**I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Group for giving me a free kindle copy of this book for my honest review.**
This book wasn't entirely a book for me. I was thinking it was going to be a whole different story about astronauts going to find this space ship and making some kind of contact with aliens. They do go and find the space ship, but that is all I'm going to say, no spoilers.
It took me a little bit to get into the book. There were a lot of slow parts for me, but this is because I'm not really into all of the technical stuff that confuse my small brain. I think this is a very good book for those die hard science fiction fans that love that kind of detail and can understand it.
There are many characters in the book and they all have detailed stories of their lives and what they bring to the mission. There are some that stick in my mind more than others.
I was thinking about giving this book 3 stars for not being able to get into a lot of the detailed stuff as I mentioned before. After reading the book, I found there were several areas that I really enjoyed, I would say the most exciting for me was the ship finally making it to Saturn and the descriptions of all that you could see.
I wasn't too thrilled with all of the fighting with the Chinese on who is getting to the space ship first and all that conspired afterward.
After reading the author's note I can see why this book was written in this format and I appreciate all of the information that he gave about these particular things. It also made me thing about the book more and change my view on my rating. Sometimes you just need someone telling things to you in a different light for you to see where they were going and I think all of the hard work put into the book deserves a better rating.
I do wish I had better brain cells to enjoy the book more, but I like I said before I enjoyed the parts I could understand.
I recommend for all of you hardcore sci fi fans, but if your looking for people going out to meet some aliens, you probably won't enjoy the book.
**I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Group for giving me a free kindle copy of this book for my honest review.**
October 21, 2015
John must have wanted to challenge himself away from great characters he has created. Writing science fiction is hard and technical details tend to be boring. The plot revolves around nationalism, science fiction and is saved by its good ending. 6 of 10 stars
November 28, 2015
I have never read a book by either of these authors and had no preconceived notions of how this book should go. I picked it up solely based on reading the cover and checking the reviews. I really hated it. I finished the whole book even though I wanted to put it down numerous times. I kept wanting something, ANYTHING, to happen but it just drags on and on until it's finally over. This was definitely not my idea of a sci-fi book, it was more political to me. I'm not sure if I'll be picking a book up by either of these two authors anytime soon although I've read this is not typical of John Sandford.
July 6, 2015
Science fiction isn't really my cup of tea, and this book had a lot of technical, space jargon, which completely overwhelmed me. But finally, we got into a interesting plot line and it became much more readable.
I think i will stick with Sandford's current time frame mysteries, Lucas, Virgil the best, sci-fi... No thanks.
I think i will stick with Sandford's current time frame mysteries, Lucas, Virgil the best, sci-fi... No thanks.
November 7, 2015
A solar system exploration SF novel with a background of a future Sino-American Cold War. The Americans in a race with the Chinese to get to the Rings of Saturn and an alien presence there.
The Americans discover an object decelerating towards the Saturn system where it makes contact with something in the Rings. They are aware that the Chinese already have a Mars mission almost ready to go that's set to take a colony to Mars that could very easily be converted to something that could get to Saturn. So they hastily go about converting an orbiting US space station into a vessel that could make the trip. The race to Saturn happens with lots of events along the way and they do discover what's in the Rings.
The story is told through the viewpoints of characters that will eventually make the trip, but the real stars here are the spaceships and the propulsion technologies that they would require. It's a shame that not as much thought seemed to have gone into what life support would look like for these multi-year large man-count ships.
Overall, it's an entertaining story, and at times an emotional one, but where it falls down largely is with the politics. America good. China bad. Government corrupt and stupid. Political people psychotic. And there are (stupid) actions taken by both governments that are basically acts of war, and acts of individualism that save the day. Not really left-wing or right-wing politics, but definitely strongly libertarian.
Probably a 3.5 overall that I'm going to round up to 4 because it kept me along for the ride. Even though parts of the ride had me yelling "bulls--t!" quite loudly.
The Americans discover an object decelerating towards the Saturn system where it makes contact with something in the Rings. They are aware that the Chinese already have a Mars mission almost ready to go that's set to take a colony to Mars that could very easily be converted to something that could get to Saturn. So they hastily go about converting an orbiting US space station into a vessel that could make the trip. The race to Saturn happens with lots of events along the way and they do discover what's in the Rings.
The story is told through the viewpoints of characters that will eventually make the trip, but the real stars here are the spaceships and the propulsion technologies that they would require. It's a shame that not as much thought seemed to have gone into what life support would look like for these multi-year large man-count ships.
Overall, it's an entertaining story, and at times an emotional one, but where it falls down largely is with the politics. America good. China bad. Government corrupt and stupid. Political people psychotic. And there are (stupid) actions taken by both governments that are basically acts of war, and acts of individualism that save the day. Not really left-wing or right-wing politics, but definitely strongly libertarian.
Probably a 3.5 overall that I'm going to round up to 4 because it kept me along for the ride. Even though parts of the ride had me yelling "bulls--t!" quite loudly.
May 18, 2021
”The Nixon was more than halfway through its eighth outward-bound loop around the earth, but it would never complete the orbit. Shortly before 8 o’clock, Sandy walked through the Commons room and found Clover staring at the earth as it swept past with the rotation of the spacecraft. He was not alone. Everyone who wasn’t on duty seemed mesmerized by the shrinking earth, sliding past the window, hypnotic as a stage magician’s swinging watch...”
Oh yes, when an alien spacecraft is confirmed to be seen decelerating near Saturn, the United States is prepared; we will go out, meet this existential threat, and beat the Chinese to it on the Richard M Nixon! This is a novel about first contact set 6 or 7 decades in the future-but it is also about humans being humans. Despite the most groundbreaking scientific discovery possibly ever, the world’s largest powers (in this case the US and China), just cannot work together. So, a new space race is on. Who will win, and ultimately will politics win out over science between the two powers?
Even when totally switching up genres, John Sandford’s humor remains solidly in tact. As you can tell, Sandford stepped a bit out of his wheelhouse to bring us Saturn Run, a book that is very much hard sci-fi, but still retains a lot of what his fans love about him-fast plots with likable characters and great action. This book was co-authored by a guy named Ctein, of whom I know next to nothing about, starting with how to pronounce his name, but I’m going to guess that he provided much of the speculative science sections.
The pacing of this book is probably it’s biggest issue. The story itself feels exactly like Sandford, however throughout the first half of the book there are some pretty heavy duty infodumps; this wasn’t a huge issue for me as I found them very interesting, but it did mess with the pacing of the book a little bit. This is a book that will not hesitate to go in depth on the speculative tech used aboard the ship—it is all firmly rooted in science, and feels very realistic. This is not far future fantastical sci-fi-almost all of the tech here is stuff that is conceivable even today, and the authors have done their research. I found these parts fascinating but like I said, it does slow down the book. On a bonus note, I found one of the main characters, Sandy, so reminiscent of Virgil Flowers that I actually began to imagine him as the same character, which was great as Virgil is my favorite Sandford character.
Overall, we get tons of insight on the future of space travel, as well as one potential way it could play out geopolitically-and for a sci-fi book, I actually found there to be very little suspension of disbelief, and I mean that as a huge compliment. It all felt very realistic. We’re also treated to beautiful images of life aboard an interplanetary rotating spaceship, and it brought back much of the wonder and fascination with space that I’ve had since I was a kid. This book may have disappointed some of Sandford’s fans who were expecting another Virgil or Lucas book that year, which I get, but I gotta say that I really enjoyed this book. Sandford did a great job proving he can write other genres well, and while it’s unlikely, I would read another sci-fi book by this pair in a second.
Oh yes, when an alien spacecraft is confirmed to be seen decelerating near Saturn, the United States is prepared; we will go out, meet this existential threat, and beat the Chinese to it on the Richard M Nixon! This is a novel about first contact set 6 or 7 decades in the future-but it is also about humans being humans. Despite the most groundbreaking scientific discovery possibly ever, the world’s largest powers (in this case the US and China), just cannot work together. So, a new space race is on. Who will win, and ultimately will politics win out over science between the two powers?
Even when totally switching up genres, John Sandford’s humor remains solidly in tact. As you can tell, Sandford stepped a bit out of his wheelhouse to bring us Saturn Run, a book that is very much hard sci-fi, but still retains a lot of what his fans love about him-fast plots with likable characters and great action. This book was co-authored by a guy named Ctein, of whom I know next to nothing about, starting with how to pronounce his name, but I’m going to guess that he provided much of the speculative science sections.
The pacing of this book is probably it’s biggest issue. The story itself feels exactly like Sandford, however throughout the first half of the book there are some pretty heavy duty infodumps; this wasn’t a huge issue for me as I found them very interesting, but it did mess with the pacing of the book a little bit. This is a book that will not hesitate to go in depth on the speculative tech used aboard the ship—it is all firmly rooted in science, and feels very realistic. This is not far future fantastical sci-fi-almost all of the tech here is stuff that is conceivable even today, and the authors have done their research. I found these parts fascinating but like I said, it does slow down the book. On a bonus note, I found one of the main characters, Sandy, so reminiscent of Virgil Flowers that I actually began to imagine him as the same character, which was great as Virgil is my favorite Sandford character.
Overall, we get tons of insight on the future of space travel, as well as one potential way it could play out geopolitically-and for a sci-fi book, I actually found there to be very little suspension of disbelief, and I mean that as a huge compliment. It all felt very realistic. We’re also treated to beautiful images of life aboard an interplanetary rotating spaceship, and it brought back much of the wonder and fascination with space that I’ve had since I was a kid. This book may have disappointed some of Sandford’s fans who were expecting another Virgil or Lucas book that year, which I get, but I gotta say that I really enjoyed this book. Sandford did a great job proving he can write other genres well, and while it’s unlikely, I would read another sci-fi book by this pair in a second.
February 21, 2017
“We got three hundred contingency plans, and not a single one for a f****n’ soap opera.”
I have been a John Sandford fan for years. I haven't read all of his books but I have read a goodly number of books in his Lucas Davenport series and his Virgil Flowers series. I like his writing style and the way he draws his readers into his stories.
So, for me, it was a no brainer when I heard about his new stand-alone book about space travel. I like space travel, space opera books as long as there are people's stories involved, not just hard science.
SATURN RUN was a fun read. It starts off in 2066 - fifty years in the future to allow rocket science to advance enough to make a manned space flight to Saturn a possibility in a much shorter time frame.
Sanders Heacock Darlington aka Sandy is a long-haired surfer beach bum type and is always late to his low status job at the Caltech Astrophysics Working Group. But he's the one who sees something totally unexpected on photos of Saturn - an extraordinarily huge spaceship - and makes the find of history.
So the race is on between the United States and China to get to Saturn and see what this spaceship is doing there.
There is a lot of science in this book but co-authors Sandford and Ctein make it readable and pretty easy to understand.
There are also a number of characters involved - scientists, engineers, military, a news correspondent and many more, including Sandy.
Great fun, well-developed characters, and I recommend this to sci fi fans of all kinds. I think there's enough in this story to satisfy most readers in this genre.
I have been a John Sandford fan for years. I haven't read all of his books but I have read a goodly number of books in his Lucas Davenport series and his Virgil Flowers series. I like his writing style and the way he draws his readers into his stories.
So, for me, it was a no brainer when I heard about his new stand-alone book about space travel. I like space travel, space opera books as long as there are people's stories involved, not just hard science.
SATURN RUN was a fun read. It starts off in 2066 - fifty years in the future to allow rocket science to advance enough to make a manned space flight to Saturn a possibility in a much shorter time frame.
Sanders Heacock Darlington aka Sandy is a long-haired surfer beach bum type and is always late to his low status job at the Caltech Astrophysics Working Group. But he's the one who sees something totally unexpected on photos of Saturn - an extraordinarily huge spaceship - and makes the find of history.
So the race is on between the United States and China to get to Saturn and see what this spaceship is doing there.
There is a lot of science in this book but co-authors Sandford and Ctein make it readable and pretty easy to understand.
There are also a number of characters involved - scientists, engineers, military, a news correspondent and many more, including Sandy.
Great fun, well-developed characters, and I recommend this to sci fi fans of all kinds. I think there's enough in this story to satisfy most readers in this genre.
November 20, 2015
When I read a sci-fi book, I'm looking for a balance among the plot, the science, and the characters. Is there any reason for me to care about what might happen to the characters?
This book was a great ride. I cared about the characters, I loved the science. I especially liked the way that they made a whiz-bang kind of propulsion system to go to Saturn and back.
There was also a fundamental conflict between the Americans and the Chinese. I mean, sure, they were competing, but the conflict was one about whether they SHOULD be cooperating as humans, or competing as nations.
I thought it was kind of sad that the expectation that Americans would try to get an advantage over the rest of Earth was a given, to the point that it would be an accepted plot element. We really ought to think about humanity more than nationality, was the way I felt after thinking it over.
But you don't have to take this book that seriously. The dialog is snappy, and the characters are lots of fun. One of my favorites, John Clover, was a former NFL lineman who liked to cook cajun and was a world-class anthropologist and cat-lover. And doper. Like I said, it's a fun ride to Saturn, where you wonder about the aliens, the future of humans, and how cool the spaceship is.
I loved it. I'd like to read a sequal (oops. sequel).
(I too got a free advance reader copy in exchange for a review)
This book was a great ride. I cared about the characters, I loved the science. I especially liked the way that they made a whiz-bang kind of propulsion system to go to Saturn and back.
There was also a fundamental conflict between the Americans and the Chinese. I mean, sure, they were competing, but the conflict was one about whether they SHOULD be cooperating as humans, or competing as nations.
I thought it was kind of sad that the expectation that Americans would try to get an advantage over the rest of Earth was a given, to the point that it would be an accepted plot element. We really ought to think about humanity more than nationality, was the way I felt after thinking it over.
But you don't have to take this book that seriously. The dialog is snappy, and the characters are lots of fun. One of my favorites, John Clover, was a former NFL lineman who liked to cook cajun and was a world-class anthropologist and cat-lover. And doper. Like I said, it's a fun ride to Saturn, where you wonder about the aliens, the future of humans, and how cool the spaceship is.
I loved it. I'd like to read a sequal (oops. sequel).
(I too got a free advance reader copy in exchange for a review)
May 19, 2021
*Updated Review 2021 Reread (on audio)*
I'm really glad I decided to revisit this book. Apparently my memory sucks, but that's okay, because for some portions it was almost like I was reading it for the first time. The audio version is fantastic, that's why I tried to stretch it out for so long. The narrator really gets the funny, snarky tone right, and that's everything for this book. The science and subject matter are never dry and it doesn't drag. It's just a kick-ass book, that I never would have read in a million years, if the cover hadn't caught my eye in the library.
Mind. Blown. Really.... I seriously cannot comprehend half of what I stayed up all night to devour. What little I did understand was enough to have me hooked. Long after I closed the gorgeous cover, I was creating sequels and spinoffs almost compulsively, because I didn't want it to end. This is a departure from my normal material, suspense, thrillers, etc. But it wasn't a departure at all. I got all the twists and turns my tiny little brain could take and was still left reeling at the end. In a word? Fantastic.
I'm really glad I decided to revisit this book. Apparently my memory sucks, but that's okay, because for some portions it was almost like I was reading it for the first time. The audio version is fantastic, that's why I tried to stretch it out for so long. The narrator really gets the funny, snarky tone right, and that's everything for this book. The science and subject matter are never dry and it doesn't drag. It's just a kick-ass book, that I never would have read in a million years, if the cover hadn't caught my eye in the library.
Mind. Blown. Really.... I seriously cannot comprehend half of what I stayed up all night to devour. What little I did understand was enough to have me hooked. Long after I closed the gorgeous cover, I was creating sequels and spinoffs almost compulsively, because I didn't want it to end. This is a departure from my normal material, suspense, thrillers, etc. But it wasn't a departure at all. I got all the twists and turns my tiny little brain could take and was still left reeling at the end. In a word? Fantastic.
October 14, 2018
4 stars:
It took me forever to finish because I love this book! I so did not want to end it. I am probably bias because John Sanford is one of my favorite authors. There was one part I did not like( not giving away a spolier). For me, the science was mostly intersting. I do read science fiction and non fiction science books.
🤙🇺🇸
It took me forever to finish because I love this book! I so did not want to end it. I am probably bias because John Sanford is one of my favorite authors. There was one part I did not like( not giving away a spolier). For me, the science was mostly intersting. I do read science fiction and non fiction science books.
🤙🇺🇸
July 11, 2020
At the mid-point it was at best 3 Stars. The second half was really fun though. While this, I think, is the first Sci-Fi I’ve ever read, I enjoyed it. There was so much technical stuff that I thought it got bogged down. People probably read this for the technical stuff and I appreciate it. The second half was very much a Sanford book. That was just what I was hoping for.
July 14, 2015
The basic story is that the Americans, purely by chance in scanning the skies, happened to discover an alien spacecraft stopping at Saturn. They decided to keep this quiet and pretend they were building a spacecraft to join the Chinese on their mission to Mars when in fact they were going to go to Saturn. Before the ships were ready, the alien craft left Saturn but their engines left a signature that many people on Earth could see, the Chinese realized they were duped, now it was a race to Saturn between the Americans and the Chinese.
If I hadn’t looked up the author’s bio, I would have sworn his previous occupation was engineer. I say this for two reasons. Engines and details. The spacecraft the Americans built was described with so much detail but more specifically the engines that would power it. Too much detail in my opinion. I don’t need to know enough to build one myself. Just to put this in perspective, the first 175 pages or so (about 35% of the book) was about the initial discovery and building of the ship. I had a horrible time trying to stay interested and put the book down many times to clear my head. Thankfully the story picks up after this as we have the travel to Saturn, the discoveries themselves and then finally the return home.
Now if you’re anything like me, you’ll read the synopsis and think “this sounds like Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clark” but I can assure you the stories aren’t close and the writing style of the authors just isn’t the same. I originally thought this was going to be a total science fiction (blast off into space, discover aliens, find out what they’re like, etc) but this wasn’t the case. It was very political and probably a lot more realistic than I was expecting. A fair amount of time was dedicated to “what if the Chinese do this…” and “what if they do that..” and as it turns out, rightly so.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes realistic science fiction, political drama and lots of detail. Lots and lots of detail.
If I hadn’t looked up the author’s bio, I would have sworn his previous occupation was engineer. I say this for two reasons. Engines and details. The spacecraft the Americans built was described with so much detail but more specifically the engines that would power it. Too much detail in my opinion. I don’t need to know enough to build one myself. Just to put this in perspective, the first 175 pages or so (about 35% of the book) was about the initial discovery and building of the ship. I had a horrible time trying to stay interested and put the book down many times to clear my head. Thankfully the story picks up after this as we have the travel to Saturn, the discoveries themselves and then finally the return home.
Now if you’re anything like me, you’ll read the synopsis and think “this sounds like Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clark” but I can assure you the stories aren’t close and the writing style of the authors just isn’t the same. I originally thought this was going to be a total science fiction (blast off into space, discover aliens, find out what they’re like, etc) but this wasn’t the case. It was very political and probably a lot more realistic than I was expecting. A fair amount of time was dedicated to “what if the Chinese do this…” and “what if they do that..” and as it turns out, rightly so.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes realistic science fiction, political drama and lots of detail. Lots and lots of detail.
November 21, 2018
In 2066 a space telescope detects a spacecraft approaching Saturn. This starts a race between the United States and China to reach Saturn first and to take control of the advanced technology developed by a previously unknown group of aliens. (Like somehow it's their right to do that. But this book is not a philosophical treatise on first contact or space rights.) I want to avoid spoilers, but I must say that this book did not proceed the way I expected it to.
I like science in my sci-fi, but there was a little too much of it here for me. There is even more at the end of the book where the authors explain the actual science behind the fiction. Nonetheless, there were some really fascinating images of molten metal being extruded from the ship in hundreds of ribbons forming giant wings as they disperse the heat generated by the reactors. The characters weren't all that interesting and one, a cultural anthropologist, really had no good reason to be on the ship and disappeared from a large chunk of the book.
The book got off to a slow start and the spaceships didn't even begin their race until the second third of the book. For me, reading about space travel never really gets exciting until something goes wrong, and the inevitable happens at about the midpoint of the book and it was very exciting from then on. In spite of there being too much technobabble for me, I enjoyed this book and it held my interest throughout.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
I like science in my sci-fi, but there was a little too much of it here for me. There is even more at the end of the book where the authors explain the actual science behind the fiction. Nonetheless, there were some really fascinating images of molten metal being extruded from the ship in hundreds of ribbons forming giant wings as they disperse the heat generated by the reactors. The characters weren't all that interesting and one, a cultural anthropologist, really had no good reason to be on the ship and disappeared from a large chunk of the book.
The book got off to a slow start and the spaceships didn't even begin their race until the second third of the book. For me, reading about space travel never really gets exciting until something goes wrong, and the inevitable happens at about the midpoint of the book and it was very exciting from then on. In spite of there being too much technobabble for me, I enjoyed this book and it held my interest throughout.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
August 23, 2016
Wake me up when it's over. Seriously, what a snooze-fest. I'm a huge Sandford fan and I love sci-fi, so I started out thinking this book was going to be awesome. Boy, was I wrong. Virtually nothing happens. The things that do happen are preposterous and/or just plain stupid. Looooooong dragged out technical descriptions of (YAWN) the engineering requirements of an Earth-Saturn flight. Omg. They went on and on. Just when you're congratulating yourself on having slogged through an interminable fake-tech passage, here comes another one! I have another couple of chapters to go, but having hit upon yet another *total hogwash* plot point, I may have to call it quits.
July 7, 2019
Good book, after a slowish start. Fun and may even stand up to reread. The American nuclear rocket's cooling system is, well, Rube-Goldberg squared, but they did a fair bit of work to make the tale scientifically plausible. And an amazing set of plot-twists, plus entertaining characters. Some laid on pretty thick. Recommended for hard-SF fans
October 27, 2015
John must have wanted to challenge himself away from great characters he has created. Writing science fiction is hard and technical details tend to be boring. The plot revolves around nationalism, science fiction and is saved by its good ending. 6 of 10 stars
September 3, 2016
I can't say I expected this to be the best Sandford book I've read...and trust me, I've read them all (even the art one he did way back when), but I certainly didn't expect it to the worst. I was wrong. The thing I love most about Sandford (and he is the ONLY author I've read every single year for the last 20 plus years) is his dialogue between characters. I absolutely love the relationships he builds between people via dialogue....it doesn't matter if they are life long friends, or complete strangers. He has a gift for dialogue that I've never seen matched.
This book had none of that. Sandford presented us with some characters that could have been phenomenal. There were there. However, the building up of their characters and the thrill of discovering what makes them tick just wasn't. There actions made them seem flat and uncaring, simply because we weren't allowed to have insight to them. Sandford simply dropped tantalizing bread crumbs, and we found ourselves excited to finally get to the tasty cake at the end....to reach the end of trail and be met with only an empty package.
The book was bogged down with endless details of things the reader didn't need to know....yes, we needed to know how grave the situation was at times...and how smart the characters were to overcome any obstacles...but I think Sandford could have spent less time in those details and more with the details of the relationships of the main characters.
I will say that I can see this playing out 50 years from now. I will also say that this novel and how politics played into it gave me very little faith or hope for the human race. The value placed on human life was non existent. As was the care for the tax payers money and the lies and deceit that played into hiding this information from the general public. Yes, that might sound political. It probably is. However, this novel was chock-a-block of politics....
On a side note, and completely unrelated, Sandford has now done a couple of books outside his normal crime thriller genre. I sincerely hope he isn't bored with it all. As a writer he is completely free to write whatever he chooses. However, I would be totally gutted if he gave up that genre. I can honestly say I find his Pey books better with each new release. He is the ONLY and I stress ONLY writer that has ever managed to keep me so engaged with a character for any amount of time....let alone 20 plus years....
ARC provided by Edelweiss for an honest review
www.RandomBookMuses.com
This book had none of that. Sandford presented us with some characters that could have been phenomenal. There were there. However, the building up of their characters and the thrill of discovering what makes them tick just wasn't. There actions made them seem flat and uncaring, simply because we weren't allowed to have insight to them. Sandford simply dropped tantalizing bread crumbs, and we found ourselves excited to finally get to the tasty cake at the end....to reach the end of trail and be met with only an empty package.
The book was bogged down with endless details of things the reader didn't need to know....yes, we needed to know how grave the situation was at times...and how smart the characters were to overcome any obstacles...but I think Sandford could have spent less time in those details and more with the details of the relationships of the main characters.
I will say that I can see this playing out 50 years from now. I will also say that this novel and how politics played into it gave me very little faith or hope for the human race. The value placed on human life was non existent. As was the care for the tax payers money and the lies and deceit that played into hiding this information from the general public. Yes, that might sound political. It probably is. However, this novel was chock-a-block of politics....
On a side note, and completely unrelated, Sandford has now done a couple of books outside his normal crime thriller genre. I sincerely hope he isn't bored with it all. As a writer he is completely free to write whatever he chooses. However, I would be totally gutted if he gave up that genre. I can honestly say I find his Pey books better with each new release. He is the ONLY and I stress ONLY writer that has ever managed to keep me so engaged with a character for any amount of time....let alone 20 plus years....
ARC provided by Edelweiss for an honest review
www.RandomBookMuses.com
March 13, 2016
When authors switch genres, it can be a risky move, both for the writer and the readers. John Sandford is a very well known thriller writer, particular for his numerous Prey novels, as well as other thrillers. But one thing Sandford has clearly proven to his readers: he can spin a good yarn.
In Saturn Run, along with some help from Ctein, Sandford has created an epic work of science fiction that is gripping with every turn of the page, filled with scientific details that are well researched, and an original science fiction plot that has elements that have been done time and time again in the genre, and yet feature a story completely new, fascinating and compelling.
The year is 2066. A Caltech intern who is pretty much where he is because of money and his family notices something unusual on the monitor attached to a space telescope: something is approaching Saturn and it’s decelerating. Thus begins the first part of the novel, as a bunch of important people at various levels of the government get together and decide what the hell they’re going to do about this historic information. Also are they going to tell the rest of the world or keep it a secret? Which begs the question: who else saw what they saw and what sort of head start do they have?
Then the race is on to get a crew together and get them to Saturn as quick as possible to find what out what’s going on. China is close behind with their own mission in the works. This is where Sandford’s skill as a thriller writer comes into play as the reader gets page-by-page addictive action with the two countries putting their missions together, launching their vessels, and racing to the finish line.
The final part of Saturn Run is just as enthralling as the rest of the book, as the reader learns what is going on at distant Saturn and what the fall out of it all is going to be. Perhaps having a mystery writer tackling a science fiction book brings a whole new set of ideas and tools to the genre, because there is nothing predictable or conveniently-plotted and easily solvable in Saturn Run, making the reader thoroughly entertained from start to finish.
Originally written on January 17, 2015 ©Alex C. Telander.
For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site.
In Saturn Run, along with some help from Ctein, Sandford has created an epic work of science fiction that is gripping with every turn of the page, filled with scientific details that are well researched, and an original science fiction plot that has elements that have been done time and time again in the genre, and yet feature a story completely new, fascinating and compelling.
The year is 2066. A Caltech intern who is pretty much where he is because of money and his family notices something unusual on the monitor attached to a space telescope: something is approaching Saturn and it’s decelerating. Thus begins the first part of the novel, as a bunch of important people at various levels of the government get together and decide what the hell they’re going to do about this historic information. Also are they going to tell the rest of the world or keep it a secret? Which begs the question: who else saw what they saw and what sort of head start do they have?
Then the race is on to get a crew together and get them to Saturn as quick as possible to find what out what’s going on. China is close behind with their own mission in the works. This is where Sandford’s skill as a thriller writer comes into play as the reader gets page-by-page addictive action with the two countries putting their missions together, launching their vessels, and racing to the finish line.
The final part of Saturn Run is just as enthralling as the rest of the book, as the reader learns what is going on at distant Saturn and what the fall out of it all is going to be. Perhaps having a mystery writer tackling a science fiction book brings a whole new set of ideas and tools to the genre, because there is nothing predictable or conveniently-plotted and easily solvable in Saturn Run, making the reader thoroughly entertained from start to finish.
Originally written on January 17, 2015 ©Alex C. Telander.
For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site.
March 23, 2017
A fun romp, combining classic suspense with hard science fiction, Saturn Run will appeal to fans of both genres.
The conceit is an interplanetary race between a Chinese and an American spacecraft to reach Saturn, taking place around 50 years from now. Technology hasn't advanced far, and in fact the authors choose to build their world and its ships with tech we currently possess.
Much of the suspense and fun in the book's first half comes from getting the US ship built and hurled across the solar system. The second half brings the ships together at their mysterious goal, allowing for all kinds of schemes and revelations.
It's a well put together thriller. I haven't read John Sanford, but know his reputation and can see it on display here. Neatly sketched characters are sympathetic and/or entertaining, and they are embedded in a good variety of challenges, (metaphorical) ticking bombs, and ever-ratcheting-upwards tension. Plots keep ticking over right through the last page (before a nice little coda).
So why am I not raving about it?
Because it's fluff, for one thing. This is what Graham Greene called "an entertainment", not something designed to probe the mysteries of space travel (Saturn is barely described) or international relations, much less the human mind.
But it's also weirdly gap-toothed. The first 1/3rd or so introduces a variety of characters, then leaves many of them alone for too long. Their interactions are barely allowed to occur.
And in the plot, well,
But that's probably me taking it too seriously. Otherwise, I enjoyed watching them solve engineering puzzles (yes, this is hard sf) and outwit each other. Some scenes were funny. The novel fades from my memory as I type this, which is all right.
The conceit is an interplanetary race between a Chinese and an American spacecraft to reach Saturn, taking place around 50 years from now. Technology hasn't advanced far, and in fact the authors choose to build their world and its ships with tech we currently possess.
Much of the suspense and fun in the book's first half comes from getting the US ship built and hurled across the solar system. The second half brings the ships together at their mysterious goal, allowing for all kinds of schemes and revelations.
It's a well put together thriller. I haven't read John Sanford, but know his reputation and can see it on display here. Neatly sketched characters are sympathetic and/or entertaining, and they are embedded in a good variety of challenges, (metaphorical) ticking bombs, and ever-ratcheting-upwards tension. Plots keep ticking over right through the last page (before a nice little coda).
So why am I not raving about it?
Because it's fluff, for one thing. This is what Graham Greene called "an entertainment", not something designed to probe the mysteries of space travel (Saturn is barely described) or international relations, much less the human mind.
But it's also weirdly gap-toothed. The first 1/3rd or so introduces a variety of characters, then leaves many of them alone for too long. Their interactions are barely allowed to occur.
And in the plot, well,
But that's probably me taking it too seriously. Otherwise, I enjoyed watching them solve engineering puzzles (yes, this is hard sf) and outwit each other. Some scenes were funny. The novel fades from my memory as I type this, which is all right.
March 10, 2017
First of all, let me just say what a lovely job of packaging was done on this hardcover. The plastic, translucent jacket with transparent lettering allows glimpses of the colorful cover beneath. It's just a lovely thing, and I doubt that the paperback version will have a gimmick anywhere near as cool. Definitely worth springing for the hardcover on this one, and it's an experience you'll never get with an e-reader.
This reminded me quite a bit of the classic Niven/Pournelle collaborations like Lucifer's Hammer, Footfall, or The Mote In God's Eye. John Sandford isn't generally known as a science fiction writer, so I was impressed by how good this book was. Ctein's name was unfamiliar to me, but clearly his help was invaluable. In the afterword, they talk a bit about the book, mostly about the lengths to which they went to make sure the science details worked out. I definitely would be up for reading further collaborations between them.
Set about fifty years in the future, astronomers on Earth detect an object entering the solar system. And it appears to be decelerating. It heads for a rendezvous with a body in Saturn's rings, previously thought to be a small moon. And the race is on between the US and the Chinese to be the first to get a mission to Saturn and the presumed technological wonders and possible alien contact that await. Both countries have a head start in the race. The Chinese had been putting together a manned mission to Mars, and begin souping up their rocket. The US begins modifying an orbital space station. The race is on!
Some reviews compare this book to The Martian, probably mainly because it's another hard SF novel with which the general public is familiar. Aside from both being generally thrilling, and both taking the trouble to get the science right, they really aren't that similar. For someone who isn't familiar with science fiction, it may be a useful point of reference, but for SF fans, think Niven/Pournelle. I enjoyed this book very much, and, just when I thought it was over, there were still twists and turns left. Highly recommended!
This reminded me quite a bit of the classic Niven/Pournelle collaborations like Lucifer's Hammer, Footfall, or The Mote In God's Eye. John Sandford isn't generally known as a science fiction writer, so I was impressed by how good this book was. Ctein's name was unfamiliar to me, but clearly his help was invaluable. In the afterword, they talk a bit about the book, mostly about the lengths to which they went to make sure the science details worked out. I definitely would be up for reading further collaborations between them.
Set about fifty years in the future, astronomers on Earth detect an object entering the solar system. And it appears to be decelerating. It heads for a rendezvous with a body in Saturn's rings, previously thought to be a small moon. And the race is on between the US and the Chinese to be the first to get a mission to Saturn and the presumed technological wonders and possible alien contact that await. Both countries have a head start in the race. The Chinese had been putting together a manned mission to Mars, and begin souping up their rocket. The US begins modifying an orbital space station. The race is on!
Some reviews compare this book to The Martian, probably mainly because it's another hard SF novel with which the general public is familiar. Aside from both being generally thrilling, and both taking the trouble to get the science right, they really aren't that similar. For someone who isn't familiar with science fiction, it may be a useful point of reference, but for SF fans, think Niven/Pournelle. I enjoyed this book very much, and, just when I thought it was over, there were still twists and turns left. Highly recommended!
October 19, 2015
I am a HUGE John Sandford fan. I think I've read just about everything of ficton that he's written. I'm hooked on the Prey series and I love Virgil Flowers. So I was really excited to read Saturn Run. And then the disappointment set in. I don't think I've ever had to work so hard to finish a book. Sandford has a gift for developing characters and creating engaging plots. He missed the mark with this one. It read more like an astrophysics textbook than a novel. There was nothing to grab me and suck me into this story. Besides being put to sleep by the scientific gobbledygook, I just couldn't get invested in the characters. And a lot of the issues that cropped up during the course of the book weren't resolved as much as they were merely sloughed over.
Perhaps my expectations were too high, being a fan of Sandford's mystery/crime novels, but I was sorely disappointed with Saturn Run.
Perhaps my expectations were too high, being a fan of Sandford's mystery/crime novels, but I was sorely disappointed with Saturn Run.
November 2, 2015
I was very disappointed with this book. Having read most of Sandford's books I was expecting something that moved along briskly. This book drags. It takes several hundred pages just to get going and then inches along for several hundred more. Sure it gets interesting finally if you can stick with it.
In my opinion the authors tried too hard to be "The Martian" and failed spectacularly. Things go wrong and they try to fix them. It's just so, so, so slow.
The ending is predictable, the characters are shallow and stereotypical. A rich blond surfer dude who is deeper than he seems. A hot-headed Latino President. A Chinese Political Officer. A lesbian ship's captain. Of course a spy is on board and an American spook. It's like it was made for a Hollywood screenwriter.
I only finished it because I had nothing else at the time to read.
In my opinion the authors tried too hard to be "The Martian" and failed spectacularly. Things go wrong and they try to fix them. It's just so, so, so slow.
The ending is predictable, the characters are shallow and stereotypical. A rich blond surfer dude who is deeper than he seems. A hot-headed Latino President. A Chinese Political Officer. A lesbian ship's captain. Of course a spy is on board and an American spook. It's like it was made for a Hollywood screenwriter.
I only finished it because I had nothing else at the time to read.
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