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Starfarers
Courageous space explorers embark on a mission to make contact with alien races light years away, while the Earth they leave behind ages twelve hundred centuries It’s the most exciting discovery since humankind first began watching the SETI scientists detect starship “trails” in a galaxy many light years from Earth, and at long last the dream of human-to-alien contact is attainable. But the courageous crew of starfarers assembled to take on the monumental endeavor must sacrifice the only lives they’ve ever known and the people they love; the Earth will have aged many thousands of years when—and if—they are finally able to return. Still, their hunger for knowledge of the universe and the extraterrestrial races that inhabit it is too great to deny, and the Envoy rockets off into the vast unknown. It’s a perilous mission that will profoundly change everyone it touches—even as the passing millennia transform the Earth in ways no one could ever have imagined. Of all the science fiction extrapolators to emerge in the twentieth century, none were more visionary and few as prolific as the great Poul Anderson. Starfarers, his ingeniously imagined space exploration adventure, still stands tall among the most intelligent, enthralling, and unforgettable science fiction novels ever written. This ebook includes the bonus stories “Ghetto” and “The Horn of Time the Hunter.”
641 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1998
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867 people want to read
About the author
Poul Anderson
1,621 books1,106 followersPseudonym A. A. Craig, Michael Karageorge, Winston P. Sanders, P. A. Kingsley.
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.
Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]
Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.
Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.
Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]
Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.
Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
November 25, 2021
I eventually abandoned this, so I can hardly give a higher rating than this. By the same token, I don't want to give it one star, since that would not be fair.
Another reviewer put it much better than I can, by saying that he found it challenging to "engage" with this book. It is very slow, and I eventually just lost interest.
It's a shame, because I really wanted to like it (and I love the cover art).
Another reviewer put it much better than I can, by saying that he found it challenging to "engage" with this book. It is very slow, and I eventually just lost interest.
It's a shame, because I really wanted to like it (and I love the cover art).
June 5, 2013
_Starfarers_ is definitely both "hard" science fiction and also epic in scope.
The basic premise is that in the relatively near future SETI astronomers find evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, not by receiving and decoding any communication from distant worlds, but by discerning interesting and at first unexplainable astronomical phenomena, occurrences that with time and study lead researchers to conclude that they are evidence of starships traveling very near the speed of light.
With the information obtained from these studies and from the further research that these discoveries inspired, humanity was able to construct similar vessels and reach the stars, discovering and then settling worlds in other star systems.
However, trips to these faraway beings were not at first possible, owing to their vast distance from Earth. It would take something close to a ten thousand year round trip journey to visit these beings which came to be dubbed the "Yonderfolk." Thanks to the effects of time dilation, only a couple of years would pass for those on board any ship that made the attempt while many thousands of years would pass for those on Earth. I was reminded at times of the Joe Haldeman's excellent _ The Forever War_, a fantastic novel that also explored the effects of time dilation on people traveling at relativistic speeds.
Eventually, a massive and highly capable starship, _Envoy_, was constructed and a topnotch crew of ten people were selected, including among them highly skilled pilots, engineers as well as a planetologist, physicist, biologist, and a linguist. The majority of the book is their epic journey, their amazing discoveries, adventures, and personal triumphs and tragedies. What they found at the end of their trip to the stars of the Yonderfolk was in many ways just the beginning of a story that made for very gripping reading.
The book is well named indeed, as Anderson, though devoting most of the novel to the intrepid crew of the _Envoy_, explored the concept and ramifications of starfaring. There were several chapters in the book that were essentially interludes, vignettes exploring the evolution of humanity and the worlds they had colonized, chronicling the rise and fall of civilizations and especially how starfaring people, the crews of near light-speed ships, fit in. I found his ideas logical and intriguing; owing to the effects of time dilation, a culture formed around the starfarers, one that over hundreds of years and then millennia increasingly separated them from the cultures of the worlds they called upon to trade exotic chemicals, alien species, Earth species for the colony worlds, new technologies, and cultural treasures from the distant settled worlds as well as eventually from the alien intelligences that they encountered. What could have been a lot of exposition and "info dumps" was made into some very good short stories, stories that helped explain the culture and technology of Earth and its sister worlds when the _Envoy_ eventually returned in the very distant future.
To a lesser extent Anderson also explored some related themes (as to me any truly good science fiction should do so). For instance, is the urge to explore a thing deeply engrained in humanity, or it is instead maybe cultural, or even perhaps found only in certain individuals? Also, what is the end result of human history; what is the nature of the "ultimate" or "final" human society, or can there ever be any such thing? Can humanity ever achieve a stable population on a world, creating a society free of war, civil strife, and living in an ecologically sustainable manner, or is that type of society too alien for our species (or maybe any species) to achieve? Will all starfaring species share the same ultimate fate, or is each species too different to share the same fate? What is the impact of thousands and tens of thousands of years of history on a society and on an individual in terms of imagination, creativity, and initiative?
The basic premise is that in the relatively near future SETI astronomers find evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, not by receiving and decoding any communication from distant worlds, but by discerning interesting and at first unexplainable astronomical phenomena, occurrences that with time and study lead researchers to conclude that they are evidence of starships traveling very near the speed of light.
With the information obtained from these studies and from the further research that these discoveries inspired, humanity was able to construct similar vessels and reach the stars, discovering and then settling worlds in other star systems.
However, trips to these faraway beings were not at first possible, owing to their vast distance from Earth. It would take something close to a ten thousand year round trip journey to visit these beings which came to be dubbed the "Yonderfolk." Thanks to the effects of time dilation, only a couple of years would pass for those on board any ship that made the attempt while many thousands of years would pass for those on Earth. I was reminded at times of the Joe Haldeman's excellent _ The Forever War_, a fantastic novel that also explored the effects of time dilation on people traveling at relativistic speeds.
Eventually, a massive and highly capable starship, _Envoy_, was constructed and a topnotch crew of ten people were selected, including among them highly skilled pilots, engineers as well as a planetologist, physicist, biologist, and a linguist. The majority of the book is their epic journey, their amazing discoveries, adventures, and personal triumphs and tragedies. What they found at the end of their trip to the stars of the Yonderfolk was in many ways just the beginning of a story that made for very gripping reading.
The book is well named indeed, as Anderson, though devoting most of the novel to the intrepid crew of the _Envoy_, explored the concept and ramifications of starfaring. There were several chapters in the book that were essentially interludes, vignettes exploring the evolution of humanity and the worlds they had colonized, chronicling the rise and fall of civilizations and especially how starfaring people, the crews of near light-speed ships, fit in. I found his ideas logical and intriguing; owing to the effects of time dilation, a culture formed around the starfarers, one that over hundreds of years and then millennia increasingly separated them from the cultures of the worlds they called upon to trade exotic chemicals, alien species, Earth species for the colony worlds, new technologies, and cultural treasures from the distant settled worlds as well as eventually from the alien intelligences that they encountered. What could have been a lot of exposition and "info dumps" was made into some very good short stories, stories that helped explain the culture and technology of Earth and its sister worlds when the _Envoy_ eventually returned in the very distant future.
To a lesser extent Anderson also explored some related themes (as to me any truly good science fiction should do so). For instance, is the urge to explore a thing deeply engrained in humanity, or it is instead maybe cultural, or even perhaps found only in certain individuals? Also, what is the end result of human history; what is the nature of the "ultimate" or "final" human society, or can there ever be any such thing? Can humanity ever achieve a stable population on a world, creating a society free of war, civil strife, and living in an ecologically sustainable manner, or is that type of society too alien for our species (or maybe any species) to achieve? Will all starfaring species share the same ultimate fate, or is each species too different to share the same fate? What is the impact of thousands and tens of thousands of years of history on a society and on an individual in terms of imagination, creativity, and initiative?
January 29, 2014
Starfarers was one of Poul Anderson's last works, published in 1998 three years before the science-fiction author's death at the age of 74. It also looks back decades to his early career, incorporating the short story "Ghetto" that was published back in the 1950s. Its plot praises the human ambition to explore: after x-ray starship trails are discovered in star systems far away, the starship Envoy is launched to meet these aliens.
Relativistic effects mean that thousands of years will pass on Earth and only a brief time for the crew on board. Between chapters on the adventures of the crew, Anderson depicts the changing civilizations on earth, along with the gradual decline of interest in starfaring and the restriction of visiting starship crews to a ghetto.
While Anderson makes the interesting suggesting that space travel may only be a brief phase in a species's evolution, this is a frustrating book, featuring many of the perennial flaws of Anderson's style but magnified and feeling something like a halfhearted effort.
For one, Envoy has a motley crew: a Hungarian, Israeli, Scotswoman, Chinese, Zulu, etc. Anderson may have thought he was adding color and authenticity by having them speak in dialect or make reference to their homes, but really these are a bunch of ethnic stereotypes. Only people who think that e.g. the Irish walk around greeting each other with "Top of the mornin' to ye" will be able to suspend disbelief.
Artificial intelligence and personal computing are absent. The lack of the former is easy to understand: Anderson was an ardent Libertarian, and as he set out in his earlier series beginning with Harvest of Stars, he believed that the rise of super-human intelligence would lead to central planning and quench human initiative. The lack of more computing than the screens that the crews consult is inexcusable: by the time Anderson wrote this book, PDAs existed and technology was moving to smaller form factors, but his people of future have no more tech than what could have been imagined in the 1950s.
Finally, the dialogue is often risible, with characters discussing basic aspects of the plot with each other after they have already lived and worked closely with each other for years. For a novelist with a career of a half-century behind him, it is strange how Anderson forgets the "show don't tell" principle.
Relativistic effects mean that thousands of years will pass on Earth and only a brief time for the crew on board. Between chapters on the adventures of the crew, Anderson depicts the changing civilizations on earth, along with the gradual decline of interest in starfaring and the restriction of visiting starship crews to a ghetto.
While Anderson makes the interesting suggesting that space travel may only be a brief phase in a species's evolution, this is a frustrating book, featuring many of the perennial flaws of Anderson's style but magnified and feeling something like a halfhearted effort.
For one, Envoy has a motley crew: a Hungarian, Israeli, Scotswoman, Chinese, Zulu, etc. Anderson may have thought he was adding color and authenticity by having them speak in dialect or make reference to their homes, but really these are a bunch of ethnic stereotypes. Only people who think that e.g. the Irish walk around greeting each other with "Top of the mornin' to ye" will be able to suspend disbelief.
Artificial intelligence and personal computing are absent. The lack of the former is easy to understand: Anderson was an ardent Libertarian, and as he set out in his earlier series beginning with Harvest of Stars, he believed that the rise of super-human intelligence would lead to central planning and quench human initiative. The lack of more computing than the screens that the crews consult is inexcusable: by the time Anderson wrote this book, PDAs existed and technology was moving to smaller form factors, but his people of future have no more tech than what could have been imagined in the 1950s.
Finally, the dialogue is often risible, with characters discussing basic aspects of the plot with each other after they have already lived and worked closely with each other for years. For a novelist with a career of a half-century behind him, it is strange how Anderson forgets the "show don't tell" principle.
October 27, 2017
This book is one of last books published by Poul Anderson. He shows once again why he was considered to be one of Science Fiction's top writers. Although published 20 years ago this book is still relevant today. It is a mix of science fiction and hard science. Much of the science he uses to explain his space drives and other technology in this book is still being used by today's science fiction writers. This book is about spaceflight that approaches the speed of light but never exceeds it. Thus it takes many years and in some cases many centuries to travel between stars. Because of relativity the time that passes for the crews of these ships is measured in months or in some cases a few years. The main focus of this story is about a mission by the Starship Envoy to cross thousands of light years to investigate the possibility of another star faring species. The crew know when they leave that as much as 10,000 years may pass on Earth while they are gone. They face an uncertain voyage and an uncertain welcome when they return to an Earth that has aged 10,000 years. This book is a great read by Poul Anderson and I recommend it to his fans and if you have never read one of his books this would be a great one to start with.
May 30, 2025
DNF
An ambitious science fiction tale of reaching to very distant stars in an ambitious spacecraft results in a slow read. Though not as slow as the 10,000 earth time years required for the journey. In my teens, Poul Anderson was one of my favorite authors. Unfortunately, this particular revisit did not go well.
An ambitious science fiction tale of reaching to very distant stars in an ambitious spacecraft results in a slow read. Though not as slow as the 10,000 earth time years required for the journey. In my teens, Poul Anderson was one of my favorite authors. Unfortunately, this particular revisit did not go well.
November 11, 2024
I can understand how this book gets mixed reviews as at times is really slow and I do see the shortcomings that so many underline (ethnic stereotypes and dialogues above all), but I especially appreciated the interludes exploring the rise and fall of human civilizations during the 10.000+ years of Envoy's mission. All in all I'd say it's a 3.5 rounded up.
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Posso capire come questo libro riceva recensioni contrastanti, perché a volte è davvero lento e vedo le carenze che molti sottolineano (soprattutto stereotipi etnici e dialoghi), ma ho particolarmente apprezzato gli intermezzi che esplorano l'ascesa e la caduta delle civiltà umane durante i 10.000+ anni di missione di Envoy. Tutto sommato direi che è un 3,5 arrotondato per eccesso.
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Posso capire come questo libro riceva recensioni contrastanti, perché a volte è davvero lento e vedo le carenze che molti sottolineano (soprattutto stereotipi etnici e dialoghi), ma ho particolarmente apprezzato gli intermezzi che esplorano l'ascesa e la caduta delle civiltà umane durante i 10.000+ anni di missione di Envoy. Tutto sommato direi che è un 3,5 arrotondato per eccesso.
May 12, 2021
Starfarers was published just a few years before Poul Anderson's passing in 2001. I worry that fans of the science fiction genre may forget authors like Anderson-after all he is not one of the Big Four (Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke and Heinlein) but to those in the know Anderson's contributions to the genre are paramount. Starfarers is classic SF. It is not a perfect book (we will get to that in a minute) but it is a really great example of an "old school" science fiction adventure. When mankind detects trace evidence of interstellar travel it also finds a way to duplicate the star drive being used. An expedition is mounted-but to reach this other intelligent species will mean a voyage of ten thousand years. This is survivable due to the relatavistic effects of travel near the speed of light. Of course when you return to Earth everything and everyone you know will be long gone. Which leads me indirectly to the problem I had with this book and why I gave it four stars instead of five.
Anderson tosses off a line about having to accept whoever was qualified for this mission because so few will take that kind of voyage. But honestly did one of the crew members really have to be another crew member's unrequited love? Did another crew member need to be a power hungry incel? Yes I know this added a level of personal conflict to the story-I just found it to be a ridiculous twist. In the future is there no way to screen for this sort of thing? Other than that I enjoyed Starfarers which is chock full of big ideas about existence itself.
Anderson tosses off a line about having to accept whoever was qualified for this mission because so few will take that kind of voyage. But honestly did one of the crew members really have to be another crew member's unrequited love? Did another crew member need to be a power hungry incel? Yes I know this added a level of personal conflict to the story-I just found it to be a ridiculous twist. In the future is there no way to screen for this sort of thing? Other than that I enjoyed Starfarers which is chock full of big ideas about existence itself.
April 18, 2018
Poul Anderson's "Starfarers" is a well-constructed and entertaining novel which examines the ramifications of relativistic time dilation faced by human crews of interstellar starships traveling near light-speed. Characters experience mere months or years while faring aboard these ships, though centuries and millennia pass on Earth and other planets. The primary narrative focuses on the crew and the voyage of the "Envoy", a ship built by humans for the specific purpose of investigating evidence of extraterrestrial spacefarers five thousand light-years from Earth. The starship's chronicle is interspersed with vignettes of developments on Earth and its colony worlds.
This book manages to maintain strong elements of suspense and excitement throughout, while avoiding the obsessive fixation on military strife that is common in popular science fiction. The speculative science is carefully structured to form a plausible and internally consistent background setting. Characters' discoveries and interactions are engrossing, and benefit from the author's thoughtful creativity. The only significant weakness of the story is an underdevelopment of some characters due to an over-reliance on archetypes (stoic hero, adventurous free-spirit, egomaniacal scoundrel, et cetera).
On the whole, "Starfarers" serves as a celebration of the spirit of exploration and scientific discovery. It is a worthwhile tale that will be enjoyed by readers who hope that humanity's destiny is among the stars.
This book manages to maintain strong elements of suspense and excitement throughout, while avoiding the obsessive fixation on military strife that is common in popular science fiction. The speculative science is carefully structured to form a plausible and internally consistent background setting. Characters' discoveries and interactions are engrossing, and benefit from the author's thoughtful creativity. The only significant weakness of the story is an underdevelopment of some characters due to an over-reliance on archetypes (stoic hero, adventurous free-spirit, egomaniacal scoundrel, et cetera).
On the whole, "Starfarers" serves as a celebration of the spirit of exploration and scientific discovery. It is a worthwhile tale that will be enjoyed by readers who hope that humanity's destiny is among the stars.
June 27, 2021
I concur with fellow Goodreads friend “Tomislav” on this one. I find much of Poul Anderson’s writing, though imaginative and competently composed, difficult to engage with. I can’t put my finger on it. The ideas are there, the ingenuity, the characters are potentially engaging... the pace just often seems slow, and my mind tends to wander... The story is somewhat episodic which should be fine, but in this case, it came off sporadic, not quite gelling as an exciting overall narrative. There are great scenes and instances - the final is the most interesting of all, very reminiscent of the type A.C. Clarke was known for - actually, much of this was “Clarkesque”, but there were way too many pages written to tell the tale. Those who love Anderson’s work will enjoy this, no doubt, and I can’t say that I did not, but it was a bit of a chore - took me two years of off and on revisiting. I did read “Boat of a Million Years” (another later work from Anderson) somewhere in between this one and though found the style very similar I enjoyed that one more that “Starfarers”, which surprised me as the latter was more my preferred type of story line.
Not bad really, but maybe a bit overindulgent?
Not bad really, but maybe a bit overindulgent?
January 28, 2013
A slightly interesting story but the writing is preposterous and pretentious. Specifically, the dialogue between characters, astronauts chosen for a mission of indeterminate length to a distant star, is unbelievably cliche and shallow. Even after spending years with eachother on the mission, they are still discussing basic facts and motivations in each others' lives? Dumb.
The larger issues, relating to the starfarers being isolated from planetary populations due to time dilation effects, are more interestingly covered by Vernor Vinge in "A Deepness in the Sky", or even Charles Sheffield in "Between the Strokes of Night." Both of those works examine how a starfaring population can become culturally isolated from planet-bound humanity, but manage to avoid the pretentious dialogue and characterizations of Anderson.
The larger issues, relating to the starfarers being isolated from planetary populations due to time dilation effects, are more interestingly covered by Vernor Vinge in "A Deepness in the Sky", or even Charles Sheffield in "Between the Strokes of Night." Both of those works examine how a starfaring population can become culturally isolated from planet-bound humanity, but manage to avoid the pretentious dialogue and characterizations of Anderson.
February 18, 2020
I've read and enjoyed Poul Anderson before, so it is with some disappointment that I have to report this is not a particularly good example of his writing. While the effect of time dilation in travel near light speed is portrayed accurately and there is some good speculation on the cultural effects of that, this novel ultimately falls flat. The future 10,000 years of Earth history are told episodically, in parallel with the beginning of the starship Envoy's journey. The Earth events actually dominate the story early on, but about half way through they are almost completely dropped; it turns out the novel is actually about the ten crew members of the Envoy and what they find.
Since there are no really new concepts explored in this story, its success would rest mostly on character development. But the introductions to the characters who join the Envoy for its 5,000 light year journey are tedious, and there are a number of mostly irrelevant side stories involving characters not on the crew. This could have been a much better novel with some strong editing.
Since there are no really new concepts explored in this story, its success would rest mostly on character development. But the introductions to the characters who join the Envoy for its 5,000 light year journey are tedious, and there are a number of mostly irrelevant side stories involving characters not on the crew. This could have been a much better novel with some strong editing.
April 19, 2023
Honestly, this book started out pretty boring, but as the pages went by, the story really developed into something worth reading.
There are multiple occasions where the author will include a 40-page side story that has nothing to do with the protagonists or their adventure. These stories and new characters eventually merged with the primary plotline towards the end of the book; however, most of these new characters were dead in some space accident, so the time spent learning about them and their adventures seemed pointless.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this book is not the characters or their adventures, but the entire concept of time dilation that comes with FTL travel. Also, the protagonists communicate with a black hole, so that deserves an additional star in the rating.
There are multiple occasions where the author will include a 40-page side story that has nothing to do with the protagonists or their adventure. These stories and new characters eventually merged with the primary plotline towards the end of the book; however, most of these new characters were dead in some space accident, so the time spent learning about them and their adventures seemed pointless.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this book is not the characters or their adventures, but the entire concept of time dilation that comes with FTL travel. Also, the protagonists communicate with a black hole, so that deserves an additional star in the rating.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 23, 2014
The SETI program discovers an advanced civilization. Earth's scientists develop a speed of light engine and the starship Envy is launched with a target 60,000 light-years away.
January 4, 2016
Poul Anderson last book gives humanity a slither of a hope and is not too morbid. Thank you grandmaster for all the stars and years.
July 7, 2023
This was Anderson’s final novel, sort of wrapping up some of his favorite topics that appeared in his earlier works. Although I prefer the gripping survival story of Tau Zero, this book also deals with the effects of time dilation, though here it is more than just a pensive reflection as the crew actually does return to an Earth after some 11,000 years have elapsed. Just think of it: that’s the same amount of time as between our present day and the age of the Neanderthal! So, by the time they return the world they left is almost unrecognizable. For one thing, by then the entire mix of races have blended into one. Language, culture, and governance are also practically unrecognizable to the returning crew.
All conceptually interesting, and sobering to contemplate, but I had two issues with the book which keep it from garnering a higher rating:
1.) There are numerous characters to follow, introduced in dribs and drabs. Taking just one of them we first know him as a young boy talking with his grandfather, the next time as a fifty year old with a 90-year old nephew. All of this because of time dilation of travelling at light speeds and returning back to Earth where time has progressed differently. Anyway, keeping all the threads straight can be a bit of an unwelcome challenge. Probably less problematic for those of you who can speed read through a book in just a few sittings. For me, spread over a week or two, I found myself wondering ‘now, who is this character?’
2.) The writing style (for me) required a bit of extra mental effort. Anderson spent his formative educational years in Denmark, and it shows in the very northern European manner of sentence structure. Snags in the narrative flow occur often enough to detract from the immersive reading experience. Here’s an example:
“From the stoep of Mamphela’s little house, Ruszek saw widely. Westward the Transkei heights rose green with plantations, shrubs, and trees producing their various organics under a hard blue sky. Northward the city reached beyond sight, towns swollen until they ran together, brightly colored modules clustered along traffic-swarming streets, hovercars weaving above, everywhere people, their voices an overtone to the machine throng that never ceased.”
Native English speakers just don’t think in those kinds of sentence structures. Here’s one more, to help you decide if you want to give Anderson a try:
“Naked vision would have availed little. The Milky Way still girdled heaven, bayed by nebular blacknesses. From low orbit she fell swiftly. The globe before her swelled, no longer ahead but below. A shrilling of cloven air grew into thunders. Now slowed, though still ahurtle, she came through a barrier, wings and empennage, folded into the hull, now deployed.”
All conceptually interesting, and sobering to contemplate, but I had two issues with the book which keep it from garnering a higher rating:
1.) There are numerous characters to follow, introduced in dribs and drabs. Taking just one of them we first know him as a young boy talking with his grandfather, the next time as a fifty year old with a 90-year old nephew. All of this because of time dilation of travelling at light speeds and returning back to Earth where time has progressed differently. Anyway, keeping all the threads straight can be a bit of an unwelcome challenge. Probably less problematic for those of you who can speed read through a book in just a few sittings. For me, spread over a week or two, I found myself wondering ‘now, who is this character?’
2.) The writing style (for me) required a bit of extra mental effort. Anderson spent his formative educational years in Denmark, and it shows in the very northern European manner of sentence structure. Snags in the narrative flow occur often enough to detract from the immersive reading experience. Here’s an example:
“From the stoep of Mamphela’s little house, Ruszek saw widely. Westward the Transkei heights rose green with plantations, shrubs, and trees producing their various organics under a hard blue sky. Northward the city reached beyond sight, towns swollen until they ran together, brightly colored modules clustered along traffic-swarming streets, hovercars weaving above, everywhere people, their voices an overtone to the machine throng that never ceased.”
Native English speakers just don’t think in those kinds of sentence structures. Here’s one more, to help you decide if you want to give Anderson a try:
“Naked vision would have availed little. The Milky Way still girdled heaven, bayed by nebular blacknesses. From low orbit she fell swiftly. The globe before her swelled, no longer ahead but below. A shrilling of cloven air grew into thunders. Now slowed, though still ahurtle, she came through a barrier, wings and empennage, folded into the hull, now deployed.”
March 2, 2025
This book by one of the Grand Masters of science fiction was about the first instellar ship to leave Earth on an epic journey to find possible starfaring people hundreds of light years away. The evidence indicated that they were there, however, it would take millenia to get there and then return. The "Envoy" would travel at nearly lightspeed so the time experienced aboard ship would be around five years, or more if the explorrers spent time investigating their theories before heading back to 'earth with the knowledge of their discoveries. On Earth, thousands of years will pass during the mission of the Envoy
.
In "Starfarers", Anderson, a physicist in addition to being a great author, explains the "zero-zero" drive that allows Envoy to reach near lightspeed. He also speculates about black holes and other cosmic phenomena that are encountered during such a mission. He delves into the inter-personal relationships of the crew that travels in his starship, as well. Not only does he talk about the Envoy's mission, he also discusses the changes that occur on earth and elsewhere over the millenia.
Anderson's speculations are interesting and thought-provoking. I found that the story drug on nearly as long as the mission it told of, at least for the first half of the book. It got more exciting during the second half. Anderson's perception of star travel, and the distances and time involved will be interesting to those readers who enjoy hard, speculative, science fiction. His ideas about star travel are well conceived and interesting.
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In "Starfarers", Anderson, a physicist in addition to being a great author, explains the "zero-zero" drive that allows Envoy to reach near lightspeed. He also speculates about black holes and other cosmic phenomena that are encountered during such a mission. He delves into the inter-personal relationships of the crew that travels in his starship, as well. Not only does he talk about the Envoy's mission, he also discusses the changes that occur on earth and elsewhere over the millenia.
Anderson's speculations are interesting and thought-provoking. I found that the story drug on nearly as long as the mission it told of, at least for the first half of the book. It got more exciting during the second half. Anderson's perception of star travel, and the distances and time involved will be interesting to those readers who enjoy hard, speculative, science fiction. His ideas about star travel are well conceived and interesting.
August 17, 2020
L'humanité a commencé à essaimer dans l'espace. Suite à des observations de phénomènes bizarres dans l'espace profond, l'humanité réussit à en extrapoler un moyen de voyager à quasiment la vitesse de la lumière, et, en tire la conclusion que des vaisseaux spatiaux, d'une civilisation extraterrestre, voyagent dans l'espace à environ 5,000 année lumières de la terre. La curiosité l'emporte; on prépare un vaisseau, l'Envoy, et un équipage pour aller à leur rencontre. Tout un défi ! Pour l'équipage, quelques années de voyage aller-retour à la vitesse de la lumière, mais pendant ce temps, plus de 10,000 se seront écoulés pour les planètes humaines, à cause de la relativité du temps.
Une histoire principale : le voyage de l'Envoy et de son équipage, les rencontres avec différents extraterrestres, et les effets du voyage sur les différentes mentalités de l'équipage
Une histoire secondaire : Le schisme de plus en plus grand sur terre entre les habitants et les navigants des vaisseaux, à cause des différences qui s'accentuent suite aux décalages temporels. Des centaines d'années peuvent s'écouler sur terre avant le retour d'un vaisseau et de son équipage.
Roman intéressant, mais il manque de rythme et l'histoire est un peu décevante. Surprenant pour un conteur comme Poul Anderson.
J'ai aimé, mais l'intrigue promettait plus.
Une histoire principale : le voyage de l'Envoy et de son équipage, les rencontres avec différents extraterrestres, et les effets du voyage sur les différentes mentalités de l'équipage
Une histoire secondaire : Le schisme de plus en plus grand sur terre entre les habitants et les navigants des vaisseaux, à cause des différences qui s'accentuent suite aux décalages temporels. Des centaines d'années peuvent s'écouler sur terre avant le retour d'un vaisseau et de son équipage.
Roman intéressant, mais il manque de rythme et l'histoire est un peu décevante. Surprenant pour un conteur comme Poul Anderson.
J'ai aimé, mais l'intrigue promettait plus.
December 15, 2017
This book is one of the few SF works that doesn't posit faster-than-light travel. When clearly alien signals of spaceships traveling at 0.999 of the speed of light are received, a mission is prepared to visit them--but more time will elapse while they are in flight than there has been so far in all of recorded human history, and the planet will be unrecognizably different when they return--if they return.
The story follows two major lines: the characters' adventures as they meet the aliens, and how civilization changes while they were gone. Anderson postulates that our civilizatization, like the alien civilization, will give up on space travel--I think he must have felt the decline of the certainty that used to be characteristic of the West, and assumed that we would lose the idea of progress. It's an interesting read that way, a haunting portrayal of a civilization that used to be greater than it is now. The space travelers are the only ones who remember it like it used to be.
I am skeptical that the idea of progress will be lost, if for no other reason than progress is so enormously profitable. But nevertheless it's an idea worth exploring.
The story follows two major lines: the characters' adventures as they meet the aliens, and how civilization changes while they were gone. Anderson postulates that our civilizatization, like the alien civilization, will give up on space travel--I think he must have felt the decline of the certainty that used to be characteristic of the West, and assumed that we would lose the idea of progress. It's an interesting read that way, a haunting portrayal of a civilization that used to be greater than it is now. The space travelers are the only ones who remember it like it used to be.
I am skeptical that the idea of progress will be lost, if for no other reason than progress is so enormously profitable. But nevertheless it's an idea worth exploring.
August 1, 2024
An epic novel, makes your head spin though.
This is a long story over 600 pages. And because space travel is take so long, at least if you are on Earth. When you travel at light speed, time seems normal (but is not) for those in the ship but back on Earth time is normal. In other words 13 hours traveling in the ship is about a year and a half back on Earth. So time in this book spans over 10,000 years but on the ship itself it's only like 10 years.
We get glimpses of Earth here and there in the book that shows how different cultures have evolved to make it what it is at the end of the book.
Also sad to say,( for me anyway) it was hard to keep track of characters on the ship and sometimes hard to keep track back on Earth.
Nonetheless the book was entertaining as a whole and to me anyway probably should have been written into three separate books?
Check it out though,
This is a long story over 600 pages. And because space travel is take so long, at least if you are on Earth. When you travel at light speed, time seems normal (but is not) for those in the ship but back on Earth time is normal. In other words 13 hours traveling in the ship is about a year and a half back on Earth. So time in this book spans over 10,000 years but on the ship itself it's only like 10 years.
We get glimpses of Earth here and there in the book that shows how different cultures have evolved to make it what it is at the end of the book.
Also sad to say,( for me anyway) it was hard to keep track of characters on the ship and sometimes hard to keep track back on Earth.
Nonetheless the book was entertaining as a whole and to me anyway probably should have been written into three separate books?
Check it out though,
June 23, 2023
I've been trying to read (actually listen to) this book since 17 May. The early chapters were very promising; they even made a start with character development. I was hooked - or so I thought. Since then the book has derailed itself multiple times with excursions into side-stories, back stories and stories about sexual attraction and jealousy. I quickly grew tired of hearing about ‘full lips’, ‘tumbling hair’, sweaty bodies etc. We leapt backwards, forwards and sideways in time without warning and for me this destroyed the dramatic tension that might have developed if Anderson had stuck with the crew and their astonishing, 5-year mission. My conclusion is that he had a brilliant idea but was unable to elevate the drama to the level needed to make the story fly. So, abandoning ship...
September 22, 2018
I really wanted to like this, but just could not get into it due to the writing. Found his style very difficult to read smoothly and enjoy. Sort of herky-jerky text, archaic dialogue, weird verbless sentences and strange word choice that made it sound like something run through an electronic translator.
The last 200 pages were just a slow grind to finally get through. The constant returning focus on all of the sexual frustrations among the crew of 6 men and 4 women after these pair off in the first phase of the voyage always leaving a few 'odd men out' just became boringly redundant after a while.
Is this what Anderson is always like? I had hoped for more.
The last 200 pages were just a slow grind to finally get through. The constant returning focus on all of the sexual frustrations among the crew of 6 men and 4 women after these pair off in the first phase of the voyage always leaving a few 'odd men out' just became boringly redundant after a while.
Is this what Anderson is always like? I had hoped for more.
September 5, 2024
Tonic for an Enervated Imagination
The characters are solid and credible, but best of all, they engage the imagination and stir the heart. The story makes the reader LIVE the theory of relativity and introduces believable alien worlds and creatures whose bodies, thought processes, and even states of being differ radically from our own. Sudden shifts from one story line to another (with one notable exception) click into place within the space of a single paragraph. The reader is advised to make a list of characters’ names since first and last names are often used interchangeably.
The characters are solid and credible, but best of all, they engage the imagination and stir the heart. The story makes the reader LIVE the theory of relativity and introduces believable alien worlds and creatures whose bodies, thought processes, and even states of being differ radically from our own. Sudden shifts from one story line to another (with one notable exception) click into place within the space of a single paragraph. The reader is advised to make a list of characters’ names since first and last names are often used interchangeably.
September 23, 2024
This was a bit of a slog for me. It might have stirred my interest more had it been half the length and if certain of Anderson's writing conventions didn't grate on my inner ear quite so hardly. In particular, I often found his handling of dialogue irritating. What I'm sure he saw as innovative I experienced as annoying. Example:
"Sir?" asked astonishment.
I'd give it two stars if I hadn't been intrigued by his idea that near-light-speed travel would create a class structure by virtue of space travelers experiencing time on a vastly different scale than those who live stationary lives in planets.
"Sir?" asked astonishment.
I'd give it two stars if I hadn't been intrigued by his idea that near-light-speed travel would create a class structure by virtue of space travelers experiencing time on a vastly different scale than those who live stationary lives in planets.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2018
Dry, and heavy on science, Starfarers was interesting but not engrossing. The book covers a staggering amount of time, and much happens on Earth while the heroes are out exploring. Anderson labors to keep us up-to-date with Earth's current events, but his little vignettes are jarring and often difficult to understand. The main story is interesting enough, but with a ten person crew, I had difficulty keeping track of who was who. Cutting out the extraneous material would have helped with that, but the characters could have used better definition and depth.
August 1, 2018
Another recently started book that was really hard to finish. I've said before that I am not really into books with a lot of fantasy and relationships instead of hard science. After the first couple of hundred pages, I just skimmed through to the end looking for interesting parts and finding little. The story had parts that were never resolved and things just sort of happened with no build up. Disappointing.
I expected more from other books I read by Anderson.
I expected more from other books I read by Anderson.
February 6, 2023
A group of explorers go on a journey which will take over 10,000 years while only aging about a dozen years. They meet aliens who help them understand the technology in crossing great distances. Anderson gives us an interesting array of characters who are willing to take the journey. Anderson questions whether a desire for stability will beat out the desire to venture to the unknown. Its old school SF at its best.
November 27, 2023
I did not enjoy this book although I am not an avid book reader I found it very difficult to understand why I don’t know
This book was very difficult to understand, for me, read the entire book, and I had a very hard time of getting into the story. Every time the book started to do something for me it seem to take another twist perhaps the changing of the language it seemed like order changing up the storyline. It also seemed like to me, thanks
This book was very difficult to understand, for me, read the entire book, and I had a very hard time of getting into the story. Every time the book started to do something for me it seem to take another twist perhaps the changing of the language it seemed like order changing up the storyline. It also seemed like to me, thanks
July 16, 2024
Excellent!
Hard Science Fiction has its own fascination for me.
And this is as good as anything I have ever read.
Consider interstellar exploration without faster than light drives.
Consider alien Aliens.
Consider human fragility.
I don't give anything 5 stars unless it is a Hugo/Nebula finalist or award winner.
Poul Anderson has explored non-faster than light futures more than once. I am pleased to read another.
Enjoy!
Hard Science Fiction has its own fascination for me.
And this is as good as anything I have ever read.
Consider interstellar exploration without faster than light drives.
Consider alien Aliens.
Consider human fragility.
I don't give anything 5 stars unless it is a Hugo/Nebula finalist or award winner.
Poul Anderson has explored non-faster than light futures more than once. I am pleased to read another.
Enjoy!
July 9, 2023
this one was very creative - the time span, the concepts of starfaring as a cultural divergence and identity unto itself; the prospect of returning home after thousands of years uncertain of what (if anything) one will find; some fairly credible extra terrestrial encounters; decent character development and conflict. I enjoyed it quite a lot.
June 27, 2024
Great work of hard SF
Magnificent in scope, detailed in imagination, a work by a deservedly renowned master. A little slow starting, a bit pompous in language and erudition by some standards, but it captures the human heart and offers the stars for compensation.
Highly recommended.
Magnificent in scope, detailed in imagination, a work by a deservedly renowned master. A little slow starting, a bit pompous in language and erudition by some standards, but it captures the human heart and offers the stars for compensation.
Highly recommended.
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