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The Enceladus Mission
A space odyssey that’s worth taking. (Kirkus)
In the year 2031, a robot probe detects traces of biological activity on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. This sensational discovery shows that there is indeed evidence of extraterrestrial life. Fifteen years later, a hurriedly built spacecraft sets out on the long journey to the ringed planet and its moon.
The international crew is not just facing a difficult twenty-seven months: if the spacecraft manages to make it to Enceladus without incident it must use a drillship to penetrate the kilometer-thick sheet of ice that entombs the moon. If life does indeed exist on Enceladus, it could only be at the bottom of the salty, ice covered ocean, which formed billions of years ago.
However, shortly after takeoff disaster strikes the mission, and the chances of the crew making it to Enceladus, let alone back home, look grim.
From internationally best-selling hard science fiction author Brandon Q. Morris comes a new novel for hard science fiction enthusiasts. As a physicist and space specialist, Morris describes the journey of the international expedition through the hostile vacuum of space, using the latest scientific findings and technology trends as his inspiration. This isn’t a What If book, this is a When Will book.
In the year 2031, a robot probe detects traces of biological activity on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. This sensational discovery shows that there is indeed evidence of extraterrestrial life. Fifteen years later, a hurriedly built spacecraft sets out on the long journey to the ringed planet and its moon.
The international crew is not just facing a difficult twenty-seven months: if the spacecraft manages to make it to Enceladus without incident it must use a drillship to penetrate the kilometer-thick sheet of ice that entombs the moon. If life does indeed exist on Enceladus, it could only be at the bottom of the salty, ice covered ocean, which formed billions of years ago.
However, shortly after takeoff disaster strikes the mission, and the chances of the crew making it to Enceladus, let alone back home, look grim.
From internationally best-selling hard science fiction author Brandon Q. Morris comes a new novel for hard science fiction enthusiasts. As a physicist and space specialist, Morris describes the journey of the international expedition through the hostile vacuum of space, using the latest scientific findings and technology trends as his inspiration. This isn’t a What If book, this is a When Will book.
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 20, 2017
4300 people are currently reading
1804 people want to read
About the author
Brandon Q. Morris
131 books465 followersBrandon Q. Morris is a physicist and space specialist. He has long been concerned with space issues, both professionally and privately and while he wanted to become an astronaut, he had to stay on Earth for a variety of reasons. He is particularly fascinated by the "what if” and through his books he aims to share compelling hard science fiction stories that could actually happen, and someday may happen. Morris is the author of several best-selling science fiction novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 266 reviews
February 14, 2019
"Willinger uttered a raucous laugh."
Three paragraphs later...
"He uttered the same raucous laugh, and Martin winced internally."
I winced too. DNF.
Interesting premise, but not very engaging. None of the characters felt like they exerted any influence over the narrative and the writing style felt unnatural and clinical.
Edit: About half of the Goodreads review here are in German. Is this a translation maybe? Doesn't make me want to give this a higher rating, but it could explain some of my misgivings.
Three paragraphs later...
"He uttered the same raucous laugh, and Martin winced internally."
I winced too. DNF.
Interesting premise, but not very engaging. None of the characters felt like they exerted any influence over the narrative and the writing style felt unnatural and clinical.
Edit: About half of the Goodreads review here are in German. Is this a translation maybe? Doesn't make me want to give this a higher rating, but it could explain some of my misgivings.
November 19, 2018
Publishing Date: October 2018
Publisher: Hard Science Fiction
ISBN: 9783947283293
Genre: SciFI
Rating: 4.2/5
Publisher’s Description: In the year 2031, a robot probe detects traces of biological activity on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. This sensational discovery shows that there is indeed evidence of extraterrestrial life. Fifteen years later, a hurriedly built spacecraft sets out on the long journey to the ringed planet and its moon.
Review: Reviewers on the down side of this novel said there was too much info-dumping or too much hard science. Well la-ti-da. Hard science fiction is what built the genre. Remember Ringworld? It is really a waste of time to consider reviews that lack an awareness of the principal aspects that founded their current interest. If it is not romance slathered scifi or concepts that verge on Fantasy without explanation, then millennial readers quickly lose interest. Yeah, thinking is just soooo hard.
Even if hard Sci-fi is not your cuppa joe, there is some really good character development and world building to ease the headache in your brain. Most of the novel is viewed through the eyes of Martin. Martin is a bit socially inept and lacks a certain depth in the compassion department. He grows emotionally through the rigors of a long journey and that is a testament to the writer’s skill.
I am really looking forward to the next installment if only to see what happens to Marchenko.
You can read all of my reviews, HERE.
Publisher: Hard Science Fiction
ISBN: 9783947283293
Genre: SciFI
Rating: 4.2/5
Publisher’s Description: In the year 2031, a robot probe detects traces of biological activity on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. This sensational discovery shows that there is indeed evidence of extraterrestrial life. Fifteen years later, a hurriedly built spacecraft sets out on the long journey to the ringed planet and its moon.
Review: Reviewers on the down side of this novel said there was too much info-dumping or too much hard science. Well la-ti-da. Hard science fiction is what built the genre. Remember Ringworld? It is really a waste of time to consider reviews that lack an awareness of the principal aspects that founded their current interest. If it is not romance slathered scifi or concepts that verge on Fantasy without explanation, then millennial readers quickly lose interest. Yeah, thinking is just soooo hard.
Even if hard Sci-fi is not your cuppa joe, there is some really good character development and world building to ease the headache in your brain. Most of the novel is viewed through the eyes of Martin. Martin is a bit socially inept and lacks a certain depth in the compassion department. He grows emotionally through the rigors of a long journey and that is a testament to the writer’s skill.
I am really looking forward to the next installment if only to see what happens to Marchenko.
You can read all of my reviews, HERE.
September 22, 2023
As The Enceladus Mission professes in its subtitle, it includes one of the two elements of science fiction that I search for in every sci-fi novel, which is actual science. The story takes place in near future so a lot of our present-day scientific knowledge is used and extrapolated by one or two generations into the future. This makes Morris’ setting and plot work in ways that are intuitively relatable to our own time. Of special interest for me were his depictions of artificial intelligence, prolonged manned interplanetary space missions, and space propulsion concepts. Additionally, Morris incorporates the theories that speculate about life on the icy moons that exist around other planets in our solar system.
The second element that I search for in every science fiction book is a genuine talent for creating human characters. This is probably the most elusive attribute in all of the science fiction genre. In this regard, Morris actually puts forth a decent effort. The main character has internal thoughts that are communicated to the reader and emotions are occasionally described and sometimes demonstrated. Morris still falls short of creating people that live on the page, but it is apparent that humans are playing out his story.
The action is somewhat typical for space-based plots. Their spaceship, while on its two year mission, experiences half-a-dozen Apollo 13 mishaps but unrealistically survives them all. There are also a couple of ‘loose ends’ that create minor plot contradictions that need to be overlooked along the way. And the end of the book attempts an ‘Arthur C. Clark’ space-mysticism vibe without much effect and some annoyance.
Morris, however, does include “extra credit” following the end of the novel by way of a factual article on the book’s content. It’s titled “The Guided Tour of Enceladus.” Within this article he lays out the current science and technology of space travel and gives a report on the actual composition of Enceladus. The article clearly demonstrates that the science fiction of the novel is on its way to possibly becoming fact. This was an appreciated add-on that was not expected.
The second element that I search for in every science fiction book is a genuine talent for creating human characters. This is probably the most elusive attribute in all of the science fiction genre. In this regard, Morris actually puts forth a decent effort. The main character has internal thoughts that are communicated to the reader and emotions are occasionally described and sometimes demonstrated. Morris still falls short of creating people that live on the page, but it is apparent that humans are playing out his story.
The action is somewhat typical for space-based plots. Their spaceship, while on its two year mission, experiences half-a-dozen Apollo 13 mishaps but unrealistically survives them all. There are also a couple of ‘loose ends’ that create minor plot contradictions that need to be overlooked along the way. And the end of the book attempts an ‘Arthur C. Clark’ space-mysticism vibe without much effect and some annoyance.
Morris, however, does include “extra credit” following the end of the novel by way of a factual article on the book’s content. It’s titled “The Guided Tour of Enceladus.” Within this article he lays out the current science and technology of space travel and gives a report on the actual composition of Enceladus. The article clearly demonstrates that the science fiction of the novel is on its way to possibly becoming fact. This was an appreciated add-on that was not expected.
April 24, 2019
4 stars for the hardcore sci fi aspect and impressive research that went into this story. 2 stars for the writing and plot development. A little too long in words and short in depth for my liking but perhaps sci fi enthusiasts might get more from it. Thank you to publisher and Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
July 30, 2021
I've been torn on this series for a while. On one hand, I'm fascinated by the outer solar system and it tends to be pretty easy to get me to read a book set there. On the other hand, I was seriously put off by the title, proudly proclaiming it as Hard Science Fiction. That's a strange moniker to place on a book about a manned mission to Enceladus for all sorts of reasons.
So if you're not familiar with the term "hard sf", it has a number of definitions. Generally speaking, if science fiction is defined as speculative fiction where suspension of disbelief is maintained by an appeal to science, then hard science fiction makes sure that the science and engineering involved is as realistic as it can be. One of the chief goals of a hard sf book is for a reasonably well-informed reader not to be saying "bulls**t!" regarding any of the plot points.
For instance, in hard sf you can forgive an invention like the Direct Fusion Drive (DFD in most of the book), because without such a device a manned mission to Enceladus would be impossible. (With any other technology the amount of fuel you would need to take with you just to slow down at Saturn would be prohibitive for a manned mission. Let alone a return one.)
You could also say that microbial life found at Enceladus would also fit into hard sf as that's at the extreme ends of possibility regarding what we already know about the sea under the ice there. Anything more than that would have most people looking for hard sf saying "bulls**t!" quite a lot.
Unfortunately, while this is an ok science fiction story, it's certainly not a "hard sf" one as can be discovered if you read the very spoilery summaries of subsequent books in the series.
So if you're not familiar with the term "hard sf", it has a number of definitions. Generally speaking, if science fiction is defined as speculative fiction where suspension of disbelief is maintained by an appeal to science, then hard science fiction makes sure that the science and engineering involved is as realistic as it can be. One of the chief goals of a hard sf book is for a reasonably well-informed reader not to be saying "bulls**t!" regarding any of the plot points.
For instance, in hard sf you can forgive an invention like the Direct Fusion Drive (DFD in most of the book), because without such a device a manned mission to Enceladus would be impossible. (With any other technology the amount of fuel you would need to take with you just to slow down at Saturn would be prohibitive for a manned mission. Let alone a return one.)
You could also say that microbial life found at Enceladus would also fit into hard sf as that's at the extreme ends of possibility regarding what we already know about the sea under the ice there. Anything more than that would have most people looking for hard sf saying "bulls**t!" quite a lot.
Unfortunately, while this is an ok science fiction story, it's certainly not a "hard sf" one as can be discovered if you read the very spoilery summaries of subsequent books in the series.
January 15, 2021
La nota real seria de 2.5 y es que tengo sentimientos encontrados con esta obra...
Por una parte me gusta mucho la parte de exploración, de ir hacia lo desconocido, de la precariedad real de una nave surcando el cosmos. La idea si bien no es ni mucho menos novedosa si que es interesante.
Mi problema, o mejor dicho, problemas, son varios... El peor para mi es que si bien llegas a tomar cariño a los personajes, no los he sentido muy reales precisamente. Empezando por el propio protagonista que no acabas de pillarle la personalidad, ya que esta se mueve en la dirección que necesita el autor, cuando a mi modo de ver tendría que ser completamente al revés.
No he sentido estar leyendo un libro de ciencia ficción "dura" como dicen que es, tal vez lo sea, no lo niego, pero en ese sentido me ha parecido descafeinada. Y si bien se nota mucho que el escritor sabe de lo que habla (es fisico )y se ha informado profundamente también se nota que a veces pasa muy por encima de detalles que no habria quedado mal algo más de profundidad. ( pero eso es mi criterio )
El problema de los tres cuerpos y The Martian las sentí infinitamente más Hard Scifi que esto.
También me han faltado descripciones una vez llegan a Encelado, o al pasar por Saturno... jJoder! es la primera vez que un ser humano ve esas maravillas!! Y apenas se nota el entusiasmo que deberia embargar a los protagonistas, lo mismo podrian estar visitando el MontBlanc.
Me ha parecido mas bien un "mashup" entre Julio Verne, Isaac Asimov y Andy Weir ( the martian ) Lo cual no es malo per se, pero es que se queda descafeinado.
Me ha gustado y no me ha gustado.
Probablemente lea la continuación, ya que si bien queda mas o menos bien cerrado si que forma parte de una trilogia ( creo )
Recomendado? emmmm, ¿si?... (es gratis con Amazon Prime)
Por una parte me gusta mucho la parte de exploración, de ir hacia lo desconocido, de la precariedad real de una nave surcando el cosmos. La idea si bien no es ni mucho menos novedosa si que es interesante.
Mi problema, o mejor dicho, problemas, son varios... El peor para mi es que si bien llegas a tomar cariño a los personajes, no los he sentido muy reales precisamente. Empezando por el propio protagonista que no acabas de pillarle la personalidad, ya que esta se mueve en la dirección que necesita el autor, cuando a mi modo de ver tendría que ser completamente al revés.
No he sentido estar leyendo un libro de ciencia ficción "dura" como dicen que es, tal vez lo sea, no lo niego, pero en ese sentido me ha parecido descafeinada. Y si bien se nota mucho que el escritor sabe de lo que habla (es fisico )y se ha informado profundamente también se nota que a veces pasa muy por encima de detalles que no habria quedado mal algo más de profundidad. ( pero eso es mi criterio )
El problema de los tres cuerpos y The Martian las sentí infinitamente más Hard Scifi que esto.
También me han faltado descripciones una vez llegan a Encelado, o al pasar por Saturno... jJoder! es la primera vez que un ser humano ve esas maravillas!! Y apenas se nota el entusiasmo que deberia embargar a los protagonistas, lo mismo podrian estar visitando el MontBlanc.
Me ha parecido mas bien un "mashup" entre Julio Verne, Isaac Asimov y Andy Weir ( the martian ) Lo cual no es malo per se, pero es que se queda descafeinado.
Me ha gustado y no me ha gustado.
Probablemente lea la continuación, ya que si bien queda mas o menos bien cerrado si que forma parte de una trilogia ( creo )
Recomendado? emmmm, ¿si?... (es gratis con Amazon Prime)
January 23, 2020
Honestamente este libro al principio me parecía algo lento, incluso algo insulso, pero conforme fui avanzando me ha ido atrapando cada vez más hasta lograr que amara la historia.
Ciencia Ficción pura y dura, de la llamada de primer contacto, si bien es verdad que la historia en si no es realmente nada novedosa, creo que he visto cientos de películas con tramas parecidas, sin embargo es evidente que el autor está muy bien documentado y eso siempre se agradece en este tipo de libros.
No sabía que se trataba de una serie hasta que ya lo había comenzado y solo puedo esperar a que el segundo tomo no tarde mucho en venir.
La narrativa está en tercera persona, pero básicamente centrada en uno de los tripulantes de la nave, Martin, un científico que de astronauta no tiene un pelo pero que por motivos varios termina siendo parte integrante de la tripulación internacional y de este viaje que no solo es peligroso si no además novedoso.
La historia comienza literalmente desde el inicio, los motivos que impulsan a gobiernos y empresas privadas a querer realizar este viaje, la manera en que la sonda espacial funciona, las construcción y pruebas de la nave tuneladora que deberá romper el hielo que cubre Encélado, una de las lunas de saturno y donde se cree que hay vida celular, en fin todos los traspiés no solo del antes del viaje si no también durante el mismo, la llegada a Encélado y la aventura que ahí les espera.
La buena noticia es que este libro no tiene un final abierto, así que a pesar de que sabemos que tiene una continuación, bien podríamos quedarnos solo con este final que para ser honesta no es para nada malo.
Me ha gustado mucho el libro y a pesar de un principio accidentado y algo lento, ha valido la pena su lectura.
No estoy muy segura de que este libro pudiera ser del agrado de todo el mundo, pero si para quienes, como yo, son amantes de la ciencia ficción, esta muy bien escrito, tiene su verdadero punto científico y una aventura realmente interesante, sobre todo cuando la tripulación llega a Encélado.
Ciencia Ficción pura y dura, de la llamada de primer contacto, si bien es verdad que la historia en si no es realmente nada novedosa, creo que he visto cientos de películas con tramas parecidas, sin embargo es evidente que el autor está muy bien documentado y eso siempre se agradece en este tipo de libros.
No sabía que se trataba de una serie hasta que ya lo había comenzado y solo puedo esperar a que el segundo tomo no tarde mucho en venir.
La narrativa está en tercera persona, pero básicamente centrada en uno de los tripulantes de la nave, Martin, un científico que de astronauta no tiene un pelo pero que por motivos varios termina siendo parte integrante de la tripulación internacional y de este viaje que no solo es peligroso si no además novedoso.
La historia comienza literalmente desde el inicio, los motivos que impulsan a gobiernos y empresas privadas a querer realizar este viaje, la manera en que la sonda espacial funciona, las construcción y pruebas de la nave tuneladora que deberá romper el hielo que cubre Encélado, una de las lunas de saturno y donde se cree que hay vida celular, en fin todos los traspiés no solo del antes del viaje si no también durante el mismo, la llegada a Encélado y la aventura que ahí les espera.
La buena noticia es que este libro no tiene un final abierto, así que a pesar de que sabemos que tiene una continuación, bien podríamos quedarnos solo con este final que para ser honesta no es para nada malo.
Me ha gustado mucho el libro y a pesar de un principio accidentado y algo lento, ha valido la pena su lectura.
No estoy muy segura de que este libro pudiera ser del agrado de todo el mundo, pero si para quienes, como yo, son amantes de la ciencia ficción, esta muy bien escrito, tiene su verdadero punto científico y una aventura realmente interesante, sobre todo cuando la tripulación llega a Encélado.
March 3, 2019
I wasn't sure if the somewhat poor writing was part of the buildup to the story or not - about a quarter of the way into the book, I was still waiting for something unusual and interesting to happen - and I think it started to, but by this point the writing style killed me... From what I can see, this is just another mildly interesting and not necessarily original story that's been stretched out to several books in the theory that more is better - it isn't.
January 28, 2018
4.65 Punkte , absolute Leseempfehlung!
Read
November 15, 2022Not well visualized
Could not finish. Rating: minus 5
At this rewrite, Goodreads only allows to see only 2 of the 200 reviews and one is mine, which is more than I usually can see. More significantly Goodreads responded to none of my queries and their harassment intensified. 🤔 The final catalyst for my rewrite project was discovering that Goodreads had masked commenter ID's on all my reviews (with the sole exception of Powers of the Earth). 🤔 putting up with very nasty comments was one thing but having the site "protect" the member names of these people crossed every line. I have not received an acknowledgement of my queries about these actions in more than two years. 🤔
I soon after closed my reviews to comment and removed my lurkers but one. Goodreads will not allow me to remove a Dr Susan Hamilton (Maths professor at University of Tennessee ?) and of course did not respond to queries regarding this last either. 🤔🤔 She posted nothing over more than two years since her friend request. She then failed to remove me after four requests. 🤔. It makes no sense, if hers is not a stolen identity. I have good qualities but am just not that interesting a person. 😁
If you find the above acceptable, please do not read this or any other of my reviews. Thank you.
It seems that when you write a scathing review of "a poorly written salute to a January 6, 2021 hero", a lowly (rogue, of course) Goodreads tech suddenly decides that a member being a communist is a bad thing. Quite a surprise that. 🤗🤗
For additional Goodreads, see my review of "Stowaway", a sad attempt at space adventure or Powers of the Earth (a poorly written salute to a January 6, 2021 hero) and the comments of a Claes Rees Jr/cgr710 (a self-identified NeoNazi and US patriot).
To Claes Rees Jr/cgr710
Don't be a numpty. Be a smarty. Come and join the Communist Party.
I wonder sometimes what besides huge gold transfers motivates US patriots (Tucker Carlson, Claes Rees Jr and US Republican legislators, for example) to so vocally support Putin or his Russia, even after Putin has threatened their country with nuclear war. I think that it might be the prospect of replicating the forced relocation of at least two million Ukrainian women and children to Siberia. In any case.
Today Kherson! Tomorrow Crimea! GLORY TO UKRAINE !!! and GLORY TO THE HEROES !!!
I put the book away at the at the 53% mark. I never thought that I would say this of a book of science fiction but in this book there was too much science. There was the usual (for low end work) big problem of inadequate and/or deficient world building.
"From this great sin doth all other harm arise." That must be a quote from a 16th century theologian or philosopher but if not, it should be.
The background universe is neither described nor explained. The sole attempt to create that background is to repeat the mantra that defines the circumstances of the ship's crew. The mission is doomed to failure. The agency or government (unknown) that funded the journey expects them to die. The expert opinion of engineers and scientists is that the crew will die on the trip. The press it seems expects that the crew will not survive the mission (which is not described). The crew whose reasons for joining the crew are not given, expect that this will be a one way trip.
This is the very description of lack of world building. Still this example is superior to most Low Effort, Minimal Effort or No Effort current US science fiction. Why a writer undertakes to pen a fiction that requires that they of necessity must imagine an entire world and for which they must then write a complete background from the ground up and then not write that world is a puzzle to me.
In writing my book, I have so far spent most of my time building a world. I think that I have gone full Sanderson, sometimes. I am creating a planetary society, a humanity wide general tech level allowing for differences between that of various multinational blocs. I have almost perfected my technology framework and ship design for one faction at least. Then there is the need for the range of major values that define the difference between blocs. I have begun the series (I hope) plot in a general way.
I can not conceive of doing this in any other manner. Now I at least have an incomplete context in which to place the major characters that I have in mind. It requires a commitment of research and modeling time but Frank Herbert spent seven years (if I remember correctly) writing "Dune". I do not expect to write an epic that engrossing but with some effort, I may finish something entertaining and relatively well written.
These writers all either lack imagination or work ethic and most probably both. Their disregard for the reader is on sad display. Their respect for the genre or writing in general is obviously absent. The publishers and editors encourage the attitudes in approving the work, then buying their books. Ruin the genre that demands the most of its readers in imagination, then attack critical thinking. Definitely sounds like the plan of an evil Neoliberal financial cabal, celebrating the end of history. Dramatic, I know. Forgive me. Still it would work in one of these books or perhaps a well conceived examination of the supports required to maintain a Neoliberal narrative. British citizens voted by a slender margin for Brexit and only began an online search for the definition of Brexit the day after the vote. I think that proves the cabal premise has a real world precedent, so do not judge me too harshly for my ill timed flight of fancy.
Back to the book. The writer's "background" is not foreshadowing. It should not even be the background. The reader probably is curious about the mission parameters, which might at least explain the rushed nature of the whole expedition. The stakes if explained would make the book more entertaining. It would be nice to know something about the state of the planet that launched them. The organization would be even better.
Having repeated that every one in the solar system expects the crew to die, reminding the reader that the 1969 Moon mission was accomplished only with luck and duct tape was unneeded. While It is true, that was overkill.
The first 30 to 35% of the book was comprised almost solely of engineering descriptions, materials science, orbital mechanics.
The characters and dialogue really aren't. They seldom speak and only the musings of the main character, give any insight into the rest of the cast. I would say that the mission and its supposed urgency is contrived, if so had a clue whay the mission was.
The background is too skimpy to disguise the pointlessness of rushing the trip. The creation of both new power plants and exploration machines is conducted while the mission itself is being designed. The ship design and creation is not explained. Who built it and where was not answered. It simply appears in orbit. Before the manned ship is sent, an unmanned supply ship is launched but it isn't mentioned by the characters until about page 200 or so. The point of launching an unmanned ship is never made and the possibility of it failing is not even discussed. This is the supply source without which the crew of the manned ship will not be able to return to Earth. Bad planning or bad plotting?
With that background the story consists of two parts. There are the hundreds of paragraphs dedicated to describing the engineering requirements, materials and power requirements, aspects of the ship's design, the suits the crew use to minimize the damage from weightlessness on their health and every nook and cranny of their not overly large spaceship. If that's the case, why not include actual ship specs, including length, width and height. The actual dimensions of the internal spaces would make it easier to understand the crew environment.
The main character provides the POV which would be fine but all he does is brood and demonstrate a limited awareness of the people around him. There are scenes where the systems programmer demonstrates savant like maths skill and the same in maintaining the engineering of his spacecraft. He does this while, having no background in either. His detachment is so great that he observes his fellow crew but doesn't understand their very ordinary behaviors. Autistic?
About a third of the way through the story, a female astronaut announces that she is pregnant. The crew then votes whether she should terminate the pregnancy or further strain their limited life support resources. The biggest issue for the crew seems to be the lack of baby diapers. There is even a baby shower of sorts. The main character spends days wrapping his head around the discovery that the mother and her boyfriend had been having sex for months in their shared cabin. The main character is obviously either intellectually or emotionally impaired but it's not clear which.
The rest of the story is a stream of equipment failures, faulty mission planning, emergencies that anyone might have foreseen and so on. That the writer expects that a consortium would spend 80 billion dollars on such an ill conceived project is very optimistic but I don't see how that would be possible.
As a feasibility study of a multi-year intrasystem journey, it is a failure. He needed to include real financial, technical and political constraints. These would be spelled out as part of his argument, whether for or against it. The crew would only exist to demonstrate the ability to provide life support and other necessities in any ship design. Adding unplanned pregnancies is just immature writing and explains the lack of character development.
He would have done better to do one or the other. Write a well researched feasibility study on the limits of near future launches to other planets or write a novel about the crew who is tasked with the trip and the process by which the crew and ship come into being. He has done neither. It wasn't so much hard science fiction as hard to read thin science in search of a fictional framework.
I have over the last two years lost much of my interest in current science fiction print. I generally reread the better writers or rely on Netflix and other streaming services for the rest of my science fiction. All of the streaming services have stories that are better written than Low Effort US science fiction print. Some of the film and shows are very,very good and the rest are usually at least interesting.
About two years ago, I began searching YouTube for science fiction channels. I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few and other special interest channels besides. I had not known that there were book channels on YouTube and it was a welcome discovery.
The book channels really cover everything related to the world of books from redecorating of the library through book recommendations and reading challenges. These channels host communities of readers who are varied in tastes and interests, curious and love all bookish things. I think that is obviously the opposite to whatever Goodreads are (besides being toxic and left to low level techs willing to break laws in support of things like pro-slavery comments).
I recommend that you visit some of the book channels for any reader. I have listed some below.
A last note as regards Goodreads. I suggest minimizing information in your profile and periodically removing lurkers. They may not cause you problems unless you are doing something right but why take chances. Try to remember that the same "rogue" tech or two are responsible for answering any complaints or queries and need not acknowledge your message. 🤔
They can also affect your Kindle service as I discovered. With good internet my Amazon services would go blank after posting negative comments some reviews for hours. 🤔 Guess who handles the complaint? After I mentioned my odd service cutouts in several reviews, they ended magically and never returned.
That was a system activity that can not be covered up and is really illegal. 😐 Despite movies, very few things can be removed from the system log with no trace. I do not think that Amazon will do a system log review without a court order, so take a screen shot and save it. Please protect yourself as if on a potentially hostile site. Enough of them.
YouTube has essay and documentary channels but also pointed me to educational video sites via advertisements. I began with Curiosity Stream/Nebula at a cost of about $15 USD for a yearly subscription. I think that any of them is worth a look.
My picks of the moment.
Alt Shift X, Ancient Geographics, Truth to Power, Larry and Paul, Sarah Z, MIT Video Productions, Tom Nicholas, Tibees, Ben and Emily, A Cup of Nicole, MANDY, Utopian Broadcast, Violet Orlandi, Sabine Hossenfelder, Boat Time.
Some of my favorite YouTube channels are.
Second Thought, Beau of the fifth column, Ben and Emily, Munecat, Some More News, Owen Jones, Eleanor Morton, Renegade Cut, Lindsay Ellis, Novara Media, Tara Mooknee, The Juice Media, The Great War, A Life of Lit, Dead Good Books, The Narrowboat Pirate, 2Cellos, Cruising Alba, Lady of the Library, Emmie, Tibees, History Marche, What Vivi did next, AstronautX, Philosophy Tube, Owen Jones, Denys Davydov, Boat Time, Tulia, Merphy Napier, With Olivia, Camper Vibe, Steam Punk, Swell Entertainment, Brittany the Bibliophile, Noelle Gallagher, Isaac Arthur, Karolina Zebrowska, Sabine Hossenfelder, Celtica, Lady knight the Brave, Lilly's expat life, BrandonF, TIKHistory, Double Down News, Alice Cappelle, Alize, I'm Rosa, Prime of Midlife, Jessica Gagnon, France 24, Double Down News, Sarah Z, Kitty G, Adult Wednesday Addams, Neringa Rekaslute, Chloe Stafler, Books with Chloe, Dr Becky, Jack in the Books, Bookleo, Overly Sarcastic Productions, Kathy's Flog in France, Book Odyssey, Thirdworld Booknerd, Lily Alexander, Rebecca Watson, Zoe Baker, Three Arrows, Max Joseph, Anton Petrov, Kelly loves Physics and History, Military History Visualized, Joe Scott, IzzzYzzz, Rowan Ellis, Invicta, Spacedock, Jessie Gender, Then & Now, Beautifully Bookish Bethany, Mythic Concepts, Quinn's Ideas, Jaxon the Critic, Told in Stone, The Templin Institute, The Piano Boat, The Welsh Viking, Books and Quills, Task and Purpose, Dakota Warren, Pro Robotics, A Cup of Nicole, Alexa Donne, Zoe Bee, Enby Reads, Bookslike Whoa, Noah Samsen, The Radical Reviewer, Spacedock, Storyworldling, Writing with Jenna Moreci, Juliette Wade, Christy Anne Jones, Atun Shei, Cursed by Design, The Great War, Between the Wars, World War Two, Diane Callahan Quotidian Writer, Vlad Vexler, Kalyn Abridged, Jill Bearup, We're in Hell, Depressed Russian, WION, A Different Bias, DUST, Mala Armia Janosika, The Angry Astronaut, The Shades of Orange, UA Courage, Art by Annamarie, The Leftist Cooks, Steve Shives, Violet Orlandi, Ship Happens, May Moon Narrowboat, Northern Narrowboaters, All Shorts.
I wish you a bright morning, a gorgeous afternoon, a refreshing evening, a wonderful night and may we all keep learning.
Gentlemen, we did it! Can you not smell the individual liberty and freedom in the air?
Hamilton, Toast at the 1783 Christmas Gala of the Association of English North American Slave Owners and Slave Traders
Could not finish. Rating: minus 5
At this rewrite, Goodreads only allows to see only 2 of the 200 reviews and one is mine, which is more than I usually can see. More significantly Goodreads responded to none of my queries and their harassment intensified. 🤔 The final catalyst for my rewrite project was discovering that Goodreads had masked commenter ID's on all my reviews (with the sole exception of Powers of the Earth). 🤔 putting up with very nasty comments was one thing but having the site "protect" the member names of these people crossed every line. I have not received an acknowledgement of my queries about these actions in more than two years. 🤔
I soon after closed my reviews to comment and removed my lurkers but one. Goodreads will not allow me to remove a Dr Susan Hamilton (Maths professor at University of Tennessee ?) and of course did not respond to queries regarding this last either. 🤔🤔 She posted nothing over more than two years since her friend request. She then failed to remove me after four requests. 🤔. It makes no sense, if hers is not a stolen identity. I have good qualities but am just not that interesting a person. 😁
If you find the above acceptable, please do not read this or any other of my reviews. Thank you.
It seems that when you write a scathing review of "a poorly written salute to a January 6, 2021 hero", a lowly (rogue, of course) Goodreads tech suddenly decides that a member being a communist is a bad thing. Quite a surprise that. 🤗🤗
For additional Goodreads, see my review of "Stowaway", a sad attempt at space adventure or Powers of the Earth (a poorly written salute to a January 6, 2021 hero) and the comments of a Claes Rees Jr/cgr710 (a self-identified NeoNazi and US patriot).
To Claes Rees Jr/cgr710
Don't be a numpty. Be a smarty. Come and join the Communist Party.
I wonder sometimes what besides huge gold transfers motivates US patriots (Tucker Carlson, Claes Rees Jr and US Republican legislators, for example) to so vocally support Putin or his Russia, even after Putin has threatened their country with nuclear war. I think that it might be the prospect of replicating the forced relocation of at least two million Ukrainian women and children to Siberia. In any case.
Today Kherson! Tomorrow Crimea! GLORY TO UKRAINE !!! and GLORY TO THE HEROES !!!
I put the book away at the at the 53% mark. I never thought that I would say this of a book of science fiction but in this book there was too much science. There was the usual (for low end work) big problem of inadequate and/or deficient world building.
"From this great sin doth all other harm arise." That must be a quote from a 16th century theologian or philosopher but if not, it should be.
The background universe is neither described nor explained. The sole attempt to create that background is to repeat the mantra that defines the circumstances of the ship's crew. The mission is doomed to failure. The agency or government (unknown) that funded the journey expects them to die. The expert opinion of engineers and scientists is that the crew will die on the trip. The press it seems expects that the crew will not survive the mission (which is not described). The crew whose reasons for joining the crew are not given, expect that this will be a one way trip.
This is the very description of lack of world building. Still this example is superior to most Low Effort, Minimal Effort or No Effort current US science fiction. Why a writer undertakes to pen a fiction that requires that they of necessity must imagine an entire world and for which they must then write a complete background from the ground up and then not write that world is a puzzle to me.
In writing my book, I have so far spent most of my time building a world. I think that I have gone full Sanderson, sometimes. I am creating a planetary society, a humanity wide general tech level allowing for differences between that of various multinational blocs. I have almost perfected my technology framework and ship design for one faction at least. Then there is the need for the range of major values that define the difference between blocs. I have begun the series (I hope) plot in a general way.
I can not conceive of doing this in any other manner. Now I at least have an incomplete context in which to place the major characters that I have in mind. It requires a commitment of research and modeling time but Frank Herbert spent seven years (if I remember correctly) writing "Dune". I do not expect to write an epic that engrossing but with some effort, I may finish something entertaining and relatively well written.
These writers all either lack imagination or work ethic and most probably both. Their disregard for the reader is on sad display. Their respect for the genre or writing in general is obviously absent. The publishers and editors encourage the attitudes in approving the work, then buying their books. Ruin the genre that demands the most of its readers in imagination, then attack critical thinking. Definitely sounds like the plan of an evil Neoliberal financial cabal, celebrating the end of history. Dramatic, I know. Forgive me. Still it would work in one of these books or perhaps a well conceived examination of the supports required to maintain a Neoliberal narrative. British citizens voted by a slender margin for Brexit and only began an online search for the definition of Brexit the day after the vote. I think that proves the cabal premise has a real world precedent, so do not judge me too harshly for my ill timed flight of fancy.
Back to the book. The writer's "background" is not foreshadowing. It should not even be the background. The reader probably is curious about the mission parameters, which might at least explain the rushed nature of the whole expedition. The stakes if explained would make the book more entertaining. It would be nice to know something about the state of the planet that launched them. The organization would be even better.
Having repeated that every one in the solar system expects the crew to die, reminding the reader that the 1969 Moon mission was accomplished only with luck and duct tape was unneeded. While It is true, that was overkill.
The first 30 to 35% of the book was comprised almost solely of engineering descriptions, materials science, orbital mechanics.
The characters and dialogue really aren't. They seldom speak and only the musings of the main character, give any insight into the rest of the cast. I would say that the mission and its supposed urgency is contrived, if so had a clue whay the mission was.
The background is too skimpy to disguise the pointlessness of rushing the trip. The creation of both new power plants and exploration machines is conducted while the mission itself is being designed. The ship design and creation is not explained. Who built it and where was not answered. It simply appears in orbit. Before the manned ship is sent, an unmanned supply ship is launched but it isn't mentioned by the characters until about page 200 or so. The point of launching an unmanned ship is never made and the possibility of it failing is not even discussed. This is the supply source without which the crew of the manned ship will not be able to return to Earth. Bad planning or bad plotting?
With that background the story consists of two parts. There are the hundreds of paragraphs dedicated to describing the engineering requirements, materials and power requirements, aspects of the ship's design, the suits the crew use to minimize the damage from weightlessness on their health and every nook and cranny of their not overly large spaceship. If that's the case, why not include actual ship specs, including length, width and height. The actual dimensions of the internal spaces would make it easier to understand the crew environment.
The main character provides the POV which would be fine but all he does is brood and demonstrate a limited awareness of the people around him. There are scenes where the systems programmer demonstrates savant like maths skill and the same in maintaining the engineering of his spacecraft. He does this while, having no background in either. His detachment is so great that he observes his fellow crew but doesn't understand their very ordinary behaviors. Autistic?
About a third of the way through the story, a female astronaut announces that she is pregnant. The crew then votes whether she should terminate the pregnancy or further strain their limited life support resources. The biggest issue for the crew seems to be the lack of baby diapers. There is even a baby shower of sorts. The main character spends days wrapping his head around the discovery that the mother and her boyfriend had been having sex for months in their shared cabin. The main character is obviously either intellectually or emotionally impaired but it's not clear which.
The rest of the story is a stream of equipment failures, faulty mission planning, emergencies that anyone might have foreseen and so on. That the writer expects that a consortium would spend 80 billion dollars on such an ill conceived project is very optimistic but I don't see how that would be possible.
As a feasibility study of a multi-year intrasystem journey, it is a failure. He needed to include real financial, technical and political constraints. These would be spelled out as part of his argument, whether for or against it. The crew would only exist to demonstrate the ability to provide life support and other necessities in any ship design. Adding unplanned pregnancies is just immature writing and explains the lack of character development.
He would have done better to do one or the other. Write a well researched feasibility study on the limits of near future launches to other planets or write a novel about the crew who is tasked with the trip and the process by which the crew and ship come into being. He has done neither. It wasn't so much hard science fiction as hard to read thin science in search of a fictional framework.
I have over the last two years lost much of my interest in current science fiction print. I generally reread the better writers or rely on Netflix and other streaming services for the rest of my science fiction. All of the streaming services have stories that are better written than Low Effort US science fiction print. Some of the film and shows are very,very good and the rest are usually at least interesting.
About two years ago, I began searching YouTube for science fiction channels. I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few and other special interest channels besides. I had not known that there were book channels on YouTube and it was a welcome discovery.
The book channels really cover everything related to the world of books from redecorating of the library through book recommendations and reading challenges. These channels host communities of readers who are varied in tastes and interests, curious and love all bookish things. I think that is obviously the opposite to whatever Goodreads are (besides being toxic and left to low level techs willing to break laws in support of things like pro-slavery comments).
I recommend that you visit some of the book channels for any reader. I have listed some below.
A last note as regards Goodreads. I suggest minimizing information in your profile and periodically removing lurkers. They may not cause you problems unless you are doing something right but why take chances. Try to remember that the same "rogue" tech or two are responsible for answering any complaints or queries and need not acknowledge your message. 🤔
They can also affect your Kindle service as I discovered. With good internet my Amazon services would go blank after posting negative comments some reviews for hours. 🤔 Guess who handles the complaint? After I mentioned my odd service cutouts in several reviews, they ended magically and never returned.
That was a system activity that can not be covered up and is really illegal. 😐 Despite movies, very few things can be removed from the system log with no trace. I do not think that Amazon will do a system log review without a court order, so take a screen shot and save it. Please protect yourself as if on a potentially hostile site. Enough of them.
YouTube has essay and documentary channels but also pointed me to educational video sites via advertisements. I began with Curiosity Stream/Nebula at a cost of about $15 USD for a yearly subscription. I think that any of them is worth a look.
My picks of the moment.
Alt Shift X, Ancient Geographics, Truth to Power, Larry and Paul, Sarah Z, MIT Video Productions, Tom Nicholas, Tibees, Ben and Emily, A Cup of Nicole, MANDY, Utopian Broadcast, Violet Orlandi, Sabine Hossenfelder, Boat Time.
Some of my favorite YouTube channels are.
Second Thought, Beau of the fifth column, Ben and Emily, Munecat, Some More News, Owen Jones, Eleanor Morton, Renegade Cut, Lindsay Ellis, Novara Media, Tara Mooknee, The Juice Media, The Great War, A Life of Lit, Dead Good Books, The Narrowboat Pirate, 2Cellos, Cruising Alba, Lady of the Library, Emmie, Tibees, History Marche, What Vivi did next, AstronautX, Philosophy Tube, Owen Jones, Denys Davydov, Boat Time, Tulia, Merphy Napier, With Olivia, Camper Vibe, Steam Punk, Swell Entertainment, Brittany the Bibliophile, Noelle Gallagher, Isaac Arthur, Karolina Zebrowska, Sabine Hossenfelder, Celtica, Lady knight the Brave, Lilly's expat life, BrandonF, TIKHistory, Double Down News, Alice Cappelle, Alize, I'm Rosa, Prime of Midlife, Jessica Gagnon, France 24, Double Down News, Sarah Z, Kitty G, Adult Wednesday Addams, Neringa Rekaslute, Chloe Stafler, Books with Chloe, Dr Becky, Jack in the Books, Bookleo, Overly Sarcastic Productions, Kathy's Flog in France, Book Odyssey, Thirdworld Booknerd, Lily Alexander, Rebecca Watson, Zoe Baker, Three Arrows, Max Joseph, Anton Petrov, Kelly loves Physics and History, Military History Visualized, Joe Scott, IzzzYzzz, Rowan Ellis, Invicta, Spacedock, Jessie Gender, Then & Now, Beautifully Bookish Bethany, Mythic Concepts, Quinn's Ideas, Jaxon the Critic, Told in Stone, The Templin Institute, The Piano Boat, The Welsh Viking, Books and Quills, Task and Purpose, Dakota Warren, Pro Robotics, A Cup of Nicole, Alexa Donne, Zoe Bee, Enby Reads, Bookslike Whoa, Noah Samsen, The Radical Reviewer, Spacedock, Storyworldling, Writing with Jenna Moreci, Juliette Wade, Christy Anne Jones, Atun Shei, Cursed by Design, The Great War, Between the Wars, World War Two, Diane Callahan Quotidian Writer, Vlad Vexler, Kalyn Abridged, Jill Bearup, We're in Hell, Depressed Russian, WION, A Different Bias, DUST, Mala Armia Janosika, The Angry Astronaut, The Shades of Orange, UA Courage, Art by Annamarie, The Leftist Cooks, Steve Shives, Violet Orlandi, Ship Happens, May Moon Narrowboat, Northern Narrowboaters, All Shorts.
I wish you a bright morning, a gorgeous afternoon, a refreshing evening, a wonderful night and may we all keep learning.
Gentlemen, we did it! Can you not smell the individual liberty and freedom in the air?
Hamilton, Toast at the 1783 Christmas Gala of the Association of English North American Slave Owners and Slave Traders
April 9, 2017
Nachdem ich mehrere Dokumentationen über das Thema außerplanetare Monde in unserem Sonnensystem konsumiert, die äußerst gelungenen Filme "Europa Report" und "2001: Odyssee im Weltraum" gesehen und mich auch akademisch mit den Monden Europa, Enceladus, Triton und anderen, von einem globalen Eispanzer umschlossenen Himmelskörpern auseinander gesetzt habe, war ich Feuer und Flamme, als ich von Brandon Q. Morris' "Enceladus" gehört habe. Nachdem ich mir schnell das Kindle Exemplar heruntergeladen habe, fing ich sofort mit dem Lesen an und beendete das Buch innerhalb von zwei Tagen.
Das anfängliche Lesen war ein pures Vergnügen. Die Missionsvorbereitungen und die durch die ständigen Zeitsprünge vorhanden variablen Situationen machten den Roman sehr abwechslungsreich. Zwischen den Flugvorbereitungen der Hauptfigur Martin Neumaier und der tatsächlichen Enceladus-Mission auf dem Raumschiff ILSE hin her zu springen war interessant und gut durchgeführt. Leider hält dies nicht lange an, denn Morris entscheidet sich dazu, vorher eingeführte Figuren nicht zu Ende zu schreiben und die durch die zeitlichen Sprünge geschaffene Flexibilität zugunsten einer chronologisch immer stärker gerafften Handlungsabfolge zu opfern. Dies geht soweit, dass die eigentliche Entdeckung der Mannschaft auf gut und gerne weniger als 100 Seiten abgehandelt wird. Gerade diese hätte definitiv ausgearbeitet werden müssen. Das hier verwendete Konzept außerirdischen Lebens ist zwar nicht neu, aber es ist frisch und lebendig umgesetzt. Leider wird die Handlung hier immer mehr gerafft und die fiktiven gesellschaftlichen und kulturellen Implikationen, die sich aus seiner Entdeckung ergeben könnten, werden nicht mal angedeutet. So endet das Buch, bevor es überhaupt richtig beginnt.
Der Autor bemüht sich zudem, die Wissenschaftler menschlich erscheinen zu lassen. Während er die wissenschaftliche Seite der Figuren gut aufzeigt, versagen diese leider auf der menschlichen "Gefühlsseite". Solche eindimensionalen Figuren habe ich selten erlebt. Die Figuren sind eigentlich nur dazu da, um die Lücken zwischen den wissenschaftlichen Informationen zu füllen. Selbst der polnische Science Fiction-Schriftsteller Stanislaw Lem, dessen Figuren meistens nur anhand ihrer beruflichen Rollen ("Physiker", "Chemiker", etc.) auftreten, erschafft moralische und gesellschaftliche Konflikte von unglaublicher Tragweite. Will er das aber nicht, so zeichnet er keine Figuren und lässt sie einfach nur erforschen. Morris hätte den gleichen Weg wählen sollen, denn seine Figuren sind belanglos, unwichtig und tragen nichts Bedeutendes zu dem Roman bei.
Schade. Morris hätte hier einen sehr guten Text erschaffen können, wenn er nur die Schwächen ausgelassen und die wenigen Stärken besser ausgespielt hätte. Ich empfehle an dieser Stelle, eher Carl Sagans "Contact" oder Arthur C.Clarkes "Rendezvous mit Rama" zu lesen, die sich dem Thema außerirdische Intelligenz kunst- und gehaltvoller annähern als Morris dies tut.
Das anfängliche Lesen war ein pures Vergnügen. Die Missionsvorbereitungen und die durch die ständigen Zeitsprünge vorhanden variablen Situationen machten den Roman sehr abwechslungsreich. Zwischen den Flugvorbereitungen der Hauptfigur Martin Neumaier und der tatsächlichen Enceladus-Mission auf dem Raumschiff ILSE hin her zu springen war interessant und gut durchgeführt. Leider hält dies nicht lange an, denn Morris entscheidet sich dazu, vorher eingeführte Figuren nicht zu Ende zu schreiben und die durch die zeitlichen Sprünge geschaffene Flexibilität zugunsten einer chronologisch immer stärker gerafften Handlungsabfolge zu opfern. Dies geht soweit, dass die eigentliche Entdeckung der Mannschaft auf gut und gerne weniger als 100 Seiten abgehandelt wird. Gerade diese hätte definitiv ausgearbeitet werden müssen. Das hier verwendete Konzept außerirdischen Lebens ist zwar nicht neu, aber es ist frisch und lebendig umgesetzt. Leider wird die Handlung hier immer mehr gerafft und die fiktiven gesellschaftlichen und kulturellen Implikationen, die sich aus seiner Entdeckung ergeben könnten, werden nicht mal angedeutet. So endet das Buch, bevor es überhaupt richtig beginnt.
Der Autor bemüht sich zudem, die Wissenschaftler menschlich erscheinen zu lassen. Während er die wissenschaftliche Seite der Figuren gut aufzeigt, versagen diese leider auf der menschlichen "Gefühlsseite". Solche eindimensionalen Figuren habe ich selten erlebt. Die Figuren sind eigentlich nur dazu da, um die Lücken zwischen den wissenschaftlichen Informationen zu füllen. Selbst der polnische Science Fiction-Schriftsteller Stanislaw Lem, dessen Figuren meistens nur anhand ihrer beruflichen Rollen ("Physiker", "Chemiker", etc.) auftreten, erschafft moralische und gesellschaftliche Konflikte von unglaublicher Tragweite. Will er das aber nicht, so zeichnet er keine Figuren und lässt sie einfach nur erforschen. Morris hätte den gleichen Weg wählen sollen, denn seine Figuren sind belanglos, unwichtig und tragen nichts Bedeutendes zu dem Roman bei.
Schade. Morris hätte hier einen sehr guten Text erschaffen können, wenn er nur die Schwächen ausgelassen und die wenigen Stärken besser ausgespielt hätte. Ich empfehle an dieser Stelle, eher Carl Sagans "Contact" oder Arthur C.Clarkes "Rendezvous mit Rama" zu lesen, die sich dem Thema außerirdische Intelligenz kunst- und gehaltvoller annähern als Morris dies tut.
October 19, 2025
This is going to be hard to rate. So I've read this from Tuesday and finished on Saturday. For a 400 page book you may think it's good but for me it's slow and usually I mind taking as much time reading a book but not on this one. I read slowly and I didn't mind. That's so important from me. Usually when reading bigger books I get bored reading the same book for days (not that I am not enjoying but because as food you love Burger King but it doesn't mean I can go 5 days eating them) or at most I get dishearten that it's taking so much. That's why I mix a book, read two days, then grab another and get back to the first. Usually days have gone by or weeks. Per example this is happening to Border by McCammon.
This is a novel about the a voyage to Enceladus which is a ice moon of Neptune. As you probably should know, Neptune is far. If for Mars It will take around 6 months to get there, for Neptune, the writer says 2 years. Here on this novel it took one year. Don't know why it took far less but maybe I missed the explanation.
To be fair, we are in 2046 so 20 years into the future and with the tech developments who knows what is happening in 2046.
I really enjoy the introduction, voyage & then discovery. I enjoy the exploration and the stuff I cannot say or else it will be spoilers and you should read it to find out. Although this last part also made me enjoy a bit less that I was enjoying the book. The characters are well developed and you get to know them. Our voice of reason Martin, Hayato, Jiaying, Francesca, Marchenko & Amy. All of those characters were nicely crafted and I happy to see them in the follow up books. I enjoy so much of this novel that I spend several hundred euros to buy almost all of his books. It's going to be another guilty pleasure writer. He writes around 5/6 books per year or even more. And to be fair they are not small (between 250 to 400 pages) and they are edited and translated since the author is german.
Sometimes it may be a bit slow but that's okay. I want to enjoy more of the books and bit less pressure to read more. 89/100 (due to the discovery which I was not as enthusiastic and could have been explained a bit more - maybe it will in the next books).
This is a novel about the a voyage to Enceladus which is a ice moon of Neptune. As you probably should know, Neptune is far. If for Mars It will take around 6 months to get there, for Neptune, the writer says 2 years. Here on this novel it took one year. Don't know why it took far less but maybe I missed the explanation.
To be fair, we are in 2046 so 20 years into the future and with the tech developments who knows what is happening in 2046.
I really enjoy the introduction, voyage & then discovery. I enjoy the exploration and the stuff I cannot say or else it will be spoilers and you should read it to find out. Although this last part also made me enjoy a bit less that I was enjoying the book. The characters are well developed and you get to know them. Our voice of reason Martin, Hayato, Jiaying, Francesca, Marchenko & Amy. All of those characters were nicely crafted and I happy to see them in the follow up books. I enjoy so much of this novel that I spend several hundred euros to buy almost all of his books. It's going to be another guilty pleasure writer. He writes around 5/6 books per year or even more. And to be fair they are not small (between 250 to 400 pages) and they are edited and translated since the author is german.
Sometimes it may be a bit slow but that's okay. I want to enjoy more of the books and bit less pressure to read more. 89/100 (due to the discovery which I was not as enthusiastic and could have been explained a bit more - maybe it will in the next books).
October 24, 2019
I could only make myself suffer though one-third of this book before I quit an threw it on the ground (something I have never done before to a book).
The characters are really flat in this book. I couldn't even imagine faces or bodies for them because there was no character development that would give my mind an idea of how to shape them. For instance, the only thing I know about one of the two pilots of the spaceship is that Martin (the main character) is nervous around her because she is pretty. That's it. No descriptions about what she looks like, why he thinks she's pretty, is she intelligent, is she strong, or fast, or has interests in anything? Nope! No characteristics.
Oh, and the only thing we know that Martin actually likes is programming and code. There are so many passages where Martin has a hard-on for programmers, constantly thinking things like "I really must congratulate these programmers for doing such a thorough job."
But, the thing that really did it in for me was the really really slow descriptions. For heavens sake, the author spent SEVERAL pages describing the walk from Martin's chambers to the chambers of one of his crew members.
I just couldn't stand the extremely wordy snails pace.
The characters are really flat in this book. I couldn't even imagine faces or bodies for them because there was no character development that would give my mind an idea of how to shape them. For instance, the only thing I know about one of the two pilots of the spaceship is that Martin (the main character) is nervous around her because she is pretty. That's it. No descriptions about what she looks like, why he thinks she's pretty, is she intelligent, is she strong, or fast, or has interests in anything? Nope! No characteristics.
Oh, and the only thing we know that Martin actually likes is programming and code. There are so many passages where Martin has a hard-on for programmers, constantly thinking things like "I really must congratulate these programmers for doing such a thorough job."
But, the thing that really did it in for me was the really really slow descriptions. For heavens sake, the author spent SEVERAL pages describing the walk from Martin's chambers to the chambers of one of his crew members.
I just couldn't stand the extremely wordy snails pace.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2019
The Enceladus Mission is a solid work of Hard Science Fiction about a human mission in the near future to go see whats below the thick ice on Saturn's moon Enceladus. The science is realistic enough, the story goes along at a nice pace from a to b and is rounded off fairly well for book one of a series. The length is about right at 7-8 hours of reading. I will be reading book 2 in the series.
Although Morris could work some more on his characters it has become a good work of hard SF, well worth a read for anyone liking that genre.
Although Morris could work some more on his characters it has become a good work of hard SF, well worth a read for anyone liking that genre.
February 6, 2019
What to say about Brandon Q. Morris's science fiction story, The Enceladus Mission?
Alright, let’s see.
When I say this is a science fiction story, I by no means am saying this is in the sci-fi category. This is in the SCIENCE fiction category.
I never put too much thought into this but there is a difference. The Enceladus Mission is a reality based fiction story about a crew of realistic characters taking a road trip to Saturn’s little frozen moon...sorry “satellite.”
This story, written by a guy who knows his stuff (Brandon) is then proofed and edited by engineers and doctors. Me, being none of these things find myself reading along as if I am holding a historical biography of events. Basically, I may as well be thinking, “oh, okay that’s how we made it to one of Saturn’s moons.”
The premise is, us humans sent a probe out to Enceladus and found a few clues that could possibly point to the existence of life there in one form or another. As humans do, we make a big scene, push some propaganda, and begin a worldwide fundraising campaign to start the process of sending some men and women to go in person and confirm or not, whether we are alone...or not. Seemingly, in the near future, Kickstarter no longer exists so countries got to pay up. The more you give, the better chance that one of your astronauts will get the honour of going.
Martin, the main protagonist, is not an astronaut. Unfortunately for him though, while troubleshooting computer programming glitches during some equipment testing he puts a spotlight on himself. This leads to his superiors at the space agency volun-telling him that he will be replacing a crew member who was injured during training.
There's something familiar with the way Brandon tells this part of the story. We see Martin in his element, troubleshooting and engineering his way through the problem. Cocky in a respectful way, mindful of his emotions with the stress of others' lives depending on him. As I enjoy the pages, I realize I’m starting to see a resemblance to the first few stories of Asimov's I, Robot and I’ll admit I get excited about what's coming.
I shouldn’t have.
As stated above this is a scientific fiction, and Asimov had always swayed to Sci.
No matter!
Martin is scared poopless for the first half of the story. I always fall for these characters, not because I relate...no definitely not that.
It’s not until his mission is on the way that we see him take shape as an essential member of the crew. The crew of 6. The commander Amy, ship doctor Marchenko, biologist Jiaying, pilot Francesca, and engineers Hayato and Martin. Three Male and three female. Works out well for ship morale later. I’m sincerely curious if this would be standard procedure on a two year trip, or if it’s just something the author did on his own.
Now, any other author that threw six characters in a metal tube for a year or two would probably make this crucible the main antagonistic force. There would be all the basic cliché cabin fever symptoms nagging us all the way to Saturn.
Not this author.
Faulty equipment and the vacuum of space is all we will contend with. I’m not saying I missed it personally, but I will say 9 out of 10 people I give this book to will use it as a sleep aid.
(Though, I will admit that may also be the case because 9 out of 10 people I call friends are action mongers.)
There was one slight bump in drama however, when commander Amy tells the crew that she is pregnant thanks to Hayato. Great job. Very professional. I wonder at this point if this will turn into some type of Lost in Space series but Amy does not end up naming the child Will.
As events unfold, Martin watches from the sidelines; he is our accidental hero. The best kind in my opinion. All the action comes in the form of problem-solving and engineering on the fly, which adds to the realism. Whenever I start to question this realism, Brandon throws some math at me.
Dumb me responds with "yup this seems right…science..."
If you think you are comfortable orbiting a plot where nothing fantastic will occur—at least not until the end—then this may be a title for you. If you like the idea (as I definitely do) of going through a realistic yet impossible story of travelling to another world then download this one. I relish reading characters who use their wits to save the day because as I’m living vicariously through them, at that moment, I too am a genius.
If you don’t gravitate to a story where it’s just one equipment failure getting fixed after an other, you may want to skip. I warn you there is an abundance of telling and not tons of feeling, if your expecting a beautiful description of the endless oppressive presence of the void for example you will not find it here. It may be reasonable to just over shoot this books mass.
Now is there life out there?
Could you imagine if you went through a whole bloody novel where every obstacle is a busted doohickey or doodad (over and over) and when the crew finally gets there they find nothing?!
Well, If that were the case, I would lie my way through this whole thing with the intent to make sure as many people read this book as possible so that I would not be alone in such a cruel joke.
Have a nice day!
5 out of 10 stars (Hey! I actually can use stars for this one. That’s kind of nice.)
Alright, let’s see.
When I say this is a science fiction story, I by no means am saying this is in the sci-fi category. This is in the SCIENCE fiction category.
I never put too much thought into this but there is a difference. The Enceladus Mission is a reality based fiction story about a crew of realistic characters taking a road trip to Saturn’s little frozen moon...sorry “satellite.”
This story, written by a guy who knows his stuff (Brandon) is then proofed and edited by engineers and doctors. Me, being none of these things find myself reading along as if I am holding a historical biography of events. Basically, I may as well be thinking, “oh, okay that’s how we made it to one of Saturn’s moons.”
The premise is, us humans sent a probe out to Enceladus and found a few clues that could possibly point to the existence of life there in one form or another. As humans do, we make a big scene, push some propaganda, and begin a worldwide fundraising campaign to start the process of sending some men and women to go in person and confirm or not, whether we are alone...or not. Seemingly, in the near future, Kickstarter no longer exists so countries got to pay up. The more you give, the better chance that one of your astronauts will get the honour of going.
Martin, the main protagonist, is not an astronaut. Unfortunately for him though, while troubleshooting computer programming glitches during some equipment testing he puts a spotlight on himself. This leads to his superiors at the space agency volun-telling him that he will be replacing a crew member who was injured during training.
There's something familiar with the way Brandon tells this part of the story. We see Martin in his element, troubleshooting and engineering his way through the problem. Cocky in a respectful way, mindful of his emotions with the stress of others' lives depending on him. As I enjoy the pages, I realize I’m starting to see a resemblance to the first few stories of Asimov's I, Robot and I’ll admit I get excited about what's coming.
I shouldn’t have.
As stated above this is a scientific fiction, and Asimov had always swayed to Sci.
No matter!
Martin is scared poopless for the first half of the story. I always fall for these characters, not because I relate...no definitely not that.
It’s not until his mission is on the way that we see him take shape as an essential member of the crew. The crew of 6. The commander Amy, ship doctor Marchenko, biologist Jiaying, pilot Francesca, and engineers Hayato and Martin. Three Male and three female. Works out well for ship morale later. I’m sincerely curious if this would be standard procedure on a two year trip, or if it’s just something the author did on his own.
Now, any other author that threw six characters in a metal tube for a year or two would probably make this crucible the main antagonistic force. There would be all the basic cliché cabin fever symptoms nagging us all the way to Saturn.
Not this author.
Faulty equipment and the vacuum of space is all we will contend with. I’m not saying I missed it personally, but I will say 9 out of 10 people I give this book to will use it as a sleep aid.
(Though, I will admit that may also be the case because 9 out of 10 people I call friends are action mongers.)
There was one slight bump in drama however, when commander Amy tells the crew that she is pregnant thanks to Hayato. Great job. Very professional. I wonder at this point if this will turn into some type of Lost in Space series but Amy does not end up naming the child Will.
As events unfold, Martin watches from the sidelines; he is our accidental hero. The best kind in my opinion. All the action comes in the form of problem-solving and engineering on the fly, which adds to the realism. Whenever I start to question this realism, Brandon throws some math at me.
Dumb me responds with "yup this seems right…science..."
If you think you are comfortable orbiting a plot where nothing fantastic will occur—at least not until the end—then this may be a title for you. If you like the idea (as I definitely do) of going through a realistic yet impossible story of travelling to another world then download this one. I relish reading characters who use their wits to save the day because as I’m living vicariously through them, at that moment, I too am a genius.
If you don’t gravitate to a story where it’s just one equipment failure getting fixed after an other, you may want to skip. I warn you there is an abundance of telling and not tons of feeling, if your expecting a beautiful description of the endless oppressive presence of the void for example you will not find it here. It may be reasonable to just over shoot this books mass.
Now is there life out there?
Could you imagine if you went through a whole bloody novel where every obstacle is a busted doohickey or doodad (over and over) and when the crew finally gets there they find nothing?!
Well, If that were the case, I would lie my way through this whole thing with the intent to make sure as many people read this book as possible so that I would not be alone in such a cruel joke.
Have a nice day!
5 out of 10 stars (Hey! I actually can use stars for this one. That’s kind of nice.)
December 27, 2023
Pura ciencia ficción, muy entretenido jugando con la posibilidad de vida en las lunas heladas de los planetas gigantes gaseosos.
October 15, 2018
The story begins with a planned mission to one of Saturn's moon's, Enceladus. This is 15 years after a robot probe finds traces of biological activity, proving there's is indeed extraterrestrial life on Enceladus.
The first opportunity we get to meet our main protagonist, Martin, is during a practice mission using the new valkyrie machine, built specifically for this mission. Martin works for NASA and is comfortable with his desk job and not at all envious of those who will be going into space on the Enceladus Mission. Well, fate comes into play and one of the pilots of the machine, Valkyrie, gets injured, leaving only one person who knows the systems and the machines inside out, Martin Neumaier.
Martin is taken down to Texas to complete a fast track training program to get him ready for the mission to Enceladus. Here he endures gruelling training that most astronauts complete over years. Before he knows it, Martin is buckling up and ready to take off. Deep down, Martin knows this could be a suicide mission.
I have massive respect for Brandon Q. Morris and his knowledge when it comes to technology and science. Early on you can see that the author has done a ton of research in preparation for this book. Although I enjoyed reading about all the future technology, I did have an issue with the amount of information dumping. The first half of the book (and this is a mountain of a book) is just information, most of the time repeating itself. For me, this slowed the story down. I found that as soon as the story got really good, the author tended to go off on another 5/6 chapters of nothing but information which becomes a bit frustrating.
The actual story itself is good. Really good in fact. The characters were all interesting people with completely different backgrounds, ranging from a tough Italian pilot to a funny Russian doctor. My favourite character was definitely marchenko, hes funny but also quite strict, I found myself having a huge amount of respect for him. He also reminded me of my favourite school teacher.
Now, theres a plot twist in this book that I can only describe as being marmite. You're either going to love it and think it's brilliant or you're going to hate it. For me it was a bit random and kind of threw me off.
The reason I've given this book 3 stars is because although it was frustrating at times, I did enjoy the last 20% of the book, specifically the last part of the mission.
Although this wasn't my cup of tea, I can see it being a hit with those who love hard science fiction with solid facts and a ton of information added to the story.
I would like to thank Brandon Q. Morris, Hard-ST.com and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
The first opportunity we get to meet our main protagonist, Martin, is during a practice mission using the new valkyrie machine, built specifically for this mission. Martin works for NASA and is comfortable with his desk job and not at all envious of those who will be going into space on the Enceladus Mission. Well, fate comes into play and one of the pilots of the machine, Valkyrie, gets injured, leaving only one person who knows the systems and the machines inside out, Martin Neumaier.
Martin is taken down to Texas to complete a fast track training program to get him ready for the mission to Enceladus. Here he endures gruelling training that most astronauts complete over years. Before he knows it, Martin is buckling up and ready to take off. Deep down, Martin knows this could be a suicide mission.
I have massive respect for Brandon Q. Morris and his knowledge when it comes to technology and science. Early on you can see that the author has done a ton of research in preparation for this book. Although I enjoyed reading about all the future technology, I did have an issue with the amount of information dumping. The first half of the book (and this is a mountain of a book) is just information, most of the time repeating itself. For me, this slowed the story down. I found that as soon as the story got really good, the author tended to go off on another 5/6 chapters of nothing but information which becomes a bit frustrating.
The actual story itself is good. Really good in fact. The characters were all interesting people with completely different backgrounds, ranging from a tough Italian pilot to a funny Russian doctor. My favourite character was definitely marchenko, hes funny but also quite strict, I found myself having a huge amount of respect for him. He also reminded me of my favourite school teacher.
Now, theres a plot twist in this book that I can only describe as being marmite. You're either going to love it and think it's brilliant or you're going to hate it. For me it was a bit random and kind of threw me off.
The reason I've given this book 3 stars is because although it was frustrating at times, I did enjoy the last 20% of the book, specifically the last part of the mission.
Although this wasn't my cup of tea, I can see it being a hit with those who love hard science fiction with solid facts and a ton of information added to the story.
I would like to thank Brandon Q. Morris, Hard-ST.com and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
August 28, 2018
The Enceladus Mission is a high stress science fiction novel that works perfectly for people who are die hard fans of space & space exploration.
The story started off a little bit rocky, and a giant cluster frick of information dumping happens within the first quarter of the book that I found my eyes skimming over the paragraphs. But once you get over the original introductions and Martin finally secured his spot on the ISLE, the story picks itself up very nicely.
Although there were still moments of info dumping throughout the novel, and sometimes the descriptions for what was happening were very confusing to my no-knowledge-about-how-space-exploration-works self, I was still able to follow the plot line nicely.
The characters also started a little bit rough for me, as I could never keep track of who was who, and I felt like all the faces were blending together. But as I continued to read, especially near the second half of the book, I started to become very fond of the characters, especially Francesca.
Another thing that troubled me about this book is that I want to know more about the alien species on Enceladus. I know, I know, it’s all part of the ~mystery~ and I should probably just read the second book for my answers, but the novel was building up for the moment they came in contact with life, and I wish those scenes had been a little bit more epic.
All in all, the author did not go into this blindly. I can tell hours of research was poured into this story. The characters were fantastic, and the plot line was intriguing, although the pacing could use some work.
ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley
The story started off a little bit rocky, and a giant cluster frick of information dumping happens within the first quarter of the book that I found my eyes skimming over the paragraphs. But once you get over the original introductions and Martin finally secured his spot on the ISLE, the story picks itself up very nicely.
Although there were still moments of info dumping throughout the novel, and sometimes the descriptions for what was happening were very confusing to my no-knowledge-about-how-space-exploration-works self, I was still able to follow the plot line nicely.
The characters also started a little bit rough for me, as I could never keep track of who was who, and I felt like all the faces were blending together. But as I continued to read, especially near the second half of the book, I started to become very fond of the characters, especially Francesca.
Another thing that troubled me about this book is that I want to know more about the alien species on Enceladus. I know, I know, it’s all part of the ~mystery~ and I should probably just read the second book for my answers, but the novel was building up for the moment they came in contact with life, and I wish those scenes had been a little bit more epic.
All in all, the author did not go into this blindly. I can tell hours of research was poured into this story. The characters were fantastic, and the plot line was intriguing, although the pacing could use some work.
ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley
May 12, 2019
Great hard sci fi and an incredible vision of what could be. A probe discovers definitive evidence of life on Enceladus, the moon of Saturn with water oceans under kilometers of ice. A human mission is planned quickly, even though, with the technology of 2046, such a mission is considered highly likely to fail.
July 31, 2017
3.8 |SF-Romane im Self-Puplishing ist immer ein Verbanque-Spiel, es ist immer die Frage, warum ein SF-Roman, der es nicht in die Publikumsverlage (ob Klein oder Großverlag) geschafft hat, lesenswert sein sollte; aber seit Philip P. Peterson, dessen Hard Science Romane zum Besten gehören, was das Genre Hard SF in Deutschland zu bieten hat, ist diese Frage ambivalent und ob Brandon Q. Morris, alias Matthias Matting zu dieser Kategorie dazugehört, kann ich nach Lektüre von "Enceladus" klar mit ja beantworten; auch hier die Frage, warum um Gottes Willen, kommen die großen deutschen SF-Verlage nicht auf diese Namen ? Ob es etwas mit dem Genre Hard SF zu tun hat ?
Enceladus ist einer der Eismonde, unter dessen Eis-Oberfläche ein flüssiger Wasser-Ozean vermutet wird; die Sonde Cassini hat bzgl. Enceladus, der um den Saturn kreist, einige harte Fakten gesammelt, die diese These stützen. In diesem Roman geht es darum, dass mit einiger Gewissheit vermutet wird, in diesem Ozean Leben zu finden; die großen Raumfahrt-Nationen der Erde (NASA, ESA, Rußland, China und Japan) organisieren eine Expedition zum Saturn, um mit einem U-Boot-Bohrer unter die Oberfläche des Enceladus zu kommen und im Ozean nach Leben zu fahnden. Der Weg dahin bis zur Endeckung einer faszinierenden Schwarmintelligenz im Ozean ist die Geschichte des Romans, der spannend, überraschend und wissenschaftlich-technologisch sehr nachvollziehbar in einem mitreißenden Hard-SF-Stil geschildert wird; hier steht Matting den englisch-amerikanischen Kollegen in Nichts nach. Dass einige Dinge (z.B. die Schwangerschaft der Kommandantin) etwas zu melodramatisch geschildert wurde; geschenkt ! Auf jeden Fall ist ein starker Hard-SF Roman herausgekommen, bei dem man auch etwas über den neuesten wissenschaftlichen Stand der Raumfahrt und Erkenntnisse aus den jüngsten Raumfahrt-Projekten mitbekommt. Das eigentliche Ziel und die Endeckung der Crew kommt etwas zu kurz, was die Vermutung naheliegt, dass dies nicht unbedingt das Hauptthema des Autors war; er wollte wohl lieber den Weg zu diesem Ziel zeigen, was er m.E. sehr gut gemacht hat. Die Charakterisierung der einzelnen Pratagonisten ist m.E. etwas zu Eindimensional gekommen, aber bei einem SF-Roman mit diesem Thema ist das wohl zu viel Beckmesserei; auf jeden Fall bin ich gespannt auf die weiteren "Eismond"-Romane des Autors...
Enceladus ist einer der Eismonde, unter dessen Eis-Oberfläche ein flüssiger Wasser-Ozean vermutet wird; die Sonde Cassini hat bzgl. Enceladus, der um den Saturn kreist, einige harte Fakten gesammelt, die diese These stützen. In diesem Roman geht es darum, dass mit einiger Gewissheit vermutet wird, in diesem Ozean Leben zu finden; die großen Raumfahrt-Nationen der Erde (NASA, ESA, Rußland, China und Japan) organisieren eine Expedition zum Saturn, um mit einem U-Boot-Bohrer unter die Oberfläche des Enceladus zu kommen und im Ozean nach Leben zu fahnden. Der Weg dahin bis zur Endeckung einer faszinierenden Schwarmintelligenz im Ozean ist die Geschichte des Romans, der spannend, überraschend und wissenschaftlich-technologisch sehr nachvollziehbar in einem mitreißenden Hard-SF-Stil geschildert wird; hier steht Matting den englisch-amerikanischen Kollegen in Nichts nach. Dass einige Dinge (z.B. die Schwangerschaft der Kommandantin) etwas zu melodramatisch geschildert wurde; geschenkt ! Auf jeden Fall ist ein starker Hard-SF Roman herausgekommen, bei dem man auch etwas über den neuesten wissenschaftlichen Stand der Raumfahrt und Erkenntnisse aus den jüngsten Raumfahrt-Projekten mitbekommt. Das eigentliche Ziel und die Endeckung der Crew kommt etwas zu kurz, was die Vermutung naheliegt, dass dies nicht unbedingt das Hauptthema des Autors war; er wollte wohl lieber den Weg zu diesem Ziel zeigen, was er m.E. sehr gut gemacht hat. Die Charakterisierung der einzelnen Pratagonisten ist m.E. etwas zu Eindimensional gekommen, aber bei einem SF-Roman mit diesem Thema ist das wohl zu viel Beckmesserei; auf jeden Fall bin ich gespannt auf die weiteren "Eismond"-Romane des Autors...
December 21, 2024
The Enceladus Mission by Brandon Q. Morris was a mixed batch for me.
I really enjoyed most of the sci-fi part of this book, so the science and technical space travel sections were what kept me reading to the end.
However, the characters felt quite flat und two dimensional to me, and especially a just had me rolling my eyes so hard it almost hurt.
Not just now all the characters react to auch a change,and how they deal with it , but also how it was handled on the science side. While other things were nicely planned out, this was just shrugged off, because why would anything go wrong... *Sarcasm off*
Overall it was a book I don't regret reading, but also not one I'd miss if I read something else instead.
I really enjoyed most of the sci-fi part of this book, so the science and technical space travel sections were what kept me reading to the end.
However, the characters felt quite flat und two dimensional to me, and especially a just had me rolling my eyes so hard it almost hurt.
Not just now all the characters react to auch a change,and how they deal with it , but also how it was handled on the science side. While other things were nicely planned out, this was just shrugged off, because why would anything go wrong... *Sarcasm off*
Overall it was a book I don't regret reading, but also not one I'd miss if I read something else instead.
Read
August 12, 2018Die ersten drei Viertel des Buches haben mir sehr gut gefallen und ich habe die Story - speziell wegen der Hard SF-Schilderungen - mit Spannung verfolgt. Sprache und Rhythmus passten, nur der (Achtung Spoiler) Kontakt mit den fremden Lebensformen - so interessant die Idee dahinter auch sein mag - hat mich gelangweilt und passte aus meiner Sicht nicht zur Geschichte. Aber man kann das auch ganz anders sehen. Der Autor und sein Schreibstil sind jedenfalls für mich interessant genug, auch das nächste Kapitel der Eismond-Trilogie aufzuschlagen.
June 26, 2020
To those who aren't aware...the author is German and since no translator is listed, I assume that the author translated his own novels into English. I think the translation accounts for the somewhat stilted language. It's technically correct, but not written as a native English speaker would write it. It's not horrendous, but it is noticable.
The author is also a professor of physics in addition to being a space specialist which explains why the book becomes a little more technical in places.
I think it's also very cool that this bestselling author self-publishes his books. That's amazing!
I enjoyed the book & would have given it 4 stars...up until page 322. That's when it got ridiculous. What they discover underneath the ice isn't sci fi. It's complete fantasy. I like fantasy novels. But I don't want fantasy in a hard sci fi book and certainly not when it's so improbable that it defies belief. So I stopped reading and did not finish.
However, I will try other books of his as I enjoyed his Mars Nation book.
The author is also a professor of physics in addition to being a space specialist which explains why the book becomes a little more technical in places.
I think it's also very cool that this bestselling author self-publishes his books. That's amazing!
I enjoyed the book & would have given it 4 stars...up until page 322. That's when it got ridiculous. What they discover underneath the ice isn't sci fi. It's complete fantasy. I like fantasy novels. But I don't want fantasy in a hard sci fi book and certainly not when it's so improbable that it defies belief. So I stopped reading and did not finish.
However, I will try other books of his as I enjoyed his Mars Nation book.
May 10, 2019
Hmm...2.5 stars. I liked the plot mostly...but there were issues. I'll probably read the next one to give this series a chance.
My issues:
-didn't feel like a complete story
-most of the time if something went as planned, it was just glossed over. So if the writer went into detail, you knew something was going to go wrong.
-a ton of time was spent on the protagonist at the beginning but you didn't learn much about him from it and the other characters weren't in that part.
-wasn't a fan of the interjection of the protagonist's thoughts throughout. I'd prefer either a first person or 3rd omnipotent.
-the prose could use some work. I get that the protagonist's thoughts are kind of off because he's on the spectrum but so was the rest of the book. Maybe this is a translation? Because it felt like one.
My issues:
-didn't feel like a complete story
-most of the time if something went as planned, it was just glossed over. So if the writer went into detail, you knew something was going to go wrong.
-a ton of time was spent on the protagonist at the beginning but you didn't learn much about him from it and the other characters weren't in that part.
-wasn't a fan of the interjection of the protagonist's thoughts throughout. I'd prefer either a first person or 3rd omnipotent.
-the prose could use some work. I get that the protagonist's thoughts are kind of off because he's on the spectrum but so was the rest of the book. Maybe this is a translation? Because it felt like one.
February 21, 2023
Brandon Q. Morris me ha sorprendido. Algunas reseñas del libro me dieron a entender que debía ser una historia llena de ciencia dura, más que de ficción. Su condición de físico apuntaría en ese sentido. Sin embargo, y tras un comienzo un poco árido, la historia converge hacia una aventura que también sabe mostrar el compañerismo, la amistad, y alguna relación algo más poderosa entre los miembros de la tripulación. La historia va de menos a más y la tensión y la incertidumbre de qué les va a pasar termina dominando y haciendo adictiva su lectura. He de reconocer que me recuerda algo a "El Marciano" de Andy Weir, pero sin su humor. A lo mejor no llega a cuatro estrellas, pero se le acerca mucho. Al final, hay un breve ensayo sobre Encélado que ayuda a entender algunos de los hechos que se cuentan.
June 8, 2018
Ich lese wirklich gerne Hard SciFi, wenn ich auch andere Arten von SciFi lieber lese, aber das Buch nicht zum aushalten langweilig. Viel zu viele Details, die rein gar nichts zur Story oder zum Spannungsbogen beitragen und dann wird die eigentliche Story (das Erkunden des Mondes) mal eben schnell abgehandelt und fertig ist das Ding. Sorry, aber da gibt es deutlich besseres. Ich wollte dem Autor und seiner kompletten Reihe eine Chance geben und sie lesen, aber nach diesem kompletten Fehlstart, suche ich mir lieber was anderes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2020
I loved the premise of this book. However I had to force myself to finish it. The first half was sopping with too much exposition. Far too much telling vs showing. I almost quit this book twice. Characters felt very one dimensional with little connection to them personally. Felt like a novice author's first book. I hope the series gets better. I will definitely take a break before starting the second in the series. I hope the author's story telling talent gets better.
August 25, 2021
Not so much hard-science
I like hard science but I’m sorry to say this book isn’t one of them. Hear me out, many reviews saying differently that’s fine. For me, hard science means well-meaning knowledge and a near-realism plot. Seems like this story plot is too rush and filled With science jargon. The truth is that this story has too many holes especially with space stuff, challenges, situations, and circumstances with discovery. This one is a no-go for me.
I like hard science but I’m sorry to say this book isn’t one of them. Hear me out, many reviews saying differently that’s fine. For me, hard science means well-meaning knowledge and a near-realism plot. Seems like this story plot is too rush and filled With science jargon. The truth is that this story has too many holes especially with space stuff, challenges, situations, and circumstances with discovery. This one is a no-go for me.
March 1, 2019
Wooden characters
I wanted to like this book, but it was so hard to care about any of the characters, they’re we’re all so flat. The science fiction part was unremarkable. It wasn’t bad for the 2.99 I spent, but I won’t be reading any of the follow on books
I wanted to like this book, but it was so hard to care about any of the characters, they’re we’re all so flat. The science fiction part was unremarkable. It wasn’t bad for the 2.99 I spent, but I won’t be reading any of the follow on books
dnf
June 22, 2019Couldn't hold my interest, so I stopped early on.
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