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Ligue des Terres Humaines #3
The City Among the Stars
First English translation of the celebrated Golden Age Science Fiction Classic.
Tankar Holroy, Lieutenant in the Stellar Guard of earth's Empire, floats in space after his spaceship is sabotaged. Rescued by an enormous, unknown ship, he awakes to discover himself saved by the People of the Stars who are born and live in space with minimal contact with planets and their occupants whom they call, with contempt, planetaries.
The chilly welcome he receives from the ship's leader, the Teknor, is followed by overt hostility from the other inhabitants of the Tilsin. Only a woman named Orena reaches out to him.
Tankar soon realizes that he was rescued for his knowledge of tracers, the technology that allows Empire ships to track others through hyperspace, a technology the People of the Stars lack. Out of spite, he refuses to deliver the one piece of knowledge that can protect the people who saved but now spurn him - and the consequences will be catastrophic.
Tankar Holroy, Lieutenant in the Stellar Guard of earth's Empire, floats in space after his spaceship is sabotaged. Rescued by an enormous, unknown ship, he awakes to discover himself saved by the People of the Stars who are born and live in space with minimal contact with planets and their occupants whom they call, with contempt, planetaries.
The chilly welcome he receives from the ship's leader, the Teknor, is followed by overt hostility from the other inhabitants of the Tilsin. Only a woman named Orena reaches out to him.
Tankar soon realizes that he was rescued for his knowledge of tracers, the technology that allows Empire ships to track others through hyperspace, a technology the People of the Stars lack. Out of spite, he refuses to deliver the one piece of knowledge that can protect the people who saved but now spurn him - and the consequences will be catastrophic.
- GenresScience FictionNovels
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
2 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Francis Carsac
41 books16 followersPen name of François Bordes. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/François...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
April 29, 2020
I love Sci-fi books. Old, new and most anything in between. When I saw that The City Among the Stars was the first English translation of a French sci-fi classic, I jumped right on it. But....I did not enjoy this story as much as I originally thought I would.
First, the translation seems a bit clunky. The sentences don't flow very well....awkward phrases, stilted conversation, strange word choices. I had a hard time keeping my mind in the story as I struggled through awkwardly written sentences. Not a clean translation...needs some work. The story definitely seems to have lost something in translation.
Second, I found the characters annoying. The entire force of the plot is backed by various characters (and cultures) being completely unwilling to bend or compromise in any way. And all seem to be willing to put others in danger to feed their own selfish ends. That gets really old after awhile. And female characters seem to exist to drape over the arm of men. The main character seems to believe all women are in love with him -- and that they enjoy being yelled at constantly. It's hard to enjoy a story when you detest the main character. Tankar Holroy is an asshat.
This story is just not for me. I didn't like the story or the characters. I'm willing to chalk it up to something lost in translation....or maybe that this story just didn't age well. It was originally published in 1962.
**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Flame Tree Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
First, the translation seems a bit clunky. The sentences don't flow very well....awkward phrases, stilted conversation, strange word choices. I had a hard time keeping my mind in the story as I struggled through awkwardly written sentences. Not a clean translation...needs some work. The story definitely seems to have lost something in translation.
Second, I found the characters annoying. The entire force of the plot is backed by various characters (and cultures) being completely unwilling to bend or compromise in any way. And all seem to be willing to put others in danger to feed their own selfish ends. That gets really old after awhile. And female characters seem to exist to drape over the arm of men. The main character seems to believe all women are in love with him -- and that they enjoy being yelled at constantly. It's hard to enjoy a story when you detest the main character. Tankar Holroy is an asshat.
This story is just not for me. I didn't like the story or the characters. I'm willing to chalk it up to something lost in translation....or maybe that this story just didn't age well. It was originally published in 1962.
**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Flame Tree Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
January 26, 2020
Three and half stars (a half star bonus for classic).
A classic of science fiction? Good! An unknown science fiction author, and French? Very good! I admit that before I downloaded it I looked for the original French edition -“Pour patrie, l’espace”-, but I did not find it (at least in ebook), so there is my honest review from the forthcoming English edition, for which I must thank both Netgalley and Flame Tree Press.
As the cover points out, this is the first edition in English of this classic French science fiction novel published in 1962. However, Francis Carsac’s novels were very popular in the USSR, and he has also two translated into Spanish. Francis Carsac was the pseudonym of François Bordes (1919-1981), known as a prestigious prehistorian, with numerously bibliography for his Paleolithic studies.
At first it surprises me that this novel is a happy precedent of Culture starships by the missed Iain M. Banks. There are people who want to live in space, in enormous city-state spaceships and not with the contemptuously called "planetaries". There is also a decadent Terran empire, in the form of a dictatorial aristocracy vs. a sort of space technological anarchism. About the latter, apparently an utopia then, but soon we will realize that there is no perfect human society. But I will not talk about the plot, if you want you can read the synopsis provided by the publisher.
Of course, for a novel written in 1962 some issues are expected. The style of writing science fiction from nearly sixty years ago has changed, for example the pace is slower. Also some didactic and a bit silly explanations, mixed with the author own philosophical ideas (Confess, reader!, if you were a writer, will you resist the temptation to explain your own ideas in your novel?).
On the other hand, habitually we must accept the way that the women are disregarded in classic science fiction. If not, we would not read none of them!. This book it is not a exception, but the women have a curious role: in some way they are important for the story, but mostly as a sentimental counterparts of the hero. In this utopian spatial society they are imagined as independent and capable, for example as technicians or soldiers (In France times were changing, six years before May 68) but her role in the story is mainly as partners of the protagonist. So there is plenty of flirting issues in this novel between the hero and... three women!, and it includes a ridiculous catfight. I must add also that the protagonist warrior ego is a bit tiresome.
For all this I get the impression that the author facet as a science fiction writer is mostly due to entertainment. The novel contains spaceships,intersolar empires, space battles, terrific aliens, adventure and a lot of flirting… In other words, pure space opera! It is difficult to translate the French title, but it means something like "My country, the space." Does it remind you of another very influential novel, written a few years before?
I must add that the novel has some minor plot nonsenses -even for being a space opera-, and also some illogical style problems, but I have to keep in mind that this is a evaluation copy and that it needs a final correction before its publication on May 21. In the marketing aspect, in my opinion the cover is more than right, it shows the beginning of the story with the hero marooned in space.
Finally, can I recommend this novel? Of course if you love classics like I do. By classics I mean pre-cyberpunk or better, pre-New Wave literature. Also to space opera lovers, the book has an interesting and different -or eccentric- way to tell a science fiction story.
A classic of science fiction? Good! An unknown science fiction author, and French? Very good! I admit that before I downloaded it I looked for the original French edition -“Pour patrie, l’espace”-, but I did not find it (at least in ebook), so there is my honest review from the forthcoming English edition, for which I must thank both Netgalley and Flame Tree Press.
As the cover points out, this is the first edition in English of this classic French science fiction novel published in 1962. However, Francis Carsac’s novels were very popular in the USSR, and he has also two translated into Spanish. Francis Carsac was the pseudonym of François Bordes (1919-1981), known as a prestigious prehistorian, with numerously bibliography for his Paleolithic studies.
At first it surprises me that this novel is a happy precedent of Culture starships by the missed Iain M. Banks. There are people who want to live in space, in enormous city-state spaceships and not with the contemptuously called "planetaries". There is also a decadent Terran empire, in the form of a dictatorial aristocracy vs. a sort of space technological anarchism. About the latter, apparently an utopia then, but soon we will realize that there is no perfect human society. But I will not talk about the plot, if you want you can read the synopsis provided by the publisher.
Of course, for a novel written in 1962 some issues are expected. The style of writing science fiction from nearly sixty years ago has changed, for example the pace is slower. Also some didactic and a bit silly explanations, mixed with the author own philosophical ideas (Confess, reader!, if you were a writer, will you resist the temptation to explain your own ideas in your novel?).
On the other hand, habitually we must accept the way that the women are disregarded in classic science fiction. If not, we would not read none of them!. This book it is not a exception, but the women have a curious role: in some way they are important for the story, but mostly as a sentimental counterparts of the hero. In this utopian spatial society they are imagined as independent and capable, for example as technicians or soldiers (In France times were changing, six years before May 68) but her role in the story is mainly as partners of the protagonist. So there is plenty of flirting issues in this novel between the hero and... three women!, and it includes a ridiculous catfight. I must add also that the protagonist warrior ego is a bit tiresome.
For all this I get the impression that the author facet as a science fiction writer is mostly due to entertainment. The novel contains spaceships,intersolar empires, space battles, terrific aliens, adventure and a lot of flirting… In other words, pure space opera! It is difficult to translate the French title, but it means something like "My country, the space." Does it remind you of another very influential novel, written a few years before?
I must add that the novel has some minor plot nonsenses -even for being a space opera-, and also some illogical style problems, but I have to keep in mind that this is a evaluation copy and that it needs a final correction before its publication on May 21. In the marketing aspect, in my opinion the cover is more than right, it shows the beginning of the story with the hero marooned in space.
Finally, can I recommend this novel? Of course if you love classics like I do. By classics I mean pre-cyberpunk or better, pre-New Wave literature. Also to space opera lovers, the book has an interesting and different -or eccentric- way to tell a science fiction story.
April 24, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for an ARC of this book! (comes out 21st May)
When I found out that this book was actually published ages ago and only now translated into English, my expectations plummeted. There is a lot of old sci-fi out there written to show women as feeble and stupid and I had an inkling this would venture into that territory. But the more I read, the more I began to realise that it was the characters thoughts itself that were poisoned. This book is basically low-budget Star Trek (the classical series), which as you might know is VERY sexist and misogyny is a running theme throughout each episode (which is why I stopped watching it).
The main character is 24-year-old Tankar Holroy, who was born to be a soldier on Earth (as you will see him mention this MULTIPLE times). While Earth is controlled by the Empire, there are ships floating in space with Stellarans (called the people of the stars) and another tribe of people called the Pilgrims. Both of these groups of people live in peace on the same ship but are separated. The Stellarans basically treat everyone equally, whereas the Pilgrims are described as monks. The Earth people like Tankar on the other hand, believe in a society where women are only for 'pleasure and breeding' (a literal quote from the book i shit you not), to which I give one giant middle finger to.
The story follows this insufferable character whose mission is to deliver a message to the 7th fleet to come and help Earth. But his ship is sabotaged, and he is floating in space, only to be rescued by the Stellarans. He then realises they actually want information on a tracer, which is a device that can track other ships that jump through hyperspace. The Stellarans basically want to use this device to follow the Mpfifis, who are alien-like creatures that are vile and terrible and want to find their home planet to destroy them. Tankar has this information but apparently doesn’t want to share, because he’s a stubborn nugget.
Now the MC is the most stubborn, annoying, sexist, insufferable, stupid, dumb character I have ever read about. He views women as fragile, and constantly shouts at all the female characters, thinking they all are in love with him. He’s someone who wants attention constantly and starts throwing a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way. I HAVE NEVER WANTED TO STRANGLE A CHARACTER WITH MY BARE HANDS AS I WANTED TO IN THIS BOOK. I wanted to throw this book across the room multiple times, but the plot drew me in. Orena is one strong female character in this that I really liked- she stands up for herself and doesn’t let Tankar the sexist man-baby walk all over her. I’m glad she threw away his friendship and ran off with Pei the painter.
The writing was a mess. I think this is a case of lost in translation, because whoever translated this basically entered all of this into Google Translate and printed it word to word. The sentences are disjointed and there is no flow. But it actually helped with the pacing, because I got through it quite quickly. The story had SOOOOOOOO much potential, but it was all wasted. Honestly the pacing and plot was the only thing keeping me going. The ending was such a mess lol. He basically blames himself for his wife’s death, but then this girl he says he isn’t in love with says she can’t live without him, and he decides to live for her ermmmm???
ANYWHO, I really don’t recommend this to anyone. I thought it would get better but nah x
When I found out that this book was actually published ages ago and only now translated into English, my expectations plummeted. There is a lot of old sci-fi out there written to show women as feeble and stupid and I had an inkling this would venture into that territory. But the more I read, the more I began to realise that it was the characters thoughts itself that were poisoned. This book is basically low-budget Star Trek (the classical series), which as you might know is VERY sexist and misogyny is a running theme throughout each episode (which is why I stopped watching it).
The main character is 24-year-old Tankar Holroy, who was born to be a soldier on Earth (as you will see him mention this MULTIPLE times). While Earth is controlled by the Empire, there are ships floating in space with Stellarans (called the people of the stars) and another tribe of people called the Pilgrims. Both of these groups of people live in peace on the same ship but are separated. The Stellarans basically treat everyone equally, whereas the Pilgrims are described as monks. The Earth people like Tankar on the other hand, believe in a society where women are only for 'pleasure and breeding' (a literal quote from the book i shit you not), to which I give one giant middle finger to.
The story follows this insufferable character whose mission is to deliver a message to the 7th fleet to come and help Earth. But his ship is sabotaged, and he is floating in space, only to be rescued by the Stellarans. He then realises they actually want information on a tracer, which is a device that can track other ships that jump through hyperspace. The Stellarans basically want to use this device to follow the Mpfifis, who are alien-like creatures that are vile and terrible and want to find their home planet to destroy them. Tankar has this information but apparently doesn’t want to share, because he’s a stubborn nugget.
Now the MC is the most stubborn, annoying, sexist, insufferable, stupid, dumb character I have ever read about. He views women as fragile, and constantly shouts at all the female characters, thinking they all are in love with him. He’s someone who wants attention constantly and starts throwing a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way. I HAVE NEVER WANTED TO STRANGLE A CHARACTER WITH MY BARE HANDS AS I WANTED TO IN THIS BOOK. I wanted to throw this book across the room multiple times, but the plot drew me in. Orena is one strong female character in this that I really liked- she stands up for herself and doesn’t let Tankar the sexist man-baby walk all over her. I’m glad she threw away his friendship and ran off with Pei the painter.
The writing was a mess. I think this is a case of lost in translation, because whoever translated this basically entered all of this into Google Translate and printed it word to word. The sentences are disjointed and there is no flow. But it actually helped with the pacing, because I got through it quite quickly. The story had SOOOOOOOO much potential, but it was all wasted. Honestly the pacing and plot was the only thing keeping me going. The ending was such a mess lol. He basically blames himself for his wife’s death, but then this girl he says he isn’t in love with says she can’t live without him, and he decides to live for her ermmmm???
ANYWHO, I really don’t recommend this to anyone. I thought it would get better but nah x
May 6, 2020
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Quote:
Review:
I wanted to get angry at this book. Like really angry. But quickly into this, I realized that I did not want this book to have that much of an effect on my life. And it doesn't have much effect elsewhere, either. This was written decades ago, in the 1960s I believe, and is only now getting translated. The author has been dead for nearly forty years. This book does not matter anymore. It is best to treat it as a product of its time. I will forget about it in a week.
The City Among the Stars had some cool concepts that I would actually like to see more of in a more modern work. It is just too bad that the good is mired down by all the bad. At times I found myself interested in spite of myself. Interested, that is, until it once again brought out one of the weirdly...bad parts.
The main character, Tankar Holroy, is from Earth. A chivalric Earth where we never really got past the whole Medieval, peasant/noble, knights in armour thing - even if they have reached into the stars. And that system is falling apart, just as Tankar's spaceship is sabotaged. Leaving him to be picked up by a group of humans, the People Among the Stars, who are space nomads and broke away from the Empire due to the Empire's oppressive nature and the dislike of science.
The People Among the Stars holds a grudge against the Empire because of the way they were treated, and the war waged on them just as they were getting their cities started at the dawn of their civilization. Something Tankar has no knowledge of, just like he had no clue there were other humans in space. The Nomads also have an alien enemy, the Mpfifis, who just seek out and destroy humans when they can. Tankar has been asked to give Earth technology to the Nomads that will help track the Mpfifis. Tankar refuses, because he is self-absorbed and can't see past the end of his nose. Until Tankar doesn't refuse - for inexplicable reasons.
See, this entire book is a bit like a minefield. I really enjoyed the concept, and I would probably read something similar with a more modern author. I just had so many problems with the book. Ignoring the fact that the writing was just unpleasant to read, the book was just confusing. I'm not blaming the translators - I'm sure they did a fine job. It's just the style of the time Carsac was writing that I dislike. Tankar made the most random leaps of logic. It was like if someone asked you why the sky is blue and you say "because the ocean is". You're not completely wrong but dang you had to leap a few bits of logic to get there. And at several points changed his mind in the space of two paragraphs. I felt like I had whiplash at points. I'm still not certain how he talked himself into loving one of the love interests.
From this point on it is not going to be spoiler free. I try to keep my reviews without spoilers, but it is impossible to really speak to the issues I had without telling a lot of the story.
There were bigger problems than the writing. There was the bigotry and discrimination Tankar faced the entire time, just because he was from a planet. Which in itself wasn't too bad. It made sense, and it is what drove part of the story - their hatred and treatment of Tankar made him hate them enough that he didn't care if they lived or died and kept technology they needed from them. It just felt so shallow for most of the time. It was there, and things happened with it, but the ways it was used just never felt full. These two quotes are a good explanation for why I felt it was shallow:
And then there was, of course, the way women are treated. It's a really bizarre mixture of trying to be progressive and then failing completely. For one, everything Tankar does is in response to a woman. And typically he is blaming one of them for something or another. He thinks he is being accepted? Woman. He gets tricked? Woman. He gets tricked again? Another woman, but he blames the first that tricked him. He finally decides to do the right thing? Woman. He gets, in his mind, double crossed and so he sulks and doesn't do the right thing anyway? Woman responsible for the sulking. And then another woman he likes dies pushing him to the do the right thing in the end.
Yeah, that's right. Fridging. Marvelous.
That isn't even the half of it. The women always seem in competition for his affections. All of them like him for no discernable reason. And the jealousy meter is crazy - at one point a woman left just because he talked to another woman that he, at the time, hated .
And Tankar would beat himself up every time a woman got the better of him. In any way at all. It was just boring. Blame yourself, dude, that is who you should be blaming.
Then there are the stupid duels. Why was so much of this book focused on duels?? As soon as he gets on the ship, he nearly sparks a duel. At another time, one of the three love interests tries to use a duel to kill him - and he blames another love interest for setting him up (falsely). And Carsac is trying to play Tancar off as this soldier among non soldiers, and he has all the answers to fight off this alien threat - only these hobbyists are almost able to get the better of him? And I'm supposed to believe in Tankar? Please. And the Nomads even have the audacity that the reason they have freedom is because they have duels. Like, what?
There are so many other things that annoyed me. Like the main character, who is just incredibly unlikable with no redeeming qualities. And the half-baked religious ideas that do really weird, squirrely things to the plot. Also the fact that every time a character told Tankar something about himself or others, he would say the opposite. Which we as the readers agree with because up until that time what Tankar is saying is true - and then the entire book would rewrites itself to the reality of the thing that secondary character said. Just to prove him wrong I guess?
This was just a frustrating read. There were moments I was enjoying myself, but the book typically ended that pretty quick. I think I would enjoy this a lot more if I read, and liked, more golden age sci-fi. I've mostly not read it, and I wasn't even aware that this was from the 1960s when I requested the ARC (I should have looked into this better - the interesting story in the blurb got to me and I wanted it). The City Among the Stars tried to do a lot of things: be a character study, analyze (the then) current events into something understandable, and even at one point tried to be philosophical. It all fell flat to me. I ended up finishing this because I found the way the tropes have changed over time to be mildly interesting and I read it for inspiration for my Trope Time posts.
Technically this is part of a series. I won't be reading the rest if they get translated. The only thing really to do with future books is finish up the threat against the Mpfifis. And I don't care about them because the author never made me care about them - either as an alien race or a threat.
ARC received from Flame Tree Press on Netgalley. This did not affect my review.
Quote:
Tankar struggled to comprehend their nomadic way of life. "And you can live this way, without roots?"
"Not only can we, we wouldn't want to live any other way!" exclaimed Orena.
Review:
I wanted to get angry at this book. Like really angry. But quickly into this, I realized that I did not want this book to have that much of an effect on my life. And it doesn't have much effect elsewhere, either. This was written decades ago, in the 1960s I believe, and is only now getting translated. The author has been dead for nearly forty years. This book does not matter anymore. It is best to treat it as a product of its time. I will forget about it in a week.
The City Among the Stars had some cool concepts that I would actually like to see more of in a more modern work. It is just too bad that the good is mired down by all the bad. At times I found myself interested in spite of myself. Interested, that is, until it once again brought out one of the weirdly...bad parts.
The main character, Tankar Holroy, is from Earth. A chivalric Earth where we never really got past the whole Medieval, peasant/noble, knights in armour thing - even if they have reached into the stars. And that system is falling apart, just as Tankar's spaceship is sabotaged. Leaving him to be picked up by a group of humans, the People Among the Stars, who are space nomads and broke away from the Empire due to the Empire's oppressive nature and the dislike of science.
The People Among the Stars holds a grudge against the Empire because of the way they were treated, and the war waged on them just as they were getting their cities started at the dawn of their civilization. Something Tankar has no knowledge of, just like he had no clue there were other humans in space. The Nomads also have an alien enemy, the Mpfifis, who just seek out and destroy humans when they can. Tankar has been asked to give Earth technology to the Nomads that will help track the Mpfifis. Tankar refuses, because he is self-absorbed and can't see past the end of his nose. Until Tankar doesn't refuse - for inexplicable reasons.
See, this entire book is a bit like a minefield. I really enjoyed the concept, and I would probably read something similar with a more modern author. I just had so many problems with the book. Ignoring the fact that the writing was just unpleasant to read, the book was just confusing. I'm not blaming the translators - I'm sure they did a fine job. It's just the style of the time Carsac was writing that I dislike. Tankar made the most random leaps of logic. It was like if someone asked you why the sky is blue and you say "because the ocean is". You're not completely wrong but dang you had to leap a few bits of logic to get there. And at several points changed his mind in the space of two paragraphs. I felt like I had whiplash at points. I'm still not certain how he talked himself into loving one of the love interests.
From this point on it is not going to be spoiler free. I try to keep my reviews without spoilers, but it is impossible to really speak to the issues I had without telling a lot of the story.
There were bigger problems than the writing. There was the bigotry and discrimination Tankar faced the entire time, just because he was from a planet. Which in itself wasn't too bad. It made sense, and it is what drove part of the story - their hatred and treatment of Tankar made him hate them enough that he didn't care if they lived or died and kept technology they needed from them. It just felt so shallow for most of the time. It was there, and things happened with it, but the ways it was used just never felt full. These two quotes are a good explanation for why I felt it was shallow:
"You don't like planetaries?"
"Who does?" She shrugged. "They forced our ancestors into exile. It ended up being a good thing, but it wasn't well intentioned."
"How am I responsible for the behavior of my ancestors? I don't think mine were even involved."
"We are the products of our worlds, Tankar."
And then there was, of course, the way women are treated. It's a really bizarre mixture of trying to be progressive and then failing completely. For one, everything Tankar does is in response to a woman. And typically he is blaming one of them for something or another. He thinks he is being accepted? Woman. He gets tricked? Woman. He gets tricked again? Another woman, but he blames the first that tricked him. He finally decides to do the right thing? Woman. He gets, in his mind, double crossed and so he sulks and doesn't do the right thing anyway? Woman responsible for the sulking. And then another woman he likes dies pushing him to the do the right thing in the end.
Yeah, that's right. Fridging. Marvelous.
That isn't even the half of it. The women always seem in competition for his affections. All of them like him for no discernable reason. And the jealousy meter is crazy - at one point a woman left just because he talked to another woman that he, at the time, hated .
"Pfft. I'm an advantist, and she's a conservative. And anyway, how many times have you met two attractive women who like each other?"
And Tankar would beat himself up every time a woman got the better of him. In any way at all. It was just boring. Blame yourself, dude, that is who you should be blaming.
He paced, drunk with rage and shame. How could he, a lieutenant of the Stellar Guard, have allowed her to toy with him? He looked for harsh enough words to describe her - treacherous and manipulative bitch. The rules of the Guards were wise: women were to be used for pleasure and to incubate future Guards.
Now he was driven by one wish and one wish only: revenge. He would love to batter her lovely lips with his fists, smash her lying mouth, but even that was not enough. Did he want to kill her? Should he challenge her to a duel? He was not sure that he, as a man, could do that."
Then there are the stupid duels. Why was so much of this book focused on duels?? As soon as he gets on the ship, he nearly sparks a duel. At another time, one of the three love interests tries to use a duel to kill him - and he blames another love interest for setting him up (falsely). And Carsac is trying to play Tancar off as this soldier among non soldiers, and he has all the answers to fight off this alien threat - only these hobbyists are almost able to get the better of him? And I'm supposed to believe in Tankar? Please. And the Nomads even have the audacity that the reason they have freedom is because they have duels. Like, what?
Like the idiotic duels, which no true man should take part in. If the point is to show bravery, there are far better ways."
"You really don't understand, do you? We all take personal responsibility for our actions, and that's the basis of our freedom."
There are so many other things that annoyed me. Like the main character, who is just incredibly unlikable with no redeeming qualities. And the half-baked religious ideas that do really weird, squirrely things to the plot. Also the fact that every time a character told Tankar something about himself or others, he would say the opposite. Which we as the readers agree with because up until that time what Tankar is saying is true - and then the entire book would rewrites itself to the reality of the thing that secondary character said. Just to prove him wrong I guess?
This was just a frustrating read. There were moments I was enjoying myself, but the book typically ended that pretty quick. I think I would enjoy this a lot more if I read, and liked, more golden age sci-fi. I've mostly not read it, and I wasn't even aware that this was from the 1960s when I requested the ARC (I should have looked into this better - the interesting story in the blurb got to me and I wanted it). The City Among the Stars tried to do a lot of things: be a character study, analyze (the then) current events into something understandable, and even at one point tried to be philosophical. It all fell flat to me. I ended up finishing this because I found the way the tropes have changed over time to be mildly interesting and I read it for inspiration for my Trope Time posts.
Technically this is part of a series. I won't be reading the rest if they get translated. The only thing really to do with future books is finish up the threat against the Mpfifis. And I don't care about them because the author never made me care about them - either as an alien race or a threat.
ARC received from Flame Tree Press on Netgalley. This did not affect my review.
May 27, 2020
Review
When it comes to reading classic science fiction, it’s best to remember that these aren’t contemporary books. Some of the “future” tech will be outdated as will views about women and minorities. Remembering this is key, otherwise you’ll lose your mind from the misogyny alone.
The sexism wasn’t as bad in City Among the Stars as I’ve encountered in other books published around the same time period, though. Most of the sexism that was there was down to the male-dominated society our main character Tankar came from, where women were essentially breeding stock. Also, except for some references to film reels, most of the technology mentioned was up to modern standards.
It’s a relatively short novel and I read it in two sittings partially because of its length, but also because I was just so fascinated by it. The amount of story that was packed within its few pages was seriously impressive. There is a lot of really good space opera crammed in there!
What was a teensy bit distracting was the insanely short fuses everyone except the Pilgrims seemed to have. Tankar’s was by far the worst, his stubbornness eventually reaching epic and catastrophic proportions. At first it was understandable because upon being brought aboard as a refugee, he faced incredible prejudice from the People of the Stars. It was easily an allegory for what it is like today for refugees. When you’ve been ripped from the only home and culture you’ve ever known, it’s hard to immediately assimilate, especially when the people around you expect you to already be assimilated.
I’ve seen some reviews mention irritation at how all the women he meets keep instantly falling in love with him. As silly as it seemed, one of the characters made an offhand remark about it that made a lot of sense. The gist of it was that the only reason a certain woman was in love with Tankar was because he was a novelty.
In a closed society like the one the People of the Stars live in, you see the same people day in and day out unless you change starships. I imagine it gets old fast so I don’t blame people for being intensely attracted to somone new and other. I probably would be, too.
In the end, though, I decided to not nitpick at most of the little things. The characters came from cultures and populations that are completely alien from mine and are within a story that was written over half a century ago and in another language. I’m sure 60 years from now people will be looking back at our literature and think we’re a little backward, too.
Final Thoughts
The world-building and premise in The City Among the Stars were captivating and I’d love to read more about it all if there is anything out there. Why it took so long for this to be translated into English is beyond me because it stands up against other novels from that period of science fiction. At times the narrative and dialogue did seem a little stilted, but I’m sure that’s a result of the translation.
Fans of retro science fiction should enjoy this book as much as I did and as long as expectations are set, readers of modern sci-fi, military sci-fi, and space operas should have a blast, too. James S.A. Corey this is not, but it’s still an absolutely exciting ride through the stars.
Read my full review on my blog!
Thanks to Anne Cater and Flame Tree Press for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour!
When it comes to reading classic science fiction, it’s best to remember that these aren’t contemporary books. Some of the “future” tech will be outdated as will views about women and minorities. Remembering this is key, otherwise you’ll lose your mind from the misogyny alone.
The sexism wasn’t as bad in City Among the Stars as I’ve encountered in other books published around the same time period, though. Most of the sexism that was there was down to the male-dominated society our main character Tankar came from, where women were essentially breeding stock. Also, except for some references to film reels, most of the technology mentioned was up to modern standards.
It’s a relatively short novel and I read it in two sittings partially because of its length, but also because I was just so fascinated by it. The amount of story that was packed within its few pages was seriously impressive. There is a lot of really good space opera crammed in there!
What was a teensy bit distracting was the insanely short fuses everyone except the Pilgrims seemed to have. Tankar’s was by far the worst, his stubbornness eventually reaching epic and catastrophic proportions. At first it was understandable because upon being brought aboard as a refugee, he faced incredible prejudice from the People of the Stars. It was easily an allegory for what it is like today for refugees. When you’ve been ripped from the only home and culture you’ve ever known, it’s hard to immediately assimilate, especially when the people around you expect you to already be assimilated.
I’ve seen some reviews mention irritation at how all the women he meets keep instantly falling in love with him. As silly as it seemed, one of the characters made an offhand remark about it that made a lot of sense. The gist of it was that the only reason a certain woman was in love with Tankar was because he was a novelty.
In a closed society like the one the People of the Stars live in, you see the same people day in and day out unless you change starships. I imagine it gets old fast so I don’t blame people for being intensely attracted to somone new and other. I probably would be, too.
In the end, though, I decided to not nitpick at most of the little things. The characters came from cultures and populations that are completely alien from mine and are within a story that was written over half a century ago and in another language. I’m sure 60 years from now people will be looking back at our literature and think we’re a little backward, too.
Final Thoughts
The world-building and premise in The City Among the Stars were captivating and I’d love to read more about it all if there is anything out there. Why it took so long for this to be translated into English is beyond me because it stands up against other novels from that period of science fiction. At times the narrative and dialogue did seem a little stilted, but I’m sure that’s a result of the translation.
Fans of retro science fiction should enjoy this book as much as I did and as long as expectations are set, readers of modern sci-fi, military sci-fi, and space operas should have a blast, too. James S.A. Corey this is not, but it’s still an absolutely exciting ride through the stars.
Read my full review on my blog!
Thanks to Anne Cater and Flame Tree Press for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour!
May 27, 2020
The City of Among the Stars follows Tankar Holroy, a Lieutenant in the Earth’s Stellar Guard. Tankar gets stranded in space while attempting to deliver a message that will vastly help the Empire in its fight against a rebel group. Tankar is picked up by a ship manned by The People of the Stars, a people who are born and raised on giant starships that function as cities. Tankar’s loyalties and way of life are consistently challenged during his stay on the ship, leading him to make decisions that could have a profound effect on the people around him.
This was a fun read for me, driven by an interesting and unique storyline. The idea of starships as self-sufficient cities floating among the stars is fascinating to me because it paints a picture of a group of people who can go wherever they want without being tethered to a body of land. It leads to space exploration interacting with other organisms living in space – there are limitless opportunities for adventure.
I also thought the political plot lines were well-done. The book is full of tension, as Earth is ruled by the Empire, whose colonization tactics led to the People of the Stars leaving the planet in the first place. There is a rebellion taking place on Earth at the same time, and different religious sects that come into play. The crew of the starship comes into contact with alien invaders, as well. The histories and relationships with all of these groups add layers to the story and create much-needed depth to a plot that may otherwise skim the surface.
This book certainly has its flaws. Having been originally published in the ’60s, there are a few ideals that are clearly outdated. Gender roles is one example, as many women in the book are treated as second-class citizens. On that same note, the dialogue is cheesy and has not held up over time. Despite its flaws, the story was good enough to hold my interest.
The City Among the Stars is an interesting science fiction story with a unique plot line. I recommend fans of the genre check it out.
This was a fun read for me, driven by an interesting and unique storyline. The idea of starships as self-sufficient cities floating among the stars is fascinating to me because it paints a picture of a group of people who can go wherever they want without being tethered to a body of land. It leads to space exploration interacting with other organisms living in space – there are limitless opportunities for adventure.
I also thought the political plot lines were well-done. The book is full of tension, as Earth is ruled by the Empire, whose colonization tactics led to the People of the Stars leaving the planet in the first place. There is a rebellion taking place on Earth at the same time, and different religious sects that come into play. The crew of the starship comes into contact with alien invaders, as well. The histories and relationships with all of these groups add layers to the story and create much-needed depth to a plot that may otherwise skim the surface.
This book certainly has its flaws. Having been originally published in the ’60s, there are a few ideals that are clearly outdated. Gender roles is one example, as many women in the book are treated as second-class citizens. On that same note, the dialogue is cheesy and has not held up over time. Despite its flaws, the story was good enough to hold my interest.
The City Among the Stars is an interesting science fiction story with a unique plot line. I recommend fans of the genre check it out.
January 9, 2020
Thanks to Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for the eARC.
Just a quick disclaimer. I like sci-fi, but not to the point where I’ve gone back to read the classics, and I haven’t read any pre-1990s sci-fi besides some H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. Thus, I’m not sure how this book compares to others of its era.
I hated this book.
Firstly, plot. The narrator was unlikable and a brat and shallow and rude (and yet women flung themselves at him). All of the characters had the blatant inability to empathize with others or consider their point of view, so the majority of the book was Character A saying, “I want this!”, and when Character B says no, Character A decides to put thousands of people’s lives in danger out of stubbornness. The plot also seriously meandered. It didn’t feel like there was any direction and the action didn’t feel meaningful. The book didn’t come to any satisfying conclusion because the storyline that it wrapped up was whether or not the main character had one ounce of character growth (supposedly he did) and not any of the big picture stuff.
Prose-wise, it also sucked! I’m not sure how much was the original author and how much was the translation, and I can’t find the original online to cross-check (it’s French title is “Pour patrie l’espace”). This book is 90% dialogue, and poorly written dialogue at that, in which characters have no unique voice and continuously over explain everything. It’s clunky and it’s boring and it’s confusing. There’s basically no transition in between scenes—you can skip over three months and not have any idea at all. If you skim, you’ll miss plot points, but you’ll want to skim because it’s so awful. I read this as fast as I could because I wanted to get this book over with.
As I was reading this, though, there is one thing I think could save this story: turning it into a comic book. As a novel, it sucks. However, with more visual cues, I think it would work a lot better. And the way it jumps from one absurd scenario to the next is better suited to comic book form and more forgivable. It still wouldn’t be a phenomenal story, but it would be much more digestible.
Just a quick disclaimer. I like sci-fi, but not to the point where I’ve gone back to read the classics, and I haven’t read any pre-1990s sci-fi besides some H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. Thus, I’m not sure how this book compares to others of its era.
I hated this book.
Firstly, plot. The narrator was unlikable and a brat and shallow and rude (and yet women flung themselves at him). All of the characters had the blatant inability to empathize with others or consider their point of view, so the majority of the book was Character A saying, “I want this!”, and when Character B says no, Character A decides to put thousands of people’s lives in danger out of stubbornness. The plot also seriously meandered. It didn’t feel like there was any direction and the action didn’t feel meaningful. The book didn’t come to any satisfying conclusion because the storyline that it wrapped up was whether or not the main character had one ounce of character growth (supposedly he did) and not any of the big picture stuff.
Prose-wise, it also sucked! I’m not sure how much was the original author and how much was the translation, and I can’t find the original online to cross-check (it’s French title is “Pour patrie l’espace”). This book is 90% dialogue, and poorly written dialogue at that, in which characters have no unique voice and continuously over explain everything. It’s clunky and it’s boring and it’s confusing. There’s basically no transition in between scenes—you can skip over three months and not have any idea at all. If you skim, you’ll miss plot points, but you’ll want to skim because it’s so awful. I read this as fast as I could because I wanted to get this book over with.
As I was reading this, though, there is one thing I think could save this story: turning it into a comic book. As a novel, it sucks. However, with more visual cues, I think it would work a lot better. And the way it jumps from one absurd scenario to the next is better suited to comic book form and more forgivable. It still wouldn’t be a phenomenal story, but it would be much more digestible.
May 26, 2020
The people at Flame Tree Press have put out some amazing titles this year, but unfortunately this one was a miss for me. Not the Golden Age Science Fiction classic that I expected.
The main character Tankar is an arrogant, self-centered, intolerant, tantrum-throwing, sexist guy set in his ways. He literally punches Orena (yes, she slapped him first, but still), he calls her a "female" and an "advantist bitch", but sleeps with her anyway.
He also has the hots for the head-honcho's librarian niece Anaena, who detests him, because he's a "planetarian" (racist term for Earth-born), but he doesn't care because she's so hot. I could go on an on throwing down examples, but I think you get the gist of it. I liked the premise of him being saved and then exploring the spaceship and different culture, point of views and religious belief system of the inhabitants, but the writing feels stiff and I don't like any of the characters except Orena.
It's not a good read if you're consider yourself being against racism and bigotry.
I cannot with good conscience recommend this to anybody except hard-core science fiction fans that like to read older works.
Thank you Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC for an honest review.
The main character Tankar is an arrogant, self-centered, intolerant, tantrum-throwing, sexist guy set in his ways. He literally punches Orena (yes, she slapped him first, but still), he calls her a "female" and an "advantist bitch", but sleeps with her anyway.
He also has the hots for the head-honcho's librarian niece Anaena, who detests him, because he's a "planetarian" (racist term for Earth-born), but he doesn't care because she's so hot. I could go on an on throwing down examples, but I think you get the gist of it. I liked the premise of him being saved and then exploring the spaceship and different culture, point of views and religious belief system of the inhabitants, but the writing feels stiff and I don't like any of the characters except Orena.
It's not a good read if you're consider yourself being against racism and bigotry.
I cannot with good conscience recommend this to anybody except hard-core science fiction fans that like to read older works.
Thank you Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC for an honest review.
May 11, 2021
The story started out great, but about midway through the book the story itself became a side note to the protagonist's love life. I would have liked to read more about the antagonists, and the Stellarans. The last two chapters we're strange, like they were written by another person, or that the book was forced to be finished.
February 14, 2020
I am very glad that I knew this is a translated publiaction of an older novel. It let me stick with it.
There's no flow, the words feel staid and perhaps even machine translated. The story itself is .. well an old story and bring with it a lot of baggage.
I think it's generally it's a good thing to get classic works translated so that they can be recognised or shared with the world but in this case, it just didn't work.
I very much suggest this is published without the slick apperence of a modern piece of sci-fi, otherwise readers will be very disapointed!
There's no flow, the words feel staid and perhaps even machine translated. The story itself is .. well an old story and bring with it a lot of baggage.
I think it's generally it's a good thing to get classic works translated so that they can be recognised or shared with the world but in this case, it just didn't work.
I very much suggest this is published without the slick apperence of a modern piece of sci-fi, otherwise readers will be very disapointed!
May 20, 2020
Francis Carsac was a pseudonym of French geologist, archaeologist, and author Francois Bordes (1919-1981), who penned six novels and several shorter works. CITY AMONG THE STARS is considered to be in the Golden Age of Science Fiction. This is the first translation into English.
A member of the Emperor's security force, traveling through Space with an urgent method, is the victim of sabotage and his spaceship is destroyed. Fortunately he is rescued by a spacefaring civilization which eschews planetary living. Unfortunately, the leaders have designs on Empire technology, knowledge he has.
A member of the Emperor's security force, traveling through Space with an urgent method, is the victim of sabotage and his spaceship is destroyed. Fortunately he is rescued by a spacefaring civilization which eschews planetary living. Unfortunately, the leaders have designs on Empire technology, knowledge he has.
January 20, 2020
I'm not usually into this sort of book but this was actually really enjoyable. Will enjoy reading more from this author.
September 23, 2020
Ok, right off the bat I'd like to confess my ardent love for the Sci-Fi genre. I adore it to itsy teenie tiny pieces and now, couple that with a Space Opera backdrop and BAM... a recipe for hours of blissful escapism and endless possibilities. The premise of The City Among The Stars had me imagining myself fully engaged and immersed in geeky Sci-Fi/Space faring heaven... my shangri-la, my haven away from the craziness of Real Life. And so, armed only with an intriguing premise, I anxiously dove into this book untethered.
First off, there are two important factors to mention. 1) this book was published in the '60s and 2) it is a translated work. Early on, both of these facts were painfully obvious. I took the age and the fact that things can easily get lost in translation into consideration while reading and later on when deciding how to rate the book. With these provisos in the back of my mind I read and read and after reading for quite a long time I am sad to report that this great expectation fell flat on it's overreaching butt.
The wording felt disjointed and clunky... more so than with other translated works. I am a girl who loves her character driven novels. I'll also gladly take a book centered around rich, diverse world building with character development coming in a close second BUT The City Among The Stars was neither of those. The characters were criminally flat and weren't even likeable. The MC was a tool, a creaton, a POS who loved to yell and lash out at women and THAT made me cringe.
The female representation was appalling! Women were portrayed as property... pretty, shiny arm candy and it definitely chaffed... nay, it wrankled! I (a self proclaimed shiny mess of a female) for one, couldn't get past the flagrant injustice. Women were meant to be draped over the arm of some man and our main purpose was for "pleasure or breeding". I feel nauseated just thinking about the blatant sexism... yes, this might be a reflection of how far the notions of gender equality have come in the last 60 years BUT if you're going to translate the author's blood, sweat, tears and dreams made tangible then don't just go to Google Translate, toss it in and regurgitate whatever shows up on the screen. The translator should be both fluent and finely attuned to the nuances of both languages!
So, I'm thinking that I am probably not the targeted demographic here so I'll cut it some slack.
Overall:
I gave this book more chances than I should have. I would pick it up only to put it right back down again. Over and over... rinse and repeat. I wanted to like it, I truly did, but The City Among The Stars made it hard to love... or even like. I appreciate the chance to review the ARC ahead of the release date though! Unfortunately, the bottom line is that it wasn't for me and I wouldn't reccomend it to others.
*** I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***
First off, there are two important factors to mention. 1) this book was published in the '60s and 2) it is a translated work. Early on, both of these facts were painfully obvious. I took the age and the fact that things can easily get lost in translation into consideration while reading and later on when deciding how to rate the book. With these provisos in the back of my mind I read and read and after reading for quite a long time I am sad to report that this great expectation fell flat on it's overreaching butt.
The wording felt disjointed and clunky... more so than with other translated works. I am a girl who loves her character driven novels. I'll also gladly take a book centered around rich, diverse world building with character development coming in a close second BUT The City Among The Stars was neither of those. The characters were criminally flat and weren't even likeable. The MC was a tool, a creaton, a POS who loved to yell and lash out at women and THAT made me cringe.
The female representation was appalling! Women were portrayed as property... pretty, shiny arm candy and it definitely chaffed... nay, it wrankled! I (a self proclaimed shiny mess of a female) for one, couldn't get past the flagrant injustice. Women were meant to be draped over the arm of some man and our main purpose was for "pleasure or breeding". I feel nauseated just thinking about the blatant sexism... yes, this might be a reflection of how far the notions of gender equality have come in the last 60 years BUT if you're going to translate the author's blood, sweat, tears and dreams made tangible then don't just go to Google Translate, toss it in and regurgitate whatever shows up on the screen. The translator should be both fluent and finely attuned to the nuances of both languages!
So, I'm thinking that I am probably not the targeted demographic here so I'll cut it some slack.
Overall:
I gave this book more chances than I should have. I would pick it up only to put it right back down again. Over and over... rinse and repeat. I wanted to like it, I truly did, but The City Among The Stars made it hard to love... or even like. I appreciate the chance to review the ARC ahead of the release date though! Unfortunately, the bottom line is that it wasn't for me and I wouldn't reccomend it to others.
*** I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***
May 21, 2020
https://thecaffeinatedreader.com/2020...
2.5 Rounded up to 3
I won’t lie, this is not a masterpiece of writing, but, it was enjoyable and the world that Carsac builds is incredible, the technology was so effortlessly put in, and I loved the Empire and Star People, the nonhumans, everything was crafted with such detail.
I love seeing where we started with Sci-fi and how far we’ve come, so reading this was really a sort of study into the history of sci-fi in a way and for that and the worldbuilding alone, I would round it up to three stars.
Why didn’t it get higher? Well, Tankar was not enjoyable compared to the rest of the book’s aspects that I thoroughly liked. He was young, haughty and his stubborn pride was hard to read, but, it was also in line with his personality that Carsac gave him.
Being a 1960s space opera also meant this was the golden age of women throwing themselves at men, I’ll admit, the women were all very capable in Carsac’s book, but the fawning over the man is definitely probably going to be unbearable for a lot of people. I found it pretty amusing, and I remembered the era this was written in, so, I think it may not have bothered me as much.
The writing style was not as fluid as I would have liked but I have no idea if that’s the translation or Carsac, so I’ve kind of left off on commenting on that very much.
Thank you to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Flame Tree Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the blog tour.
2.5 Rounded up to 3
I won’t lie, this is not a masterpiece of writing, but, it was enjoyable and the world that Carsac builds is incredible, the technology was so effortlessly put in, and I loved the Empire and Star People, the nonhumans, everything was crafted with such detail.
I love seeing where we started with Sci-fi and how far we’ve come, so reading this was really a sort of study into the history of sci-fi in a way and for that and the worldbuilding alone, I would round it up to three stars.
Why didn’t it get higher? Well, Tankar was not enjoyable compared to the rest of the book’s aspects that I thoroughly liked. He was young, haughty and his stubborn pride was hard to read, but, it was also in line with his personality that Carsac gave him.
Being a 1960s space opera also meant this was the golden age of women throwing themselves at men, I’ll admit, the women were all very capable in Carsac’s book, but the fawning over the man is definitely probably going to be unbearable for a lot of people. I found it pretty amusing, and I remembered the era this was written in, so, I think it may not have bothered me as much.
The writing style was not as fluid as I would have liked but I have no idea if that’s the translation or Carsac, so I’ve kind of left off on commenting on that very much.
Thank you to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Flame Tree Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the blog tour.
June 7, 2020
Sometimes the consequences of our actions are unbearable.
Tankar Holroy, Lieutenant in the Emperor's Stellar Guard, finds himself in deep trouble. His ship has been sabotaged and is now just a glittering cloud of dust. He is left spinning in the void in just his spacesuit. With little hope of rescue he accepts his fate and simply watches the stars. Just as he is running out of air a huge ship approaches. Tankar manages to fire his rockets as he passes out.
He awakens on the Tislin. A city ship owned by the People of the Stars. They are comprised of Technicians (Stellarans) and monks (Pilgrims) who escaped the Empire generations ago. Tankar is thrust into a culture very different than the one in which he lived his whole life. He is forced to learn their ways and adapt as best he can. He becomes very angry at the way he is treated by the Stellarans who hate "Planetaries".
He finds out he has been saved in hopes that he would have technology the Stellarans need. His refusal to share this technology bites him in the.....well, you know.
I have to stop there or major spoilers will happen.
This book is a classic sci-fi written in French in 1962 and translated to English. Keep that in mind as you read this book. The social attitudes are very, very different now than they were then. Especially in regard to women.
Over all, I did enjoy the book and I thank Netgalley and Flame Tree Press for letting me read the arc.
.
Tankar Holroy, Lieutenant in the Emperor's Stellar Guard, finds himself in deep trouble. His ship has been sabotaged and is now just a glittering cloud of dust. He is left spinning in the void in just his spacesuit. With little hope of rescue he accepts his fate and simply watches the stars. Just as he is running out of air a huge ship approaches. Tankar manages to fire his rockets as he passes out.
He awakens on the Tislin. A city ship owned by the People of the Stars. They are comprised of Technicians (Stellarans) and monks (Pilgrims) who escaped the Empire generations ago. Tankar is thrust into a culture very different than the one in which he lived his whole life. He is forced to learn their ways and adapt as best he can. He becomes very angry at the way he is treated by the Stellarans who hate "Planetaries".
He finds out he has been saved in hopes that he would have technology the Stellarans need. His refusal to share this technology bites him in the.....well, you know.
I have to stop there or major spoilers will happen.
This book is a classic sci-fi written in French in 1962 and translated to English. Keep that in mind as you read this book. The social attitudes are very, very different now than they were then. Especially in regard to women.
Over all, I did enjoy the book and I thank Netgalley and Flame Tree Press for letting me read the arc.
.
July 30, 2020
Ok, this book made me realize that science fiction is just not for me. I found something very lacking in this story too.
I honestly detested Tankar the protagonist. You probably won't find a more immature and whiny guy than Tankar. The entire book he whines, he cribs, he complains. He was supposedly treated a little rashly in the beginning in a new place and he holds that silly grudge till the end of the book? I couldn't tolerate the juvenile nature of it all.
And let's not even begin with the "romance" portions of this book. Zero chemistry, insta-love, supposedly hate to love but it was more physical attraction than any other deep form of love. I couldn't care less for the romance or for any of the characters in this book.
I enjoyed the first part of the book a lot. The science parts were good, the concept of a star city was novel. But, apart from that, there was nothing much that appealed me to the story. I would recommend it to science-fiction fans, also to people who are starting out with the science-fiction genre as the language is quite easy to follow. The novel reads fast and you can complete it in no time.
RRKReads rating: ⭐⭐1/2
I honestly detested Tankar the protagonist. You probably won't find a more immature and whiny guy than Tankar. The entire book he whines, he cribs, he complains. He was supposedly treated a little rashly in the beginning in a new place and he holds that silly grudge till the end of the book? I couldn't tolerate the juvenile nature of it all.
And let's not even begin with the "romance" portions of this book. Zero chemistry, insta-love, supposedly hate to love but it was more physical attraction than any other deep form of love. I couldn't care less for the romance or for any of the characters in this book.
I enjoyed the first part of the book a lot. The science parts were good, the concept of a star city was novel. But, apart from that, there was nothing much that appealed me to the story. I would recommend it to science-fiction fans, also to people who are starting out with the science-fiction genre as the language is quite easy to follow. The novel reads fast and you can complete it in no time.
RRKReads rating: ⭐⭐1/2
October 7, 2020
A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:
You know that cringy feeling you get when reading a bad sci-fi story from the 1950's? The manly protagonist who can do everything? The women who serve merely as romantic interests? The human-like aliens? The civilizations that are remarkably just like what we've had? Yeah, that's the summary of this book.
The protagonist is an ass and is impossible to root for. The women (there are only three) are all superficial caricature of a different desire that "men" have for "women". Earth's society has become another medieval caste system, which I'm guessing is an allegory for America. The ship is a socialist paradise (Europe maybe?) but lacks the military strength to protect itself. But seriously, yawn.
This was an awful read and I had to skim the protagonist's soliloquies just to get through it. The only positive was that the book was short.
Skip it!
You know that cringy feeling you get when reading a bad sci-fi story from the 1950's? The manly protagonist who can do everything? The women who serve merely as romantic interests? The human-like aliens? The civilizations that are remarkably just like what we've had? Yeah, that's the summary of this book.
The protagonist is an ass and is impossible to root for. The women (there are only three) are all superficial caricature of a different desire that "men" have for "women". Earth's society has become another medieval caste system, which I'm guessing is an allegory for America. The ship is a socialist paradise (Europe maybe?) but lacks the military strength to protect itself. But seriously, yawn.
This was an awful read and I had to skim the protagonist's soliloquies just to get through it. The only positive was that the book was short.
Skip it!
April 19, 2020
I appreciated getting to read this translation of a mid-twentieth century sci-fi work, but I didn't really like it. I struggled to finish the book for weeks. The concept was interesting, the characters were not. The main character, Holroy, was vindictive, whiny, and never reaches a point of redemption. The other characters were never fleshed out enough to give them any interesting draw either. The plot jumped too often, and events seemed to come and go on a single page too quickly. Overall, this book had potential but failed to live up to it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an earc in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an earc in exchange for my honest review.
November 21, 2021
This book has a lot going against it, and there are some thoughtful and eloquent reviews that address all of my concerns.
The characters are annoying, the translation probably isn't very good, the plot reads like a game of Zelda where you already know exactly which steps to take, and on and on like this. I know it was 1962, but #menwritingwomen is strong with this one, even considering the period.
The characters are annoying, the translation probably isn't very good, the plot reads like a game of Zelda where you already know exactly which steps to take, and on and on like this. I know it was 1962, but #menwritingwomen is strong with this one, even considering the period.
July 15, 2020
At first you get real excited because #Francis Carsac which is a pseudonym for the world-renowned French scientist, geologist, and archaeologist Francois Bordes, wrote and published six novels during
the golden age of science fiction.Then with a open mind it’s really hard. The views are just a little outdated.
the golden age of science fiction.Then with a open mind it’s really hard. The views are just a little outdated.
June 24, 2021
I was going to give it 3 stars, but not deserved. The best of the book is knowing the autor is super famous Bordes (for archaeologists hahaha). The story is lame, with some absurd lines that remind to bad movies of the 60s. In terms of adventure, maybe good as teenager literature, also some nice details, but I wouldn’t say it is overall good.
November 7, 2023
I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a very old fashioned Science Fiction story, but since it was originally published in 1962 I think that can be allowed.
Unfortunately it has not aged that well in places, with the characters particularly showing there age in attitudes.
Overall though still an enjoyable read.
This was a very old fashioned Science Fiction story, but since it was originally published in 1962 I think that can be allowed.
Unfortunately it has not aged that well in places, with the characters particularly showing there age in attitudes.
Overall though still an enjoyable read.
May 16, 2020
Full review on blog 22nd May 2020
March 9, 2021
A decent story, I consider that perhaps much may have been lost in translation. Like many Science Fiction books, the story is about human nature, not technology.
April 14, 2021
Some good parts but very uneven.
December 23, 2021
The attitudes towards women in this old science fiction novel were too awful to ignore.
December 17, 2021
**Thank you Netgalley and publisher for giving me an electronic ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**
I dnfed this story at 10%. I hardly dnf stories, I might push myself to finish this story one day. But I realized that I never put in my feedback with netgalley while i struggled with this story. I love science fiction stories, but for some reason this fell flat for me.
I dnfed this story at 10%. I hardly dnf stories, I might push myself to finish this story one day. But I realized that I never put in my feedback with netgalley while i struggled with this story. I love science fiction stories, but for some reason this fell flat for me.
February 25, 2020
I initially read this without realising it was originally written in 1962! Amazingly, the basic premise is still intriguing - a soldier that has only known the autocratic Empire ends up rescued by a democratic ship, where people have been living away from planets for generations, and instantly judge him for being a provincial 'planetary'. I didn't mind the world building and descriptions of the ship, but the treatment and description of women were what made this book almost unreadable to a modern audience. There are three women who throw themselves at the main character, even though the main plot hinges on him feeling rejected and discriminated against by everyone on board. For the time, two of these women are vaguely interesting and have some agency, which compares well with other 'classic' sci-fi like Ray Bradbury, but he ends up marrying a young (described as looking 17) basically blank nurse, raised in a modest religious sect that somehow also lives on board. The soldier has very little to recommend him - there are numerous opportunities for him to help the ship and prove his worth, which he doesn't do - really for no reason at all.
Having realised that the book is nearly 60 years old, it becomes slightly more interesting as a document of the attitudes of its time, and less infuriating.
Having realised that the book is nearly 60 years old, it becomes slightly more interesting as a document of the attitudes of its time, and less infuriating.
February 11, 2020
(I think this book should definitely have a preface, making the reader aware that they are reading a translated work, originally written in 1962 (France). The only way I found this information was through another reader's review.)
DNF 40%
I'm sorry, I tried, but I really struggled with this book. I don't know how much comes down to the translation or the original text but the writing wasn't great. It's jumpy and disjointed. It doesn't really flow well at all, making it quite difficult to get into. After only 50 pages I started skimming, then eventually decided to give it up once I realised it wasn't getting any better for me.
I wasn't enjoying the plot, characters or world. I absolutely adore the concept of a flying city, it could be my most favourite setting, but in this case it wasn't executed well. I didn't really get a clear picture of what the city actually looked like, further hindering the immersion experience.
I thought the story was really bland, the constant history lessons were confusing, I kept zoning out and the characters are incredibly irritating. Unlikeable characters isn't a reason to negatively review a book, but they were even more jumpy than the writing and they just didn't make sense. The reader is subjected to the most outrageous mood swings and explosive tempers, with no real motivation or reason, it wasn't believable.
The mass population's belief system was problematic and contradictory. They have a severe hatred and prejudice towards all planetaries - but only when it suits them. They are more than happy to 'pop in', do some trading and purchase a supply of planetary goods, that they then go on to sell to the population in their flying city.
Speaking directly to the protagonist - "If there's one thing we would never do, that is lock a man up whose only crime was to be different." How nice. Then in the same paragraph, she goes on to call him 'planetary vermin' and tell him that some of her people will try to kill him for being so.
Oh, did I mention these people also have a 'home base planet', with factories and whatnot. But they only live there was it is 'absolutely necessary', so that means they are free to continue their loathing and prejudice of anyone who chooses to live on a planet. Huh?
I'm sorry but without an enjoyable world or characters, there was nothing for me to invest in.
***E-Arc received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***
DNF 40%
I'm sorry, I tried, but I really struggled with this book. I don't know how much comes down to the translation or the original text but the writing wasn't great. It's jumpy and disjointed. It doesn't really flow well at all, making it quite difficult to get into. After only 50 pages I started skimming, then eventually decided to give it up once I realised it wasn't getting any better for me.
I wasn't enjoying the plot, characters or world. I absolutely adore the concept of a flying city, it could be my most favourite setting, but in this case it wasn't executed well. I didn't really get a clear picture of what the city actually looked like, further hindering the immersion experience.
I thought the story was really bland, the constant history lessons were confusing, I kept zoning out and the characters are incredibly irritating. Unlikeable characters isn't a reason to negatively review a book, but they were even more jumpy than the writing and they just didn't make sense. The reader is subjected to the most outrageous mood swings and explosive tempers, with no real motivation or reason, it wasn't believable.
The mass population's belief system was problematic and contradictory. They have a severe hatred and prejudice towards all planetaries - but only when it suits them. They are more than happy to 'pop in', do some trading and purchase a supply of planetary goods, that they then go on to sell to the population in their flying city.
Speaking directly to the protagonist - "If there's one thing we would never do, that is lock a man up whose only crime was to be different." How nice. Then in the same paragraph, she goes on to call him 'planetary vermin' and tell him that some of her people will try to kill him for being so.
Oh, did I mention these people also have a 'home base planet', with factories and whatnot. But they only live there was it is 'absolutely necessary', so that means they are free to continue their loathing and prejudice of anyone who chooses to live on a planet. Huh?
I'm sorry but without an enjoyable world or characters, there was nothing for me to invest in.
***E-Arc received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***
January 27, 2020
I quickly found myself absorbed by the surprisingly contemporary themes of this 1962 French science fiction novel. While certain elements feel dated – especially facets of each character and the relationship dynamics – there’s so much more of interest. In tone and style this novel reminded me strongly of The Last Man, a sci-fi end-of-world 1940s novel by Alfred Noyes (of The Highwayman fame, surprisingly!), and also The Fountainhead, in its simplicity of prose. The rather dry, cerebral style of all three of these novels reflects the period which gave birth to them. The rich characterizations of 19th century storytelling have been sloughed off in these futuristic novels; their authors feel and reflect the dehumanizing impact of the post-industrial/early science, nascent-nuclear, and pre-techno world. Carsac and these others were on the cusp; they saw only the shadows and outlines of what was to be. One can expect and therefore be stimulated by the historical perspective couched in this style.
Story-wise, the central character, Tankar, admittedly is hard to like or root for. He’s a former child soldier kidnapped from his family at the age of 3 and indoctrinated into a blindly loyal worldview. Child soldiers were unknown in 1962 (but are sadly a global phenom now), and yet the author writes him with compassion while criticizing his many weaknesses and failings.
Tankar doesn’t wear the “white hat” of the hero of American science-fiction. His struggle is more relevant today than it was when the book was written. In the early 60s, France was struggling to recover from the loss of its colonial territories: Vietnam, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. On top of that, Tankar is a refugee who is rejected and abused from the moment of his arrival. Sound familiar?
There’s much to appreciate and enjoy in this novel, and plenty to learn from it, too. And, the original French, if you can find it, is much like the English translation: straightforward and un-obscure; I recommend it as a brush-up for rusty French, or for upper-level H.S. or college students.
However, the English absolutely captures the charm of this mid-century modern sci-fi dystopian tale. Content producers take note: there are more novels in this series--sequels!--yet to be translated, to my knowledge.
Story-wise, the central character, Tankar, admittedly is hard to like or root for. He’s a former child soldier kidnapped from his family at the age of 3 and indoctrinated into a blindly loyal worldview. Child soldiers were unknown in 1962 (but are sadly a global phenom now), and yet the author writes him with compassion while criticizing his many weaknesses and failings.
Tankar doesn’t wear the “white hat” of the hero of American science-fiction. His struggle is more relevant today than it was when the book was written. In the early 60s, France was struggling to recover from the loss of its colonial territories: Vietnam, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. On top of that, Tankar is a refugee who is rejected and abused from the moment of his arrival. Sound familiar?
There’s much to appreciate and enjoy in this novel, and plenty to learn from it, too. And, the original French, if you can find it, is much like the English translation: straightforward and un-obscure; I recommend it as a brush-up for rusty French, or for upper-level H.S. or college students.
However, the English absolutely captures the charm of this mid-century modern sci-fi dystopian tale. Content producers take note: there are more novels in this series--sequels!--yet to be translated, to my knowledge.
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