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Giants #3
Giants' Star
A PROBLEM IN RELATIVITY
ONE:
Eons ago, a gentle race of giant aliens fled the planet Minerva, leaving the ancestors of Man to fend for themselves.
TWO:
50 thousand years ago, Minerva exploded, hurling its moon into an orbit about the Earth.
THREE:
In the 21st century, scientists Victor Hunt and Chris Danchekker, doing research on Ganymede, attract a small band of friendly aliens lost in time, who begin to reveal something of the origin of Mankind.
Finally, Man thought he comprehended his place in the Universe...until he learned of the Watchers in the stars!
ONE:
Eons ago, a gentle race of giant aliens fled the planet Minerva, leaving the ancestors of Man to fend for themselves.
TWO:
50 thousand years ago, Minerva exploded, hurling its moon into an orbit about the Earth.
THREE:
In the 21st century, scientists Victor Hunt and Chris Danchekker, doing research on Ganymede, attract a small band of friendly aliens lost in time, who begin to reveal something of the origin of Mankind.
Finally, Man thought he comprehended his place in the Universe...until he learned of the Watchers in the stars!
315 pages, Paperback
First published June 12, 1981
25 people are currently reading
732 people want to read
About the author
James P. Hogan
114 books268 followersJames Patrick Hogan was a British science fiction author.
Hogan was was raised in the Portobello Road area on the west side of London. After leaving school at the age of sixteen, he worked various odd jobs until, after receiving a scholarship, he began a five-year program at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough covering the practical and theoretical sides of electrical, electronic, and mechanical engineering. He first married at the age of twenty, and he has had three other subsequent marriages and fathered six children.
Hogan worked as a design engineer for several companies and eventually moved into sales in the 1960s, travelling around Europe as a sales engineer for Honeywell. In the 1970s he joined the Digital Equipment Corporation's Laboratory Data Processing Group and in 1977 moved to Boston, Massachusetts to run its sales training program. He published his first novel, Inherit the Stars, in the same year to win an office bet. He quit DEC in 1979 and began writing full time, moving to Orlando, Florida, for a year where he met his third wife Jackie. They then moved to Sonora, California.
Hogan's style of science fiction is usually hard science fiction. In his earlier works he conveyed a sense of what science and scientists were about. His philosophical view on how science should be done comes through in many of his novels; theories should be formulated based on empirical research, not the other way around. If a theory does not match the facts, it is theory that should be discarded, not the facts. This is very evident in the Giants series, which begins with the discovery of a 50,000 year-old human body on the Moon. This discovery leads to a series of investigations, and as facts are discovered, theories on how the astronaut's body arrived on the Moon 50,000 years ago are elaborated, discarded, and replaced.
Hogan's fiction also reflects anti-authoritarian social views. Many of his novels have strong anarchist or libertarian themes, often promoting the idea that new technological advances render certain social conventions obsolete. For example, the effectively limitless availability of energy that would result from the development of controlled nuclear fusion would make it unnecessary to limit access to energy resources. In essence, energy would become free. This melding of scientific and social speculation is clearly present in the novel Voyage from Yesteryear (strongly influenced by Eric Frank Russell's famous story "And Then There Were None"), which describes the contact between a high-tech anarchist society on a planet in the Alpha Centauri system, with a starship sent from Earth by a dictatorial government. The story uses many elements of civil disobedience.
James Hogan died unexpectedly from a heart attack at his home in Ireland.
Hogan was was raised in the Portobello Road area on the west side of London. After leaving school at the age of sixteen, he worked various odd jobs until, after receiving a scholarship, he began a five-year program at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough covering the practical and theoretical sides of electrical, electronic, and mechanical engineering. He first married at the age of twenty, and he has had three other subsequent marriages and fathered six children.
Hogan worked as a design engineer for several companies and eventually moved into sales in the 1960s, travelling around Europe as a sales engineer for Honeywell. In the 1970s he joined the Digital Equipment Corporation's Laboratory Data Processing Group and in 1977 moved to Boston, Massachusetts to run its sales training program. He published his first novel, Inherit the Stars, in the same year to win an office bet. He quit DEC in 1979 and began writing full time, moving to Orlando, Florida, for a year where he met his third wife Jackie. They then moved to Sonora, California.
Hogan's style of science fiction is usually hard science fiction. In his earlier works he conveyed a sense of what science and scientists were about. His philosophical view on how science should be done comes through in many of his novels; theories should be formulated based on empirical research, not the other way around. If a theory does not match the facts, it is theory that should be discarded, not the facts. This is very evident in the Giants series, which begins with the discovery of a 50,000 year-old human body on the Moon. This discovery leads to a series of investigations, and as facts are discovered, theories on how the astronaut's body arrived on the Moon 50,000 years ago are elaborated, discarded, and replaced.
Hogan's fiction also reflects anti-authoritarian social views. Many of his novels have strong anarchist or libertarian themes, often promoting the idea that new technological advances render certain social conventions obsolete. For example, the effectively limitless availability of energy that would result from the development of controlled nuclear fusion would make it unnecessary to limit access to energy resources. In essence, energy would become free. This melding of scientific and social speculation is clearly present in the novel Voyage from Yesteryear (strongly influenced by Eric Frank Russell's famous story "And Then There Were None"), which describes the contact between a high-tech anarchist society on a planet in the Alpha Centauri system, with a starship sent from Earth by a dictatorial government. The story uses many elements of civil disobedience.
James Hogan died unexpectedly from a heart attack at his home in Ireland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews
July 7, 2022
Hogan wraps up his Giants trilogy (although he wrote a few more installments later) with Giants's Star, but this was the weakest of the series. In fact, I am not sure why he decided to add to the first two novels, and the second really ending with a satisfying bang. Nonetheless, here we are. Volume two ended with the Gamymeans heading for (hopefully) their new homeland in the stars and this picks up six months or so after their departure. Strange things are happening politically on Earth. The new FTL 'hotline' between Earth and the Gamymeans that was accidentally discovered at the end of the last volume is now being contested via political machinations on Earth. It seems some factions want to shut it down with the rather lame pretext that they fear 'contamination' from the aliens...
This installment was too long and overdone as Hogan leaves the first encounter experience and gives us something of a massive conspiracy behind the influence of religion, etc., holding back science on Earth for thousands of years. I will not go into more details to avoid spoilers, but basically, the conspiracy constitutes the gist of the novel. Hogan is much better with far out ideas and science than politics, however, and this dragged and dragged. Still some good stuff here, but perhaps he should have just left this universe alone. 2.5 stars, rounding up for nostalgia!
This installment was too long and overdone as Hogan leaves the first encounter experience and gives us something of a massive conspiracy behind the influence of religion, etc., holding back science on Earth for thousands of years. I will not go into more details to avoid spoilers, but basically, the conspiracy constitutes the gist of the novel. Hogan is much better with far out ideas and science than politics, however, and this dragged and dragged. Still some good stuff here, but perhaps he should have just left this universe alone. 2.5 stars, rounding up for nostalgia!
October 7, 2024
This is the third book in Hogan's Giants' series and was regarded as the final book of a trilogy until he decided to write a couple of books more. The second (The Gentle Giants of Ganymede) seemed a bit weaker to me that the first (Inherit the Stars, which was one of my all-time favorites), and this third one continued the downward trend. (The fourth one, Entoverse, wasn't impressive, so I skipped the finale, Mission to Minerva.) This one has too much of a political and religious element, and his scientific content seemed to me to be getting a little on the fringe speculation side, though he does present it well. There's some interesting space adventure in this one, but I kind of wish he'd not tied everything into the Giants books.
October 3, 2025
A great conclusion to the Giants saga!
Also, the more I read the Giants books, the more I’m convinced that Liu Cixin was influenced by this series in his 3BP series. The parallels in story development are just too coincidental, as well as the clever writing and plot devices scattered throughout the story.
There’s even a part where a character uses a crossword puzzle to decipher a clue, and the author actually included the crossword. You can fill it out, in the book (answers are at the end).
Clever stuff!
Also, the more I read the Giants books, the more I’m convinced that Liu Cixin was influenced by this series in his 3BP series. The parallels in story development are just too coincidental, as well as the clever writing and plot devices scattered throughout the story.
There’s even a part where a character uses a crossword puzzle to decipher a clue, and the author actually included the crossword. You can fill it out, in the book (answers are at the end).
Clever stuff!
February 16, 2017
This author really likes educating his reader about science and the moving parts that go into making up possible theories about the world from justified true beliefs and lays the ground work for explaining how science really works while telling a passable sci-fi story.
One also gets a peek into the angst that defined the 1970s and how at times we thought there would never be a future. The Russians are still the Russians in the future he describes and are a super power to be reckoned with. Oh yeah, he did something that Time Magazine used to always do in the 50s, he used the expression while describing someone as "Mediterranean looking" and "swarthy looking". With Time they would always say that when describing an Italian because they just didn't seem to like Italians (for whatever reason, I have no idea why). In this case for this author, I'll just say that we are always victims of the world we are thrown into and sometimes we are that world, but fortunately, we move ahead.
This book does propose one of my all time favorite theories regarding religion. According to a possible interpretation, all previous religious beliefs with their accompanying superstitions were enabled by aliens so that humanity would progress at a snails pace and not be a threat to the aliens when they return in the future. That explanation just cracked me up.
I once was talking with a neighbors and one had mentioned that Mars might have a fossil of a fish on it's surface. The other neighbor had mentioned that would be impossible, but I wanted to illustrate that science is always underdetermined by the facts, that there is always more theories possible than the known facts and one always bump up to the Quine Duhem thesis and not know it. This book with its alternate theories could fully explain the phenomenon of a fish on Mars.
One also gets a peek into the angst that defined the 1970s and how at times we thought there would never be a future. The Russians are still the Russians in the future he describes and are a super power to be reckoned with. Oh yeah, he did something that Time Magazine used to always do in the 50s, he used the expression while describing someone as "Mediterranean looking" and "swarthy looking". With Time they would always say that when describing an Italian because they just didn't seem to like Italians (for whatever reason, I have no idea why). In this case for this author, I'll just say that we are always victims of the world we are thrown into and sometimes we are that world, but fortunately, we move ahead.
This book does propose one of my all time favorite theories regarding religion. According to a possible interpretation, all previous religious beliefs with their accompanying superstitions were enabled by aliens so that humanity would progress at a snails pace and not be a threat to the aliens when they return in the future. That explanation just cracked me up.
I once was talking with a neighbors and one had mentioned that Mars might have a fossil of a fish on it's surface. The other neighbor had mentioned that would be impossible, but I wanted to illustrate that science is always underdetermined by the facts, that there is always more theories possible than the known facts and one always bump up to the Quine Duhem thesis and not know it. This book with its alternate theories could fully explain the phenomenon of a fish on Mars.
July 28, 2012
This book is quite a different story from the previous two. The original focus on mystery and research is more or less gone and replaced by a more traditional adventure/thriller story. During the first half of the book I actually started to despair and thought the series where taking a real nosedive. This part dives straight into an all too classic story about political manipulation and deceit. The UN where brought in as the chief villain used by the bad guys to stall any meaningful progress and decisions. Yes, that’s what UN mostly is today but that doesn’t mean that I want to read about it, it’s just depressing.
Luckily the book was still as well written as the previous ones and as from a little before the half way mark it took off and became a lot more interesting as the bad guys plots where slowly unraveled by the humans (of course). Once the Ganymedes and the Humans starts to foils the Javalense plans it becomes really good.
The book continues the unraveling of the story of the human development (or as is the case in much of this book non-development) but not at all to the extent that is done in the previous books. The book certainly has some interesting explanations, although entirely fictional, to all the religious nonsense that is still plaguing our planet.
The end was indeed a surprising one. I can still not make up my mind if it was brilliant or just another cheap time travel trick. It sure as hell makes for a nice time paradox.
Anyway, this is definitely a book in the good to very good range.
Luckily the book was still as well written as the previous ones and as from a little before the half way mark it took off and became a lot more interesting as the bad guys plots where slowly unraveled by the humans (of course). Once the Ganymedes and the Humans starts to foils the Javalense plans it becomes really good.
The book continues the unraveling of the story of the human development (or as is the case in much of this book non-development) but not at all to the extent that is done in the previous books. The book certainly has some interesting explanations, although entirely fictional, to all the religious nonsense that is still plaguing our planet.
The end was indeed a surprising one. I can still not make up my mind if it was brilliant or just another cheap time travel trick. It sure as hell makes for a nice time paradox.
Anyway, this is definitely a book in the good to very good range.
December 12, 2015
This is the final book in the Giants trilogy by James P. Hogan. I've said this before about the other books in this trilogy....this is heavy on the 'science', which happened to be my least favorite subject in school. I think science geeks would love this.
I liked some of the thought provoking ideas throughout the series. This one also had some great theories. It read like a mystery, which worked considering what was unfolding.
I liked some of the thought provoking ideas throughout the series. This one also had some great theories. It read like a mystery, which worked considering what was unfolding.
October 31, 2017
I liked
Inherit the Stars
quite a bit because it was a book about "starseeds" that actually addressed the weight of the archeological and biological evidence pointing to humanity as having originated on Earth. Each subsequent book in the series has moved a bit further away from that ideal, but the thread isn't completely lost here.
For a book written in the early 80s, Hogan wasn't quite as far off from some trends we've seen in technology, what with the cloud, and . Most of the problems I see are major spoilers, so be warned:
Despite comparing less favorably against the earlier books in the series, I still think this is worth a read, since Hogan has some interesting ideas (some of which later surface in Liu Cixin's idea-heavy Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy), and he's one of the few writers who I think can pull off the "a bunch of scientists uncovering a mystery" book in a way that doesn't seem stilted and 1-dimensional.
3.5 of 5 stars
For a book written in the early 80s, Hogan wasn't quite as far off from some trends we've seen in technology, what with the cloud, and . Most of the problems I see are major spoilers, so be warned:
Despite comparing less favorably against the earlier books in the series, I still think this is worth a read, since Hogan has some interesting ideas (some of which later surface in Liu Cixin's idea-heavy Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy), and he's one of the few writers who I think can pull off the "a bunch of scientists uncovering a mystery" book in a way that doesn't seem stilted and 1-dimensional.
3.5 of 5 stars
September 8, 2016
A great third book with all the loose ends tied up nicely. I won't go any farther with this series because according to the summaries the next couple of books get weird.
This book featured an interesting description of a futuristic virtual reality. I'm always amazed when sci-fi writers write about things that seemed impossible at the time.
This book featured an interesting description of a futuristic virtual reality. I'm always amazed when sci-fi writers write about things that seemed impossible at the time.
December 17, 2023
Slightly less than previous two— since here hogan abandons his previous science heavy plot and dives into human behavior. I’m sad to say he isnt as good as it as he is hard science. Still worth the read but a definite step down in quality.
October 2, 2023
Review for the original Giants series, consisting of Inherit the Stars, The Gentle Giants of Ganymede and Giants' Star.
I started this series with the expectation that I get a hard science fiction in the tradition of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey or Isaac Asimov and that is only partially what I really got. The story begins with several scientists puzzling over a dead human body in a space suit which was found on the moon and which seems to be centuries old. Like so other novels from the 70s the scientists discuss (while smoking) how this discovery can be explained and we get many intense discussions about physics, biology and also deep philosophical contexts. The first book focuses on finding answers and leads to a totally new explanation of the origin of our species, the Homo sapiens. There are other intelligences in the universe and there also was another planet in our solar system in ancient times! That's quite impressive and is based on comprehensible scientific conclusions. Overall, the first book is a solid hard SF novel!
But then the scope of the story widens quite dramatically in the second and especially in the third book. The story takes place on the Earth, the Moon stations and then also on Ganymede, one of Jupiter's moon, and in the end on distant planets in another galaxy! We get a First Contact story with the so-called "Ganymedians" which once lived on our solar system million years ago. Hogan introduces an impressive concept of virtual reality where people can "travel" to other planets and galaxies while lying calmly in a chair. On top of this, the extraterrestrials invented an omniscient artificial intelligence which controls everything, quite similar to Jane in the Ender series by Orson Scott Card. Of course, Hogan explains this with heavy physics (black holes) which are hard to digest, but the consequences are stunning. We also get women acting in important leading roles which was absent in the first novel; there is an antagonist force in the third novel as well which follows its own mysterious plans. I really did not expect this change in the story when I started with the first paragraphs in the first novel, so this series is in my opinion refreshing and it's far from predictable! The story spans more than 25 million years, this alone is impressive! But we never loose the touch with the main protagonists and the original plot.
I saw that there are 2 other books in the series which were published decades after the first three books, but they get relatively bad critics, so I will stop here (at least for the next time), especially because the end of the third novel is so good and all loose ends are neatly tied up. It's the perfect ending when the main protagonist closes with the words "It's just the beginning".
Rating of the whole trilogy: 4.5 out of 5 stars
I started this series with the expectation that I get a hard science fiction in the tradition of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey or Isaac Asimov and that is only partially what I really got. The story begins with several scientists puzzling over a dead human body in a space suit which was found on the moon and which seems to be centuries old. Like so other novels from the 70s the scientists discuss (while smoking) how this discovery can be explained and we get many intense discussions about physics, biology and also deep philosophical contexts. The first book focuses on finding answers and leads to a totally new explanation of the origin of our species, the Homo sapiens. There are other intelligences in the universe and there also was another planet in our solar system in ancient times! That's quite impressive and is based on comprehensible scientific conclusions. Overall, the first book is a solid hard SF novel!
But then the scope of the story widens quite dramatically in the second and especially in the third book. The story takes place on the Earth, the Moon stations and then also on Ganymede, one of Jupiter's moon, and in the end on distant planets in another galaxy! We get a First Contact story with the so-called "Ganymedians" which once lived on our solar system million years ago. Hogan introduces an impressive concept of virtual reality where people can "travel" to other planets and galaxies while lying calmly in a chair. On top of this, the extraterrestrials invented an omniscient artificial intelligence which controls everything, quite similar to Jane in the Ender series by Orson Scott Card. Of course, Hogan explains this with heavy physics (black holes) which are hard to digest, but the consequences are stunning. We also get women acting in important leading roles which was absent in the first novel; there is an antagonist force in the third novel as well which follows its own mysterious plans. I really did not expect this change in the story when I started with the first paragraphs in the first novel, so this series is in my opinion refreshing and it's far from predictable! The story spans more than 25 million years, this alone is impressive! But we never loose the touch with the main protagonists and the original plot.
I saw that there are 2 other books in the series which were published decades after the first three books, but they get relatively bad critics, so I will stop here (at least for the next time), especially because the end of the third novel is so good and all loose ends are neatly tied up. It's the perfect ending when the main protagonist closes with the words "It's just the beginning".
Rating of the whole trilogy: 4.5 out of 5 stars
November 28, 2009
The ending of the trilogy is a masterpiece, in which all the ideas developped during the first two books are mixed, tested and eventually something unbelievable is uncovered...
Do not miss it !
Do not miss it !
September 23, 2019
Molto movimentato ed avvincente, ultimo finale poco credibile.
October 26, 2021
Like the first two novels in the Giants trilogy, Giants' Star featured a lot of scientists sitting around discussing the mysteries the plot is based on. Ordinarily this would be fine for me, but I found myself often bored for the 12.5 hours this book ran. And to think, I picked this for my vacation road trip. Rather than helping keep me away on the endless highway it bored me to death and irritated me.
In the trilogy finale, the seemingly solved mysteries of the first two books were regurgitated and presented with stranger and more preposterous explanations. New aliens were introduced, and we find out that they have been instrumental in tweaking the history of Earth's humans from the day they showed up (yes, they just showed up - no evolution (it's a long story)) and now have been found out and the battle for the galaxy is on. Some of this was fun for this old atheist- the aliens gave old timey prophets and miracle workers special powers to keep early humans religious and entrenched in supernatural thinking which stunted their scientific progress and delayed their development as a race.
But overall, this was just boring and the goings on grew more and more ludicrous as the hours dragged on. By the end I had lost all interest but I'm a completist and I had to find out how the author was going to wrap this up. I thought back to the simple and interesting plot of the first book and how it the second book expanded on it in a good way - only to have the finale go completely off the rails and devolve in to a convoluted mess. Didn't like it.
In the trilogy finale, the seemingly solved mysteries of the first two books were regurgitated and presented with stranger and more preposterous explanations. New aliens were introduced, and we find out that they have been instrumental in tweaking the history of Earth's humans from the day they showed up (yes, they just showed up - no evolution (it's a long story)) and now have been found out and the battle for the galaxy is on. Some of this was fun for this old atheist- the aliens gave old timey prophets and miracle workers special powers to keep early humans religious and entrenched in supernatural thinking which stunted their scientific progress and delayed their development as a race.
But overall, this was just boring and the goings on grew more and more ludicrous as the hours dragged on. By the end I had lost all interest but I'm a completist and I had to find out how the author was going to wrap this up. I thought back to the simple and interesting plot of the first book and how it the second book expanded on it in a good way - only to have the finale go completely off the rails and devolve in to a convoluted mess. Didn't like it.
December 28, 2025
My last book for the year of 2025. And yes, I am so happy it ended with this. And yes, James P. Hogan is still one of my favourite authors of all time, which you can easily deduce from my almost always 5-star ratings of his books. This one, I thought, was a 4-star read, because it was more difficult to pick up and continue, so I let it sit for a while multiple times. But the ending, supposedly the ending for the intended Giants trilogy (though I think he wrote two more after this, which I am curious about why?) was so good and had so many great plot points, and Hogan tied everything together so brilliantly that, with me now obviously emotionally invested in the whole story, I had to give this one a 5-star rating too.
Especially since it even has AI, realistic aliens, and space travel—believable sci-fi in general—and even time travel; these are all my cups of tea, and I love how Hogan writes in such a compelling way. I am not sure the next two books are going to be my priority, but I do want to read some other books by Hogan that I already have on my TBR list. And last but not least, I still don't understand why he never became so famous and is still not so popular, even after his death, and why some people hate him for some reason (because of his personal political views?) and thus do him an injustice…
Especially since it even has AI, realistic aliens, and space travel—believable sci-fi in general—and even time travel; these are all my cups of tea, and I love how Hogan writes in such a compelling way. I am not sure the next two books are going to be my priority, but I do want to read some other books by Hogan that I already have on my TBR list. And last but not least, I still don't understand why he never became so famous and is still not so popular, even after his death, and why some people hate him for some reason (because of his personal political views?) and thus do him an injustice…
February 28, 2024
The first book in the series was incredibly focused and quite unique; the second book was dull and pointless; the third book is your more standard sci fi fare.
I'm sorry to keep comparing, but I need to make it plain: the first book was startlingly good, buoyed up by a central idea and mystery that was so strong, even Hogan's plain writing couldn't drag it down. This one is much more vanilla, but if you're even a marginal sci fi fan, you'll have a good time with everything in here.
It's old school sci fi goodness: aliens, spaceships, battles in space, weird and wacky new technology, wormholes, hyperspace, and some further tropes I won't share for fear of spoilers.
The characters are a little flat, as they were in the previous two books. The pacing is very uneven. There's a section of space warfare that's very gripping, and then there are sections of political wrangling, people just talking around tables, and taking ages to come to conclusions that us, the readers, will already have guessed a long time ago.
Overall, a fun enough time.
Would I re-read: no.
I'm sorry to keep comparing, but I need to make it plain: the first book was startlingly good, buoyed up by a central idea and mystery that was so strong, even Hogan's plain writing couldn't drag it down. This one is much more vanilla, but if you're even a marginal sci fi fan, you'll have a good time with everything in here.
It's old school sci fi goodness: aliens, spaceships, battles in space, weird and wacky new technology, wormholes, hyperspace, and some further tropes I won't share for fear of spoilers.
The characters are a little flat, as they were in the previous two books. The pacing is very uneven. There's a section of space warfare that's very gripping, and then there are sections of political wrangling, people just talking around tables, and taking ages to come to conclusions that us, the readers, will already have guessed a long time ago.
Overall, a fun enough time.
Would I re-read: no.
May 8, 2021
The book is probably heavier into science than the first two, but not so far out to be incomprehensible to the average reader. Well, the average hard science fiction reader. It was fun, seeing what Hogan had gotten right when it came to the future (quite a bit, actually,) and what he got wrong.
And the mystery continues, though, because I’d learned so much about the history of all the players, this mystery was a lot easier to figure out. Once we know who all the players are, it sort of fell into place. I’d figured it out before the characters had.
But that was okay, because, finally, there’s more character development. Not a whole lot, but enough to make up for the lack of real mystery. Maybe because one of the main characters is a woman, and Hogan had to work harder in order to make her believable? Maybe. Whatever the reason, it was a refreshing change. Change enough that I know I’ll read the next, and final, installment in the Giants series.
Oops, no, make that second to the last.
And the mystery continues, though, because I’d learned so much about the history of all the players, this mystery was a lot easier to figure out. Once we know who all the players are, it sort of fell into place. I’d figured it out before the characters had.
But that was okay, because, finally, there’s more character development. Not a whole lot, but enough to make up for the lack of real mystery. Maybe because one of the main characters is a woman, and Hogan had to work harder in order to make her believable? Maybe. Whatever the reason, it was a refreshing change. Change enough that I know I’ll read the next, and final, installment in the Giants series.
Oops, no, make that second to the last.
July 26, 2021
Another good book in the series, with a bent to more of the political situation around such an event.
December 13, 2021
3.5/5. nice ending to the trilogy
October 1, 2017
Was für ein Meisterwerk! Eine absolut fantastische Trilogie über bemerkenswerte Charaktere und Völker. Ein bisschen Action gab es in der Handlung und dennoch ist dies eine völlig andere Art von Science-Fiction, als man es üblicherweise gewohnt ist. Es ist philosophischer, wissenschaftlicher und tiefgreifender als so manch seiner Zeitgenossen. Vor Jahrzehnten geschrieben und immer noch modern, packend und unterhaltsam!
June 9, 2013
This is the third of the Giants novels, after Inherit the Stars and The Gentle Giants of Ganymede. In the first novel, a body is found inside a space suit on the moon--and turns out to be 50 thousand years old. Later, on Ganymede, is found a derelict alien ship, with the remains of alien giants--and it turns out to be 25 million years old. These are the central mystery around which the first novel revolves, and the interesting part is the play of scientific ideas. In other worlds, the novel his hard science--pretty hardcore. In the second novel, those aliens, the "Gentle Giants of Ganymede" return. I found the Ganymeans interesting foils for humans, and found the interplay of ideas very lively. At first I thought the third novel would prove the best of the three. There was more at stake, more conflict than in the first two, and just as lively imagination and exploration of scientific ideas. I was pretty sure this would be at least a four-star book--until about half way through the book. And then.... Well, WTF?
I have to say I'm rather allergic to conspiracy theories. I consider it just as brain-rotting, as toxic, as the superstition and pseudoscience Hogan so deplores in this book. The more global, the more sustained the conspiracy presented, the more I simply reject it, not simply out of disbelief, but distaste. And the one presented here is a doozy. The Giants series are among Hogan's earliest novels, and his earlier ones are generally considered his best. As put by a critic quoted in the Wiki bio of Hogan, late in life he encountered a "brain eater" and became enveloped in a lot of fringe theories. A late novel is even dedicated to Immanuel Velikovsky. Actually, I think I can see hints of such beliefs even in these early novels. But they mostly come across as thinking outside the box rather than crackpot. After all, what else is science fiction for? But this conspiracy angle just annoys me no end. I'd still recommend Hogan's Voyage to Yesteryear, Code of the Lifemaker, and I did enjoy the first two Giants books. But beyond that? No.
I have to say I'm rather allergic to conspiracy theories. I consider it just as brain-rotting, as toxic, as the superstition and pseudoscience Hogan so deplores in this book. The more global, the more sustained the conspiracy presented, the more I simply reject it, not simply out of disbelief, but distaste. And the one presented here is a doozy. The Giants series are among Hogan's earliest novels, and his earlier ones are generally considered his best. As put by a critic quoted in the Wiki bio of Hogan, late in life he encountered a "brain eater" and became enveloped in a lot of fringe theories. A late novel is even dedicated to Immanuel Velikovsky. Actually, I think I can see hints of such beliefs even in these early novels. But they mostly come across as thinking outside the box rather than crackpot. After all, what else is science fiction for? But this conspiracy angle just annoys me no end. I'd still recommend Hogan's Voyage to Yesteryear, Code of the Lifemaker, and I did enjoy the first two Giants books. But beyond that? No.
December 30, 2011
I accidentally missed Book 2 in the series, so that may have contributed to me being increasingly annoyed at this book. I suppose I enjoyed it overall, but I thought it was a bit forced, too much preaching (for a book that seemed to be somewhat anti-religion) and too many long monologues. Further, I didn't find the aliens alien enough. I know that's hard to do, but it bothered me throughout. I enjoyed the first book in the series a whole lot, so I may go back to book 2. The description of Book 4 didn't leave me thrilled but I am very partial to series in general, so I may continue on.
April 15, 2009
Actuall, I am reading a book entitled, The Two Workds, which is both this book and a book entitled "Entoverse" I have completed Giant's Star and in the middle of Entoverse. Just finished, it's taken me forever, but it worth it. Kind of reminded me of Jack Chalker where his characters seem to be moving into different atmospheres and/or realities and can't ssem to find their way through except using their intelligence and reasoning they work out the unworkable.
February 11, 2015
A satisfying end to the trilogy, although not as well-written and well-thought-out as the first two books in the series. I, personally, have problems with time travel and paradox (where did the Jevlenese ORIGINALLY come from, if they are their own decendents?), but that's a pretty forgivable sin. I do not believe I'll be reading the fourth and fifth books, though. But I do highly recommend the original trilogy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2020
Book Three of this 1970s hard SF series introduces the descendants of the original ancient Ganymeans, who now live in other star systems. The long-lost Ganymean travelers we met in the last book make contact with them on their primary homeworld of Thurien, as do the human characters, and it seems like an auspicious enough meeting at first. However, someone is interfering with communications between Earth and Thurien, seemingly with the goal of sowing mutual distrust, and it falls to the main protagonist, the nuclear scientist, Victor Hunt, the cantankerous biologist, Chris Danchekker, and several other characters to work out what’s going on and do something about it. The Thuriens seem to be hiding a few things about their new galactic order, and there are people on Earth who are seemingly up to secretive mischief of their own.
In some ways, this is an improvement over the earlier two books. There’s more intrigue in the plot and the characters are better defined. There are even several women who do significant things in the story (I suspect the author got a few letters about that back in the day, in regard to his earlier books). However, Hogan’s attempt to spice up the story with more conflict introduces some unfortunately cartoonish villains. There’s not much doubt as to the ability of the good guys to outsmart them. Also, while I appreciated more political consciousness from the author, his eventual explanation for humankind’s many self-inflicted woes felt a little trite.
This book couldn’t help but remind me of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy (AKA The Three-Body Problem), another SF series in which humanity faces an obscure, technologically-advanced opponent from across the stars, but with the concept done in a more basic way than in those novels (which I’d recommend, if you haven’t read them yet). I’ll give Hogan credit for incorporating computer hacking and information warfare in a way that’s pretty smart by the standards of the late 70s/early 80s SF, if a little unsophisticated by today’s.
All in all, I had enough fun that I don’t regret listening to the full trilogy, but I don’t think I’m interested in reading the follow-up series, which got poor reviews. Things end satisfyingly enough here. For fans of the first two books, this one tries to be a more conventional sci-fi thriller, but it has its charms and I wouldn’t discourage a read.
Quotes:
“There’s no point trying to explain Occam’s Razor to people who believe UFOs are time ships from another century.”
“We have been intercepted by a means unknown, for a purpose unknown, and transferred to a place unknown by a form of intelligence unknown. Apart from the unknowns, everything is obvious.”
“Knowledge is the enemy of tyranny in any disguise. It has freed more people from poverty and oppression than all the ideologies and creeds in history put together. Every form of serfdom follows from serfdom of the mind.”
In some ways, this is an improvement over the earlier two books. There’s more intrigue in the plot and the characters are better defined. There are even several women who do significant things in the story (I suspect the author got a few letters about that back in the day, in regard to his earlier books). However, Hogan’s attempt to spice up the story with more conflict introduces some unfortunately cartoonish villains. There’s not much doubt as to the ability of the good guys to outsmart them. Also, while I appreciated more political consciousness from the author, his eventual explanation for humankind’s many self-inflicted woes felt a little trite.
This book couldn’t help but remind me of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy (AKA The Three-Body Problem), another SF series in which humanity faces an obscure, technologically-advanced opponent from across the stars, but with the concept done in a more basic way than in those novels (which I’d recommend, if you haven’t read them yet). I’ll give Hogan credit for incorporating computer hacking and information warfare in a way that’s pretty smart by the standards of the late 70s/early 80s SF, if a little unsophisticated by today’s.
All in all, I had enough fun that I don’t regret listening to the full trilogy, but I don’t think I’m interested in reading the follow-up series, which got poor reviews. Things end satisfyingly enough here. For fans of the first two books, this one tries to be a more conventional sci-fi thriller, but it has its charms and I wouldn’t discourage a read.
Quotes:
“There’s no point trying to explain Occam’s Razor to people who believe UFOs are time ships from another century.”
“We have been intercepted by a means unknown, for a purpose unknown, and transferred to a place unknown by a form of intelligence unknown. Apart from the unknowns, everything is obvious.”
“Knowledge is the enemy of tyranny in any disguise. It has freed more people from poverty and oppression than all the ideologies and creeds in history put together. Every form of serfdom follows from serfdom of the mind.”
December 4, 2019
Finally got around to, and could not finish...
I'm really disappointed in this book. The first two in the series were at least enjoyable, and the whole reason I read them to begin with was because in the 80s I saw this one on the shelf at Waldenbooks and loved its Darrell K. Sweet cover.
What this book lacks is any reason to read it. It doesn't have the crazy mystery-hook of finding a 50,000 year old corpse of a human astronaut on the moon ( Inherit the Stars ) or the fun of a first-contact scenario ( The Gentle Giants of Ganymede ). All the third book has, at least for the first 80 pages, is soulless characters spouting technobabble at each other. Nothing is at stake but some Cold War tension with the Soviet Union, and a vague sense that "some alien presence is watching us."
This book was written in the 80s but feels more like a throwback to the 60s, and not in a good way. The whole problem of plotting against an alien spy who can watch your every move was handled much more deftly by Cixin Liu in his recent The Dark Forest . Liu has some of the same technobabble problems that Hogan does, but where he made finding a solution to the "someone's watching" problem the crux of his novel, Hogan sweeps it under the rug as soon as his characters find a workaround. Losing that tension, Giant's Star has nothing else to offer.
I'm really disappointed in this book. The first two in the series were at least enjoyable, and the whole reason I read them to begin with was because in the 80s I saw this one on the shelf at Waldenbooks and loved its Darrell K. Sweet cover.
What this book lacks is any reason to read it. It doesn't have the crazy mystery-hook of finding a 50,000 year old corpse of a human astronaut on the moon ( Inherit the Stars ) or the fun of a first-contact scenario ( The Gentle Giants of Ganymede ). All the third book has, at least for the first 80 pages, is soulless characters spouting technobabble at each other. Nothing is at stake but some Cold War tension with the Soviet Union, and a vague sense that "some alien presence is watching us."
This book was written in the 80s but feels more like a throwback to the 60s, and not in a good way. The whole problem of plotting against an alien spy who can watch your every move was handled much more deftly by Cixin Liu in his recent The Dark Forest . Liu has some of the same technobabble problems that Hogan does, but where he made finding a solution to the "someone's watching" problem the crux of his novel, Hogan sweeps it under the rug as soon as his characters find a workaround. Losing that tension, Giant's Star has nothing else to offer.
February 11, 2018
I think I have read this before. The ending seems familiar, but maybe other stories have similar endings.
The story develops along ordinary lines: God comes back to Earth and enhances life, but challenges ensue. I like the way it is developed. There is some ideological theories, that were prevalent, are used to bring the story along. Some of the computer stuff is obviously outdated. I liked the way they traveled between the stars, rather intense and computer heavy, but, hey if you get so far, the rest not so far out of reach.
The story is that humanity has settled down to just advancing their abilities and taking care of everyone reasonably well. They have ventured out to space, settled the Moon and visited and started studying the moons of Jupiter. They find some artifacts, a spaceship appears with aliens. The aliens happen to have lived on the planet that was between Jupiter and Mars, flew off on a mission to another star and came back. The people they were a part of moved to another planetary system for their own good. Everything is hunky-dory for a while, then a message comes back from the stars about the spaceship. Humanity goes through the back door,so to speak, learns what needs to be done and proceeds to help the aliens make the Universe safe for future generations (which is sort of easy when you are working with Gods), as well as becoming a part of an interstellar community.
The story develops along ordinary lines: God comes back to Earth and enhances life, but challenges ensue. I like the way it is developed. There is some ideological theories, that were prevalent, are used to bring the story along. Some of the computer stuff is obviously outdated. I liked the way they traveled between the stars, rather intense and computer heavy, but, hey if you get so far, the rest not so far out of reach.
The story is that humanity has settled down to just advancing their abilities and taking care of everyone reasonably well. They have ventured out to space, settled the Moon and visited and started studying the moons of Jupiter. They find some artifacts, a spaceship appears with aliens. The aliens happen to have lived on the planet that was between Jupiter and Mars, flew off on a mission to another star and came back. The people they were a part of moved to another planetary system for their own good. Everything is hunky-dory for a while, then a message comes back from the stars about the spaceship. Humanity goes through the back door,so to speak, learns what needs to be done and proceeds to help the aliens make the Universe safe for future generations (which is sort of easy when you are working with Gods), as well as becoming a part of an interstellar community.
March 22, 2021
C'est le troisième tome de la série Giants de James P. Hogan.
Les Ganymédiens et leur vaisseau, provenant d'un passé vieux de 25 millions d'années, viennent de partir en direction de l'étoile Giant's star, qui serait le système occupé par les Ganymédiens actuels. Or voici qu'un message transmis par les terriens, en direction de cette étoile, reçoit une réponse environ 1 heure plus tard. Ce qui est impossible, à moins que les Ganymédiens actuels aient trouvé le moyen de dépasser la limite de la vitesse de la lumière. Ce qui est confirmé par les communications subséquentes. Cela permet aussi aux terrines de s'apercevoir qu'un très vieil ennemi est en train de mener sur terre une guerre invisible à toute l'humanité depuis la nuit des temps.
Comment décrire une civilisation qui a plus de 25 millions d'années d'avance sur les terriens. L'auteur, qui a une bonne base scientifique, se débrouille assez bien de ce côté : manipulation de trous noirs pour permettre des voyages quasi instantanés, Manipulations génétiques, Intelligence artificielle, Réalité virtuelle, etc.
J'ai beaucoup aimé même si le rythme est un peu lent. L'auteur a réussi à rendre l'histoire intéressante et à nous plonger dans son histoire. Sans compter que la fin comporte une formidable surprise. Exactement ce que j'aime dans la science-fiction : un divertissement qui nous fait aussi réfléchir.
Les Ganymédiens et leur vaisseau, provenant d'un passé vieux de 25 millions d'années, viennent de partir en direction de l'étoile Giant's star, qui serait le système occupé par les Ganymédiens actuels. Or voici qu'un message transmis par les terriens, en direction de cette étoile, reçoit une réponse environ 1 heure plus tard. Ce qui est impossible, à moins que les Ganymédiens actuels aient trouvé le moyen de dépasser la limite de la vitesse de la lumière. Ce qui est confirmé par les communications subséquentes. Cela permet aussi aux terrines de s'apercevoir qu'un très vieil ennemi est en train de mener sur terre une guerre invisible à toute l'humanité depuis la nuit des temps.
Comment décrire une civilisation qui a plus de 25 millions d'années d'avance sur les terriens. L'auteur, qui a une bonne base scientifique, se débrouille assez bien de ce côté : manipulation de trous noirs pour permettre des voyages quasi instantanés, Manipulations génétiques, Intelligence artificielle, Réalité virtuelle, etc.
J'ai beaucoup aimé même si le rythme est un peu lent. L'auteur a réussi à rendre l'histoire intéressante et à nous plonger dans son histoire. Sans compter que la fin comporte une formidable surprise. Exactement ce que j'aime dans la science-fiction : un divertissement qui nous fait aussi réfléchir.
August 29, 2021
The exciting conclusion of the Giants trilogy picks up shortly after the previous volume, where a signal received from the Ganymean's homeworld quickly leads to intrigue. A more ambitious tale than the first two books, the third book revolves around both scientific mysteries as before and mysteries of motive when neither the Ganymeans nor the humans act as expected. The anachronistic attitudes toward women, drink, smoking, and the boys club are still present but less striking and less accepted than earlier in the series, even villainized to a mildly-satisfying extent. The story is gripping and faster paced, making it easier to accept the handful of unfortunate and formulaic tropes employed in the latter part of the story. The science puzzles still play prominent roles in the unfolding of the tale, and are happily both more fantastical AND more plausible. The main story, however, reads more like a Mission Impossible or James Bond plot where 007 goes to outer space to deal with an advanced extraterrestrial culture as well as the Russians. Good, solid, mostly-timeless fun with plenty of hard-science nuggets to enjoy, this book is a well-deserved reward for everyone who got through the first two books.
For myself, I will be ending my journey with the Giants series here, at the end of the original trilogy, though the series does contain two more books for the devoted.
For myself, I will be ending my journey with the Giants series here, at the end of the original trilogy, though the series does contain two more books for the devoted.
January 21, 2022
James P. Hogan had an exceptional talent at taking far flung, wildly speculative scientific concepts and weaving them very neatly into compelling stories. And his Giants series does just that, dreaming up exotic, far futuristic technologies and making them feel completely real and digestible all while maintaining a focused pace throughout a pretty enthralling story. These first three books in the series are my first exposure to the author and while I have a number of his books lying around, I confess to having originally bought Inherit the Stars largely for its cover. (Not to mention having bought Clifford D. Simak's Trouble With Tycho for the exact same reason.) But I'm glad I did because Hogan has done an excellent job with this series and I'm looking forward to burning through some of his other novels in the pile.
February 18, 2021
DNF 120 pages
I enjoyed the first two books in the series. This one is nothing like them. It largely undoes the work of the first two with magic physics and disappointing turns for the main two characters in the first 80 pages (all while rehashing those books repeatedly).
The third book then launches into an overly complex espionage and politics novel set across light years. Hogan just isn't up to the task of a character- and intruige-driven novel. Good hard sci fi introduces a MacGuffin and then follows through on its implications. Giants #3 brings in MacGuffin after MacGuffin as Deus Ex Machina, not to motivate the story, and is just stupid in its character development and interactions.
I enjoyed the first two books in the series. This one is nothing like them. It largely undoes the work of the first two with magic physics and disappointing turns for the main two characters in the first 80 pages (all while rehashing those books repeatedly).
The third book then launches into an overly complex espionage and politics novel set across light years. Hogan just isn't up to the task of a character- and intruige-driven novel. Good hard sci fi introduces a MacGuffin and then follows through on its implications. Giants #3 brings in MacGuffin after MacGuffin as Deus Ex Machina, not to motivate the story, and is just stupid in its character development and interactions.
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