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Anachronisms
1st Mandarin edition paperback, vg++
- GenresScience FictionFiction
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 3, 1989
1 person is currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Hinz
53 books75 followersChristopher Hinz is an author of science fiction thrillers – novels, comic books, screenplays and more.
Born in 1951 in Reading, PA, USA, his early passion for all things SF led to the writing of his first “book” in elementary school. A four-page epic, it featured a giant monster brought back from Mars who escapes and climbs the tallest building in Chicago, only to be blasted from that perch with a nuclear cannon. The inevitable fallout, along with other youthful digressions, steered Hinz away from science fiction writing – and Chicago – for many years.
His first mature work,LIEGE-KILLER, was originally published in 1987 by St. Martin’s Press. ANACHRONISMS, ASH OCK and THE PARATWA soon followed. The latter two novels, together with LIEGE-KILLER, form “The Paratwa Saga.”
A subsequent foray into comic books led to a number of publications, including creator-owned GEMINI BLOOD (with artist Tommy Lee Edwards) and DEAD CORPS (with artist Steve Pugh) for DC Comics, and BLADE for Marvel Comics, also with Pugh. An evolution into screenwriting resulted in the sale of BINARY, a script based on LIEGE-KILLER.
In addition to other SF projects, he has worked a variety of Earth-based jobs, including picture framer, turret-lathe operator, TV technical director and newspaper staff writer. He has played in rock bands, modeled dioramas and designed and marketed an auto racing board game. He currently creates new stories from the semi-seclusion of a wooded realm in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Born in 1951 in Reading, PA, USA, his early passion for all things SF led to the writing of his first “book” in elementary school. A four-page epic, it featured a giant monster brought back from Mars who escapes and climbs the tallest building in Chicago, only to be blasted from that perch with a nuclear cannon. The inevitable fallout, along with other youthful digressions, steered Hinz away from science fiction writing – and Chicago – for many years.
His first mature work,LIEGE-KILLER, was originally published in 1987 by St. Martin’s Press. ANACHRONISMS, ASH OCK and THE PARATWA soon followed. The latter two novels, together with LIEGE-KILLER, form “The Paratwa Saga.”
A subsequent foray into comic books led to a number of publications, including creator-owned GEMINI BLOOD (with artist Tommy Lee Edwards) and DEAD CORPS (with artist Steve Pugh) for DC Comics, and BLADE for Marvel Comics, also with Pugh. An evolution into screenwriting resulted in the sale of BINARY, a script based on LIEGE-KILLER.
In addition to other SF projects, he has worked a variety of Earth-based jobs, including picture framer, turret-lathe operator, TV technical director and newspaper staff writer. He has played in rock bands, modeled dioramas and designed and marketed an auto racing board game. He currently creates new stories from the semi-seclusion of a wooded realm in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 7, 2012
An unexpected book by an author who should have had a far longer career. At first this book was humming along like a pretty ordinary 1980s clone of the movie Alien. But at page 160, it suddenly got much better.
Takes a lot of adjustment to the world Hinz has built. He offers little explanation of terms (such as superluminal and the Corporeal) early, so that the reader needs to acclimatize over time.
Loved it. Wished Hinz wrote more than the four books I have now read.
Takes a lot of adjustment to the world Hinz has built. He offers little explanation of terms (such as superluminal and the Corporeal) early, so that the reader needs to acclimatize over time.
Loved it. Wished Hinz wrote more than the four books I have now read.
July 8, 2022
This begins with a classic SF scenario with a famous early example in Van Vogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle with the most famous example being Alien. The crew of a starship investigates an interesting planet and brings an alien life form on board. Hinz has updated this scenario to the era of cyberpunk by adding a human interfaced to the starship, psionics and a more sophisticated view of computer systems. And, his alien is extremely alien. Don't know why I waited 34 years to read the book (I bought it in 1988 because I really liked Hinz's Liege-Killer). It is a short novel, and I finished it in two days. Extremely readable and fast-paced. Hinz has released a revised version of the novel (Starship Alchemon).
June 20, 2016
This one is divergent from the Paratwa saga, but Hinz still does a masterful job of crafting action into hard science.
For those Greg Egan fans out there looking for a bit more speculative nature in their science (a beach read version of hard science, if you will), this one's for you.
For those Greg Egan fans out there looking for a bit more speculative nature in their science (a beach read version of hard science, if you will), this one's for you.
January 7, 2016
A stellar sci-fi novel that wowed me with its excellent characterizations and mind-blowing tech.
December 10, 2021
Why?
A friend left this on my desk at work. I took it that he desired me to read it.
What I thought:
Good fun. It read like a description of a Star Trek episode. Silly at first, but there is a surprising depth to this book. Not quite 4 stars, but a really strong 3!
A friend left this on my desk at work. I took it that he desired me to read it.
What I thought:
Good fun. It read like a description of a Star Trek episode. Silly at first, but there is a surprising depth to this book. Not quite 4 stars, but a really strong 3!
January 31, 2024
Amazing novel through the first two-thirds. Good pacing and character development. By the final third, however, it becomes a mess of attempted descriptions of infinity and simultaneous nothingness—if you get my drift. I hate it when sci fi writers go there. Still a worthwhile read overall.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews