Average customer rating:
- A Dark, Allegorical Tale of a Balkan Legend
- Long overdue for that Nobel Prize...
- quiet delight that reads like a fable
- Regional
- simple, elegent, complex
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The Three-Arched Bridge
Ismail Kadare
Manufacturer: Arcade Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
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ASIN: 1559707925 |
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The year: 1377. The place: the Balkan peninsula. Here in Ismail Kadare's novel, The Three-Arched Bridge, an Albanian monk chronicles the events surrounding the construction of a bridge across a great river known as Ujana e Keqe, or "Wicked Waters." If successful in their endeavor, the bridge-builders will challenge a monopoly on water transportation known simply as "Boats and Rafts." The story itself parallels developments in modern-day Eastern Europe, with the bridge emblematic of a disintegrating economic and political order: just as mysterious cracks in the span's masonry endanger the structure and cast the local community into a morass of uncertainty, superstition, and murder, so the fast-changing conditions in the 14th-century Balkan peninsula threaten to overwhelm the stability of life there.
Dark as the story itself is, Mr. Kadare's prose, skillfully translated from the Albanian by John Hodgson, is elegant, witty, and deft. And with so many twists and turns in its carefully constructed plot, this political parable keeps the reader's interest to the very end.
Book Description
The year: 1377. The place: the Balkan peninsula. Here in Ismail Kadare's novel, The Three-Arched Bridge, an Albanian monk chronicles the events surrounding the construction of a bridge across a great river known as Ujana e Keqe, or "Wicked Waters." If successful in their endeavor, the bridge-builders will challenge a monopoly on water transportation known simply as "Boats and Rafts." The story itself parallels developments in modern-day Eastern Europe, with the bridge emblematic of a disintegrating economic and political order: just as mysterious cracks in the span's masonry endanger the structure and cast the local community into a morass of uncertainty, superstition, and murder, so the fast-changing conditions in the 14th-century Balkan peninsula threaten to overwhelm the stability of life there. Dark as the story itself is, Mr. Kadare's prose, skillfully translated from the Albanian by John Hodgson, is elegant, witty, and deft.And with so many twists and turns in its carefully constructed plot, this political parable keeps the reader's interest to the very end.
Customer Reviews:
A Dark, Allegorical Tale of a Balkan Legend.......2006-08-02
The year is 1377, the narrator is a monk named Gjon, and the place is an indeterminate area of Albania bordering the Turkish Ottoman Empire through which, over the years, have passed multiple armies of Crusaders heading for Jerusalem, followed later by defeated stragglers heading back to Europe. The particular locus of this story is a ferry crossing point on the river called Ujana e Keqe, or Wicked Waters, clearly a strategic point in the movement of peoples and troops between Europe and the Ottoman Empire. For ages, the only way to cross the Ujana has been by raft, piloted for a fee by a taciturn old humpback working in the employ of a firm called Boats and Rafts.
Life had gone unchanged in this place for as long as memory could trace, until one day a stranger falls into an epileptic fit at the ferry crossing, his arms flung wildly toward the water. An itinerant fortune-teller witnesses the event and claims that it is a sign from God that a bridge should be built at this spot. Three weeks later, two strangers mysteriously appear before the local lord, the count of the Gjikas, proposing the construction of a toll bridge from which the count will receive a portion of the proceeds. The count agrees, and plans proceed to build a three-arched bridge despite the fears of the locals and the certitude of the old woman Ajkuna that the river waters will not be tamed and the bridge is nothing more than the devil's backbone. Once the bridge construction begins, however, troubles follow that seem almost certainly to be the result of sabotage, presumably sponsored by Boats and Rafts. Regardless, the locals see evil omens in these troubles, perhaps the work of naiads and water nymphs revenging the insulted river.
At about the same time, Monk Gjon spends time talking about Balkan legends with one of the bridge builder representatives and happens to mention a wall that demanded a human sacrifice in order not to fall. According to the legend of the castle of Shkoder, three brothers, all masons, were building the walls, but every night, their day's work was destroyed. A wise man told them the wall required a human soul, so the brothers agreed to sacrifice one of their brides to be sealed into the castle wall. The sacrificed wife offers up a curse: O tremble, wall of stone, As I tremble in this tomb." Several days later, a ballad begins to be sung in the local inn, but the "wall of stone" has become a "bridge of stone" and the story gradually evolves into a legend that must be fulfilled. Not long after, a local mason named Murrash Zenebisha who is suspected of the sabotage is found dead, immured in the bridge with only his face and neck showing, his eyes still open. Work on the bridge continues apace without further disruption, and it gradually displaces the ferry (whose humpbacked operator soon dies of old age). Of course, Murrash Zenebisha will not be the last death accorded to this bridge, this area, or this country - as Monk Gjon observes, "the future seems to me pregnant only with terrible disasters."
Kadare tells this story with a grim fatalism, using the educated monk as the arbiter of causes and effects. Throughout, the monk suggests that events are being engineered by the interested parties, that epileptic seizures, weakened bridge supports, and ballads of water spirits and human sacrifices are primitive forms of truth manipulation and the propaganda that will become endemic to this area in future centuries. Of course, the bridge itself is metaphorical on several levels: as the connector of Europe with the Asian continent, as a precursor of war and conquest through its ability to advance armies, as a symbol of the Balkans themselves as such a bridge between the continents, and as a symbol of technology and change. The ancient highway through Albania is being bought up, one piece at a time, and refurbished to promote trade and commerce. The bridge over the Ujana e Keqe is of a piece with this modernization, the replacement of water transit by roadways and bridges. However, like all technology, fears of change must be overcome, old ways must be set aside, and (often) a price must be paid as a result of its impact on human life. Monk Gjon, observing the finished bridge, remarks that "human confidence, fear, suspicion, and madness were nowhere more clearly manifest than on its [the bridge's] back." The three arches themselves may reflect a Christian Trinity, but they can also be seen as Europe on one side, the Balkans in the peaking middle, and Ottoman Turkey/Asia on the other side.
In THE THREE-ARCHED BRIDGE, Ismail Kadare has masterfully employed the grim legends and history of Albania and the Balkans to create a macabre and captivating parable applicable to modern times. As he did with THE SUCCESSOR and THE PALACE OF DREAMS, Kadare demonstrates once again that he deserves a place alongside Eco, Saramago, Calvino, and Kundera.
Long overdue for that Nobel Prize..........2005-07-25
I loved the different symbols in the book. For example, Abdullah wanting to marry the Albanian girl. Although her parents rejected the offer, she had to eternally suffer being referred to as "the Turkish bride." Kadare wrote a very flexible book -- you can look at it in so many ways. Did I come upon some subtle hints of Kadare's nationalism? Yes, but the truth is that the book wouldn't have served its purpose otherwise. It was interesting that in the end it was not a woman, but a man, that ended up being immured; quite the opposite from the legend. Kadare is very eloquent in his descriptions. One that stuck to mind, very humorous in a Faulknerish type of way, was when they kept plastering the dead man's body with (what I think was) cement, the narrator -- the monk -- and the bystanders were so in shock/awe at the sight in front of them that it wouldn't have made a difference if the men started cementing them, as well.
If you're passionate about balkan history and literature appeals to you also, this is a book you shouldn't miss. All in all, it's a very nice introduction to Kadare for whoever is not familiar with him, although a more entertaining one would have to be by reading his other book, "Doruntine."
quiet delight that reads like a fable.......2004-08-31
Set in the Balkans in the 14th century, The Three-Arched Bridge tells the story of Ottoman Empire's slow, threatening expansion into a fractious Europe full of squabbling Croats, Greeks, Serbs, Albanians, Bulgars and Turks. In a small town on the bank of the river Ujana e Keqe, a bridge is to be built that threatens the town's very existence by offering the Ottomans their line of attack into Europe's rear flank.
Recounted by a monk, Gjon, who observes events, the whole movement and narrative of the book hinges on a local saboteur who for a time slows the bridge's construction until he is caught and immured in the bridge itself. At this point, propaganda and legend collide in a most unpleasant manner. While the bridge represents sacrifice, it is also a metaphor for military domination. A book that may have slipped under the radar when published in 1997, Albanian novelists Kadare's The Three-Arched Bridge is a quiet delight that reads like a fable.
Regional.......2003-10-04
I found this book one of the minor works of Ismail Kadare.
The three-arched bridge stands here as a symbol for the dangerous political situation of Kadare's homeland Albania, between the West (for him, capitalism) and the East (the Turks, Islam).
The construction of the bridge is also a sign of the violent transition from agricultural and rural (the pontoon) to industrial and commercial interests (toll).
The incorporation of the ancient Albanian legend about a ritual murder needed to preserve the bridge seemed to me rather exaggerated.
Unlike Kadare's masterpieces (e.g. The General of the Dead Army, The Pyramid, Moon Night), this story concerns more Albanian regional problems. It tackles general human problems more or less indirectly.
But it is still a worth-while read.
simple, elegent, complex.......2003-07-16
This was my first exposure to Kadare. I was impressed. The story is set in Albania in 1377 - a watershed year for the region, as the Ottomans would decisively defeat the Serbs (and Albanians) at the battle of Kosovo Polje the next year, and forever change the Balkans. Yet this event is never explicitly stated, the plot superficially dealing with the simple - and on the surface, mundane - construction of a bridge.
Kadare takes this everyday occurance and magnifies it, as we come to understand more about the people who live by the river, their daily lives (and superstitions) and the way a simple bridge will tie their little community to the rest of the world - with foreshadowing of the impact that will have. The story is replete with plots and intrigue (what book set in the Balkans could not have a little intrigue). But it was the prose that got to me. Kadare's way with words caught my attention and held it with vivid visuals and characters with depth and emotion. A great translation and a great book.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Review of Contemporary Fiction, published by Review of Contemporary Fiction on September 22, 1997. The length of the article is 387 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Three-Arched Bridge. (book reviews)
Author: Allen Hibbard
Publication:
The Review of Contemporary Fiction (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 1997
Publisher: Review of Contemporary Fiction
Volume: v17
Issue: n3
Page: p242(1)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on June 22, 1997. The length of the article is 512 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Three-Arched Bridge.(Brief Article)
Author: Robert Elsie
Publication:
World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1997
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: v71
Issue: n3
Page: p630(1)
Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
- Volume 13 of a great series
- Keeps the story rolling
- Angel Sanctuary Series
- Angel Sanctuary
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Angel Sanctuary, Vol. 2: The Crying Game
Manufacturer: VIZ Media LLC
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1591163129 |
Book Description
The most insane creatures in the nine planes of heaven and nine planes of hell are all telling messed-up teenager, Setsuna, that he is the reincarnation of an angel. That wouldn't be so bad except that some of these beings are trying to kill him and others want him to lead them in a revolt against God! All Setsuna wants to do is keep a sister he loves away from the dangerous creatures that are trying to harm her. Unfortunately some of the worst harm can come from Setsuna's love, which threatens to bloom into full-blown incest! How can he protect her from himself?!
Customer Reviews:
Volume 13 of a great series.......2007-10-10
I'm assuming that if you are reading a review for volume 13 of this series, you've already read volumes 1-12 and so a) know how great the series is and b) don't need any particularly good reason to read the next volume rather than skip straight on to volume 14. That said, I'll stick to an important and helpful matter: this is the North American English edition from Viz. Despite the cover art shown on the product page, which is from the Japanese edition, this is actually the English translation. Enjoy.
Keeps the story rolling.......2007-07-16
The series is still strong. If you have gotten this far you'll buy this manga.
Angel Sanctuary Series.......2007-01-21
I was turned onto this series just by it's beautiful artwork. The syle is truely unique and angelic...no wounder it's about angels.
The story starts off as a young teenage boy soon finds out that he is in love with is sister! As if that could be strange wait till you here this. The boy, Setsuna, is the re-incarnation of one of the most powerful angel's in history; and now people all over heaven and hell want him.
What will it take to convince Setsuna, that he is greatly needed by humanity...
I hope you thought this useful...
Hypnotic~
Angel Sanctuary.......2006-10-20
This book is mainly focused around Setsuna Mudo and his forbidden love with his little sister Sara. Things get complicated almost immediatly (as it has a plot, a subplot and lots of extras), angels, evils, monsters, evil cd-roms that kill you and craziness insue.
Basically Setsuna is the reincarnation of the Organic Fallen angel Alexial, who has three wings, incredible power and a physchotic twin brother, Rosiel who she 'failed' to kill in the great battle. His best friend is Kira, who seems to be guiding Setsuna, and has been following Alexial through her multiple rebirths. Sara, Setsuna's sister and lover seems like just a normal girl, but is she? Many other seemingly 'background' characters come into role and the whole story starts rolling.
The drawing is so beautiful, I've been turned into a complete Kaori Yuki worshipper. I own her artbook and have read lots of her other works (I recommend Godchild). The characters are so gorgeous, you'll fall in love with them.
The plot is very very twisted and intricate. You have to read the volumes in order, otherwise it will make no sense. I have reread the first few volumes many times to understand (the first volume especially, as the first few pages don't focus on Setsuna) I first read this when I was about 12, so it was desperatly confusing, but it gets easier to read as thigns start falling into place. It's one of those things where all of a sudden a lightbulb lights up and you totally understand everything that happened.
It's such a great manga, it's so gorgeous and has a gorgeous story to go a long with it, what more could you want?
Angel Sanctuary: Angels, Demons, and Sinners.......2006-04-19
Book:
Setsuna is a confused teenager, that girls would die to have, he is somewhat of a player but he only loves one person...his sister Sara. He knows that it isn't right and so he tries to avoid her but in the proccess he gets mixed up with a bunch of demons that say he is the reincarnation of a really powerful angel.
Does Sara love him...
You find out...
-----
My Opinion:
I enjoyed this book in fact I love the series and the art work. I find it funny and at the same time it has that element of seriousness...now I'm not one to encourege insestious relationships but this book didn't bother me to much about it...
I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.
Average customer rating:
- Solid SF after a slow start
- Great sci-fi with only minor flaws..
- Gravity gone wild
- Strongly recommended!
- Buyer beware, but still buy it ;)
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The Ring of Charon (The Hunted Earth)
Roger MacBride Allen
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Allen, Roger MacBride
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The Shattered Sphere
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ASIN: 0812530144 |
Customer Reviews:
Solid SF after a slow start.......2006-03-15
In the context of a large number of unnecessary, bloated, drawn-out SF trilogies, this solid start (and Book 2) is by contrast a source of frustration in that Roger MacBride Allen never seems to have been able to write the third volume. Nonetheless, this was an enjoyable page turner after a slow start.
Great sci-fi with only minor flaws.........2004-11-27
Roger M. Allen's "Ring of Charon" is great science-fiction. A hence-undiscovered alien race causes the Earth to disappear through a wormhole due to the unauthorized experiments of a gravity scientist, and the remaining off-Earth scientists try to find out what really happened. The story is told brillantly through the eyes of the human scientists, and the strange Charonians who plan to use the Earth for their own ends, which are not good for mankind. The way that the Charonians are Von Neumann creatures is a bit hard to swallow, as is the occasional overload of detail, as well the Naked Purple movement and the K-Crash, but Allen manages to be a master storyteller, and weaves a great story of human survival and the need for curiousity.
Gravity gone wild.......2004-10-26
This was really wonderful story. The characters were bright and real. Their growth of character was well considered, making them even more believable. The science was really spooky: it could be true. The use of gravity waves for discovering knowledge is on the edge of our future. Speculation of ways and means is pushing the boundaries of our knowledge bringing the capability to use gravity waves to within our grasp.
The outstanding dilemma of the Earth being lost to some outside, alien power gives the story and characters the impetus for their growth and development.
There must be a sequel, and I will be looking for it.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Strongly recommended!.......2004-08-26
The Ring of Charon is a fantastic book and I could not wait for the second part to read. Unfortunaly, it took very long to finish it. Then, when the Shattered Sphere finaly found its way to the shop, I've had been waiting so long, that I read the first book again, and it was a pleasure, as I discovered and understood many things, I was not able to the first time. The Shatered Sphere starts off actually very slow, but when it starts going, it certainly lives more then up to the first part. Wow! That is truly "Hardcore Sience Fiction".
I'm just afraid, that I will never find out, how this amazing story will end as theres the stuff for a fantastic third book!
Outstanding books, which I will read over and over again, and who knows, maybe we will see the end of this great saga some day...
Buyer beware, but still buy it ;).......2002-03-15
This book, like its sequel is some of the best science fiction that I've ever had the privelege to read.
Unfortunately, the author leaves the reader hanging, waiting for a sequel to tie up all sorts of loose ends (intentionally, no doubt). The author has not, however, published the third book in the series.
It's been a 10 year wait so far. Only buy this book if you are willing to subject yourself to the heartache of needing to look for new Anderson every time you walk into a bookstore, but find nothing other than continuation of lesser men's work (Asimov, Lucas, etc).
Customer Reviews:
A must-have, but where's the rest?.......2002-05-09
This book is awesome in its scope taking place pretty far in humanities future. It's the second book in the series. In the first book, a gravitational control experiment on Pluto wakes up alien machinery which steals the Earth through an artificial black hole and begins dismantling the other planets for its own purposes. It's humanties first glimpse of FTL travel, and follows the desperate struggle of those left behind to survive and halt the aliens progress towards transforming the solar system, all the while trying to duplicate the feat.
This book picks up with the efforts of the humans left behind to find and retrieve the Earth from the alien menace. It also follows the struggle of the people of Earth who find themselves in an entirely new system, with hundreds of stars and planets and ravenous alien life form/machines bent on exploiting all life and resources of the Earth. Not to mention the mysterious "enemy" that consumes all life, that has located Earths new home.
The book ends just as things start to get REALLY good, and there has yet to be another book to finish off this story, and it's been quite a while now. So - Where's the Rest? If you don't buy it, put the series on your "watch" list and when the next one comes out - get them all!
Shattered Series as well.......2002-04-29
Second in the series but (I must admit at the begining) surely not planned as last in the story. Earth "stolen" to alien Multisystem after gravitic experiment has triggered on wheel-like superstrucure burried deep into Moon. In the second book we can watch Earth, NaPurHab (crazy Naked Purpure Habitat) and Terra Nova ship in Multisystem strugging to survive among COREs and SCOREs - alien objects smashing nearly anything what get into their path or into collision course with any planet they guarding.
This book is one of the true hard SF with all hi-tech stuff and of course some future-stuff tech. You can find here some psychological background of main characters also, but there is also bad side. The plot is moving to slowly from the beginning and reader have to wait nearly till the end of the book for some real action. Everything before is only "getting data, sorting data, making some kind of hypothesis etc..." ocassionaly inset by short flashes about Charonians Heritage Memory or Adversary thinking.
The end is not "The End" the way we would expecting it. It seems to me as small stop before next volume which should be great conclusion of this story. May be establishing something like relationship between humans and Charonians like it is stated on last two pages of Shattered Sphere book.
Calculated together - very good book for those who like SF, but you have to expect, that there is no strong end. I hope there will be third book soon and I will be able to get one copy to read it.
Buyer beware (But still buy it ;).......2002-03-15
This book, like its predecessor, is some of the best science fiction that I've ever had the privelege to read.
Unfortunately, the author leaves the reader hanging, waiting for a sequel to tie up all sorts of loose ends (intentionally, no doubt). The author has not, however, published the third book in the series.
It's been a 10 year wait so far. Only buy this book if you are willing to subject yourself to the heartache of needing to look for new Anderson every time you walk into a bookstore, but find nothing other than continuation of lesser men's work (Asimov, Lucas, etc).
A very good sci-fi book.......2001-04-07
This series (The Hunted Earth) is amazing!
Without giving out too much spoilers, the novel takes place in the year 2400+, the Earth is stolen from the Solar System, and the Hunted Earth series (The Ring of Charon, and the Shattered Sphere) covers the efforts and stories of the people left in the Solar System (on the Moon, Mars, Pluto, etc.) and the people of Earth.
I think one of the unique things about this book is that the novel jumps from one person's story to another. The perspective isn't just from one main character, but many. Roger Allen MacBride-Allen does a great job of introducing these characters, showing their challenges, and then very convincingly details how these people rise to solve them.
Specifically, the "Shattered Sphere" concentrates on the aftermath of Earth's Abduction, and the ensuing struggle of the people of Earth and the remaining people of the Solar System to get back at the alien abductors.
The book has a great story development, and it's one that I've re-read a couple of times.
I sincerely hope that Roger MacBride Allen makes a sequel to the "Shattered Sphere".
Don't Miss this!.......1999-04-19
This is the sequel to The Ring of Charon, and excellent science fiction. Though The Ring of Charon had some of the most horrendus cover art I've ever seen, it was an excellent book, with good characterization (though I wish he'd concentrate more on one character). The Shattered Sphere is great, and I can't wait to read the next in the series.
Book Description
Two hundred million kilometers across, with a surface area that exceeds that of a quarter-billion worlds, the Dyson sphere is one of the most astounding discoveries the Federation has ever made. Now the U.S.S. Enterprise™ has returned to explore the awesome mysteries of the sphere. Intrigued by what is possibly the greatest archaeological treasure of all time, Captain Jean-Luc Picard hopes to discover the origin of humanoid life throughout the galaxy -- or perhaps the ultimate secret of the Borg.
But when a neutron star approaches on a collision course with the sphere, a mission of discovery becomes a desperate race against time. The many sentient species inhabiting the sphere face extinction -- can even the Starship Enterprise save them all?
Download Description
Captain Picard and the "Enterprise" have returned to explore the awesome mysteries of the Dyson sphere. But their mission of discovery turns into a desperate race against time--can the "Enterprise" save the sphere and all of its inhabitants?
Customer Reviews:
Lousy.......2007-08-24
Having read over 60 of the various Star Trek books written, this has got to be the worst. Poor plot, little character development, it just doesn't work. Only reason to read this is for the right to say you've read all the various ST books written.
Not good Trek.......2007-07-21
"Dyson Sphere" has a lot of hard science, but not a lot of hard plot. Many things happen in this book almost by magic, without much description of how or why things are happening. The characters are very two dimensional, to the point of making the worst televised Trek episode look like an Academy-award winning film. I do not recommend "Dyson Sphere."
ST-TNG: Dyson Sphere.......2003-03-25
Star Trek-The Next Generation: Dyson Sphere written by Charles Pellegrino and George Zebrowski is a good adveture story but has a few leaps in logic.
When I read this story about a Dyson Sphere... for those of you who don't know what a Dyson Sphere is it's a Ringworld, which is only a ribbon cut out of the equator of a sphere. It gets it's name from Freeman Dyson who first came up with the idea and effectively uses all of the energy from it's central star. There are Type I, II, and III versions where a Type III is a total sphere and incorporates a huge land mass, approximately two hundred million kilometers across, with a surface area that would exceed that of a quarter-billion worlds.
I know that this sounds like a farfetched idea, but it could be plausible, but I wonder about the mass of the sphere affecting the mass of the sun which is at the central core. Enough of this posturing, this iss a story about one of the most astounding discoveries in the Federation. If I'm not mistaken Montgomery Scott crash landed on it and was later found caught up in a transporter loop.
This book seems to have bits and pieces cut out of the story as there are leaps in logic, but the hardcore Trekker will over look some of these discretions, but it seems irritating. I liked the story as a neutron star approaches on a collision course and Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise crew are there to save the Dyson Sphere and the many sentient species from total destruction.
The only reason I gave this book a 3 star rating was because I felt that there were missing parts that needed to be present to make a better continuity otherwise the story was excellent and the ending is something to behold.
One from the remainder bin . . ........2002-09-12
This book seems to prove the saying "A champion team is better than a team of champions". Given the authors' apparent credentials, you could be forgiven for expecting a lot more from "Dyson Sphere".
The question that came to my mind after finishing this book was "Why?" What was the point of a book that executes such mind-blowing concepts in such a shallow and unsatisfying way? A book that could have held so much and delivers so little? Any tale of the exploration of the Dyson Sphere - even one that employs the terrible cliche of taking the Sphere far beyond the reach of mere mortals before anything meaningful can be learnt - needed to be epic. "Dyson Sphere" wasn't. It was perfunctory at best, with nothing explained and everything skated over in a rushed manner. There was no sense of character, and the authors have little or no talent for visual description. The frequent attempts at deep and meaningful statements that punctuated the action sat very awkwardly. At times the writing was so bad I couldn't follow what was happening and what the characters were thinking/saying/doing. And the essays at the end did strike me as somewhat self-indulgent.
Okay, there's more science in "Dyson Sphere" than in any other Star Trek novel I've read, but as with any other science fiction novel, something more than good science and fantastic ideas is needed. A plot and characters would have been a good place to start. I would suggest to Messrs Zebrowski and Pellegrino that they try again, do another book unconnected to Star Trek so that they can have as many pages to fill as they please and remain unbound by the conventions of the Star Trek Universe as they explore their own fantastic ideas.
I really did find this book in a remainder bin. Now I know why. But I've given it two stars (which may be overly generous) because at least "Dyson Sphere" aimed high.
Glad I didn't pay for it.(ADDENDUM BELOW).......2002-08-02
I have read a number of Star Trek:TNG novles and this was the latest I've read. I was glad when I finished that I checked it out at the library rather than buying it, I would have been upset at the wasted money.
For starters the charachters are not well developed at all, even for charachters who we all know from watching the TV series and reading the other books avalible. They also make decisions and handle events in a way that just doesn't seem quite right. They start making conclusions as to the makers of the sphere and start talking about the Borg with very little and shaky evidence to come to that conclusion. Next, for something with SO MUCH potential as the subject matter, the incridible expanse of the Dyson's Sphere, it could have been much better. It wasn't a very 'beliveable' plot(even considering that Star Trek is all made up anyway) and I found the ending rather dissapointing.
I'd reccomend any of the books by Peter David in the ST:TNG series, they're all good to excellent in quality and much better to read.
ADDENDUM: It's been several months since I wrote this review, but I felt I must add this note even though it will cost me a positive vote from the previous review. I have recently read 'Ringworld' and will soon read it's sequal. There are so many aspects of 'Dyson Sphere' which are such a ... of Ringworld and it's sequal, only set to a Star Trek TNG theme. My already low opinion of this book dropped further after reading these other books which preceded this one by a number of years. Forget 'Dyson's Spere' read 'Ringworld' and it's sequals for a better story instead.
Book Description
Do we live in a world that makes sense, not just now but forever? If the universe is going to end in collapse or decay, can it really be a divine creation? Is there a credible hope of a destiny beyond death? In this engaging book, a leading scientist-theologian draws on ideas from science, scripture, and theology to address these and other important questions.
Customer Reviews:
Why Was This Written?.......2007-09-28
If you can't give a scientific account of the new heavens and earth, all you can do is point to Revelation 22. Read Frank Tipler's "The Physics of Christianity" instead.
Beyond the Scientific Paradigm.......2004-08-18
Polkinghorne's book is a summary for the general reader of the discussions on eschatology by several scientists and theologians found in the earlier work, The End of the World and the Ends of God. However, as Polkinghorne alone wrote the latter work, it bears his mark as a well-known former scientist and current Anglican priest and writer on religious topics for the general public. The ideas he expresses would not be well-received either by doctrinaire fundamentalists, or by committed atheists. However, for the reader with an open mind, it presents a thought-provoking inquiry and meditation on the questions dealing with, to put it concisely, the meaning of it all. Does existence have a point, and if so, what is it?
Of course, as mentioned before, the author in an Anglican priest, so he writes from the Christian perspective. But there is no hint of dogmatism in what he has to say; and no apologies or lack of conviction either. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his ideas, they are stimulating. For example, in contast to most earlier theologians who speculated that any future existence must be beyond time, and thus an eternal Now, Polkinghorne points out that human beings are creatures of space and time, that cherished art-forms such as music require time, and proposes that any redeemed universe would contain some type of both space and time. Although he does not, of course, claim to know what a redeemed time would be like, he envisions the new creation as having its own history. Though it would be a history of fulfilment rather than becoming. And it would be based on the template set by the old universe, tho the new would have God as the direct underlying basis of it, rather than the laws of physics as now, based as they are on death and decay, as well as on life and creation.
To the sceptics who bemoan the seemingly inevitable boredom of an eternal existence, Polkinghorne agrees that from our current perspective, even the most fanatical golf enthusiast might begin to tire of it after his millionth game. But the new creation he looks for would be one in which everyone could explore the endless beauties, interests, and possibilities of God's truly infinite, endless nature. In such a state, there would be a tension between continuity and discontinuity: for both the universe as a whole and the resurrected beings within it,the new life would have to be substantially different from the old. At the same time, the redeemed would truly have to be continuations of what they were in this existence, not just copies. Only in this way can redemption really be redemption. All in all, this is a book that should be read by anyone curious about a modern Christian perspective on eschatological questions.
Only for intellectuals........2003-03-20
The author is an intellectual thinker and speaks that language well. It's no surprise then that his audience will be other intellectuals. While the author talks over my head, there are many who can appreciate his writing. Afterall, it's not a sin to have an extensive vocabulary or high I.Q.!!! Only God can speak the language of 'all' people.
An intellectual and spirtual challenge.......2002-09-25
I had to use my dictionary many times, and found myself rereading whole sections over, sometimes more than once. But I found the scope of Polkinghorne's book wonderful and challenging, from the physics of the Big Bang and the eschatological challenge of infinite expansion (vs. the Big Crunch) to pastoral implications for Anglican priests. This book is a condensation of a series of academic papers, certainly more dense and obscure, but it does a remarkable job of stretching our minds and perspective while still being inspriational. One of the most meaningful books of my spritual journey.
What is Polkinghorne Saying?.......2002-06-21
An author is supposed to communicate with the reading audience. This book greatly misses the mark, unless of course you are a top intellectual professor. And even then you might have difficulty. The author's sentence structure is needlessly complex, and his vocabulary is filled with obscure words, rarely used in normal communication. The words are not there for any purpose other than to impress the reader with the author's intellect. I had to reread passages of the book numerous times in an attempt to comprehend what he was saying. I have two college graduate degrees, so I am no dummy. This book made my head hurt and I eventually stopped reading it.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Utopian Studies, published by Society for Utopian Studies on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1463 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: John Polkinghorne. The God of Hope and the End of the World.(Book Review)
Author: Michael J. Tolley
Publication:
Utopian Studies (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2003
Publisher: Society for Utopian Studies
Volume: 14
Issue: 1
Page: 249(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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