Tag Archives: space opera

Night Train To Rigel

Posted on August 5, 2012 | Comments Off on Night Train To Rigel

I enjoyed this space opera, from beginning to end and never put it down for long. It’s a fluffy story, sure enough, but the way author Timothy Zahn structured it, I kept reading to find out what the latest twist was all about.

I love the idea of a train to the stars—which is very H.G. Wells but also hangs on a point of theoretical physics—down to the connecting vestibules between the cars which I could easily visualize, coming as I do from a time when American passenger trains were more common than they are today.

Perhaps because I’ve never read any other Zahn adventure, I wasn’t plagued by the comparison some other Amazon reviewers can’t seem to help but make with his other books, which I will now go on to read, starting with the more popular The Icarus Hunt.

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Posted in Library, Science/Engineering, Space

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Bleeding imagery

Posted on January 29, 2012 | Comments Off on Bleeding imagery

Michael Flynn’s third installment in his January Dancer series falters nae a bit, with such lines as these:

“A faint band of red has cut the throat of night and bleeds across the eastern horizon.”

I’m only half through this one but it’s already safe to say it’s as good as the first two about the Fair-haired Donovan, and well worth your time if you like complex, near-literary Celtic space opera.

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Posted in Library, Science/Engineering, Space

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The Devil’s Eye

Posted on May 25, 2010 | Comments Off on The Devil’s Eye

Literary agent Nathan Bransford is always coming up with something interesting to post. The other day it was one that sounds old but was new to me: If you could live in the world of one novel, which would you choose? I’d choose the space opera world of Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath, as created by SciFi author Jack McDevitt. Actually there are four novels. Any one of them would do fine.

I’ve read all four. Began with Polaris and then its wonderful sequel Seeker, only to discover that I missed the first one A Talent for War. So I read and enjoyed it, too, before finishing the fourth, The Devil’s Eye. Now it seems there will be a fifth one, Echo, this fall. Their world, in which there is so little crime the police are happy to get a new case, seems ideal. Their planet, Rimway, is in a galaxy far, far away, in the arm of Orion–my favorite constellation.

Not everyone gets to travel by starship like Alex and Chase do, but the opportunity is there. Just flitting about in gravity-free skimmers would be pleasant enough. (Although I do wish they would realize that someone is always tampering with theirs and plan accordingly.) Also having one’s personal AI, linked in to the galaxy-wide net to help research anything by voice or avatar. But what I like most is the way McDevitt writes. Conversationally. I flow along with the story, happily ensconced in the moment,  not entirely concerned about where events are going. Just enjoying the ride and hoping it never ends.

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Posted in Library, Science/Engineering, Space

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Flawed book covers

Posted on April 30, 2010 | Comments Off on Flawed book covers

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This is one of Heinlein’s older juveniles. Note the ninety-five cent price. It’s from this site that mocks some book covers, this one for the astronaut’s day-glo orange trousers. Hmm. Mr. B. and I enjoyed the tale as a bedtime story a few years ago, despite the tedious courtroom passages which weren’t near as funny as the author tried to make them.

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Posted in Library, Mr. Boy, Scribbles, Space

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