Gift from the Stars, by James Gunn
Book Review by Sheri Fresonke Harper
Have you read this book?
Gift from the Stars by James Gunn, was written as a series of short science fiction stories published over a number of years in Analog. Each of the stories follows the premise that aliens sent the design for a spaceship to Earth. The nerd hero Adrian finds a book in a bookstore managed by the very helpful Mrs. Frances Farmstead. The two set off on a quest to find out more of the origins of the book and to build the space ship. In the process of dealing with this gift, the hero and heroine have to deal with resistance from government bodies that want to protect the world from alien influence. They also have to face up to the implications of what such a document means about our connection to aliens -- have they come to earth, why would they help us, would they still be around when we actually got around to making contact given the distance and duration of a space voyage. Gift from the Stars explores thoroughly how our society will politically and socially manage contact with aliens. The author suggests the idea that only a few individuals are interested in space travel.
The science in "Gift of the Stars" gets progressively more interesting, especially when contact with aliens occurs and the story plays around with some issues of time. It also raises technical issues about the supply of the ship for the duration of the journey. It also explores how inventions for outer space turn around and modify all of our society with the implications of the new technology i.e. an engine that is powered to travel great distance will also provide energy.
The most appealing part of the story to me is the light-hearted tone and the positive attitude toward the contributions of science to our world. I rate this book 3.5 stars because the depth of the characters isn't as developed as I would like and covers superficially the relationships between the characters. Still, this is a fun journey and you are pleased to have gone it at the end. I believe readers that like science fiction, mysteries, light-hearted romance will enjoy this novel.
The science in "Gift of the Stars" gets progressively more interesting, especially when contact with aliens occurs and the story plays around with some issues of time. It also raises technical issues about the supply of the ship for the duration of the journey. It also explores how inventions for outer space turn around and modify all of our society with the implications of the new technology i.e. an engine that is powered to travel great distance will also provide energy.
The most appealing part of the story to me is the light-hearted tone and the positive attitude toward the contributions of science to our world. I rate this book 3.5 stars because the depth of the characters isn't as developed as I would like and covers superficially the relationships between the characters. Still, this is a fun journey and you are pleased to have gone it at the end. I believe readers that like science fiction, mysteries, light-hearted romance will enjoy this novel.
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