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The Dark Side of the Sun
Dom Salabos had a lot of advantages.
As heir to a huge fortune he had an excellent robot servant (with Man-Friday subcircuitry), a planet (the First Syrian Bank) as a godfather, a security chief who even ran checks on himself, and on Dom's home world even death was not always fatal.
Why then, in an age when prediction was a science, was his future in doubt?
As heir to a huge fortune he had an excellent robot servant (with Man-Friday subcircuitry), a planet (the First Syrian Bank) as a godfather, a security chief who even ran checks on himself, and on Dom's home world even death was not always fatal.
Why then, in an age when prediction was a science, was his future in doubt?
Paperback, Reprint, 235 pages
Published
April 23rd 2002
by Corgi
(first published January 1st 1976)
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I have a special relationship with four pairs of first albums. Sure, as musicians mature, the best among them become more technical, more complex, ‘deeper’ in many ways; yet in very special cases, the combination of youthful drive and youthful naiveté can produce what in hind sight is their best work.
The four bands in question are Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Blind Guardian. Their contributions and accomplishments are many, but the first two albums rock forever.
Which brings me to T...more
The four bands in question are Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Blind Guardian. Their contributions and accomplishments are many, but the first two albums rock forever.
Which brings me to T...more
This is an early Pratchett non-Discworld book.
It's very different from the books in the Discworld series.
The main thing that struck me was the way that Pratchett today ties up all the loose ends. Everything comes full circle. Whatever appeared earlier in a book comes to its conclusion or plays its part later on. In this book the feeling of loose ends being tied up didn't happen for me.
***SPOILER ALERT***
For instance, the Head of Security, Korodore - quite an important character earlier on - died...more
It's very different from the books in the Discworld series.
The main thing that struck me was the way that Pratchett today ties up all the loose ends. Everything comes full circle. Whatever appeared earlier in a book comes to its conclusion or plays its part later on. In this book the feeling of loose ends being tied up didn't happen for me.
***SPOILER ALERT***
For instance, the Head of Security, Korodore - quite an important character earlier on - died...more
As a big Discworld fan, this was interesting to read in that its publication predates The Color of Magic by about half a dozen years, and it is sci-fi instead of fantasy. In spite of that plus the fact that Pratchett's writing was still in its formative years, it bubbles over with his lively imagination (reminiscent perhaps of Leonard of Quirm?). Its primary science theme, that there is a near infinitude of universes where every possible outcome of our decisions occur, is a theme that is likewis...more
Dom is on a quest to find the Joker's World, the fabled planet of the species that led to all other life in the universe. Unfortunately, anyone with the potential to find Joker's World is promptly assassinated and Dom is no exception. With a lethal robotic killer stalking him Dom races to find the missing Joker Race and live out his destiny.
I'm not a huge SciFi fan and this is pure SciFi from beginning to end. The plot and characters feel jumbled together and there is so much introduced in such...more
I'm not a huge SciFi fan and this is pure SciFi from beginning to end. The plot and characters feel jumbled together and there is so much introduced in such...more
Dom Salabos is set to be chairman of his little world. His family is rich, his destiny is seemingly in place, and he finds a lucky swamp creature dubbed "Ig" to keep him company. Then after an assassination attempt, he finds out that his destiny is much more significant than he had initially thought.
No, Dom must go and find the Jokers (greatest name for "gods" ever), a mysterious race of the oldest creatures thought to be god-like and all-powerful. It won't be easy, not with as assassin from th...more
No, Dom must go and find the Jokers (greatest name for "gods" ever), a mysterious race of the oldest creatures thought to be god-like and all-powerful. It won't be easy, not with as assassin from th...more
Gosh fellas, I just haven't been up to writing reviews lately. I am damn far behind. There's very little left in my head of the impressions I got from the story beyond the story itself. It was slight, but good.
Going into The Dark Side of the Sun, I knew what to expect. I've read enough of Pratchett's non-Discworld books to understand how his skewed humor and perspective translates outside that world. I also remember how the earliest Discworld novels felt, so I figured the potential and the seren...more
Going into The Dark Side of the Sun, I knew what to expect. I've read enough of Pratchett's non-Discworld books to understand how his skewed humor and perspective translates outside that world. I also remember how the earliest Discworld novels felt, so I figured the potential and the seren...more
I really enjoyed reading this, although I lost track a few times and the logic of "It's been predicted that I will find this World, so I have to go and do it even if this assassin gets to me first" doesn't quite hold together. I liked the characters, especially Ig and Isaac, Chatogaster and the Bank, but once we got to the Emperor, Sharli, Tarli, and Dom's sister we didn't have much connection to who they really were.
I liked the idea that no culture can perceive the universe in its totality, tha...more
I liked the idea that no culture can perceive the universe in its totality, tha...more
For the amount of pages this book had, it took me a while to get through. It was not an easy read, perhaps feeling a bit more like an experimental book? Indeed, to my knowledge Pratchett has not really made a habit of writing sci-fi, possibly with good reason.
I think this books main fault is in the fact it is too alien. Strange places, ideas and people were explained by even stranger places, ideas and descriptions, making it difficult to know what was going on.
Having said that, the concept or...more
I think this books main fault is in the fact it is too alien. Strange places, ideas and people were explained by even stranger places, ideas and descriptions, making it difficult to know what was going on.
Having said that, the concept or...more
I believe this is one of Terry Pratchett's first published books. Interestingly, I read it after reading all the published Discworld books. While being different in style and flavor from the Discworld books, this was still quite an enjoyable read.
I begin science-fiction or fantasy books wondering how many chapters it will take to become familiar enough with the author's story world to make the transition from trying to understand what's being described to simply enjoying what I am reading. Happi...more
I begin science-fiction or fantasy books wondering how many chapters it will take to become familiar enough with the author's story world to make the transition from trying to understand what's being described to simply enjoying what I am reading. Happi...more
An universe in the an unknown future:
Dominickdaniel "Dom" Sabalos IV's father predicted that his son would be assassinated on the day of his investiture as chairman of the wealthy planet of Widdershins. Well he survived the attempt close to the joker's tower and ended up with a new pet called IG which is a swamp ig (don't ask me :-) I just read the book ;-) )The jokers are a supposedly vanished advanced race who left many towers all over the known universe. Dom's father also predicted in the rar...more
Dominickdaniel "Dom" Sabalos IV's father predicted that his son would be assassinated on the day of his investiture as chairman of the wealthy planet of Widdershins. Well he survived the attempt close to the joker's tower and ended up with a new pet called IG which is a swamp ig (don't ask me :-) I just read the book ;-) )The jokers are a supposedly vanished advanced race who left many towers all over the known universe. Dom's father also predicted in the rar...more
if you've ever wondered where sir terry got his ideas, have a read. long earth? check. the raw outline of a few soon-to-be-familiar discworld characters? check. too-human gods, asking the wrong questions, unlikely heroes seeing through the veil of the assumed, all present and accounted for. dark side of the sun reads like a young author full of ideas trying to get some out before they choke him, ideas so plentiful they don't flesh out in this single book but do allow him to push back his chair,...more
I've never had a penchant of sorts for Sci-fi. And that might be why didn't find The DarkSide of the Sun as appealing as I find other Discworld novels.
I only managed to reach page 86 after a cycle of picking it up and putting it away over several months. Terry Pratchett's gift for writing however is unmistakable and made the pages I flipped though interesting. I love how he combines scientific and mathematical knowledge to the story though. If anything kept me turning the pages it was to see wh...more
I only managed to reach page 86 after a cycle of picking it up and putting it away over several months. Terry Pratchett's gift for writing however is unmistakable and made the pages I flipped though interesting. I love how he combines scientific and mathematical knowledge to the story though. If anything kept me turning the pages it was to see wh...more
Those who only know Pratchett from his Discworld novels might be in for a shock cos this book offers anything but the absurd fantasy we came to love from Terry. Instead "the dark side.." is pure sci-fi, mixing the best of Jack Vance and Vernor Vinge.
This is an early work of Pratchett and it shows. The story line is confusing at times, with loose ends and the way P makes up words and then fails to explain them does the reading process no good. Stil, it's an interesting read in my opinion.
If you l...more
This is an early work of Pratchett and it shows. The story line is confusing at times, with loose ends and the way P makes up words and then fails to explain them does the reading process no good. Stil, it's an interesting read in my opinion.
If you l...more
Having gone back and read (and been pleasantly surprised by) Strata recently I knew it would only be a matter of time before I went even further back in to Pratchett's formative publishing years and happily I was not disappointed, especially as now I am a fan of science fiction rather than a guy who loves Discworld and was willing to give anything written by Terry Pratchett a go.
I remembered really enjoying this one, quite a bit more than Strata in fact, and that is still true all these years la...more
I remembered really enjoying this one, quite a bit more than Strata in fact, and that is still true all these years la...more
A I Shall Wear Midnight le puse 4 estrellas por ser Pratchett cuando se merecía 3. A este le pongo 1 estrella por ser Pratchett, porque si llega a ser otro autor, no lo habría conseguido ni acabar.
Este libro, junto a Strata, supone una inmersión en el género de la ciencia ficción. Bueno, "ciencia ficción" en el sentido amplio de las space operas, las navecitas con hiperespacio, los extraterrestes pintorescos y demás. Porque la ciencia no solo brilla por su ausencia, sino que tampoco tiene pies n...more
Este libro, junto a Strata, supone una inmersión en el género de la ciencia ficción. Bueno, "ciencia ficción" en el sentido amplio de las space operas, las navecitas con hiperespacio, los extraterrestes pintorescos y demás. Porque la ciencia no solo brilla por su ausencia, sino que tampoco tiene pies n...more
1 like · like · see review
Rha !
j'avais écrit une critique passablement correcte, et voilà-t-y pas qu'elle a été mangée par Goodreads.
Bon, pas grave, recommençons.
Ce roman nous raconte, dans une galaxie multie-raciale, la quête de Dom, futur président d'une planète de marécages, à la recherche des Jokers, mythiques premiers habitants de la galaxie, et faiseurs de merveilles innombrables. Cette quête va évidement le mener sur les planètes les plus remarquables de la Galaxie, avant évidement de l'emmener dans un endroit par...more
j'avais écrit une critique passablement correcte, et voilà-t-y pas qu'elle a été mangée par Goodreads.
Bon, pas grave, recommençons.
Ce roman nous raconte, dans une galaxie multie-raciale, la quête de Dom, futur président d'une planète de marécages, à la recherche des Jokers, mythiques premiers habitants de la galaxie, et faiseurs de merveilles innombrables. Cette quête va évidement le mener sur les planètes les plus remarquables de la Galaxie, avant évidement de l'emmener dans un endroit par...more
May 14, 2008
rabbitprincess
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
only the most die-hard of Pratchett fans
Recommended to rabbitprincess by:
myself
Shelves:
bibliotheque,
2008
I should have taken the hint to stop reading when the name of Dom Sabalos' home planet struck me as irritating. The name "Widdershins" stuck in my subconscious like a piece of popcorn between my teeth. I don't know why it annoyed me, but it did.
Actually, there are a lot of irritating names and places in this book: Widdershins and its inhabitants, the Widdershine; Ig, the swamp ig; Charles Sub-Lunar, noted intellectual; and even Dom Sabalos himself, or at least his first name.
All these continued...more
Actually, there are a lot of irritating names and places in this book: Widdershins and its inhabitants, the Widdershine; Ig, the swamp ig; Charles Sub-Lunar, noted intellectual; and even Dom Sabalos himself, or at least his first name.
All these continued...more
I think this book had potential, but a lack of concise details, way too many characters for the length of the book, and cloudy story telling made it very difficult to remember and follow. I only realized at the end that it vaguely tied in with the first book.
I did enjoy the clever ending. I spent the whole book trying to decide what "the dark side of the sun" actually meant. As to why the Jokers even presented that puzzle, I have no clear idea. Pratchett was not very good at presenting a clear...more
I did enjoy the clever ending. I spent the whole book trying to decide what "the dark side of the sun" actually meant. As to why the Jokers even presented that puzzle, I have no clear idea. Pratchett was not very good at presenting a clear...more
written back in '76, this is one of Pratchett's pre-Discworld novels. BUT. So many of the names and ideas from discworld were in this novel. Basically, a young man finds the creators of the known universe, the Jokers, who are now little lizards on his homeworld. It was a crazy story with huge jumps from point to point. A serious precursor to Discworld. Pratchett wrote one little book and then expanded it to a whole series and called it the Discworld :-)
Such fantastic imaginative richness! It was a true pleasure reading this, just bursting with all the ideas. There is everything I could want from a good sci-fi story, my only complaint is that some parts are skipped through rather fast, and that there isn't more of it to read.
It's interesting to see that some of the concepts appearing in the Discworld novels were already present this early in Pratchett's writing career.
I'm really glad I decided to buy this book after all :D
It's interesting to see that some of the concepts appearing in the Discworld novels were already present this early in Pratchett's writing career.
I'm really glad I decided to buy this book after all :D
What if... instead of the Discworld fantasy series, Pratchett had chosen my personal favorite genre, SF? There would be more like this, and no bad thing. I would've preferred more descriptions and explanations (what do drosk look like? when does this take place?) but there are plenty of great concepts, interesting adventures, and especially, humor.
Pretty good! Not Discworld-quality but it's interesting to see his roots coming through here. He brushes up against the many-worlds quantum suicide thing but he never really dives in too deep - but then again it was what, 1973 or 1975 when he wrote this? If you like Pratchett it's an easy read and it's interesting to me to see how young he was here. If you're hung up on Discworld don't bother.
Terry Pratchett's second ever novel, a pre-Discworld stand-alone from a not quite 28 year old author, shows a virtuoso absurdist at work. Here, however, Pratchett is a little too smart for his own story. I liken it to a chef who tries to over-season his recipes in the beginning before refining it with a "less is more" approach. From the concept (assassins hunting a man whom probability math has selected as most likely to discover the Jokers' World) to the insane way distant future setting and cr...more
More Ursula le Guin meets Douglas Adams than usual Terry Pratchett fair. Don't get me wrong, I like both those authors, but it just wasn't quite what I was expecting. Some very quirky moments, but often hard to follow. I'm going to re-read this one at some point- I'm sure there's more to be got out of it than what I've found so far.
I listed to an audio version of this book while I was doing some repetitive work. It was okay but its not one I would put on my "read again list". I'm trying to not give anything away here but after you've read it if you think much about the book you'll say, "gee why did it take the long way around to get there."
this book was way over my head. maybe it was just because i was listening to it at work in the wee hours of the day. i think this is the kind of book you really need to pay attention to and i definitely was not doing that. you know, i think it is probably a great book. for some reason, it just wasn't for me.
I am a great Pratchett fan, but I do struggle with his early books, it was the same with the Discworld series, never enjoyed the early stuff, and it was the same with this, just could not get into it. I found it very disjointed, no natural flow and most of the time I did not have a clue what was going on. Thankfully the later writing is a lot better, and I find I can settle into one of the newer books within a chapter. This is only 235 pages and I nearly gave in.
I do like this book a lot; the flaws are mostly outweighed by the good stuff. Also interesting that the disc world holidays exist in this SF novel. Leads to speculation that the discworld & the Sabalos worlds exist in the same universe. Plus I want a pair of the anti-grav sandals.
Dec 22, 2007
Tim
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
humans and jokers, also scifi and fantasy fans
Another short sci-fi book and another creation story from Mr. Pratchett, and although I liked the characters more than those in Strata, the creation story isn't as brilliant or clear, but that's something of the point, in a way.
Anyway, this is a very interesting concept, as usual, and like Strata you can (if you also have read the Discworld books) see a few of the ideas for DW being formulated and tested here. Jokes are less common and insightful but still present and amusing, and the way the st...more
Like Strata, I found this a little difficult to read and understand, and found the ending a little abrupt after all the build up. I preferred it to Strata, however. Loved a lot of the scifi and social culture elements in it and felt more sympathy with the main character Dom. I'd read it again.
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Sir Terry Pratchett sold his first story when he was thirteen, which earned him enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter. His first novel, a humorous fantasy entitled The Carpet People, appeared in 1971 from the publisher Colin Smythe. Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel,...more
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Jan 12, 2011 05:44am