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78th out of 396 books
—
211 voters
Brightness Falls from the Air
They have gathered now on Damiem and are about to witness the last rising of a man-made nova. They are 16 humans in a distant world about to be enveloped by an eruption of violence--horror and murder oddly complemented by a bizarre unforgiving love. But justice is not all that's about to be found. Judgment is coming and the 16 unsuspecting ones are on the threshold of the...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
August 15th 1993
by Tom Doherty Associates
(first published 1985)
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Fairly straightforward old-fashioned sci-fi romp. Aliens, spaceships, culture clashes. Much of the plot seems farfetched given that the author could have made better extrapolations about the technology available. (view spoiler) Since much o...more
May 11, 2012
Sarah Beth
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommended to Sarah Beth by:
Roberto Bolano was reading it
Shelves:
science-fiction
I wonder why there's a correlation between sci-fi books and their character's unusual eye color? It's like if you're a character, fabricated by a sci-fi writer, your eye (and hair) color will be mentioned again and again and I guarantee it will be a highly uncommon color. I was thinking this and then up popped this sentence by Tiptree: Reality needs no friends.
She doesn't care if all her characters are unrealistic! Neither do I, anymore, violet colored eyes are nice to imagine, sometimes. This b...more
She doesn't care if all her characters are unrealistic! Neither do I, anymore, violet colored eyes are nice to imagine, sometimes. This b...more
Just found my review of this book.
A really original book. This is an absolutely genuine big gift. The two main plot strands are well woven together, and the whole is deeply thoughtful. I'd rate this not far behind 'Brave New World', although it does have occasional stodgy moments, and verges on the silly once (?) Very very good though.
A really original book. This is an absolutely genuine big gift. The two main plot strands are well woven together, and the whole is deeply thoughtful. I'd rate this not far behind 'Brave New World', although it does have occasional stodgy moments, and verges on the silly once (?) Very very good though.
I never thought I would be giving a two-star review to anything by James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon). I love everything I have previously read by her. Much of the writing in this book is amazing, the suspense often riveting, and the concept behind it was potentially brilliant, but it was tremendously flawed, in my view. The cloyingly sentimental dialogue was at stark contrast to the chilling thematic material. The sweet, kind-hearted, heroic child porn producer, for instance -- I'm not being pr...more
I'm waffling between three and four stars for this book. On the plus side, it was very evocatively written, I loved the characters, and it had some extremely original ideas. On the con side, however, there were many points in the book where I wanted to shout, "Oh come ON! Stop being so naive and DO YOUR JOB!" because people kept ignoring clear threats and acting on partial information. However, it was a fun story, and a good introduction to James Tiptree Jr.. I will read more by her.
I TRIEDto like this book (I love SciFi, and I always want to read SciFi by female authors), but there were just too many subplots and too many characters--any of the subplots (the murdered star, the drug distilled from the Damaeii, Cory's memory wipe, the rescued-children porn stars)could have made a good novel on its own, but combining them into one was just too much! I made it half-way through, and then tried to skim from there, but even still, I could now force myself to continue.
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Lovely prose and beautiful imagery. Although the characters were interesting, they weren't given enough development. I feel compelled to deduct one star for the use of the deus ex machina "time-flurries" and the unbelievable stupidity of the main characters. Otherwise Brightness Falls from the Air is an intriguing story about beauty, love, and the greed and horror humans are capable of.
Best feature: double-binds and ambiguities.
Locked-room mystery set in outer space, with various interlocking puzzles that hold a claim on life and death, murder and massacre. Vivid villains and victims, clowns and lovers--very entertaining if only for the variations on standard themes. I think the main issue with this book is that it tries so hard, even resorting to a start-to-finish present tense as if to emphasize 'these crises really do matter'...or maybe I'm must missing something.
Locked-room mystery set in outer space, with various interlocking puzzles that hold a claim on life and death, murder and massacre. Vivid villains and victims, clowns and lovers--very entertaining if only for the variations on standard themes. I think the main issue with this book is that it tries so hard, even resorting to a start-to-finish present tense as if to emphasize 'these crises really do matter'...or maybe I'm must missing something.
The characters were well-formed--once I got out from under all the confusion with so many characters coming at me so fast. The setting was great, the event of the planet shells coming towards the station, very nice. A bit too much human atrocity? But I really enjoyed reading it, and I admired some of the plotting. Not perfect, but powerful
Read like she was being paid by the word, a padded out short story. I'd read Tiptree was an exceptional SF writer, but based on this, the first piece of hers I've read, I doubt that. Too bad.
Good, but not great. If only I had identified with any of the characters a bit more. Mostly a murder mystery set in the future, on an alien planet.
Feb 23, 2009
Andrew
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
light artists
Shelves:
genre,
scientific
It's not common to find a science fiction book that adheres to the neoclassical unities, but Brightness Falls From The Air is not a common book. Unsettling and recommended.
thought provoking; an almost fairy tale ending for some, but a tremendous price paid by others, and a world forever changed.
Yeah! Loved it! Mystery, alien aliens, believable and timeless technology.
Mar 30, 2009
Keith Miller
added it
Brightness Falls From The Air by James Tiptree (1993)
Really sound science fiction. Sad, intense and well-done.
Date of first reading is extremely approximate.
I've read many Tiptree short stories, but this was the first novel of hers I'd read. I enjoyed it, but parts seemed implausible. The plot was somewhat contrived by the main characters' inability to actually pay attention to what was going on around them, and also, that they were too damn trusting. Still, I enjoyed it and at some points was so deeply caught up in the plot that I didn't really care how stupid the main characters were, and their flaws seemed more real than contrived.
I had a hard time deciding how to rate this book. On the whole, it's probably only three stars. It's not as consistently compelling or well-written as Tiptree's short stories and novellas and the plot is sometimes contrived. But there are some scenes that are five-star scenes, in which the emotion and the writing transcend the rest of the book.
Brightness Falls From the Air is a fun novel written by James Tiptree Junior I found a lot more accessible than her short stories. The plot is pretty old school scifi with a bit of a who-dunnit, creepy father-adopted-daughter relationship with romantic understones, and time-warping second chances.
I'm a Tiptree fan, but was disappointed by this one.
One of my all-time favourite science fiction novels by one of my all-time favorite authors. It's been a long time since I read it, but I remember loving it. I should go back and reread so I can give a proper review.
Rated high for imagination and vivid images that stick in the mind.
Else the rating would be lower for plot hinging several times on characters doing dumb, dumber and dumbest things.
Else the rating would be lower for plot hinging several times on characters doing dumb, dumber and dumbest things.
One of the most compelling books I can recall ever reading.
May 09, 2013
Agnieszka
marked it as to-read
May 05, 2013
Glaiza
marked it as to-read
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"James Tiptree, Jr." was born Alice Bradley in Chicago in 1915. Her mother was the writer Mary Hastings Bradley; her father, Herbert, was a lawyer and explorer. Throughout her childhood she travelled with her parents, mostly to Africa, but also to India and Southeast Asia. Her early work was as an artist and art critic. During World War II she enlisted in the Army and became the first American fem...more
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Apr 29, 2013 12:28pm