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451st out of 2,947 books
—
12,441 voters
Dragon's Egg
In a moving story of sacrifice and triumph, human scientists establish a relationship with intelligent lifeforms--the cheela--living on Dragon's Egg, a neutron star where one Earth hour is equivalent to hundreds of their years. The cheela culturally evolve from savagery to the discovery of science, and for a brief time, men are their diligent teachers . . .
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
February 29th 2000
by Del Rey
(first published 1980)
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Dragon's Egg has nothing to do with dragons -- the dragon's egg is a neutron star being visited by humans who are suspending themselves in a stationary orbit by means of a propulsion laser.
The laser light falls to and illuminates a small portion of the surface of the star. As it happens, the surface of the star has a "crust" of highly degenerate nuclear material, at densities and pressures that enable exotic nucleochemistry to occur -- nuclei with extended shape and structure that are "weakly" b...more
The laser light falls to and illuminates a small portion of the surface of the star. As it happens, the surface of the star has a "crust" of highly degenerate nuclear material, at densities and pressures that enable exotic nucleochemistry to occur -- nuclei with extended shape and structure that are "weakly" b...more
Aug 02, 2009
Architeuthis
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1980s,
fiction-that-speculates
Alright, here's the basic gist: intelligent life lives on a planet that rotates five times per second. Because of the speed of rotation, gravity is very strong, and the life forms come out very unusual. Meanwhile, we Earthlings have discovered this asteroid, and send a research team to check it out.
The thing is, not only do these creatures live on a quickly spinning planet, they LIVE faster than we do. They think faster, age faster, and develop faster. For each Earthling 15 minute period, a gen...more
The thing is, not only do these creatures live on a quickly spinning planet, they LIVE faster than we do. They think faster, age faster, and develop faster. For each Earthling 15 minute period, a gen...more
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This is qualified as hard sci-fi, although being written in 1980, some of the science is slightly out of date, although not badly. In the not-too-distant future, researchers at Caltech discover a star closer to Earth than any other, located just below the constellation Draco, hence the name Drgon's Egg. It's a neutron star--a collapsed star that is very, very small (about 20km across) and dense and not very bright. A few generations later humans send out a manned spaceship to investigate it more...more
While I am a fan of science fiction, hard SF usually leaves me wanting. Good science is great, but a good story is much more important to me than if the author got the principles of orbital mechanics correct. Thankfully this book has both. The book details the finding of intelligent life on a neutron star that is passing through our solar system.
It starts off a little bit slow for my taste, but once you are in the meat of the story, it moves a long at a good clip. It follows both the human astro...more
It starts off a little bit slow for my taste, but once you are in the meat of the story, it moves a long at a good clip. It follows both the human astro...more
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Es el primer libro que leo de ciencia-ficción dura (tras mi fallido intento de leer "Mundo Anillo" de Larry Niven) y tengo que decir que me ha quedado muy claro de que se trata esta "hard sci-fi". Pues creo que no me equivoco al afirmar que este libro, escrito por el "científico de fama mundial en el campo de la astronomía" Robert L. Forward, es uno de los mejores ejemplos de este subgénero.
Como tal, hay que reconocer que se trata de una obra muy elaborada a nivel científico. Los geeks interesad...more
Como tal, hay que reconocer que se trata de una obra muy elaborada a nivel científico. Los geeks interesad...more
Nov 13, 2011
Laura
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
hard-sf
This book is a fascinating, serious consideration of what life would be like on a neutron star. Given the gravity in such an environment turns everything into degenerate matter, molecules complex enough to support biology form by atomic nuclei sharing neutrons rather than electrons. Furthermore, the author postulates that in this high energy/density environment the creatures that have evolved here have a much higher rate of metabolism. One million times ours in fact - so that we get to see in ju...more
I know I read it. But I can't remember the ending at all. I know the quests by the Cheela to find new homes got tedious. And the explanations of the science didn't make sense to me, which was frustrating because I do understand how science works and I do read science for fun. I'm guessing the date read. Does the fact that I don't remember it any better than that mean something, such as perhaps that it's not very good?
I read this book probably 20 years ago (funny how I keep remembering books I read a long time ago as I try to catalog them all on Goodreads). I can't say I remember the plot in detail, but it was a really fascinating hard SF novel about intelligent life forms who live on the surface of a star. They were very alien but still believable -- Robert L. Forward did a great job of describing their environment and how the incredible heat and gravity affected them. Because of the gravitational effects, t...more
Mar 18, 2011
Jon
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Jon by:
Beyond Reality March 2011 SciFi Selection
I admit to a science fiction reader shortcoming: I love to watch science fiction, but usually don't care to read it, especially the sub-genre of 'hard science fiction.'
And to be completely honest, I thought I gave myself a migraine reading the first pages of Dragon's Egg (an astrophysics crash course in neutron stars). Once past the cold hard super-heavy facts, I thoroughly enjoyed the development of the cheela life-form and the brief interaction the human scientists experienced.
I completely s...more
And to be completely honest, I thought I gave myself a migraine reading the first pages of Dragon's Egg (an astrophysics crash course in neutron stars). Once past the cold hard super-heavy facts, I thoroughly enjoyed the development of the cheela life-form and the brief interaction the human scientists experienced.
I completely s...more
4 likes · like · see review
Interesting idea.
The beginning is extremely boring and I considered just quitting... But then I just skimmed the first 30 pages and the book kind of became an actual story after that.
"All [the crew of the ship] had at least double-doctorates. . . Pierre himself had a Ph.D. in high-density nucleonic theory, and doctorates in gravitational engineering and journalism."
I read this and figured it was just what someone not connected to academia thinks to say to make characters seem really smart. The...more
The beginning is extremely boring and I considered just quitting... But then I just skimmed the first 30 pages and the book kind of became an actual story after that.
"All [the crew of the ship] had at least double-doctorates. . . Pierre himself had a Ph.D. in high-density nucleonic theory, and doctorates in gravitational engineering and journalism."
I read this and figured it was just what someone not connected to academia thinks to say to make characters seem really smart. The...more
This is one of the strangest, most fascinating and thought - provoking books that I have ever read. This is sc-fi at its very best. The story revolves around first contact between the human crew of a spacecraft sent to examine a neutron star and the inhabitants of the star, the tiny Cheela, for whom time passes millions of time more rapidly than for the humans.
Having made contact the humans have to then devise the means whereby they can actually communicate in a meaningful way with creatures tha...more
Having made contact the humans have to then devise the means whereby they can actually communicate in a meaningful way with creatures tha...more
The edition I read came out in 1983 and I read it either in late '83 or early '84. Almost 30 years later, the book actually came up in conversation between my wife and I (that would be within the last week). Seems like one of us bought it and then shared it with the other although which is true has been lost in time (I think I had it first though).
I liked the book as it included a race that was totally unlike our experience. All I can think to compare it to is the inhabitants of Flatland, excep...more
I liked the book as it included a race that was totally unlike our experience. All I can think to compare it to is the inhabitants of Flatland, excep...more
Nov 01, 2011
Conspiracychic
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
If you don't mind science bludgeoned over your head
Shelves:
to-get-lost-in-the-head
I think I have to justify my three stars for this story (I would give it 3 and 3/4 if I could). The fault lies in me, not the story, but I have to be honest about my opinion. As a hard sci-fi novel, Dragon's Egg has a lot of technical terminology regarding physics on and around a neutron star. Now, I was prepared for science in a hard sci-fi novel, but at times it reads like a long-winded thesis rather than a story, and that sort of killed the squidge of enjoyment that would have bumped it to fo...more
This is a story of evolution in a very unusual environment: a neutron star.
As some scientists on Earth detect a neutron star approaching the Solar System, an expedition is sent to study it at close range. Meanwhile life evolves at a fast rate, hours for humans being whole generations for the inhabitants of the fast-spinning star.
This is a very strange and interesting story. It begins at a slow pace, yet eons pass by as we see life emerging and evolving. Then as the human expedition comes near, t...more
As some scientists on Earth detect a neutron star approaching the Solar System, an expedition is sent to study it at close range. Meanwhile life evolves at a fast rate, hours for humans being whole generations for the inhabitants of the fast-spinning star.
This is a very strange and interesting story. It begins at a slow pace, yet eons pass by as we see life emerging and evolving. Then as the human expedition comes near, t...more
Five stars, Dragon’s Egg by Robert Forward Dragon's Egg
is simple, straightforward, scientifically sound. Finally found and reread a replacement for the copy lent out long ago and never returned. Why is this story (and the sequel StarQuake Starquake) so much fun? A plucky researcher follows her hunch and discovers the neutron star passing near the Solar System. Mankind launches a mission (with the plucky researcher’s son as the mission commander) to study the star and discovers an intelligent rac...more
is simple, straightforward, scientifically sound. Finally found and reread a replacement for the copy lent out long ago and never returned. Why is this story (and the sequel StarQuake Starquake) so much fun? A plucky researcher follows her hunch and discovers the neutron star passing near the Solar System. Mankind launches a mission (with the plucky researcher’s son as the mission commander) to study the star and discovers an intelligent rac...more
La novela puede clasificarse en la ciencia ficcion hard porque es cientificamente correcta y eso puede alejar a algunos lectores, pero tras los primeros capitulos mas aridos la lectura es agil y entretenida. Hay una continuacion "Estrellamoto"
Una expedicion cientifica es enviada a estudiar una estrella de neutrones que se acerca a la Tierra. La expedicion de estudio se transforma en una de primer contacto cuando descubren que hay vida inteligente en la superficie de la estrella.
This is one of my all-time favorite science fiction books. The story follows the evolution of life on a neutron star and I was just fascinated with the descriptions of how life would have developed and about the rise of the civilization. Humans visit the star and discover that time travels at a different speed but they work out a way to communicate with the natives.
I was tickled when I saw an episode of Star Trek Voyager that was completely based on this book.
I was tickled when I saw an episode of Star Trek Voyager that was completely based on this book.
This book is classic "hard sci-fi" the characters are unlovable, stereotyped, and poorly developed. It thrives on an interesting science concept alone. The book is interesting in that it's about life on a neutron star, which is cool. That really seems to be it. The writing is not great. I've already said the characters are nobodies. It's a fun idea and it is entertaining to read about the strange things that would or could happen around a neutron star.
I don't read much Sci-fi, but my brother bought me this book for my birthday, so I gave it a go. Aside from the setting being on a distant star and the main characters being tiny alien creatures, this book is really a study about the evolution of a species and its society. I was rapt by the developments these beings made as they progressed through their ultra short lifespans, creating religions, laws, philosophies and superstitions. A fascinating read!
Jan 10, 2009
Kelly
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Kelly by:
my husband
Shelves:
own
Picking up this book after glowing reviews from my husband, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from a tale of life on a neutron star. It took a number of pages before I got my head around Forward's descriptions of the early plant and animal life on Dragon's Egg. Once the story picked up, I was hooked, and I read the book with increasing speed as I progressed. I found it to be an imaginative story, one I would recommend to any lover of science fiction.
Following the evolution from simple life to a full-blown civilization on the surface of a neutron star, this book has been described as a physics textbook disguised as a novel. If so, it's an incredibly entertaining one with interesting and complex characters that you can somehow empathize with despite them being utterly alien. Forward shows that life, however its put together, will run into problems that all living things can relate to.
This book was clearly written by a nerd. None of the characters speak like real humans. They don't use contractions, so everyone sounds like Data or grammar trolls on forums. All women are described in far more detail than the men and of course they are all beautiful. Most characters are one dimensional at best.
However, the idea behind the story is quite interesting and the science is solid. The immature writing doesn't interfere with the good ideas very much, but it is difficult to take serious...more
However, the idea behind the story is quite interesting and the science is solid. The immature writing doesn't interfere with the good ideas very much, but it is difficult to take serious...more
I was told for years that this book "was too hard to read" and "above your head". OK, maybe I didn't get ALL the astrophysics and nerdy conceptual atomic jargon. It's still a fascinating story and wholly original. It is one of the few Sc-Fi books to postulate such a original, exotic and completely alien world. The characterzation, like Clarke and Asimov, is pretty sketchy and flat, but necessarily so.
This is actually the second time I have read this book. As a raw story about the rise of a civilization the book is quite average, maybe even simple-minded, but when you take into account that the civilization consists of 0.5 mm long 70 kg creatures on the surface of a white dwarf star, things are much more interesting.
This book shines as a model of "first contact" stories.
This book shines as a model of "first contact" stories.
This book is hard science fiction at its best. I found myself riveted by each new section, unable to put the book down for more than thirty seconds at a time. The combination of a compelling story with such scientifically plausible elements has made this book one of my all time favorites in just a single read. I can't wait to see what else this author has written.
This is "hard" science fiction, my favorite kind.
The plot is driven by believable, yet imaginative, consequences of physical laws.
What's important to me in an SF novel is that things make sense.
I love it when I get the feeling that the story is how it has to be.
This book is a perfect example.
Astrophysics sets the scene, and the characters do the discovering along side the reader.
It's so much fun!
The plot is driven by believable, yet imaginative, consequences of physical laws.
What's important to me in an SF novel is that things make sense.
I love it when I get the feeling that the story is how it has to be.
This book is a perfect example.
Astrophysics sets the scene, and the characters do the discovering along side the reader.
It's so much fun!
Apr 05, 2013
Antony Castellano
added it
In a moving story of sacrifice and triumph, human scientists establish a relationship with intelligent lifeforms--the cheela--living on Dragon's Egg, a neutron star where one Earth hour is equivalent to hundreds of their years. The cheela culturally evolve from savagery to the discovery of science, and for a brief time, men are their diligent teachers . . .
Sci fi as it should be. So many people criticise this book for it's "wooden" characters, but really, the characters are just incidental. Robert Forward makes the actual science itself the story. I can only imagine that people who complain about the characters didn't "get" the science aspects enough to be satisfied with them for the narratives that they are.
Read this book for a class that I took at Portland State University: Science through science fiction. The idea of the class was to learn science by reading science fiction and then write an essay about the science.
For Forward the book was good. The aliens were the most likable characters. The basic premises: living on a neutron star.
For Forward the book was good. The aliens were the most likable characters. The basic premises: living on a neutron star.
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Robert Lull Forward, commonly known as Robert L. Forward, (August 15, 1932 - September 21, 2002) was an American physicist and science fiction writer. His fiction is noted for its scientific credibility, and uses many ideas developed during his work as an aerospace engineer.
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“After a short flurry of national and international concern over the "death of the Sun," the human race settled down to solving the insoluble problem in the best way that they knew - they ignored it and hoped it would go away.”
—
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