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405th out of 846 books
—
698 voters
Heart of the Comet
by
Gregory Benford,
David Brin (Goodreads Author)
An odyssey of discovery, from a shattered society through the solar system with a handful of men and women who ride a cold, hurtling ball of ice to the shaky promise of a distant, unknowable future.
Paperback, 479 pages
Published
February 1st 1987
by Bantam Spectra
(first published 1986)
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I put off reading this book for a very long time, for mathematical reasons. David Brin is one of my absolute favorite writers; let's say my opinion of him is a 9 out of 10 (and nobody gets a 10). Gregory Benford was an unknown quantity, but probability told me that I wouldn't like his writing as much as Brin's. Even if I rated Benford as an 8, the average of that would be 8.5, lower than my expectations for a Brin book. Are you following me so far?
For the first 100 pages of this book, I had no i...more
For the first 100 pages of this book, I had no i...more
Brilliant. Phenomenal. Written in 1986, this "hard science" science fiction book still stands up. Assumptions about Halley's comet, written before it's 1986 appearance in this book, are accurate. There is a lot of math, science, computers, vectors, logarithms, biology ad nauseaum. If you like this, with two astrophysicist authors you get the real deal. If you don't, it's still cool because it's so amazing and true!
This is probably one of the best plotted books I've ever read. As it occurs over 2...more
This is probably one of the best plotted books I've ever read. As it occurs over 2...more
How hard is it to marry good science and good fiction? Hard enough judging by the regular sc-fi novels coming out like dandelion seeds. Perhaps you have to go all the way back to 1985 to get at the goods. At least that's what one scientist suggested when I saw his list of best sci-fi books on a blog recently. From the other suggestions by other scientists it was pretty easy to conclude they don't read a lot of any kind of fiction; Dune featured a lot. Jules Verne, H.G. Welles, etc. etc. Sounds l...more
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Written in 1986 the last time Halley's comet came whizzing by, this sci-fi ride is quite brilliant. Scientifically well researched but of course purely speculative about the nature and origin of Halleybop. A delightful array of characters pepper this tale of occupying and attempting to tame the great comet. The turn of events, of which there are many, were unexpected and engrossing from the start. Just when I thought I knew where it was going it took a turn to a conclusion only far out scientist...more
A very decent hard SF read. People colonize Haley's Comet. There are factions and intrigue. Wackiness ensues.
"Nel cuore della cometa" narra di una spedizione scientifica sulla Cometa di Halley. Gli uomini scelti a farne parte dovranno viaggiare nello spazio profondo fino a che la cometa non ritorner�� in prossimit�� del nostro pianeta. Non tutto per�� va come dovrebbe andare.
"Nel cuore della cometa" �� un buonissimo libro che cresce man mano durante la lettura. Paga una certa lentezza iniziale (che potrebbe scoraggiare alcuni), ma col passare delle pagine coinvolge sempre pi�� fino all'imprevedibile fi...more
"Nel cuore della cometa" �� un buonissimo libro che cresce man mano durante la lettura. Paga una certa lentezza iniziale (che potrebbe scoraggiare alcuni), ma col passare delle pagine coinvolge sempre pi�� fino all'imprevedibile fi...more
Mar 15, 2012
Kaus Wei
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
will-not-read-again
This is a fairly standard---but nonetheless, entertaining---bit of science fiction. New technologies are present (along with the plethora of fine details needed to explain them), new ideologies arise, but the plot structure feels very familiar. I suppose that is to be expected, considering the quantity of sci-fi I have read...
I cannot say I ever really connected with any of the characters, with the possible exception of Cruz (who only shows up during the first fifth of the book, and for a couple...more
I cannot say I ever really connected with any of the characters, with the possible exception of Cruz (who only shows up during the first fifth of the book, and for a couple...more
"Heart of the Comet" was a rather moody and darkly depressing story, but I think that it managed to redeem itself in the end. The authors challenge a lot of issues in this space epic. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be something slightly... more than human? Will idealism ever triumph over prejudice? Would immortality truly be the boon we so often hold it to be?
You will probably not want to finish this book. You will become irritated, perhaps bored, and despair of finding a sa...more
You will probably not want to finish this book. You will become irritated, perhaps bored, and despair of finding a sa...more
So you have a plan - Find a comet, ride it through an orbit, during which you change its orbit, aim it at a dead world, harvest it for its resources and make life on a new world. Well you know from the beginning that this is just going to go so horribly wrong.
Over all a brilliant science fiction book, and though published back in 1986 the science hasn't dated.
Over all a brilliant science fiction book, and though published back in 1986 the science hasn't dated.
It's an awesome example of hard sci-fi and a well written book with lots of action and good characters. I have read it twice already and probably will do so again in the future. I have written a more in depth review on my blog, in Romanian.
A masterpiece of hard sci-fi. Takes time to understand the complexity of the story and the scientific concepts explored, but absolutely worthwhile. It is a two-century saga condensed into a hell of a novel, and it is certainly a book that will make anyone with an open mind laugh, cry, and cause to question themselves.
Simply one of the best sci-fi book I have read in a good while! I just could not put it down. The premise, characters and plot are a culmination of science, talent and imagination that is believable. To think that I just now discovered it so long after it's publication...definitely to re-read!
I expected so much more from Benford, given how well he did on Timescape.
Stupid people making stupid decisions. They deserved to die, but didn't. Well, some did, but that'd be giving too much away.
"Life is too short to read bad fiction." Skip this one.
Stupid people making stupid decisions. They deserved to die, but didn't. Well, some did, but that'd be giving too much away.
"Life is too short to read bad fiction." Skip this one.
I have read this book about 5 times. I still want to read it again sometime. I like that it has a lot of science in it without getting too deep into numbers or theory. The story seems pretty realistic and the people are likable.
Great near-time "taming of the asteroid" story - but less likable as the timeline stretched into the future. Heavy race relations overtones - old dumb humans versus new-age partially engineered humans.
Grade C+. GoodReads book record lists co-author David Brin, but doesn't list in shelf author column, nor does this book turn up for him in personal shelf search.
Ahhhh. A most amazing science fiction / social novel. I felt the need to reread this and wow better than ever! My old paperback copy is falling apart... This is a powerful story, a vision of our solar system that is the drama of Grey's Anatomy meets Star Trek meets well heck this is so different... A MUST read! Imagine an international mission to Halley's Comet to hollow it out and ride it around to redirect it and provide us with it's resources. Add in romance, nazi like hatred, religiosity, ge...more
The story of a human colony on Halley's Comet and their amazing journey through space... and in a way through time as well.
ANother early read that cemented my love for all things sci-fi!
One of my favorites. Near future inner-Solar system exploration and colonization in which Benford and Brin explore the 100-year capture and resource development of a Kuiper Belt comet. As the crew struggles to survive unexpected disasters, we question what it means to be human.
Decent read once you get past the implausibility of the plot.
Classic hard sci-fi. Well done and entertaining.
An all-time favorite.
Read it twice.
Read it twice.
Great story, really original. Poetry, hard sci-fi, extrapolated biology, computer tech, the whole thing. Want a sequel!
Jul 18, 2009
Cathy
marked it as to-read
Waiting in the stacks
Science Fiction
Sep 26, 2012
Howard
added it
10
First book I read by this author and instantly loved it. Anyone who is interested in space colonization and hard SF would enjoy it. Benford did a bang up job creating a space mission to Comet Halley, and encorporated many ideas into his novel that make it an interesting read. Including biocomputers, cryogenic hibernation for long voyages, and extrapolating Earth's culture in the future.
This is the book that really got me into to the "hard" side of SF; a preference which continues to this day. Although our current knowledge of Halley's comet has outdated the version of the comet in this novel, it is none-the-less a great hard SF adventure, with some interesting politics and philosophy thrown in as well.
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Gregory Benford is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine.
As a science fiction author, Benford is best known for the Galactic Center Saga novels, beginning with In the Ocean of Night (1977). This series postulates a galaxy in which sentient organic life is in constant warfare wit...more
More about Gregory Benford...
As a science fiction author, Benford is best known for the Galactic Center Saga novels, beginning with In the Ocean of Night (1977). This series postulates a galaxy in which sentient organic life is in constant warfare wit...more
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I have to say that my dislike of Science Fiction is far outweighed by my love of your Science Fiction reviews.
(but not enough to make me w...more
Oct 14, 2010 06:27am