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Catch A Falling Star
by
A hundred thousand years from now, Creohan the scholar discovers a star approaching Earth on a deadly collision course. if he can arouse everyone to the danger, there might be time enough to save the world.
But the Earth had become a strange and kaleidoscopic place in that distant era. Too many empires had risen and fallen—humans has become too apathetic, too self-centered ...more
But the Earth had become a strange and kaleidoscopic place in that distant era. Too many empires had risen and fallen—humans has become too apathetic, too self-centered ...more
Paperback, 213 pages
Published
February 1977
by Ace
(first published 1968)
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Start your review of Catch A Falling Star
Three stars is a bit generous, perhaps. A "dying earth" style tale in spirit, where humanity itself is primarily at the end, inward-turned and decadent, embracing strange obsessions or sensuous pleasures after a hundred thousand years and multiple rising and falling of various civilizations, none of which aspired to any great achievement.
It starts with elements of Moorcock's Dancers at the End of Time series, where the pleasure-seeking society is cared for by organic mechanisms devised in earlie ...more
It starts with elements of Moorcock's Dancers at the End of Time series, where the pleasure-seeking society is cared for by organic mechanisms devised in earlie ...more
aggiornamento vecchio libro letto chissà quando
I find that I may be treating this book a bit harshly. I did enjoy it, more towards the end than at any other point. The setting was interesting, the characters were all pleasant and the concept was sound.
But the writing...
The writing killed my enjoyment of this. Overly grandiose, overly preachy, overly excited...it simply got me eye rolling so often that it made the whole thing unbearable at times.
It may be due to the translation that I had.
It may just be due to the fact that it resembled a f ...more
But the writing...
The writing killed my enjoyment of this. Overly grandiose, overly preachy, overly excited...it simply got me eye rolling so often that it made the whole thing unbearable at times.
It may be due to the translation that I had.
It may just be due to the fact that it resembled a f ...more
John Brunner was an optimist who had ultimate faith in the human race. This book starts slowly and shows a world at the end of its time. The human race is tired and most people don't care. Then Creohan finds out that there is a star on a collision course with the Earth. It won't arrive in his lifetime but he needs to let people know and to find people to help him do something about it. But when no-one cares and most people don't even know where their food comes from, how do you stop a star?
Nice ...more
Nice ...more
This was some strangely surreal book. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it turned out to be a much more unique experience than I anticipated. Like the science-fiction take on The Wizard of Oz, and also deeply allegorical in nature.
In the distant future, a man discovers that in about 300 years a star will pass by Earth in such close proximity that it will be left a dead and barren place. Given the fact that they will be long dead by then, the people around him are completely indifferent towa ...more
In the distant future, a man discovers that in about 300 years a star will pass by Earth in such close proximity that it will be left a dead and barren place. Given the fact that they will be long dead by then, the people around him are completely indifferent towa ...more
review of
John Brunner's Catch a Falling Star
- by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - September 3, 2014
I think I've been somewhat resistant to labeling John Brunner a Fantasy Writer b/c I prefer the Science Fiction genre but this bk has convinced me he's a Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer b/c it's yet-another reasonably major work of his along those lines.. - although, "those lines" are pretty ambiguous & this cd really also be called SF. Whatever.
Alas, as w/ so many Brunners I've been reading latel ...more
John Brunner's Catch a Falling Star
- by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - September 3, 2014
I think I've been somewhat resistant to labeling John Brunner a Fantasy Writer b/c I prefer the Science Fiction genre but this bk has convinced me he's a Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer b/c it's yet-another reasonably major work of his along those lines.. - although, "those lines" are pretty ambiguous & this cd really also be called SF. Whatever.
Alas, as w/ so many Brunners I've been reading latel ...more
This book started out seeming to be without any direction, but it turned out pretty good. It's a novel of a journey of a man and a woman who are searching for a society that would have the intellect and mental disposition to help stop a star coming toward Earth, which would hit in 300 years. This takes place 100,000 years in the future where humans have become very self-absorbed and defunct of any scientific interests after the rise and fall of countless empires. Their journey takes them to land
...more
The strangest Brunner novel I've read to date, though quite interesting and with compelling characters.
...more
Dec 09, 2020
Judi
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
owned,
2020-books-read
An entertaining look at a far future human civilization. Enjoyable read, recommended.
Apr 05, 2018
Radu Harabula
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
john-brunner,
comentate
O căutare mesianica, hai sa salvam Pământul de ciocnirea cu o stea... Nu știm cum, cu ce, cu cine, dar cautam.
Într-un viitor îndepărtat, la 2 milioane de ani după apariția lui homo sapiens, după multe cicluri civilizaționale, omenirea și-a pierdut vigoarea, și-a epuizat forța creatoare, pare ca a ajuns la sfârșit.
Multe modificări genetice pe partea de vegetal (casele sunt un fel de urmase a unor plante, cu oarecare inteligenta, care își apară stăpânul) și animal (pasări fluorescente care plutes ...more
Într-un viitor îndepărtat, la 2 milioane de ani după apariția lui homo sapiens, după multe cicluri civilizaționale, omenirea și-a pierdut vigoarea, și-a epuizat forța creatoare, pare ca a ajuns la sfârșit.
Multe modificări genetice pe partea de vegetal (casele sunt un fel de urmase a unor plante, cu oarecare inteligenta, care își apară stăpânul) și animal (pasări fluorescente care plutes ...more
I read this little book in my early teens, back in the 70's and I have kept the paperback in my collection over the years. It's magical, wonderful story captured my imagination as no other since, and though it now seems somewhat simplistic given the time it was written, it still holds a special magic and will remain in my library for many more years to come. I have read this book several times, and each time is as amazing to me as the first.
...more
Generic science fantasy novel.
While the writing style is okay, there is absolutely nothing to write home to mama about here.
No out of the ordinary character or plot twists.
While the writing style is okay, there is absolutely nothing to write home to mama about here.
No out of the ordinary character or plot twists.
Grade C. Orig. "The Hundredth Millennium".
...more
Strange book. Rewritten version of novel published earlier as part of Ace double and earlier still in magazine form. Evocative Dying-Earth atmosphere & visionary power, but some of the writing is way over the top (like the opening line!). Nice twist right at the end.
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John Brunner was born in Preston Crowmarsh, near Wallingford in Oxfordshire, and went to school at St Andrew's Prep School, Pangbourne, then to Cheltenham College. He wrote his first novel, Galactic Storm, at 17, and published it under the pen-name Gill Hunt, but he did not start writing full-time until 1958. He served as an officer in the Royal Air Force from 1953 to 1955, and married Marjorie Ro
...more
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