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Encounter With Tiber.
Chronicles the story of an astronaut who discovers evidence of an extinct race of aliens that left traces of their civilization on the moon.
Unknown Binding
First published June 1, 1996
290 people are currently reading
1275 people want to read
About the author
Buzz Aldrin
84 books257 followersBuzz Aldrin (born Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., January 20, 1930) is an engineer and former American astronaut, and the second person to walk on the Moon. He was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history. He set foot on the Moon at 03:15:16 (UTC) on July 21, 1969, following mission commander Neil Armstrong. He is also a retired colonel in the United States Air Force (USAF) and a Command Pilot.
Aldrin was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, to Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Sr., a career military man, and his wife Marion (née Moon). He is of Scottish, Swedish, and German ancestry. After graduating from Montclair High School in 1946, Aldrin turned down a full scholarship offer from MIT, and went to the US Military Academy at West Point, New York. The nickname "Buzz" originated in childhood: the younger of his two elder sisters (Fay Ann) mispronounced "brother" as "buzzer", and this was shortened to Buzz. Aldrin made it his legal first name in 1988.
Buzz Aldrin graduated third in his class at West Point in 1951, with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force and served as a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. He flew 66 combat missions in F-86 Sabres and shot down two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft.
Subsequent to the war, Aldrin was assigned as an aerial gunnery instructor at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and next was an aide to the dean of faculty at the US Air Force Academy. He flew F-100 Super Sabres as a flight commander at Bitburg Air Base, West Germany, in the 22d Fighter Squadron. In 1963 Aldrin earned a Doctor of Science degree in astronautics from MIT. His graduate thesis was "Line-of-sight guidance techniques for manned orbital rendezvous", the dedication of which read, "In the hopes that this work may in some way contribute to their exploration of space, this is dedicated to the crew members of this country’s present and future manned space programs. If only I could join them in their exciting endeavors!" On completion of his doctorate, he was assigned to the Gemini Target Office of the Air Force Space Systems Division in Los Angeles before his selection as an astronaut. His initial application to join the astronaut corps was rejected on the basis of having never been a test pilot; that prerequisite was lifted when he re-applied and was accepted into the third astronaut class, the first selection for which he was eligible.
Aldrin was selected as part of the third group of NASA astronauts selected in October 1963. After the deaths of the original Gemini 9 prime crew, Elliot See and Charles Bassett, Aldrin and Jim Lovell were promoted to back-up crew for the mission. The main objective of the revised mission (Gemini 9A) was to rendezvous and dock with a target vehicle, but when this failed, Aldrin improvised an effective exercise for the craft to rendezvous with a co-ordinate in space. He was confirmed as pilot on Gemini 12. Aldrin set a record for EVA, demonstrating that astronauts could work outside spacecraft.
On July 21, 1969, he became the second astronaut to walk on the Moon, keeping his record total EVA time until that was surpassed on Apollo 14. Aldrin's first words on the Moon were "Beautiful view. Magnificent desolation."
After leaving NASA, Aldrin was assigned as the Commandant of the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. In March 1972, Aldrin retired from active duty after 21 years of service, and returned to the Air Force in a managerial role, but his career was blighted by personal problems. His autobiographies Return to Earth, published in 1973, and Magnificent Desolation, published in June 2009, both provide accounts of his struggles with clinical depression and alcoholism in the years following his NASA career. His life improved considerably when he recognized and sought treatment for his problems. Since retiring from NASA, he has continued to promote space exploration.
Aldrin was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, to Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Sr., a career military man, and his wife Marion (née Moon). He is of Scottish, Swedish, and German ancestry. After graduating from Montclair High School in 1946, Aldrin turned down a full scholarship offer from MIT, and went to the US Military Academy at West Point, New York. The nickname "Buzz" originated in childhood: the younger of his two elder sisters (Fay Ann) mispronounced "brother" as "buzzer", and this was shortened to Buzz. Aldrin made it his legal first name in 1988.
Buzz Aldrin graduated third in his class at West Point in 1951, with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force and served as a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. He flew 66 combat missions in F-86 Sabres and shot down two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft.
Subsequent to the war, Aldrin was assigned as an aerial gunnery instructor at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and next was an aide to the dean of faculty at the US Air Force Academy. He flew F-100 Super Sabres as a flight commander at Bitburg Air Base, West Germany, in the 22d Fighter Squadron. In 1963 Aldrin earned a Doctor of Science degree in astronautics from MIT. His graduate thesis was "Line-of-sight guidance techniques for manned orbital rendezvous", the dedication of which read, "In the hopes that this work may in some way contribute to their exploration of space, this is dedicated to the crew members of this country’s present and future manned space programs. If only I could join them in their exciting endeavors!" On completion of his doctorate, he was assigned to the Gemini Target Office of the Air Force Space Systems Division in Los Angeles before his selection as an astronaut. His initial application to join the astronaut corps was rejected on the basis of having never been a test pilot; that prerequisite was lifted when he re-applied and was accepted into the third astronaut class, the first selection for which he was eligible.
Aldrin was selected as part of the third group of NASA astronauts selected in October 1963. After the deaths of the original Gemini 9 prime crew, Elliot See and Charles Bassett, Aldrin and Jim Lovell were promoted to back-up crew for the mission. The main objective of the revised mission (Gemini 9A) was to rendezvous and dock with a target vehicle, but when this failed, Aldrin improvised an effective exercise for the craft to rendezvous with a co-ordinate in space. He was confirmed as pilot on Gemini 12. Aldrin set a record for EVA, demonstrating that astronauts could work outside spacecraft.
On July 21, 1969, he became the second astronaut to walk on the Moon, keeping his record total EVA time until that was surpassed on Apollo 14. Aldrin's first words on the Moon were "Beautiful view. Magnificent desolation."
After leaving NASA, Aldrin was assigned as the Commandant of the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. In March 1972, Aldrin retired from active duty after 21 years of service, and returned to the Air Force in a managerial role, but his career was blighted by personal problems. His autobiographies Return to Earth, published in 1973, and Magnificent Desolation, published in June 2009, both provide accounts of his struggles with clinical depression and alcoholism in the years following his NASA career. His life improved considerably when he recognized and sought treatment for his problems. Since retiring from NASA, he has continued to promote space exploration.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
February 5, 2022
Prime Directive versus Manifest Destiny meets Murphy's Law.
By far the best science fiction I've read in years. Readers used to Star Trek/Wars will find real science (the kind no longer taught in public schools) too hard. Today's authors relay on so much hand waving and pseudo-science that their stories are little more than westerns/fantasies/war tales/mysteries/romances set in space.
You'd expect someone who's walked on the moon--and played a big role in getting us there--to get the science right, and Buzz Aldrin does. The fiction is not too shabby either, though the various threads weren't woven as tightly as I may have liked.
If there's any criticism of this almost-twenty-year-old story, it's how dated the "historical" part of it is. If almost as if it's an Alternate History. How could anyone in the 1990s think Russia would be our international buddy? (I didn't) It certainly didn't happen. His other error is that science, education, prosperity are not going to make us better people. His Tiberians were more realistic in that regard than his humans.
A very good read.
By far the best science fiction I've read in years. Readers used to Star Trek/Wars will find real science (the kind no longer taught in public schools) too hard. Today's authors relay on so much hand waving and pseudo-science that their stories are little more than westerns/fantasies/war tales/mysteries/romances set in space.
You'd expect someone who's walked on the moon--and played a big role in getting us there--to get the science right, and Buzz Aldrin does. The fiction is not too shabby either, though the various threads weren't woven as tightly as I may have liked.
If there's any criticism of this almost-twenty-year-old story, it's how dated the "historical" part of it is. If almost as if it's an Alternate History. How could anyone in the 1990s think Russia would be our international buddy? (I didn't) It certainly didn't happen. His other error is that science, education, prosperity are not going to make us better people. His Tiberians were more realistic in that regard than his humans.
A very good read.
July 9, 2013
Encounter with Tiber is a hard science fiction story for fans of space travel and colonization of the Moon and Mars. The long book (570 pages plus a foreword by Arthur C. Clarke and biographies of the authors) contains two related stories framed within a future historian's voyage to Tiber.
One story starts with an alternative history of the end of the shuttle program and continues into the very near future with explorations of the Moon and Mars. This story is thick with detailed descriptions of technology and includes concepts familiar to fans of Aldrin's writing, like the Mars to Earth cycler spacecraft. Indeed, long stretches of this story seems to lay a plot on top of his non-fiction book, Mission to Mars. The second story tells of humanoids (very human in nature) who came to Earth in the past, seeking a new home for their doomed race. This story is similarly full of scientific details. This level of detail is not needed to advance the plot or understand the characters; it gives a realistic feel for being an astronaut in space.
The book also deals with the politics of space. A recurring theme in both stories is political pressure leads to poor decisions and tragedy. Since Aldrin has been part of NASA's space program for so long (yes, he is that Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon), it makes me wonder about the real-life events led to this pervasive element.
Even in moments of strong plot action, the authors will divert into technical details, which can make the book slow to read. It requires more concentration than a typical fun summer vacation book, and several times when I was tempted to start skimming, I put it down for a while.
If you are not a hard science fiction/space fiction fan, you may find this book tedious. If you love the details a space insider can provide, you'll be fascinated.
One story starts with an alternative history of the end of the shuttle program and continues into the very near future with explorations of the Moon and Mars. This story is thick with detailed descriptions of technology and includes concepts familiar to fans of Aldrin's writing, like the Mars to Earth cycler spacecraft. Indeed, long stretches of this story seems to lay a plot on top of his non-fiction book, Mission to Mars. The second story tells of humanoids (very human in nature) who came to Earth in the past, seeking a new home for their doomed race. This story is similarly full of scientific details. This level of detail is not needed to advance the plot or understand the characters; it gives a realistic feel for being an astronaut in space.
The book also deals with the politics of space. A recurring theme in both stories is political pressure leads to poor decisions and tragedy. Since Aldrin has been part of NASA's space program for so long (yes, he is that Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon), it makes me wonder about the real-life events led to this pervasive element.
Even in moments of strong plot action, the authors will divert into technical details, which can make the book slow to read. It requires more concentration than a typical fun summer vacation book, and several times when I was tempted to start skimming, I put it down for a while.
If you are not a hard science fiction/space fiction fan, you may find this book tedious. If you love the details a space insider can provide, you'll be fascinated.
November 16, 2014
This is kind of a weird book for me to review. I disagree with a lot of the criticism I've read online, which is that the book suffers from drawn-out technical explanations and succeeds when it is advancing the plot. On the contrary, I loved all the technical hard science fiction parts. It's super refreshing to read science fiction that on the whole is close to the present, and I really enjoyed reading a former astronaut's views on where space exploration might be headed.
On the other hand, I can't really say that this book is particularly well written. The prose is awkward and even cringe-worthy at times. The relationships between humans lack for any sort of meaningful conflict and as a result don't feel organic or realistic. The aliens feel far too human. Unlike Card, who creates interesting races that feel truly alien, the extraterrestrial beings in this book are written almost exactly like the human characters. Aldrin also lets his political criticism escape into the book in a very thinly-veiled way. It's impossible to imagine the world of Encounter With Tiber as a fully-realized future and not as Aldrin's fantasy of what our society should look like.
Despite all the shortcomings, there are some genuinely interesting bits in here. I just wish it had been written by another author with Aldrin providing technical backup.
On the other hand, I can't really say that this book is particularly well written. The prose is awkward and even cringe-worthy at times. The relationships between humans lack for any sort of meaningful conflict and as a result don't feel organic or realistic. The aliens feel far too human. Unlike Card, who creates interesting races that feel truly alien, the extraterrestrial beings in this book are written almost exactly like the human characters. Aldrin also lets his political criticism escape into the book in a very thinly-veiled way. It's impossible to imagine the world of Encounter With Tiber as a fully-realized future and not as Aldrin's fantasy of what our society should look like.
Despite all the shortcomings, there are some genuinely interesting bits in here. I just wish it had been written by another author with Aldrin providing technical backup.
July 11, 2013
Originally published in July 1996, Encounter With Tiber was rereleased on Kindle on May 28th. I’m a lifelong fan of science fiction and of space exploration. I watched the moon landing in 1969 — the glory days of NASA — and dreamed I’d live to see space flight become accessible to everyone, even me. I was doubtful I would see space, but if someone offered me a lift, I’d have taken it in a heartbeat.
I jumped into reading this with enthusiasm. Buzz Aldrin’s fingerprints are all over the first section of the book. Not only does it give you an up-close and highly personal look at the inner workings of NASA, but it gives you an uncomfortably intimate view of the politics of America’s space program.
From this, I gleaned an enormous amount of information about what happened to the U.S. space program and how come, more than 40 years after landing men on the moon, our space program is moribund, mired in budgetary insufficiency, the dreams of venturing into space essentially dead on the launch pad. The 16 years since the publication of the book have dealt unkindly with NASA. It’s hard to see what it would take to revive the program.
This first part of the book is a beautiful presentation of our space technology, why it worked, why it stopped working. For the first time ever, I actually understand the workings — and failures — of our technology. Aldrin uses diagrams to explain all kinds of stuff that I had heard about and never understood. I know it is supposed to be fiction, but it felt very real.
Then the book switches authors. Rarely in a co-authored book has it been so obvious to me when one author stopped writing and the other picked up. The style goes from scientific and precise, to … something else. Aldrin writes like the scientist he is. Barnes writes like a novelist for whom detail is optional.
The change in “voice” is abrupt and a bit jarring. Both authors write well but quite differently. This is an ambitious book of almost 600 pages. It covers the development and fizzling of our space program then takes off into the stars with a crew composed of different races leaving from other planets in another star system. The stories tie together.
I was somewhat put off by the sudden switch from Aldrin’s precision to Barnes lack thereof. Aldrin explains everything and can’t go 10 pages without a diagram. You don’t spend a lot of time saying “huh?” Barnes doesn’t bother to define terms like “day” and “week” when changing to a planet whose rotation and orbit is entirely different from Earth so that common terms like “day” and “week” are meaningless. Vague and belated attempts to rectify the initial omission are more annoying than satisfying. Eventually, I just rearranged my brain and enjoyed the journey.
The characters — human and otherwise — are interesting, though the aliens weren’t sufficiently alien for me to feel their alienness. They seemed more like humans in furry costumes. The aliens weren’t very.
It’s worth the read though I think you’ll need to be patient as you travel on this journey. Encounter With Tiber is a long, complicated book, multi-faceted and thought-provoking.
It’s worrying because the failure of our space program could, if you accept the book’s premise, ultimately doom us to extinction. Not tomorrow, but eventually. A basic tenet of the book is that in the end, everything dies. All planets, all stars have a life span. Worlds get old. If a sentient species has no way to escape its dying planet, it will die with the planet. It’s enough to give one pause. If you never thought about it before, Encounter With Tiber will get you thinking in new directions, perhaps worrying in new directions.
Think of this as two separate book fused together, related, but not the same. It will make more sense and be easier to read. Essentially, that’s what it is. Two books. Two authors. Related, but not the same. Everything you never wanted to know about NASA and then a trip through the stars in an alien ship looking for a new planet to call home.
I jumped into reading this with enthusiasm. Buzz Aldrin’s fingerprints are all over the first section of the book. Not only does it give you an up-close and highly personal look at the inner workings of NASA, but it gives you an uncomfortably intimate view of the politics of America’s space program.
From this, I gleaned an enormous amount of information about what happened to the U.S. space program and how come, more than 40 years after landing men on the moon, our space program is moribund, mired in budgetary insufficiency, the dreams of venturing into space essentially dead on the launch pad. The 16 years since the publication of the book have dealt unkindly with NASA. It’s hard to see what it would take to revive the program.
This first part of the book is a beautiful presentation of our space technology, why it worked, why it stopped working. For the first time ever, I actually understand the workings — and failures — of our technology. Aldrin uses diagrams to explain all kinds of stuff that I had heard about and never understood. I know it is supposed to be fiction, but it felt very real.
Then the book switches authors. Rarely in a co-authored book has it been so obvious to me when one author stopped writing and the other picked up. The style goes from scientific and precise, to … something else. Aldrin writes like the scientist he is. Barnes writes like a novelist for whom detail is optional.
The change in “voice” is abrupt and a bit jarring. Both authors write well but quite differently. This is an ambitious book of almost 600 pages. It covers the development and fizzling of our space program then takes off into the stars with a crew composed of different races leaving from other planets in another star system. The stories tie together.
I was somewhat put off by the sudden switch from Aldrin’s precision to Barnes lack thereof. Aldrin explains everything and can’t go 10 pages without a diagram. You don’t spend a lot of time saying “huh?” Barnes doesn’t bother to define terms like “day” and “week” when changing to a planet whose rotation and orbit is entirely different from Earth so that common terms like “day” and “week” are meaningless. Vague and belated attempts to rectify the initial omission are more annoying than satisfying. Eventually, I just rearranged my brain and enjoyed the journey.
The characters — human and otherwise — are interesting, though the aliens weren’t sufficiently alien for me to feel their alienness. They seemed more like humans in furry costumes. The aliens weren’t very.
It’s worth the read though I think you’ll need to be patient as you travel on this journey. Encounter With Tiber is a long, complicated book, multi-faceted and thought-provoking.
It’s worrying because the failure of our space program could, if you accept the book’s premise, ultimately doom us to extinction. Not tomorrow, but eventually. A basic tenet of the book is that in the end, everything dies. All planets, all stars have a life span. Worlds get old. If a sentient species has no way to escape its dying planet, it will die with the planet. It’s enough to give one pause. If you never thought about it before, Encounter With Tiber will get you thinking in new directions, perhaps worrying in new directions.
Think of this as two separate book fused together, related, but not the same. It will make more sense and be easier to read. Essentially, that’s what it is. Two books. Two authors. Related, but not the same. Everything you never wanted to know about NASA and then a trip through the stars in an alien ship looking for a new planet to call home.
August 6, 2014
There's something for everyone in this book.
It's the story of Clio, who in 2075 is setting out as ship's historian on mankind's first interstellar voyage. With the years it will take them to get to Alpha Centauri, Clio sets out documenting Earth's history of spacefaring, as well as her own translation of the first Tiberian interstellar voyages, who visited Earth from Alpha Centauri system in 7000BC.
The first third of the book is about Clio's grandfather, the second space race and the discovery of a mysterious transmission from Alpha Centauri. I'll admit to not having read anything by co-author John Barnes, but I'll hazard a guess that this section was pure Buzz. It reads a bit idealistically: Buzz Aldrin's manifesto for getting back to space. Like Little Brother but less annoying. Enough of the science and politics are explained simply and eloquently for the non-initiates to enjoy, but not too much so that the space geeks who know it all get bored. It's pretty well done, and there are plenty of subtle references and jokes for those in the know about America's Space Program to enjoy, especially when considering that the writer has walked on the moon.
The middle third is where this book is most interesting, for me at least. It tells the history of the Tiberian discovery of Earth, and their attempts to explore and colonize. The authors do a good job of creating a very alien race, not humans, but with plenty of customs, quarrels and and idiosyncrasies to get the reader thinking. There's some interesting future technologies too, for those who like speculative science fiction (but in reverse, because these are aliens in the past, not humans in the future!)
The final third is about mankind's journey to Mars, looking for the evidence of Sol's past visitors. This part is the most human of the book, very sweet and touching. As I'm sure was the authors' intention, it makes you long to see humans step further out of Earth's gravity well and into the stars. All wrapped up beautifully as Clio takes her first steps on a truly alien world.
There's lots to enjoy in this book, and something for everyone. It neatly blends history and future, and has a lot to say to the present.
It's the story of Clio, who in 2075 is setting out as ship's historian on mankind's first interstellar voyage. With the years it will take them to get to Alpha Centauri, Clio sets out documenting Earth's history of spacefaring, as well as her own translation of the first Tiberian interstellar voyages, who visited Earth from Alpha Centauri system in 7000BC.
The first third of the book is about Clio's grandfather, the second space race and the discovery of a mysterious transmission from Alpha Centauri. I'll admit to not having read anything by co-author John Barnes, but I'll hazard a guess that this section was pure Buzz. It reads a bit idealistically: Buzz Aldrin's manifesto for getting back to space. Like Little Brother but less annoying. Enough of the science and politics are explained simply and eloquently for the non-initiates to enjoy, but not too much so that the space geeks who know it all get bored. It's pretty well done, and there are plenty of subtle references and jokes for those in the know about America's Space Program to enjoy, especially when considering that the writer has walked on the moon.
The middle third is where this book is most interesting, for me at least. It tells the history of the Tiberian discovery of Earth, and their attempts to explore and colonize. The authors do a good job of creating a very alien race, not humans, but with plenty of customs, quarrels and and idiosyncrasies to get the reader thinking. There's some interesting future technologies too, for those who like speculative science fiction (but in reverse, because these are aliens in the past, not humans in the future!)
The final third is about mankind's journey to Mars, looking for the evidence of Sol's past visitors. This part is the most human of the book, very sweet and touching. As I'm sure was the authors' intention, it makes you long to see humans step further out of Earth's gravity well and into the stars. All wrapped up beautifully as Clio takes her first steps on a truly alien world.
There's lots to enjoy in this book, and something for everyone. It neatly blends history and future, and has a lot to say to the present.
December 22, 2015
It must be getting on for fifteen years since I chanced upon Encounter with Tiber, but it is another book I revisit quite often. Sometimes I reread the whole thing, but other times just dip into one or other of the story threads.
Once you are familiar with the whole story, this book lends itself to this kind of sampling. It contains a number of separate but linked accounts, each following a particular main character. Some of these threads are located back in our prehistory, describing the context for alien visitation of planet Earth. Some span the future of the next hundred or so years, when humans are themselves starting to cautiously embark into first interplanetary, and then interstellar space. Other parts are in today's world, in which the space programs of various nations, and various wealthy individuals, struggle to make headway off the surface of our home world.
Inevitably some of the dates have been and gone without humanity achieving the technological targets Aldrin and Barnes set out. Of itself, that no more detracts from the story than the absence of hover boards and flying cars does in 2015! But there is a certain poignancy in the way we have collectively failed to accomplish tasks which Aldrin thought achievable back in the 1990s. His view was apparently over-optimistic, for all that it was based on an intimate knowledge of the state of space technology then.
As other reviewers have noted, there is a lot of science in with the fiction. I appreciated this, and felt it gave a sound sense of credibility to the story. The authors assume that you want to be educated, or at very least reminded of your education, not just simply entertained.
Ultimately, Encounter with Tiber is a hopeful book, and one which affirms a positive view of life. Realism is present - things go wrong, people (and aliens) make mistakes and do bad things - but these are presented against an optimistic view of history rather than a pessimistic one. Courage, self-sacrifice and loyalty are universal virtues - they do not guarantee success, but they mitigate the worst effects of failure, and enrich the journey regardless of the outcome.
Another book - another world - which I shall dip back into on a regular basis.
Once you are familiar with the whole story, this book lends itself to this kind of sampling. It contains a number of separate but linked accounts, each following a particular main character. Some of these threads are located back in our prehistory, describing the context for alien visitation of planet Earth. Some span the future of the next hundred or so years, when humans are themselves starting to cautiously embark into first interplanetary, and then interstellar space. Other parts are in today's world, in which the space programs of various nations, and various wealthy individuals, struggle to make headway off the surface of our home world.
Inevitably some of the dates have been and gone without humanity achieving the technological targets Aldrin and Barnes set out. Of itself, that no more detracts from the story than the absence of hover boards and flying cars does in 2015! But there is a certain poignancy in the way we have collectively failed to accomplish tasks which Aldrin thought achievable back in the 1990s. His view was apparently over-optimistic, for all that it was based on an intimate knowledge of the state of space technology then.
As other reviewers have noted, there is a lot of science in with the fiction. I appreciated this, and felt it gave a sound sense of credibility to the story. The authors assume that you want to be educated, or at very least reminded of your education, not just simply entertained.
Ultimately, Encounter with Tiber is a hopeful book, and one which affirms a positive view of life. Realism is present - things go wrong, people (and aliens) make mistakes and do bad things - but these are presented against an optimistic view of history rather than a pessimistic one. Courage, self-sacrifice and loyalty are universal virtues - they do not guarantee success, but they mitigate the worst effects of failure, and enrich the journey regardless of the outcome.
Another book - another world - which I shall dip back into on a regular basis.
June 17, 2012
I've always been a huge fan of space. Seeing Buzz Aldrin's name on a Sci-Fi book I could not wait to dive in.
I'm writing this from memory, I last read this over 5 years ago and think it's time I re-visited it again.
so the following is based om my memory of the story(I'm terrible at reviewing things so here goes...):
The Story is about 2 separate missions to visit alien worlds, these stories are seamlessly intertwined.
One mission is in hopes of their race surviving. The other is a journey of exploration and hopefully first contact.
The story starts with a historian boarding a craft about to embark on the first interstellar exploration and first contact mission. After intercepting a transmission from another world and subsequently finding a alien device on the moon the human race decides to contact the senders.
The stories of both missions are told, from the humans receiving the alien transmission and the subsequent incidents and innovations to the ill-fated alien missions to an early Earth in hopes of saving their race from extinction.
OK with the general story is out of the way...
The book is very technical in places, but that's the sort of thing I like! making this more "Science Faction" than "Science Fiction". everything is plausible, from the beginnings of cheap space-flights (as we're starting to see today!) to the power that propels crafts the light years between the stars. no McGuffin of Warp drive! or faster than light travel here, but for one of the journeys it's a slow rate of travel that takes a generation to make! Where the adults at the start of the mission know they will not live long enough to see the completion of their mission, but the younger members will. The other knowing it will take the best part of their lifetime before they can return home.
The one thing I can say about this book, it's about the Journey not the destination, If you can stick out the technical bits it's Well worth the read and you'll be rewarded, and I bet you'll catch yourself looking up at the stars in the clear night sky for a little longer after reading this and wondering if... ^_~
I'm writing this from memory, I last read this over 5 years ago and think it's time I re-visited it again.
so the following is based om my memory of the story(I'm terrible at reviewing things so here goes...):
The Story is about 2 separate missions to visit alien worlds, these stories are seamlessly intertwined.
One mission is in hopes of their race surviving. The other is a journey of exploration and hopefully first contact.
The story starts with a historian boarding a craft about to embark on the first interstellar exploration and first contact mission. After intercepting a transmission from another world and subsequently finding a alien device on the moon the human race decides to contact the senders.
The stories of both missions are told, from the humans receiving the alien transmission and the subsequent incidents and innovations to the ill-fated alien missions to an early Earth in hopes of saving their race from extinction.
OK with the general story is out of the way...
The book is very technical in places, but that's the sort of thing I like! making this more "Science Faction" than "Science Fiction". everything is plausible, from the beginnings of cheap space-flights (as we're starting to see today!) to the power that propels crafts the light years between the stars. no McGuffin of Warp drive! or faster than light travel here, but for one of the journeys it's a slow rate of travel that takes a generation to make! Where the adults at the start of the mission know they will not live long enough to see the completion of their mission, but the younger members will. The other knowing it will take the best part of their lifetime before they can return home.
The one thing I can say about this book, it's about the Journey not the destination, If you can stick out the technical bits it's Well worth the read and you'll be rewarded, and I bet you'll catch yourself looking up at the stars in the clear night sky for a little longer after reading this and wondering if... ^_~
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2013
This ambitious novel weaves five narratives together to tell the epic story of mankind's encounter with the alien Tiberians. The Tiberians came to our solar system thousands of years ago but left behind only mysterious artifacts, most notably advanced information storage devices known as Encyclopedias. The story of the Tiberians's adventures on our world is framed by the tale of the humans's multi-generational effort to retrieve an Encyclopedia and use the data therein to seek out the homeworld of the Tiberians.
Buzz Aldrin's contribution is evident here. Although perhaps too detailed at times, the description of the politics and hardware involved in man's conquest of space is fascinating. A flaw of the novel becomes evident in the lengthy Tiberian mid-section, which probably came predominantly from co-author Steven Barnes. The aliens are far too human in their psychology-so much so that it is easy to forget that they are aliens at all. The novel ends beautifully on just the right note of mystery and romance as humankind, now fully matured as a star-faring race, seeks the elusive descendants of their ancient alien predecessors.
Buzz Aldrin's contribution is evident here. Although perhaps too detailed at times, the description of the politics and hardware involved in man's conquest of space is fascinating. A flaw of the novel becomes evident in the lengthy Tiberian mid-section, which probably came predominantly from co-author Steven Barnes. The aliens are far too human in their psychology-so much so that it is easy to forget that they are aliens at all. The novel ends beautifully on just the right note of mystery and romance as humankind, now fully matured as a star-faring race, seeks the elusive descendants of their ancient alien predecessors.
August 8, 2016
With a name like Buzz Aldrin on the cover I figured I needed to at least give it a shot. The story follows the first human mission to another star, and in flashbacks a human mission to the Moon that found alien artifacts, as well as two alien missions to Earth in prehistoric times.
Unexpectedly, this novel completely blew me away. The story is developed from two angles, human and alien. Interestingly enough, the two sides never meet as such, but impact on each other’s existence in various ways. While the aliens aren’t the most original, the alien characterisation is complex and well written, It is nice to read about well fleshed out characters who have deep, complex personalities on the “other” side. The tech is of course top notch (Buzz Aldrin!), but the real kicker here is the sheer epic scale of the story. After I finished it, I sat staring into empty space for a long time, my mind filled with wonder.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=103
Unexpectedly, this novel completely blew me away. The story is developed from two angles, human and alien. Interestingly enough, the two sides never meet as such, but impact on each other’s existence in various ways. While the aliens aren’t the most original, the alien characterisation is complex and well written, It is nice to read about well fleshed out characters who have deep, complex personalities on the “other” side. The tech is of course top notch (Buzz Aldrin!), but the real kicker here is the sheer epic scale of the story. After I finished it, I sat staring into empty space for a long time, my mind filled with wonder.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=103
July 11, 2017
I don't know why more people haven't read this book. I love it and have read it several times. Although I've read complaints about it being overly technical, I never found it to be so, and I frequently skim over those bits in other 'technical' SF stuff.
Love this story and every few years it calls my name, asking me to visit again.
Love this story and every few years it calls my name, asking me to visit again.
September 7, 2020
Space fiction written by an astronaut, based on real science, could it get any better? Outstanding story.
partly-read
October 28, 2017I picked this book up largely because I follow both authors on social media. Barnes strikes me as a wise, kind, and insightful person; Aldrin as an interesting character. The book taught me once again that liking someone's social media presence (or blog, or podcast interview) is only weakly correlated, at best, with liking their fiction. I abandoned it at 56%. I'll mention exactly why below.
"Write what you know" is a well-known piece of advice, but it can be taken too far, and that's how Aldrin takes it. There was far too much detail, for me, about what it's really like to travel in space. Some of this kind of thing would have been interesting, even if not every single piece of it was directly relevant to the story, but for my taste there was much too much. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of hard SF because of exactly this problem of too much exposition that doesn't advance the plot or characterisation, but is just there for its own sake.
There was also a piece of information included in the first part of the story that broke the narrative conceit (a memoir by the son of one of the main participants). By the nature of what happened immediately afterwards, nobody - certainly not the son - could have known that particular piece of information. Nor did it make any difference to anything.
So: the part I suspect was mainly Aldrin was overly detailed to the point of dullness, and made a basic narrative error. What about the second part, which I strongly suspect was mainly Barnes?
There was a good deal in it about racial prejudice, which is understandable; Barnes, an African-American, is also writing what he knows, and doing so in a way that makes it understandable to someone like me who hasn't experienced it first-hand. That was fine, and I was enjoying the story, more or less (it still wasn't that gripping), when all of a sudden the characters I'd been coming to like and empathize with first broke into sudden violence among themselves, and then went all Cortez on a group of (to them) aliens, who were in fact humans. Now, I know this kind of cruel, heartless attack has happened many times in history, and still happens in some times and places, but I wasn't expecting it here, particularly from the characters I was getting to like; it put me right off, and gave me the extra impetus to stop reading a book that I had been only mildly enjoying up to that point.
"Write what you know" is a well-known piece of advice, but it can be taken too far, and that's how Aldrin takes it. There was far too much detail, for me, about what it's really like to travel in space. Some of this kind of thing would have been interesting, even if not every single piece of it was directly relevant to the story, but for my taste there was much too much. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of hard SF because of exactly this problem of too much exposition that doesn't advance the plot or characterisation, but is just there for its own sake.
There was also a piece of information included in the first part of the story that broke the narrative conceit (a memoir by the son of one of the main participants). By the nature of what happened immediately afterwards, nobody - certainly not the son - could have known that particular piece of information. Nor did it make any difference to anything.
So: the part I suspect was mainly Aldrin was overly detailed to the point of dullness, and made a basic narrative error. What about the second part, which I strongly suspect was mainly Barnes?
There was a good deal in it about racial prejudice, which is understandable; Barnes, an African-American, is also writing what he knows, and doing so in a way that makes it understandable to someone like me who hasn't experienced it first-hand. That was fine, and I was enjoying the story, more or less (it still wasn't that gripping), when all of a sudden the characters I'd been coming to like and empathize with first broke into sudden violence among themselves, and then went all Cortez on a group of (to them) aliens, who were in fact humans. Now, I know this kind of cruel, heartless attack has happened many times in history, and still happens in some times and places, but I wasn't expecting it here, particularly from the characters I was getting to like; it put me right off, and gave me the extra impetus to stop reading a book that I had been only mildly enjoying up to that point.
April 24, 2020
Oh dear. I'm a great fan of Buzz and all he's done for our attempts to understand the cosmos, and I picked up this book expecting it to be a great read.
Sadly, it begins with a list of characters which ran into many pages. You start trying to absorb some of them but then realise that it should have been in a glossary at the back.
When it came to the book, I am very sorry to say that I gave up part way through. That is what reduced the stars from two to one. It is full of relatively interesting ideas and concepts, but the way it is written goes against everything I have ever learned as an author. Talk about 'show not tell' - this book is full of, not just for paragraphs, not just for pages, not just chapters, but seemingly throughout, unending narrative, much of which is so boring it is almost impossible not to skip.
I felt that I gave it a fair shot, but, frankly, life is too short to continue with it. Sorry Buzz.
Sadly, it begins with a list of characters which ran into many pages. You start trying to absorb some of them but then realise that it should have been in a glossary at the back.
When it came to the book, I am very sorry to say that I gave up part way through. That is what reduced the stars from two to one. It is full of relatively interesting ideas and concepts, but the way it is written goes against everything I have ever learned as an author. Talk about 'show not tell' - this book is full of, not just for paragraphs, not just for pages, not just chapters, but seemingly throughout, unending narrative, much of which is so boring it is almost impossible not to skip.
I felt that I gave it a fair shot, but, frankly, life is too short to continue with it. Sorry Buzz.
February 3, 2021
A super read, though same paragraphs are a little dense with information and background and because the first edition of the book was released in 1996, some events in our exploration of space that were forecast to take place in the early 21st century did not happen and may not happen until the mid to late 21st century. Minor details, this is fiction after all, so ignore the dates and enjoy the story and occasionally imagine what could be. What if, no, when, will we be contacted by the inhabitants of another planet and ... then what?
August 31, 2020
Wow! What a pleasure this book was to read! It gave me everything I want from science fiction: aspiration, characters caught in heartbreaking dilemmas, and the opportunity to learn something true. I can give no better enticement to read this book than a glance at its list of Dramatis Personae, which include "Clio Trgorin, historian," "Lori Kirsten, commander," and "General Gurix Zowakou, conqueror of Shulath." WHAT? Yeah. Read it!
January 31, 2015
Old School Hard Science Fiction
The hard science fiction novel Encounter with Tiber is an excellent example of the genre. It is literally packed with interesting science, engineering, and technological explanations.
It is basically two interwoven stories. The human part is in the present and near future (say, 60-70 years) and is concerned with the activities and people involved with the revived human attempts at space exploration and colonization. Two factors spur their efforts on: the privatization of space technology; and the reception of signals from a planet in the planetary system of Alpha Centauri A, part of a binary star system that’s about 4.3 light years (about 25.4 x 1012 miles or 43.0 x 1012 kilometers) away from Earth. The planet of origin of the signals is eventually named Tiber and its inhabitants become known as Tiberians.
The alien or Tiberian part of the book describes the extraterrestrials’ history, culture, biology & physiology, and political institutions in some detail. Because their planet is about to be rendered uninhabitable within a couple of centuries, they have been sending out robot probes to nearby star systems in a search for a suitable planet or planets to which they can migrate. Such a probe has previously examined Earth, and the transmitted data is so promising that a “manned” expedition is sent to reconnoiter the planet in person.
These two parts are woven together by a historian who is on the human starship that’s traveling to the Tiberians’ home system in the late 21st Century.
One character in particular, whom I guess was supposed to be a sympathetic character, was the astronaut and astronomer Chris Terence. Initially, he seemed to be a highly competent and brave astronaut. However, he proves himself to be supremely arrogant; he apparently thinks that the taxpayers should be happy to spend billions of dollars (with no expectation of any return whatsoever) solely so that scientists like him can "do science" and discover "what matters." In a later part of the book, Chris Terence proclaims that, in the 19th Century, the entire American West from Texas to Washington (state), should have been left "unspoiled," a fertile playground for anthropologists, geologists, and naturalists. Such an elitist hostility toward development turned me profoundly against him. But, hey, that's just my opinion. There is one scary possibility, however. Could Terence's elitist "pure science" attitude be NASA's official position today? That certainly would explain their less than stellar performance, over the last forty years, in advancing real (manned) space exploration, industrialization, and development.
I thought that it was quite astute of the authors to have the Tiberians’ actions on Earth serve as the seeds of various religious myths that would eventually be passed down through the millennia by humans. This was not done explicitly, but it was easy to pick out certain scenes (the runaway lander, the pillar of fire, the flood, the burning bush, the hovering lander(s), the Tiberians’ weapons) and imagine how the orally transmitted accounts of these events could have been distorted and embellished over time.
I've noticed that, in about 20% of the reviews of Encounter with Tiber, readers are complaining about the science, engineering, and technology that are liberally scattered throughout the book. Well, HELLO...! That's why it's called SCIENCE fiction.
The hard science fiction novel Encounter with Tiber is an excellent example of the genre. It is literally packed with interesting science, engineering, and technological explanations.
It is basically two interwoven stories. The human part is in the present and near future (say, 60-70 years) and is concerned with the activities and people involved with the revived human attempts at space exploration and colonization. Two factors spur their efforts on: the privatization of space technology; and the reception of signals from a planet in the planetary system of Alpha Centauri A, part of a binary star system that’s about 4.3 light years (about 25.4 x 1012 miles or 43.0 x 1012 kilometers) away from Earth. The planet of origin of the signals is eventually named Tiber and its inhabitants become known as Tiberians.
The alien or Tiberian part of the book describes the extraterrestrials’ history, culture, biology & physiology, and political institutions in some detail. Because their planet is about to be rendered uninhabitable within a couple of centuries, they have been sending out robot probes to nearby star systems in a search for a suitable planet or planets to which they can migrate. Such a probe has previously examined Earth, and the transmitted data is so promising that a “manned” expedition is sent to reconnoiter the planet in person.
These two parts are woven together by a historian who is on the human starship that’s traveling to the Tiberians’ home system in the late 21st Century.
One character in particular, whom I guess was supposed to be a sympathetic character, was the astronaut and astronomer Chris Terence. Initially, he seemed to be a highly competent and brave astronaut. However, he proves himself to be supremely arrogant; he apparently thinks that the taxpayers should be happy to spend billions of dollars (with no expectation of any return whatsoever) solely so that scientists like him can "do science" and discover "what matters." In a later part of the book, Chris Terence proclaims that, in the 19th Century, the entire American West from Texas to Washington (state), should have been left "unspoiled," a fertile playground for anthropologists, geologists, and naturalists. Such an elitist hostility toward development turned me profoundly against him. But, hey, that's just my opinion. There is one scary possibility, however. Could Terence's elitist "pure science" attitude be NASA's official position today? That certainly would explain their less than stellar performance, over the last forty years, in advancing real (manned) space exploration, industrialization, and development.
I thought that it was quite astute of the authors to have the Tiberians’ actions on Earth serve as the seeds of various religious myths that would eventually be passed down through the millennia by humans. This was not done explicitly, but it was easy to pick out certain scenes (the runaway lander, the pillar of fire, the flood, the burning bush, the hovering lander(s), the Tiberians’ weapons) and imagine how the orally transmitted accounts of these events could have been distorted and embellished over time.
I've noticed that, in about 20% of the reviews of Encounter with Tiber, readers are complaining about the science, engineering, and technology that are liberally scattered throughout the book. Well, HELLO...! That's why it's called SCIENCE fiction.
June 2, 2020
This is an outstanding work that will be perfect for those that enjoy the level of science that you find in "The Martian" but with a story that covers thousands of years and multiple planets. In order to keep the attention of the reader, the book is broken into sections that cross back and forth across the centuries with well-drawn and deep characterization, leading the reader to a satisfying conclusion without getting stuck in one era for too long.
The aliens, although being distinctly different from humanity, carry with them the same prejudices and racist attitudes that we face in some areas today, the same political inclinations on their home world as we have today and certainly have the same characters whose desire for power overshadows all else. For me this is what takes the story from just science fiction and a riveting good read, to something that is special and demanding of thought. They love as well as hate, and battle their own demons while in an interstellar spacecraft travelling for a dozen years or more and then later when they arrive on Earth at the dawn of human history and their encounter with primitive man.
It shows that if there are alien species that we meet as we make our presence in space know, they are unlikely to be all bad or all good. If this interests from this very brief summary, then I'm pretty certain you will enjoy this book.
The aliens, although being distinctly different from humanity, carry with them the same prejudices and racist attitudes that we face in some areas today, the same political inclinations on their home world as we have today and certainly have the same characters whose desire for power overshadows all else. For me this is what takes the story from just science fiction and a riveting good read, to something that is special and demanding of thought. They love as well as hate, and battle their own demons while in an interstellar spacecraft travelling for a dozen years or more and then later when they arrive on Earth at the dawn of human history and their encounter with primitive man.
It shows that if there are alien species that we meet as we make our presence in space know, they are unlikely to be all bad or all good. If this interests from this very brief summary, then I'm pretty certain you will enjoy this book.
June 29, 2020
This ambitious novel weaves five narratives together to tell the epic story of mankind's encounter with the alien Tiberians. The Tiberians came to our solar system thousands of years ago but left behind only mysterious artifacts, most notably advanced information storage devices known as Encyclopedias. The story of the Tiberians' adventures on our world is framed by the tale of the humans's multi-generational effort to retrieve an Encyclopedia and use the data therein to seek out the homeworld of the Tiberians.
Buzz Aldrin's contribution is evident here. Although perhaps too detailed at times, the description of the politics and hardware involved in man's conquest of space is fascinating. A flaw of the novel becomes evident in the lengthy Tiberian mid-section, which probably came predominantly from co-author Steven Barnes. The aliens are far too human in their psychology-so much so that it is easy to forget that they are aliens at all. The novel ends beautifully on just the right note of mystery and romance as humankind, now fully matured as a star-faring race, seeks the elusive descendants of their ancient alien predecessors.
https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot....
Buzz Aldrin's contribution is evident here. Although perhaps too detailed at times, the description of the politics and hardware involved in man's conquest of space is fascinating. A flaw of the novel becomes evident in the lengthy Tiberian mid-section, which probably came predominantly from co-author Steven Barnes. The aliens are far too human in their psychology-so much so that it is easy to forget that they are aliens at all. The novel ends beautifully on just the right note of mystery and romance as humankind, now fully matured as a star-faring race, seeks the elusive descendants of their ancient alien predecessors.
https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot....
May 7, 2019
This is a book best suited to be read by rocket scientists written by -- well, um -- a rocket scientist! The technical narrative went on and on and on and on, ad nauseam, unless you’re into that kind of stuff. The plot was interesting but jumped back and forth between timelines and characters which, for me, proved difficult to determine who was actually narrating the story. This could have been easily eliminated by simply putting the character’s name alongside the chapter title as the authors did with Clio Trigoran. Why they did not do this with the other characters is a mystery to me. On a positive note, the authors certainly offer a unique insight into the challenges, hardships, risks, and opportunities astronauts encounter while in space and leave the reader with thought-provoking questions about humanity’s future in space exploration, habitation on other planets, and the potential dangers and benefits of relationship with extraterrestrial beings, should they prove to exist.
October 30, 2012
A very good hard science fiction story.
May 15, 2020
This book was interesting, but ultimately unsatisfying.
The real strength of this book is discussion of the technical aspects of various lunar and extra-solar missions. If that's your thing, this is probably a good book for you. After all, it's written by somebody who really ought to know that stuff, and it shows. It's very readable, and does not drown you in technical information; it gives just enough to be interesting. There's lots of fascinating speculation about possibly-achievable technologies that are really quite cool. There's also a lot of interesting narrative about how various agencies and people work or do not work together (e.g., the swirling controversy over the names of the planets and aliens). Without these, I do not think I would have made it to the end.
This book has two main weaknesses: plot and character.
The story is really three almost-independent stories of different times, loosely tied together by a fourth narrative of the generation that builds on that. None of the stories follows the usual three-act formula for a plot, and it really would have been better if they had. The first story is the story of Chris Terence, scientist and astronaut, who is a key player in the discovery and deciphering of an alien signal from Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, he doesn't actually *do* much: there is no triumph (this part is basically a tragedy), but neither the successes nor the failures have all that much to do with him. The second part is the story of the aliens, thousands of years ago. This again is basically a tragedy, in this case caused by their own evil. The third part is back in our time; Chris Terence's son goes to Mars to help get the alien technology. Unfortunately, he doesn't actually *do* anything particularly noteworthy; they go there, nothing out of the ordinary happens, and they manage to get the alien goodies. The fourth, overarching narrative is the next generation's trip to the aliens' homeworld. Again, though, nothing happens. They get on the ship, they potter around for a few years, they arrive, and--well, that's the end, everybody!
The characters here are also weak. The aliens were simply awful; they started out as possibly sympathetic protagonists, but by the end you *wanted* them dead, along with all the humans they interacted with. That story was just a pile of ugliness with nothing redeeming it, and I never want to hear about those characters again. The human characters in the other stories started out as somewhat interesting. They could have been much more interesting if they ever *did* anything, e.g., had to make some difficult choices, or had to triumph over some tragedy, or face off against some bad person or force, or really if anything important happened to them and they had to cope.
This book was written before 2000, and it's about the early 2000s. Turns out, writing prophetically is hard. The predictions (even apart from the alien signal) were completely, laughably wrong. That doesn't necessarily doom an SF book, though; you can just think of it as alternate history. (But it's interesting to ask the question: why were their predictions about the direction of society, and the equalization of wealth, so completely wrong? They must have started with some wrong assumptions.)
The real strength of this book is discussion of the technical aspects of various lunar and extra-solar missions. If that's your thing, this is probably a good book for you. After all, it's written by somebody who really ought to know that stuff, and it shows. It's very readable, and does not drown you in technical information; it gives just enough to be interesting. There's lots of fascinating speculation about possibly-achievable technologies that are really quite cool. There's also a lot of interesting narrative about how various agencies and people work or do not work together (e.g., the swirling controversy over the names of the planets and aliens). Without these, I do not think I would have made it to the end.
This book has two main weaknesses: plot and character.
The story is really three almost-independent stories of different times, loosely tied together by a fourth narrative of the generation that builds on that. None of the stories follows the usual three-act formula for a plot, and it really would have been better if they had. The first story is the story of Chris Terence, scientist and astronaut, who is a key player in the discovery and deciphering of an alien signal from Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, he doesn't actually *do* much: there is no triumph (this part is basically a tragedy), but neither the successes nor the failures have all that much to do with him. The second part is the story of the aliens, thousands of years ago. This again is basically a tragedy, in this case caused by their own evil. The third part is back in our time; Chris Terence's son goes to Mars to help get the alien technology. Unfortunately, he doesn't actually *do* anything particularly noteworthy; they go there, nothing out of the ordinary happens, and they manage to get the alien goodies. The fourth, overarching narrative is the next generation's trip to the aliens' homeworld. Again, though, nothing happens. They get on the ship, they potter around for a few years, they arrive, and--well, that's the end, everybody!
The characters here are also weak. The aliens were simply awful; they started out as possibly sympathetic protagonists, but by the end you *wanted* them dead, along with all the humans they interacted with. That story was just a pile of ugliness with nothing redeeming it, and I never want to hear about those characters again. The human characters in the other stories started out as somewhat interesting. They could have been much more interesting if they ever *did* anything, e.g., had to make some difficult choices, or had to triumph over some tragedy, or face off against some bad person or force, or really if anything important happened to them and they had to cope.
This book was written before 2000, and it's about the early 2000s. Turns out, writing prophetically is hard. The predictions (even apart from the alien signal) were completely, laughably wrong. That doesn't necessarily doom an SF book, though; you can just think of it as alternate history. (But it's interesting to ask the question: why were their predictions about the direction of society, and the equalization of wealth, so completely wrong? They must have started with some wrong assumptions.)
September 8, 2023
Great book. Reads like an Arthur C. Clarke novel, very detailed and believable given the constraints of reality plus speculative (but possible) physics.
The book was in my queue to read for a long time, but I wasn't in the mood so it languished there. But then I got a recommendation for it, so I pushed forward and read it. I'm glad I did.
The story: It begins with Clio Trigorin who has been selected to be part of the crew to travel to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri AB, to seek out the ancient aliens who left clues to their existence on the Moon and Mars. It will be a long journey so she writes a book about her family's connection with this historic flight. The story line switches to Chris Terrance (her grand uncle) who lands on the Moon in order to bring back an ancient alien artifact discovered by earlier probes. In a later story line, Chris's son, Jason, pilots for the Mars expedition that extracts another ancient alien artifact. Interspersed is the alien story line of how and why the aliens came to Earth's solar system in ancient times, and what happened to them.
Any problems with the story? The aliens seemed to be a vehicle for the authors to make criticisms of various political structures: kingship, meritocracy, fascism/communism. Each has its faults, no doubt, but there seemed to be a suggestion that it was a progression with fascism/communism being the pinnacle. (Or perhaps the bottom.)
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but certainly the author, Buzz Aldrin, had plenty of experience with politics getting in the way of a good idea through dithering. My father used to repeat an old saying, "Do something, even if it is wrong." The aliens seemed to suffer from doing nothing for much too long and giving up too soon, leaving their people to suffer the consequences.
FYI, I am reminded of the book "Omega" by Jack McDevitt where Earth knows that a terrible catastrophe is coming to destroy them.... in 900 years. The author understood perfectly how a generation of politicians would react, those who would never feel the punishment of their neglect, nor the benefit of their initiative, to a predicted catastrophe that was to happen after they were long dead. Even their great great grandchildren would be long dead.
Back to a review of this book.
The other problem was that the aliens were not very lovable. Many of them did aspire to be good people, but despite the best of intentions... you know how that goes.
The ending was good but predictable. It also left a big opening for a sequel, but none is forthcoming as far as I know. Nevertheless, no big cliffhanger. I knew how it would end and it tied up the narrative nicely. Good job.
I might read this book again some day.
The book was in my queue to read for a long time, but I wasn't in the mood so it languished there. But then I got a recommendation for it, so I pushed forward and read it. I'm glad I did.
The story: It begins with Clio Trigorin who has been selected to be part of the crew to travel to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri AB, to seek out the ancient aliens who left clues to their existence on the Moon and Mars. It will be a long journey so she writes a book about her family's connection with this historic flight. The story line switches to Chris Terrance (her grand uncle) who lands on the Moon in order to bring back an ancient alien artifact discovered by earlier probes. In a later story line, Chris's son, Jason, pilots for the Mars expedition that extracts another ancient alien artifact. Interspersed is the alien story line of how and why the aliens came to Earth's solar system in ancient times, and what happened to them.
Any problems with the story? The aliens seemed to be a vehicle for the authors to make criticisms of various political structures: kingship, meritocracy, fascism/communism. Each has its faults, no doubt, but there seemed to be a suggestion that it was a progression with fascism/communism being the pinnacle. (Or perhaps the bottom.)
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but certainly the author, Buzz Aldrin, had plenty of experience with politics getting in the way of a good idea through dithering. My father used to repeat an old saying, "Do something, even if it is wrong." The aliens seemed to suffer from doing nothing for much too long and giving up too soon, leaving their people to suffer the consequences.
FYI, I am reminded of the book "Omega" by Jack McDevitt where Earth knows that a terrible catastrophe is coming to destroy them.... in 900 years. The author understood perfectly how a generation of politicians would react, those who would never feel the punishment of their neglect, nor the benefit of their initiative, to a predicted catastrophe that was to happen after they were long dead. Even their great great grandchildren would be long dead.
Back to a review of this book.
The other problem was that the aliens were not very lovable. Many of them did aspire to be good people, but despite the best of intentions... you know how that goes.
The ending was good but predictable. It also left a big opening for a sequel, but none is forthcoming as far as I know. Nevertheless, no big cliffhanger. I knew how it would end and it tied up the narrative nicely. Good job.
I might read this book again some day.
May 9, 2020
There are no less than three plot lines woven into this novel. One plays out in contemporary times. Humanity has located radio signals from a civilization a handful of lightyears distant, and some 9,ooo years in the past - the tiberians. Their world is doomed, but not for several centuries. They respond by sending first, automated probes to star systems that show promise of being able to support life. Promising systems are then to be send ships carrying teams to carry out exploration and make determinations of receptivity to support their kind. Earth is among the select targets.
Upon locating concrete evidence on the moon that the tiberians actually made it to earth, humanity sends out their own interstellar craft in hopes of meeting this new intelligent species and to discover why they disappeared so completely from their outposts in the solar system.
The other plot lines focus on the crews of the interstellar travelers of both species explore both species in greater depth, including their technology and psychology. The narrative introduces many individuals and details their story at some length. The contrast and similarities between humans and tiberians makes for some interesting reading.
This book also contains many explanations of scientific principles having to do with space and space travel. Too much for some readers, I'm sure.
This is a long book, but it captured my interest and I found the several plot lines interesting and even educational. The authors do a good job with character development and weaving interesting stories throughout.
Upon locating concrete evidence on the moon that the tiberians actually made it to earth, humanity sends out their own interstellar craft in hopes of meeting this new intelligent species and to discover why they disappeared so completely from their outposts in the solar system.
The other plot lines focus on the crews of the interstellar travelers of both species explore both species in greater depth, including their technology and psychology. The narrative introduces many individuals and details their story at some length. The contrast and similarities between humans and tiberians makes for some interesting reading.
This book also contains many explanations of scientific principles having to do with space and space travel. Too much for some readers, I'm sure.
This is a long book, but it captured my interest and I found the several plot lines interesting and even educational. The authors do a good job with character development and weaving interesting stories throughout.
June 14, 2019
There was a lot to like about this book. However, there was also some things that detracted from my enjoyment. Still, I'm giving it 4 stars because I really like good, hard science fiction and this is indeed the real stuff.
The good part....is it's written by an astronaut and one of the better hard science fiction writers of our time. They know their stuff and do it well. Aldrin's influence is in the NASA-oriented stuff and the projection of where it would have gone if the dollars would have been there. It's combined with a really good story of first contact and a followup that spans many millennia. Both parts of the story are well constructed and I really enjoyed them.
Here's my primary gripe...the story jumps around in time and it is hard to follow. This effect is further exacerbated by the very unusual names of some of the characters and multiple histories which you must try to keep straight. I found I got confused and I hate to go back and try to figure out who is who and what they were doing when....so I don't. I'm stubborn that way. So, I think my enjoyment was a little less than it could have been.
However, with that exception, it is a very well done story and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I recommend it to anyone who likes hard syfy and just warn you that its best that you plan on reading it over just a few days and that you pay close attention as you go through the story. Good reading!
The good part....is it's written by an astronaut and one of the better hard science fiction writers of our time. They know their stuff and do it well. Aldrin's influence is in the NASA-oriented stuff and the projection of where it would have gone if the dollars would have been there. It's combined with a really good story of first contact and a followup that spans many millennia. Both parts of the story are well constructed and I really enjoyed them.
Here's my primary gripe...the story jumps around in time and it is hard to follow. This effect is further exacerbated by the very unusual names of some of the characters and multiple histories which you must try to keep straight. I found I got confused and I hate to go back and try to figure out who is who and what they were doing when....so I don't. I'm stubborn that way. So, I think my enjoyment was a little less than it could have been.
However, with that exception, it is a very well done story and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I recommend it to anyone who likes hard syfy and just warn you that its best that you plan on reading it over just a few days and that you pay close attention as you go through the story. Good reading!
August 28, 2020
A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:
What the hell happened to the editor on this one? This is essentially a textbook interspersed with a short story. Let me explain.
The book is divided up between two stories: one about the space program over a 50 or 60 years, and the other story is about a group of aliens that once visited our neck of the woods. So let's take a look at the main story. The humans have found evidence of aliens and find out that they were once on Earth, the moon, and Mars. So we go and investigate and stuff happens. This should have been a short story, but instead, for every page you read relating to the story, you will read five pages of unnecessary detail. Most of the story could have been in footnotes, but because it wasn't, the story is choppy and without flow. I ended up skimming most of it just to get through it.
The second story, about the aliens, was meh. Aliens that are almost exactly like humans? Is this the old Star Trek? The whole story is pretty predictable and a thinly veiled take on our society and colonizing. The only interesting part was the loose connection to old biblical stories, and this could have made a much better story. Sort of a take on Zecharia Sitchin's work.
Overall, I wish I hadn't started this book because I can't really stop reading one once I'm passed a few pages. So I toiled through it, skimming plenty, to a pointless end. Don't make my mistake!
Skip it!
What the hell happened to the editor on this one? This is essentially a textbook interspersed with a short story. Let me explain.
The book is divided up between two stories: one about the space program over a 50 or 60 years, and the other story is about a group of aliens that once visited our neck of the woods. So let's take a look at the main story. The humans have found evidence of aliens and find out that they were once on Earth, the moon, and Mars. So we go and investigate and stuff happens. This should have been a short story, but instead, for every page you read relating to the story, you will read five pages of unnecessary detail. Most of the story could have been in footnotes, but because it wasn't, the story is choppy and without flow. I ended up skimming most of it just to get through it.
The second story, about the aliens, was meh. Aliens that are almost exactly like humans? Is this the old Star Trek? The whole story is pretty predictable and a thinly veiled take on our society and colonizing. The only interesting part was the loose connection to old biblical stories, and this could have made a much better story. Sort of a take on Zecharia Sitchin's work.
Overall, I wish I hadn't started this book because I can't really stop reading one once I'm passed a few pages. So I toiled through it, skimming plenty, to a pointless end. Don't make my mistake!
Skip it!
April 23, 2021
So apparently Buzz Aldrin wrote a science fiction novel (with help from Barnes), and not only is it massive in scale and page count, it’s excellent! I am confused at how this book has seemingly flown under the radar after all these years. This has got to be one of the most realistic hard sci-fi books I’ve read, depicting some really neat ideas of the near future of space flight (at least, near future for 1996, but hopefully it’s more accurately the near future for 2021 with how the last 20 years have gone..). While there are a lot of long info dumps, they were fascinating and it’s nice knowing that the author knows what they’re talking about.
Now, that would have already been a great book, but there is an entirely different book WITHIN this book, and it’s excellent as well! The story I’m speaking of chronicles the journey of a civilization from another star system to our own Earth looking for a new home. This isn’t just a short tangent, but literally an entire 300 page book set 10,000 years ago and telling the stories of several generations of “Tiberians.” While this story splits the book oddly and leaves the whole thing feeling a bit disjointed, I was captivated and impressed the entire way through.
Now, that would have already been a great book, but there is an entirely different book WITHIN this book, and it’s excellent as well! The story I’m speaking of chronicles the journey of a civilization from another star system to our own Earth looking for a new home. This isn’t just a short tangent, but literally an entire 300 page book set 10,000 years ago and telling the stories of several generations of “Tiberians.” While this story splits the book oddly and leaves the whole thing feeling a bit disjointed, I was captivated and impressed the entire way through.
August 29, 2022
My impression about the book changed 180° while reading it: at first it was so confusing and unclear that I only pushed through on the third try; the big, intimidating list of personas at the beginning only made it worse; then I was glad that I pushed on with the story since there is quite a number of unexpected turns and storylines there. The author Buzz Aldrin is actually an astronaut in the past and the second person to walk on our Moon, so the majority of the story unsurprisingly deals with and in space (huge, enormous, endless space), with occasional scientific explanations how some things could work; there are interesting views on civilizations, comparing Tiberians and us. It's impressive to be able to describe so many events during different epochs, with a good twist of several sub-stories. As a minor unbelievable thing, the setup on Earth for the required advancements of space travel (bring able to educate lots and lots of people to have all the new, necessary professions) is way too perfect, although not without China with its political crap here too. I definitely expected a continuation by the end, but there is no sequel book.
May 10, 2019
A great return to space
I found this novel to be not only very interesting but somewhat nostalgic.
The content is extremely detailed and above all realistic.
The nostalgia is due to my having been a GI engineer assigned to the space program in Huntsville Alabama from 1958 through 1960 in the guidance and control lab. At first as a part of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency which was replaced by the George C Marshall NASA center.
At that time I did not fully appreciate the significance of what we doing.
During that time the first satellite was launched and the start of the Saturn program thank God for having Wernher von Braun's foresight to guide and push the space agenda. And God Bless America.
I found this novel to be not only very interesting but somewhat nostalgic.
The content is extremely detailed and above all realistic.
The nostalgia is due to my having been a GI engineer assigned to the space program in Huntsville Alabama from 1958 through 1960 in the guidance and control lab. At first as a part of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency which was replaced by the George C Marshall NASA center.
At that time I did not fully appreciate the significance of what we doing.
During that time the first satellite was launched and the start of the Saturn program thank God for having Wernher von Braun's foresight to guide and push the space agenda. And God Bless America.
June 16, 2019
Great idea, lots of interesting science, but it didn't excite me. In the hands of Asimov or Stephen King or Carl Sagan, this could be a wonderful read. Instead, the storytelling was weak, the wonder lacking, the poetry absent. Hard SciFi can often suffer from this, and the result is a curious report detailing some events happening, then some more events happening - oh and some unmemorable characters for good measure. I'm guessing Aldrin's time with NASA - and his knowledge of its internal structures - was a constant preoccupation for the rest of his life, but there is a sense in which I just don't need to know any of this. Could have been more lean, more spare, more beautiful, considering it was based on a very good idea.
May 30, 2023
This was an interesting read. I enjoyed the Tiberian sections of the story quite a lot as it's a bit of a reverse first contact, where we see from their point of view what happens when they reach Earth and find Stone Age humans. The science and engineering concepts were interesting and always a hallmark of hard sci-fi stories. I found the cast too large for the narrower scope of the story (pretty much everyone is given a name, description, job, etc even if they never get any lines of dialogue) and the plot at times slowed down, but it was otherwise an enjoyable story. It makes me wish humanity was more united in its pursuit of knowledge and of a better tomorrow.
For a full review, check out my blog: https://strakul.blogspot.com/2023/05/...
For a full review, check out my blog: https://strakul.blogspot.com/2023/05/...
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