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The Genesis Quest
(Genesis Quest #1)
by
The first title in ibooks' reissues of classic science fiction adventures by bestselling author Donald Moffit! After intercepting a message from Earth, Nar scientists have learned the secret of human life. The alien species understands everything about human technology and culture and uses this knowledge to build on each breakthrough until they succeed in re-creating
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Paperback, 416 pages
Published
March 1st 2003
by iBooks
(first published 1986)
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Reading this book made me really weirded out by just about every aspect of human culture I happened to focus on or notice, as I tried to abstract it from the setting in which I found it, and imagine what information or impression could possibly be gleaned from it by an entity without all the background knowledge I have.
My idea of a sci fi classic
I read this book I don't know how many years , not long after i graduated from university with a biology degree. It used a lot of pretty up to date concepts in genetic engineering. While time hasn't been entirely kind to the science the story remains just as imaginative and believable as it was all those years ago. This is a universe that doesn't take shortcuts like other science fiction. Whether the Nar are possible they really sound like people I'd be glad to meet. ...more
I read this book I don't know how many years , not long after i graduated from university with a biology degree. It used a lot of pretty up to date concepts in genetic engineering. While time hasn't been entirely kind to the science the story remains just as imaginative and believable as it was all those years ago. This is a universe that doesn't take shortcuts like other science fiction. Whether the Nar are possible they really sound like people I'd be glad to meet. ...more
Interesting story and concepts centered on a kind of mopey and weirdly passive protagonist. Story is worth it for the world building, but I kept putting the book down in disgust at how much of a general weenie the main character was being. Having said this I also bought the second book in this series so the story was still compelling.
A lot of politics for such a short book. But very believable if this came to pass. Was really sad there was no audible version!
Interesting concept, and very believable commentary on the essential nature of man (violent), but I just couldn't engage with it on an emotional level.
Bram is the protagonist, a human raised by a long-lived species called the Nar. The Nar look like big flowers with 10 petals - 5 above the waist and 5 below, with a belt of eyes around the waist area. They communicate with each other by touch through highly sophisticated cilia. They can also speak human language. The Nar actually received the ...more
Bram is the protagonist, a human raised by a long-lived species called the Nar. The Nar look like big flowers with 10 petals - 5 above the waist and 5 below, with a belt of eyes around the waist area. They communicate with each other by touch through highly sophisticated cilia. They can also speak human language. The Nar actually received the ...more
So I've worked my way though this book. I can't say I like it. There are interesting aspects, the underlying concept is interesting...aliens catch the transmission of a genetic code, re-build it, and boom, humans, in another galaxy. I like some of the more out there science fiction concepts... Including the space ships. Moffitt must really have liked Niven, that's all I can say there.
But I can't like the protagonist. The human rebels I can understand...but the protagonist is a wet sponge, with ...more
But I can't like the protagonist. The human rebels I can understand...but the protagonist is a wet sponge, with ...more
After intercepting a message from Earth, Nar scientists have learned the secret of human life. The alien species understands everything about human technology and culture and uses this knowledge to build on each breakthrough until they succeed in re-creating humans. Now they encourage their "pets" to evolve within the alien community and learn the mysteries of the galaxy, but prohibit any knowledge of the planet Earth itself. Bram has always dreamed of traveling to the forbidden planet. Although
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Interesting ideas and likeable aliens, so a great read. One minor quibble is that humans supposedly sent a radio transmission to the Virgo cluster of galaxies but the signal is detected by aliens in the Whirlpool Galaxy, which is in a completely different area of sky. How this happened is never explained! Having read three of the author's books, I find that he is prone to making strange errors, but despite that I can recommend the book (and its sequel).
It's not a bad book, but I couldn't get that interested in all the technological jargon. I'm not usually turned off by that kind of thing, but... i dunno. Bad execution?
Also, the Nar, are too... perfect, for my taste. It's claimed that in order to be able to evolve, in any world, you need to be the perfect predator. I'm not sure if it's true, but I felt them too mellow to survive in any kind of survival-of-the-fittest world.
Also, the Nar, are too... perfect, for my taste. It's claimed that in order to be able to evolve, in any world, you need to be the perfect predator. I'm not sure if it's true, but I felt them too mellow to survive in any kind of survival-of-the-fittest world.
Stunning.
Aliens ! My favorite.
Recommended by author Greg Bear
Recommended by author Greg Bear
Somewhat complex story about mixing humans and other races. A brilliant concept but the book never quite takes off.
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Donald Moffitt was born in Boston and now lives in rural Maine with his wife, Ann, a native of Connecticut. A former public relations executive, industrial filmmaker, and ghostwriter, he has been writing fiction on and off for more than twenty years under an assortment of pen names, including his own, chiefly espionage novels and adventure stories in international settings. His first full-length
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