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Buying Time
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In the 21st century, immortality via the complex operation known as the Stileman Process is attainable by a few wealthy and determined individuals, but the motivations that drive humans to live forever remain shrouded in mystery until "immortals" Dallas Barr and Maria Marconi stumble across a dangerous secret and find themselves fleeing for their lives--which have suddenly
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Paperback, 304 pages
Published
June 1st 1990
by Avon Books
(first published June 1st 1989)
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A slick, intelligent story that moves at an exciting clip. Joe Haldeman's prose seemed less typical hard SF and more AA in the vein of Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy, or Clive Cussler...set in a near-future world. This is the third Joe Haldeman novel, after Mindbridge and Forever Peace, that I found to be under rated by fellow GR reviewers. Or worse, when the author's name comes up, it seems that most know Forever War, but few know little else. This book is proof positive that he has a helluva lot more
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A fast paced thriller set in the near future full of all kinds of interesting outgrowths from our current society. There's an island off Florida that's an anarchist haven & he gives credible reasons why it exists. Surveillance is pervasive, trips to NEO, Luna, Mars, & the asteroids are expensive, yet common place. Life extension is at the heart of this & he has some great thoughts on what the world would look like to really old people with young bodies. The conspiracy all revolves around the pro
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This is a well-written and fast-paced book that takes an old sf trope, immortality and its many consequences on society, and presents it in a near-future suspense/tech-thriller framing. The chapters alternate between two first-person narrators that are very well drawn characters, and the settings from Florida to Australia and beyond are well described. It's Haldeman at his most captivating and entertaining.
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I wanted to like this book, I've read a few Haldeman short stories and really enjoyed them. The story was uninteresting, the characters not well defined or likeable. It improved in the middle and I was just starting to get into it when out of the blue it ended. No real resolution or explanation of anything. Just a poorly written book. It's a near future story where humans can extend their life for 10 years through the Stileman process by giving Stileman all their money. A man can expose the Stil
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Mar 29, 2013
Frank
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
crime-mystery
This is one of the few books that I have enjoyed reading again. It is so full of interesting ideas and an action paced plot.
Even allowing for its age (28 years), this is a not-bad adventure perched atop a decent SF "what if" - except for the ending.
The "what if" is thoughtful: how would a near-immortality process have to work so that the Earth didn't fill up in a couple of generations?
The adventure is that there's a Bad Guy who doesn't like the setup the way it is, and will kill to change it.
OK ... but Haldeman, a solid and experienced writer even then, wraps it up with a highly implausible ending. (view spoiler ...more
The "what if" is thoughtful: how would a near-immortality process have to work so that the Earth didn't fill up in a couple of generations?
The adventure is that there's a Bad Guy who doesn't like the setup the way it is, and will kill to change it.
OK ... but Haldeman, a solid and experienced writer even then, wraps it up with a highly implausible ending. (view spoiler ...more
I like science fiction but am definitely not at expert.
To me this is almost science fiction. Why almost? Although there are science fiction elements like time travel and immortality The plot seems to point more to a standard conspiracy thriller.
I enjoyed some of the premise of reducing income inequality via immortality but this featured very little in the plot. It was fast paced and exciting but not terribly deep. I did not totally understand the ending but I still enjoyed reading the book. I ...more
To me this is almost science fiction. Why almost? Although there are science fiction elements like time travel and immortality The plot seems to point more to a standard conspiracy thriller.
I enjoyed some of the premise of reducing income inequality via immortality but this featured very little in the plot. It was fast paced and exciting but not terribly deep. I did not totally understand the ending but I still enjoyed reading the book. I ...more
Haldeman - when he's good, as with The Forever War, Camouflage and The Accidental Time Machine, he's pretty good; when he's bad, as with Mindbridge, Worlds, and this novel, he's really bad. Poorly structured and paced, with an out-of-left field biological deux ex machina at the end. A real disappointment.
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Haldeman always amazes me in the way he takes an old tried and true SiFi plot, in this case immortality, and the twists it till it is something else entirely. I am almost always surprised but never disappointed in a Haldeman Novel. If you haven't discovered this guy, grab a book. Very recommended
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One of my favourite "older" science fiction books. Immortality, conspiracies, space habitats -- there's a lot to like here. Physical immortality is available to the super-rich. The price: all that you have and own, at a minimum price of one million pounds signed over to the Stileman Foundation.
Dallas Barr, one of the oldest "immortals", is invited to some shadowy meetings of an "inner circle" of immortals and begins to discover that all is not as it seems. Pretty soon he's on the run with a pric ...more
Dallas Barr, one of the oldest "immortals", is invited to some shadowy meetings of an "inner circle" of immortals and begins to discover that all is not as it seems. Pretty soon he's on the run with a pric ...more
When it comes to science fiction, it's becoming ever harder to build visionary story concepts. This is evident in Joe Haldeman's Buying Time.
It's not to say the book has no space for advanced ideas. It has a lot of them, albeit not truly original. In essence, the concept of immortality has been tackled before and this time wasn't a space for unpredictable "twists". Despite the flaws, Joe Haldeman remains a talented and engaging writer largely because of the inborn talent for vivid descriptions a ...more
It's not to say the book has no space for advanced ideas. It has a lot of them, albeit not truly original. In essence, the concept of immortality has been tackled before and this time wasn't a space for unpredictable "twists". Despite the flaws, Joe Haldeman remains a talented and engaging writer largely because of the inborn talent for vivid descriptions a ...more
Earlier this year I read The Forever War for the first time after having read Starship Troopers. So when there was a Humble Bundle with a bunch of books I didn't care about, but which had a book by Joe Haldeman, I jumped on the bundle.
Having read these two books, the biggest thing I've noticed abut Joe is that he is GREAT at world-building. It doesn't mean the story suffers, but I almost want to read more to wander around his worlds than I do for the story to continue. What's the world here? So ...more
Having read these two books, the biggest thing I've noticed abut Joe is that he is GREAT at world-building. It doesn't mean the story suffers, but I almost want to read more to wander around his worlds than I do for the story to continue. What's the world here? So ...more
A fun SF story about a well-thought out immortality and it's effect on personality, society, and financials. The book has plenty of story, action, and plot twists that keep it very interesting as the science is broken down. The characters are great, but don't hold too much personality. While it is a very good book, it is not as good as Forever War. SF fans should still check out this book though.
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Immortality means signing off your fortune to the Stileman clinics, and you need to rejuvenate every 10 years. What is immortality and how does it affect the individuals and the human civilization? Discuss. Perhaps also read a bit from this single novel by Joe Haldeman, that should have been a series. But sadly is not. It feels just as a beginning of a journey.
I've gotten to the point as a reader where I will not soldier through a bad book. I don't care WHO recommended it or how many awards it received! If I am bored, then I'm not going to waste my time with it any more. Such was this book, my 2nd Haldeman after his good but overrated Forever War (which was far less interesting the 2nd time I read it).
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Written 30 years ago, does not hold up well.
Forever Peace was my introduction to Haldenan, followed by Forever War. Given my enjoyment of those books, when I saw this pop up in my Bookbub feed I bought it. Unfortunately this book doesn't live up to the expectations set by those titles.
The story itself is a decent enough "Lazarus" tale with an overall "on the run" action plot, but in execution it fails to stick the landing. The world building is vague and minimal, many characters are poorly defined, several plot points are resolved by what ...more
The story itself is a decent enough "Lazarus" tale with an overall "on the run" action plot, but in execution it fails to stick the landing. The world building is vague and minimal, many characters are poorly defined, several plot points are resolved by what ...more
Haldeman, Joe. Buying Time. Morrow, 1989.
The human genome project and the possibilities of genetic engineering were topics of discussion in the late 1980s. Science fiction writers of the period were fascinated. Larry Niven was writing his organlegging stories. Anne McGaffrey had a 1990 story in which street kids were stockpiled for body parts, and Octavia Butler was writing her Bloodchild and Xenogenesis stories, which used the biotechnology as a wat to explore human sexuality and power structur ...more
The human genome project and the possibilities of genetic engineering were topics of discussion in the late 1980s. Science fiction writers of the period were fascinated. Larry Niven was writing his organlegging stories. Anne McGaffrey had a 1990 story in which street kids were stockpiled for body parts, and Octavia Butler was writing her Bloodchild and Xenogenesis stories, which used the biotechnology as a wat to explore human sexuality and power structur ...more
This is an older book, but I know I read a recommendation for it somewhere, recently. It reminded me a bit of the movie "In Time" with Justin Timberlake. In this novel, those with the most money can "buy" an extra decade of life at a time, paying a million dollars to undergo a rejuvenation surgery. But the corporation that takes their money in exchange for longer life has some secrets.
It's an interesting adventure story, including space travel, as a couple who knows too much flees the company ...more
It's an interesting adventure story, including space travel, as a couple who knows too much flees the company ...more
Gift from Amy | Somewhat muddled, and an abrupt ending | I don't really see the point of using alternating first person perspectives, if each chapter is going to end with a couple paragraphs of third person omniscient. The weird condom ad scripts were idiotic and unnecessary, and there were a few other pointless style diversions that should have been edited out. There were a few sections that sped right along and were interesting and engaging, then the book just...stopped. No proper wrap-up and
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This is what I call a late classic sf novel, a grand tour of the Marvelous Future thanks to a preserved specimen of our primitive outlook present in a world of possibilities. I am partial to a teeming solar system, and the ideas in this story come thick and quick, so I may not have the objectivity to hedge this one. There are aspects I didn't like, but overall I enjoyed this bit of techno-optimism. Haldeman has a cynical wit tempered by a gentle regard for human frailty, so his authorial voice i
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I pushed through. I don't know why. I kept thinking of quitting. Instead, I increased the speed on my audiobook software and pushed through. This book is a long an elaborate cat and mouse chase from start to finish. Nothing wrong with that per se, but I never got to a stage where O cared about what happened to the characters. They're old, having gone through a regeneration/ life-prolonging procedure multiple times. They need to come up with a million every ten years, which they manage to do in d
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This is a macho thriller dressed in science fiction clothes. Half the story is narrated by a woman, but she feels like she was written by a man. The plot is good. The pacing is excellent. The characters are OK, but not very original so I wasn't drawn to any of them, and the vision of future society is mildly interesting but not thought out deeply enough to really get me thinking about its implications.
I used to read books like this all the time and loved them, as I got a bit older I decided that ...more
I used to read books like this all the time and loved them, as I got a bit older I decided that ...more
Not HIS Best, Kind Of a Slog.
Haldeman's books and stories are really a mixed bag, ranging from stone cold classics like The Forever War to almost unreadable crap, to middle of the road snoozers like this one. I don't get it, his range from good to bad is almost unfathomable, as if at times he can't tell the difference between the two himself-like much of Heinlein's latter day work. But when he's good he is still one of the best we've got and I shall remain a fan until one of us drops. ...more
Haldeman's books and stories are really a mixed bag, ranging from stone cold classics like The Forever War to almost unreadable crap, to middle of the road snoozers like this one. I don't get it, his range from good to bad is almost unfathomable, as if at times he can't tell the difference between the two himself-like much of Heinlein's latter day work. But when he's good he is still one of the best we've got and I shall remain a fan until one of us drops. ...more
This is almost science fiction. Why almost? Well the science fiction elements are there; immortality and space travel but these seem to be minor plot points in a standard conspiracy thriller. I enjoyed some of the premise of reducing income inequality via immortality but this featured very little in the plot. It was fast paced and exciting but not terribly deep. Also the finale relies entirely on a wild previously unknown factor which feels a little lazy.
I read this after reading his Forever War which was very good. This one was more interesting and less mind-blowing. Someone invents a process to let people live forever but only in 100 year increments that requires people to give up all their money every 10 years to a foundation that seems benevolent but has something sinister going on. The protagonists learn to much, are hunted, and eventually triumph in a predictable way -- but the journey is quite good along the way with decent ideas.
The first Haldeman's book I'd read was the celebrated The Forever War. I had to start that one twice, and never managed to finish it, so I was worried about this one.
Turns out it's an excellent book. Thought about giving it 4*, but come to think of it, I always looked forward to reading some more, and I did like the ending, so why not bump it to 5. ...more
Turns out it's an excellent book. Thought about giving it 4*, but come to think of it, I always looked forward to reading some more, and I did like the ending, so why not bump it to 5. ...more
"And then Star Captain Hugepenis pissed on another uppity riffraff corpse before making love to an exceedingly beautiful woman "
The above is not an exact quote from the book. But it's close enough. ...more
The above is not an exact quote from the book. But it's close enough. ...more
Started out interesting but soon turned boring. Ending was so rushed and unexciting it may have set a record! Did the author run out of time and just wing a quick ending? That's sure how it seemed. Interesting things contained within but they are overshadowed by the failed plot.
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I loved the forver war and so ddecided to broaden my reading of haldeman. buying time does does not disappoint. great story with great ideas. i felt it was little rushed at the end but...what do i know? This book would make a great movie.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's the Name o...: SOLVED. SciFi / You can buy new cleaned organs for 1 million dollars. Main character goes on to live many lifetimes because he's able to get new organs several times over. [s] | 5 | 25 | 28. Mai, 00:45 Uhr |
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Haldeman is the author of 20 novels and five collections. The Forever War won the Nebula, Hugo and Ditmar Awards for best science fiction novel in 1975. Other notable titles include Camouflage, The Accidental Time Machine and Marsbound as well as the short works "Graves," "Tricentennial" and "The Hemingway Hoax." Starbound is scheduled for a January release. SFWA pres ...more
Haldeman is the author of 20 novels and five collections. The Forever War won the Nebula, Hugo and Ditmar Awards for best science fiction novel in 1975. Other notable titles include Camouflage, The Accidental Time Machine and Marsbound as well as the short works "Graves," "Tricentennial" and "The Hemingway Hoax." Starbound is scheduled for a January release. SFWA pres ...more
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