What do you think?
Rate this book
Steven Gordon #1
Teardrops In The Night Sky
Pursued across the great barrier, two self-aware ships and their crews escape with their lives from marauding pirates; but the neutrons from our solar system are deadly to the crews and the ships are soon left desolate and alone. On hearing a distant signal they follow it to Earth.
On Earth young Steven Gordon, a child protegee, is nearly killed in a horrific crash. After being told he will remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life, his family witness true courage as Steven battles his way back from the brink. Years later he takes up a job with a lifelong friend as a night security guard, but gone is the genius that was the boy. The stage is now set for a miracle and an adventure of a lifetime. Join Steven as he reaches for the sky.
On Earth young Steven Gordon, a child protegee, is nearly killed in a horrific crash. After being told he will remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life, his family witness true courage as Steven battles his way back from the brink. Years later he takes up a job with a lifelong friend as a night security guard, but gone is the genius that was the boy. The stage is now set for a miracle and an adventure of a lifetime. Join Steven as he reaches for the sky.
376 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 2, 2013
131 people are currently reading
150 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
September 9, 2015
This is a book where the whole is definitely much greater than the parts. If I were to rate purely on the whole, I'd have to give it 5 stars. But individual elements are too annoying. First, the author is in desperate need of an editor. He states he couldn't afford one (and I understand that), but there are people who will beta a work for free. There's software programs that will help. He avails himself of none of them.
Second, the author needs to grow up in his world view, at least as it comes across in his work. For instance, every "bad" character is American, and every "great" character is Scottish. Really? That kind of black and white writing is dull. On top of that, he cannot manage to make his bad characters anything more than two-dimensional caricatures (and bad ones at that).
Third, and along the lines of the second, more research is needed by this author in a number of areas, including the inner-workings of the military and government.
With all that said, I still completed the book and even read the second one. Unfortunately, much of his problems in the first book, continue into the second book. Even so, the concept of the story and the overall telling is enjoyable and worth the read.
Second, the author needs to grow up in his world view, at least as it comes across in his work. For instance, every "bad" character is American, and every "great" character is Scottish. Really? That kind of black and white writing is dull. On top of that, he cannot manage to make his bad characters anything more than two-dimensional caricatures (and bad ones at that).
Third, and along the lines of the second, more research is needed by this author in a number of areas, including the inner-workings of the military and government.
With all that said, I still completed the book and even read the second one. Unfortunately, much of his problems in the first book, continue into the second book. Even so, the concept of the story and the overall telling is enjoyable and worth the read.
July 7, 2016
Not perfect, but not bad at all, it made me laugh heartily, several times!
June 18, 2016
Overall, not a bad story, though there were too many problems for me to enjoy it fully.
Other than the desperate need for editing, there were some inconsistencies throughout that need to be revisited if this book has any hope.
Character descriptions are far too two-dimensional, with too much standing around and 'grinning' which quickly becomes cheesy and annoying. Perhaps a broadening smile now and again might have worked much better.
The story started off so well, with the ships appearing and being AI and creating intrigue and excitement, that I was disappointed when the focus became something as mundane as worldly issues about American political agenda versus the wonderful Scottish ability to see reason.
The main character's transformation from broken and childlike to pure genius reminded me too much of 'The Lawnmower Man' but not as believable. The main character himself actually was arrogant and annoying a lot of the time.
There were some really good parts to the story, perhaps with a really good editor, this book could easily go from 3 star to 4 star.
I appreciate that the author cites affordability as an issue, but the answer to that is don't write a book and publish it without editing and expect anything more than a 3 star review as a result. Because 5 star books are well-edited with little to no structural issues, character flaws or plot holes and with a little investment, this could have gone way beyond that.
Other than the desperate need for editing, there were some inconsistencies throughout that need to be revisited if this book has any hope.
Character descriptions are far too two-dimensional, with too much standing around and 'grinning' which quickly becomes cheesy and annoying. Perhaps a broadening smile now and again might have worked much better.
The story started off so well, with the ships appearing and being AI and creating intrigue and excitement, that I was disappointed when the focus became something as mundane as worldly issues about American political agenda versus the wonderful Scottish ability to see reason.
The main character's transformation from broken and childlike to pure genius reminded me too much of 'The Lawnmower Man' but not as believable. The main character himself actually was arrogant and annoying a lot of the time.
There were some really good parts to the story, perhaps with a really good editor, this book could easily go from 3 star to 4 star.
I appreciate that the author cites affordability as an issue, but the answer to that is don't write a book and publish it without editing and expect anything more than a 3 star review as a result. Because 5 star books are well-edited with little to no structural issues, character flaws or plot holes and with a little investment, this could have gone way beyond that.
November 14, 2015
Teardrops in the night sky
Just finished this book and was totally engaged with the story. Found that the way the author told it was outstanding and loved the way that the characters were made almost life like once I got started I just wanted to keep going to find out what happened next can't wait to read the next book.
Just finished this book and was totally engaged with the story. Found that the way the author told it was outstanding and loved the way that the characters were made almost life like once I got started I just wanted to keep going to find out what happened next can't wait to read the next book.
January 19, 2016
A good read
If you like Sci-fi then this is worth reading. It harks back to the original Sci-fi before 'magic' took over everything. I ended up reading until the wee small hours without realising!
If you like Sci-fi then this is worth reading. It harks back to the original Sci-fi before 'magic' took over everything. I ended up reading until the wee small hours without realising!
October 17, 2021
To me good writing is about creating interesting characters in an interesting world with LOGICAL CONSISTENCY. Here the author warps the world he creates to tell astory of disposing a Trumpesque US President. The story starts with two intergalactic (so not just interstellar) sentient ships losing their crews. The ships then decide that there are too many dangers to return home without their crews, so they head to earth. How does this make sense???? If you want a ship that virtually can’t operate without a crew WHY WOULD YOU MAKE IT SENTIENT???? That’s just a waste of resources and even earth’s current low-level of tech can produce unmanned probes. Is this author seriously claiming that his aliens don’t have a level of tech between sentient and nothing???? Further the sentient ships choose the unknown dangers ahead of them versus the known dangers of returning home. Granted that may be reasonable but the author doesn’t let the reader know if it is or isn’t, he just has the ships declare too much danger behind so we’re heading to earth.
Upon reaching earth the vastly intelligent ships study the earth for years. They are, however, unable to figure out how to place a call or send an email so they just land in the US. The stupidity of this is mind boggling. The author clearly contrives this fiasco so as to artificially create conflict between the MC and an essentially insane US President. The insane US President sends an insane scientist to study the ships and the insane scientist takes a sledge hammer to one of the ships shortly before pulling a gun and shooting the MC’s mom.
In general the villains are the worst part of this book (and that is saying something). They are all just insane with no other motivation than insanity. Take the insane scientist the President sent. This scientist has had no interaction with the MC’s parents other than reading their scientific papers. Based on this the insane scientist has decided he hates the MC’s parents enough to murder one in cold blood?????
You know what, I’m done putting effort into this review. I was just attempting to look up the passage confirming my memory of the insane scientist but this book doesn’t deserve the effort. (Who is reviewing this book? It currently has a 4.1 rating from 835 reviewers which I cannot fathom.) I have one last issue which is too big a part of the story to ignore: THE MC’s INSANE FIXATION ON THE USA (and this is coming from a US citizen).
MC and co. have save MC's father from insane US President who was going to kill MC’s father if MC didn’t turn over the spaceships. MC has the ENTIRE UNIVERSE available to him and all he can do is sit and bemoan the fact that US President is hostile to him. The MC just ignores the fact that the EU would be his best partner anyhow since it is already a conglomeration of countries like the MC is hoping to create. But the author just has his MC endlessly harp on how the US is best place to set up for space research, if only marginally so. SO WHAT???? Set up in India or create a coalition of nations supportive of the MC’s efforts and set up there. Set up in Africa, the arctic and Antarctica (just these three locations would spread US troops to the point of breaking). But the author just pretends such actions are impossible because the US would send in troops, as if such action wouldn’t play into the MC’s hands. Frankly it would have been a more interesting story for the MC to just set up base after base until the US has invaded, say 15 countries. Then building a coalition would have been easy. Plus the MC’s fixation on the US causes him to automatically rule out China and Russia, which is just stupid.
The MC’s fixation on the US is clearly just the author warping the story yet again so he can have his MC takedown an insane US President. What is perhaps the worst part of this story is the author has the MC take on this problem at all. The MC already has friendly contacts with two Prime Ministers. The MC could probably spend a day making calls to world leaders and solve this problem (or a single address the UN via video). But wait, if the author went to all this trouble he must have a great resolution in the offing, right? No, the MC just threatens the US President on live worldwide tv and starts space tourism and this somehow magically resolves all problems with zero blowback. As if the vast majority of US citizens would not be incensed by having their President threatened?????? I hate that Donald Trump ever soiled the Oval Office but, as they say in the military, you salute the rank, not the personl. Point being, I would have been offended by the MC's behavior toward the President had such a thing occurred in real life. In short, this resolution is so moronic words fail me.
Other issues that deserve mention: The intergalactic spaceships have stealth and yet were always detected wherever they went?????? The big issue was food, but that simply seems to be because the MC couldn’t think about anything other than processed food from the US and its allies. The MC could have just scooped up a bunch of fish in the middle of the ocean and/or a bunch of plants from a jungle and have enough organic matter for years. Frankly the MC could have just hired some people via the internet to sell his gold and place truckloads full of food somewhere. (Non-living things like gold and food can be beamed up and down by the spaceships.)
Bottom line: One of the worst books I’ve read all the way through. Little to no thought put into how things would actually work in the world the author describes.
Upon reaching earth the vastly intelligent ships study the earth for years. They are, however, unable to figure out how to place a call or send an email so they just land in the US. The stupidity of this is mind boggling. The author clearly contrives this fiasco so as to artificially create conflict between the MC and an essentially insane US President. The insane US President sends an insane scientist to study the ships and the insane scientist takes a sledge hammer to one of the ships shortly before pulling a gun and shooting the MC’s mom.
In general the villains are the worst part of this book (and that is saying something). They are all just insane with no other motivation than insanity. Take the insane scientist the President sent. This scientist has had no interaction with the MC’s parents other than reading their scientific papers. Based on this the insane scientist has decided he hates the MC’s parents enough to murder one in cold blood?????
You know what, I’m done putting effort into this review. I was just attempting to look up the passage confirming my memory of the insane scientist but this book doesn’t deserve the effort. (Who is reviewing this book? It currently has a 4.1 rating from 835 reviewers which I cannot fathom.) I have one last issue which is too big a part of the story to ignore: THE MC’s INSANE FIXATION ON THE USA (and this is coming from a US citizen).
MC and co. have save MC's father from insane US President who was going to kill MC’s father if MC didn’t turn over the spaceships. MC has the ENTIRE UNIVERSE available to him and all he can do is sit and bemoan the fact that US President is hostile to him. The MC just ignores the fact that the EU would be his best partner anyhow since it is already a conglomeration of countries like the MC is hoping to create. But the author just has his MC endlessly harp on how the US is best place to set up for space research, if only marginally so. SO WHAT???? Set up in India or create a coalition of nations supportive of the MC’s efforts and set up there. Set up in Africa, the arctic and Antarctica (just these three locations would spread US troops to the point of breaking). But the author just pretends such actions are impossible because the US would send in troops, as if such action wouldn’t play into the MC’s hands. Frankly it would have been a more interesting story for the MC to just set up base after base until the US has invaded, say 15 countries. Then building a coalition would have been easy. Plus the MC’s fixation on the US causes him to automatically rule out China and Russia, which is just stupid.
The MC’s fixation on the US is clearly just the author warping the story yet again so he can have his MC takedown an insane US President. What is perhaps the worst part of this story is the author has the MC take on this problem at all. The MC already has friendly contacts with two Prime Ministers. The MC could probably spend a day making calls to world leaders and solve this problem (or a single address the UN via video). But wait, if the author went to all this trouble he must have a great resolution in the offing, right? No, the MC just threatens the US President on live worldwide tv and starts space tourism and this somehow magically resolves all problems with zero blowback. As if the vast majority of US citizens would not be incensed by having their President threatened?????? I hate that Donald Trump ever soiled the Oval Office but, as they say in the military, you salute the rank, not the personl. Point being, I would have been offended by the MC's behavior toward the President had such a thing occurred in real life. In short, this resolution is so moronic words fail me.
Other issues that deserve mention: The intergalactic spaceships have stealth and yet were always detected wherever they went?????? The big issue was food, but that simply seems to be because the MC couldn’t think about anything other than processed food from the US and its allies. The MC could have just scooped up a bunch of fish in the middle of the ocean and/or a bunch of plants from a jungle and have enough organic matter for years. Frankly the MC could have just hired some people via the internet to sell his gold and place truckloads full of food somewhere. (Non-living things like gold and food can be beamed up and down by the spaceships.)
Bottom line: One of the worst books I’ve read all the way through. Little to no thought put into how things would actually work in the world the author describes.
August 27, 2015
This book was a GREAT read. the people in the story were well thought out. Story was refreshing to read. I hope Jim puts out several more books in this series.
January 7, 2022
The book started really well, but as the investigation into the two spacecraft degenerated into chaos I began to wonder where the author was going with this story.
For a time I was becoming quite irritated until I just accepted that this was a ‘fun’ story with lots and lots of inconsistencies.
There were still several things that I didn’t like, such as Haley being referred to as 'the pretty blonde' on several occasions and the assumption that the soldiers could only be male.
However even with all its faults it was an enjoyable read and I will be trying the next one in the series.
For a time I was becoming quite irritated until I just accepted that this was a ‘fun’ story with lots and lots of inconsistencies.
There were still several things that I didn’t like, such as Haley being referred to as 'the pretty blonde' on several occasions and the assumption that the soldiers could only be male.
However even with all its faults it was an enjoyable read and I will be trying the next one in the series.
May 16, 2019
Teardrops in the Night Sky by J.W. Murison
My ever increasing love to hate list just keeps expanding. I hesitate to review this novel for a number of reasons. The least of those being that I easily cower from those authors who take umbrage with my views. That much said when I read this I had bias in mind because I always read the 1 star and 2 star reviews and there are plenty of those to go around. I could easily agree with many of those, which is actually unusual, and when I reached the end of the story I had this bad taste while I wondered what I truthfully found wrong with the whole thing. The first thing that comes to mind is that the main character was a Marty Stu--you know that perfect child protegee genius who in this case overcame some really dramatic stumbling blocks to become once again the brilliant and much loved character whose charisma draws everyone eventually on his side while those who are evil are portrayed as the blackest of evil and will never be on his side...which is always the good side. Of course there are some structural problems in grammar and spelling and missing words and homophones, but I won't cover those because I also checked the authors response to those and since he has no personal interest in fixing them beyond sending you to his publisher and I have no interest in sending a list to his 'publisher'. Also the publisher in question is equivocal to self publishing so it's too confusing because the author is really the publisher.
I read this book twice, because I needed to know, before review, what was really wrong. And it's a good thing that I did this, because I learned a lot. I loved portions of this book and even the core idea or theme and I think, despite some of the harsh words, there is enough there to satisfy many readers of science fiction. The main problem for me is the omniscient point of view. That POV in and of itself is not bad, but it does need to be done well to capture the reader and this one didn't do that for me. A problem with omniscient POV is that it lends itself easily to head hopping, which again in and of itself, is not necessarily bad--just difficult to write. Along with that there is both omniscient objective and subjective and it works best for me when author chooses one or the other; and I have this feeling that this work is a blend of both that telescopes in and out of many character's heads. In part the reason for this is that there is a lot of story to tell and a seeming hurry to tell it and not enough time to settle on any particular character. This leads to a feeling that the characters have little if any depth because we keep skimming across the surface while occasionally cutting deep--but the depth is often just for back story for characters and not near enough of that when it happens, especially not near enough for the characters that we need to know and understand.
What this leads to is a whole bunch of misunderstandings; the first being that Stevie Gordon is a Marty Stu. Really: when we examine him he is quite flawed and from a readers standpoint not so lovable. And that begs the question of how these other characters could possible be drawn in toward him. The answers lie somewhere, but not necessarily in the story. What really is Stevie Gordon? Well on the second reading I realize he's very complex. He's that ultra-smart kid who seems to have no common sense; however he also is the one that has ultra smart parents who seem to be well to do, so he's that smart rich kid without common sense. So he does what any one of those types would do and defies authority and steals his friends motorbike and crashes it into a big rig truck and is smashed to the point that his bones and organs are jelly. He survives and miraculously recovers to be a slightly damaged person who functions beyond what anyone could ask under those circumstances. He is no longer the wiz kid he was, but by all rights he should be dead or in a vegetative state. And then more miracles happen and he's restored. Then he turns into an arrogant genius who seems to-for no good reason-despise american politicians and in general the american social political structure. I will grant that he might be bitter because he's been detained because he touched the alien ship and he's in quarantine longer than necessary and we are led to believe it is primarily because of the president of the United States. But when they let him out so he can approach the ship and he is eventually healed of all his injuries and more; he comes out with quite a bit of attitude.
In context this is after Mr. Sales has shot his mother and stranded the second ship with a group of his people and Mrs. Gordon somewhere near Saturn. Stevie is rightfully concerned about this but when confronted with the insistent representatives of the president asking for the alien ship to be returned, his response is thus::
‘You may believe America to be the be all and end all, of civilisation Colonel, but my parents certainly don’t.
Murison, J W (2014-01-24). Teardrops In The Night Sky (Steven Gordon Series Book 1) (Kindle Locations 1706-1707). Grosvenor House. Kindle Edition.
He then goes on some tangent about his traffic accident-for which he was responsible and how the US health care system left his family's funds depleted because they don't have National Health such as exists in Scotland.
That would be a worthy argument if it wasn't for the proviso that the National Health has the authority, in traffic accidents, to recover funds from insurers(no idea what they do with uninsured), from which the circumstance of his injuries might invalidate his argument. But beyond that, this seems to be the basis for his reason to be bitter toward American authority and it just is not enough coming from the spoiled child that caused his own injury.
Then there is this bit right after when Howe tries to argue dominion over the alien ships.
Howe’s head came up, ‘you’re right, I saw what they did to them but these ships landed on American soil and now belong to the United States of America.’
‘Says who?’
‘The president.’
‘Yes of course, God incarnate himself.
Murison, J W (2014-01-24). Teardrops In The Night Sky (Steven Gordon Series Book 1) (Kindle Locations 1721-1724). Grosvenor House. Kindle Edition.
I'll admit the military are getting heavy handed at this point; but Stevie's response begins to reach over the top for very little if any good reason. I will grant again that his concern is for his mother's safety because he has yet to locate the other ship and save her; but his approach is one of taking an end-run around authorities without even trying to negotiate some agreement to help save his mother before portioning out property. The impression the reader is suppose to get is that he has to do it all himself and yet it seems as though he has taken upon himself that only he can do this and in fact eventually his superior attitude leads to the realization that his statement was ironic in that Stevie begins to act like God incarnate.
It might be asked, "Why do I say that?" And that's a fair question. It comes from when Stevie says that the ship has mandated that all countries are allowed access to them and to their technology but then he turns around and when presented with Jim Grey a potential candidate for the crew (and after finding out the man claims he can make atomic bombs) Stevie gives Jim a deadline for making one for him before Jim can join. (As it turns out they will need one or more in the future-that's a spoiler-but at this moment Stevie doesn't know that and he is clearly taking advantage of his authority and frankly it's rather troubling in the very least in the context.
This atomic bomb thing is important for another point later.
Now it can be argued that Mr. Sales who alleges that he works for the president and even the president have demonstrated that they are evil. I won't argue against that. But what we see of Mr. Sales is that he seems to have some grudge against the Gordons and we don't know why because as close as the POV gets to him we don't get that answer. The president himself orders that Stevie be killed, but this is after Stevie makes his inflamatory remarks about the US authority and the president. And my point of contention is not that the president is made to look evil--I see a lot of that in fiction--the point is that there is never a clear motive for it. So we're left to believe that Mr. Sales and the President are both raving lunatics that have gone off the rails and the Gordons have just gotten in their way. And we're expected to understand that that is justification for Stevie's sour attitude about the US in general.
I'm going to skip over the troubling fact that there are a number of times when Stevie runs up against criticism from potential candidates who always too quickly roll over and suddenly see the wisdom of his choices. And somehow suspiciously everyone that is infused with the Nano technology from his ship are suddenly utterly loyal.
What I want to touch next is the character Lewis:: in the author's own words from his blog on goodreads.
Lewis is a specialist that served his in his countries armed forces, who has one of the highest IQ’s on the ship and can build a nuclear weapon from scratch; hardly stereotypical.
Where did he come from though? The idea for Lewis came from watching one of my favourite films the Green Mile. If you have ever seen Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey then an image of how I see Lewis should spring straight into your mind.
Sounds good right, well maybe the part about a literary character inspiring a character might be suspect, but the part about the mans intelligence sounds good. The trouble is that the only place in the book that supports that is where Babe (the ship) asserts that he's one of the most intelligent members of the crew. Asside from that, every word out of his mouth suggests otherwise. And this part about the making a nuclear weapon has me stumped, because in this book it was Jim Grey who did that and unless I missed something both times through, there is no place that even suggest that Lewis can do that. But asside from that I question the IQ of Jim Grey for letting himself be bullied into making that bomb in the first place.
I'm giving this book three stars because it does have some great ideas and it's chock full of character's and story, though that's what gets in the way because there is this constant feeling of rush with no clear focus on any characters; despite the feel that Stevie should be the main character. But even what I have shown here is taken out of context and represents at best how I came to have this love hate relationship with the novel and I certainly would expect future readers to come to their own conclusions. The concept of the character Stevie is great but it's shortchanged and overshadowed by a lack of focus. It would be great to have been closer to Stevie's point of view to understand him better because he's a great Übermensch that has a capacity for both great good or evil and is complex enough that he is unable to recognize or admit to his own blindness to his flaw, which is that he's becoming that which he professes to hate the most. Soon he'll think that he's the only one who can police the universe and that everything he does is for the better of mankind.
I've already read the second book and I do recommend reading this one with a few proviso regarding grammar and structure. And of course I'm obviously a bit confused.
J.L. Dobias
My ever increasing love to hate list just keeps expanding. I hesitate to review this novel for a number of reasons. The least of those being that I easily cower from those authors who take umbrage with my views. That much said when I read this I had bias in mind because I always read the 1 star and 2 star reviews and there are plenty of those to go around. I could easily agree with many of those, which is actually unusual, and when I reached the end of the story I had this bad taste while I wondered what I truthfully found wrong with the whole thing. The first thing that comes to mind is that the main character was a Marty Stu--you know that perfect child protegee genius who in this case overcame some really dramatic stumbling blocks to become once again the brilliant and much loved character whose charisma draws everyone eventually on his side while those who are evil are portrayed as the blackest of evil and will never be on his side...which is always the good side. Of course there are some structural problems in grammar and spelling and missing words and homophones, but I won't cover those because I also checked the authors response to those and since he has no personal interest in fixing them beyond sending you to his publisher and I have no interest in sending a list to his 'publisher'. Also the publisher in question is equivocal to self publishing so it's too confusing because the author is really the publisher.
I read this book twice, because I needed to know, before review, what was really wrong. And it's a good thing that I did this, because I learned a lot. I loved portions of this book and even the core idea or theme and I think, despite some of the harsh words, there is enough there to satisfy many readers of science fiction. The main problem for me is the omniscient point of view. That POV in and of itself is not bad, but it does need to be done well to capture the reader and this one didn't do that for me. A problem with omniscient POV is that it lends itself easily to head hopping, which again in and of itself, is not necessarily bad--just difficult to write. Along with that there is both omniscient objective and subjective and it works best for me when author chooses one or the other; and I have this feeling that this work is a blend of both that telescopes in and out of many character's heads. In part the reason for this is that there is a lot of story to tell and a seeming hurry to tell it and not enough time to settle on any particular character. This leads to a feeling that the characters have little if any depth because we keep skimming across the surface while occasionally cutting deep--but the depth is often just for back story for characters and not near enough of that when it happens, especially not near enough for the characters that we need to know and understand.
What this leads to is a whole bunch of misunderstandings; the first being that Stevie Gordon is a Marty Stu. Really: when we examine him he is quite flawed and from a readers standpoint not so lovable. And that begs the question of how these other characters could possible be drawn in toward him. The answers lie somewhere, but not necessarily in the story. What really is Stevie Gordon? Well on the second reading I realize he's very complex. He's that ultra-smart kid who seems to have no common sense; however he also is the one that has ultra smart parents who seem to be well to do, so he's that smart rich kid without common sense. So he does what any one of those types would do and defies authority and steals his friends motorbike and crashes it into a big rig truck and is smashed to the point that his bones and organs are jelly. He survives and miraculously recovers to be a slightly damaged person who functions beyond what anyone could ask under those circumstances. He is no longer the wiz kid he was, but by all rights he should be dead or in a vegetative state. And then more miracles happen and he's restored. Then he turns into an arrogant genius who seems to-for no good reason-despise american politicians and in general the american social political structure. I will grant that he might be bitter because he's been detained because he touched the alien ship and he's in quarantine longer than necessary and we are led to believe it is primarily because of the president of the United States. But when they let him out so he can approach the ship and he is eventually healed of all his injuries and more; he comes out with quite a bit of attitude.
In context this is after Mr. Sales has shot his mother and stranded the second ship with a group of his people and Mrs. Gordon somewhere near Saturn. Stevie is rightfully concerned about this but when confronted with the insistent representatives of the president asking for the alien ship to be returned, his response is thus::
‘You may believe America to be the be all and end all, of civilisation Colonel, but my parents certainly don’t.
Murison, J W (2014-01-24). Teardrops In The Night Sky (Steven Gordon Series Book 1) (Kindle Locations 1706-1707). Grosvenor House. Kindle Edition.
He then goes on some tangent about his traffic accident-for which he was responsible and how the US health care system left his family's funds depleted because they don't have National Health such as exists in Scotland.
That would be a worthy argument if it wasn't for the proviso that the National Health has the authority, in traffic accidents, to recover funds from insurers(no idea what they do with uninsured), from which the circumstance of his injuries might invalidate his argument. But beyond that, this seems to be the basis for his reason to be bitter toward American authority and it just is not enough coming from the spoiled child that caused his own injury.
Then there is this bit right after when Howe tries to argue dominion over the alien ships.
Howe’s head came up, ‘you’re right, I saw what they did to them but these ships landed on American soil and now belong to the United States of America.’
‘Says who?’
‘The president.’
‘Yes of course, God incarnate himself.
Murison, J W (2014-01-24). Teardrops In The Night Sky (Steven Gordon Series Book 1) (Kindle Locations 1721-1724). Grosvenor House. Kindle Edition.
I'll admit the military are getting heavy handed at this point; but Stevie's response begins to reach over the top for very little if any good reason. I will grant again that his concern is for his mother's safety because he has yet to locate the other ship and save her; but his approach is one of taking an end-run around authorities without even trying to negotiate some agreement to help save his mother before portioning out property. The impression the reader is suppose to get is that he has to do it all himself and yet it seems as though he has taken upon himself that only he can do this and in fact eventually his superior attitude leads to the realization that his statement was ironic in that Stevie begins to act like God incarnate.
It might be asked, "Why do I say that?" And that's a fair question. It comes from when Stevie says that the ship has mandated that all countries are allowed access to them and to their technology but then he turns around and when presented with Jim Grey a potential candidate for the crew (and after finding out the man claims he can make atomic bombs) Stevie gives Jim a deadline for making one for him before Jim can join. (As it turns out they will need one or more in the future-that's a spoiler-but at this moment Stevie doesn't know that and he is clearly taking advantage of his authority and frankly it's rather troubling in the very least in the context.
This atomic bomb thing is important for another point later.
Now it can be argued that Mr. Sales who alleges that he works for the president and even the president have demonstrated that they are evil. I won't argue against that. But what we see of Mr. Sales is that he seems to have some grudge against the Gordons and we don't know why because as close as the POV gets to him we don't get that answer. The president himself orders that Stevie be killed, but this is after Stevie makes his inflamatory remarks about the US authority and the president. And my point of contention is not that the president is made to look evil--I see a lot of that in fiction--the point is that there is never a clear motive for it. So we're left to believe that Mr. Sales and the President are both raving lunatics that have gone off the rails and the Gordons have just gotten in their way. And we're expected to understand that that is justification for Stevie's sour attitude about the US in general.
I'm going to skip over the troubling fact that there are a number of times when Stevie runs up against criticism from potential candidates who always too quickly roll over and suddenly see the wisdom of his choices. And somehow suspiciously everyone that is infused with the Nano technology from his ship are suddenly utterly loyal.
What I want to touch next is the character Lewis:: in the author's own words from his blog on goodreads.
Lewis is a specialist that served his in his countries armed forces, who has one of the highest IQ’s on the ship and can build a nuclear weapon from scratch; hardly stereotypical.
Where did he come from though? The idea for Lewis came from watching one of my favourite films the Green Mile. If you have ever seen Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey then an image of how I see Lewis should spring straight into your mind.
Sounds good right, well maybe the part about a literary character inspiring a character might be suspect, but the part about the mans intelligence sounds good. The trouble is that the only place in the book that supports that is where Babe (the ship) asserts that he's one of the most intelligent members of the crew. Asside from that, every word out of his mouth suggests otherwise. And this part about the making a nuclear weapon has me stumped, because in this book it was Jim Grey who did that and unless I missed something both times through, there is no place that even suggest that Lewis can do that. But asside from that I question the IQ of Jim Grey for letting himself be bullied into making that bomb in the first place.
I'm giving this book three stars because it does have some great ideas and it's chock full of character's and story, though that's what gets in the way because there is this constant feeling of rush with no clear focus on any characters; despite the feel that Stevie should be the main character. But even what I have shown here is taken out of context and represents at best how I came to have this love hate relationship with the novel and I certainly would expect future readers to come to their own conclusions. The concept of the character Stevie is great but it's shortchanged and overshadowed by a lack of focus. It would be great to have been closer to Stevie's point of view to understand him better because he's a great Übermensch that has a capacity for both great good or evil and is complex enough that he is unable to recognize or admit to his own blindness to his flaw, which is that he's becoming that which he professes to hate the most. Soon he'll think that he's the only one who can police the universe and that everything he does is for the better of mankind.
I've already read the second book and I do recommend reading this one with a few proviso regarding grammar and structure. And of course I'm obviously a bit confused.
J.L. Dobias
June 3, 2020
I found this incredibly hard to get into because of the simplistic, naive writing style, trite characterisation and fairly improbable plot development. There's literally no challenge or development, with impossibly-awesome characters building a perfect team and society, and ruthlessly crushing any and all opposition with their tame AIs and super weapons, with deus ex machina on almost literally every page. Pace is pretty lethargic, with not much happening except lots of buddy-bonding between the Übermensch.
It reads pretty much like a teen saw 'Flight of the Navigator' (the ships are ripped directly from that) and Star Trek, then wrote their own fanfic version.
The idea of the two bonded sentient ships needing an organic operator is pretty good, and echoes Anne McCaffrey's superlative brainships series, but isn't implemented nearly as well. It was disappointing that the ships didn't have more 'ego' (i.e. Andromeda, Max from Flight of the Navigator) as this would have made the story even more involving and given opportunities for culture/personality conflicts to play out. Instead we have passive super-computers that build atomic weapons and hand out city-destroying hand weapons(!) with "yes sir, of course. Would you like to supersize that order?" (not a real quote)
However, if you put aside hard science and modern trends towards gritty, dark themes and accept this as more like Golden Era pulp SF space opera, it makes more sense and hearkens back to a simpler, less complicated age where the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys had black ones. Although not nearly reaching E.E. Smith levels, it does try for the same ideals, with limited success.
A fun extremely light read, but don't expect any depth or dramatic developments. This is pure technological fantasy escapism.
It reads pretty much like a teen saw 'Flight of the Navigator' (the ships are ripped directly from that) and Star Trek, then wrote their own fanfic version.
The idea of the two bonded sentient ships needing an organic operator is pretty good, and echoes Anne McCaffrey's superlative brainships series, but isn't implemented nearly as well. It was disappointing that the ships didn't have more 'ego' (i.e. Andromeda, Max from Flight of the Navigator) as this would have made the story even more involving and given opportunities for culture/personality conflicts to play out. Instead we have passive super-computers that build atomic weapons and hand out city-destroying hand weapons(!) with "yes sir, of course. Would you like to supersize that order?" (not a real quote)
However, if you put aside hard science and modern trends towards gritty, dark themes and accept this as more like Golden Era pulp SF space opera, it makes more sense and hearkens back to a simpler, less complicated age where the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys had black ones. Although not nearly reaching E.E. Smith levels, it does try for the same ideals, with limited success.
A fun extremely light read, but don't expect any depth or dramatic developments. This is pure technological fantasy escapism.
June 29, 2013
Unexpected Joy, June 29, 2013
By Michelle L.Gallegos
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Teardrops In The Night Sky (Steven Gordon) (Kindle Edition)
Having read several of Jim Murison's books , I didn't think he would surprise me but I was wrong. He does sci-fi as well as his fantasy books. This is the story of a boy genius who is involved in a tragic accident but goes on to achieve more than anyone could ever imagine. When 2 spaceships that are actually sentient beings appear in the U.S. the world goes crazy. The President is determined to keep all new discoveries in his hands. He doesn't take into account that the ships have their own plan and it doesn't include him. Between kidnappings, crazy government spooks, threats of global warfare a great adventure unfolds. Fabulous characters seem to be a real mark of Jim's books and this one does not disappoint. Man finally gets to live on the moon with lots of twists and turns on the way. With a kind of Star Trek feel,Teardrops in the Sky celebrates the best of humanity. When we work together for the common good we can achieve anything.
By Michelle L.Gallegos
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Teardrops In The Night Sky (Steven Gordon) (Kindle Edition)
Having read several of Jim Murison's books , I didn't think he would surprise me but I was wrong. He does sci-fi as well as his fantasy books. This is the story of a boy genius who is involved in a tragic accident but goes on to achieve more than anyone could ever imagine. When 2 spaceships that are actually sentient beings appear in the U.S. the world goes crazy. The President is determined to keep all new discoveries in his hands. He doesn't take into account that the ships have their own plan and it doesn't include him. Between kidnappings, crazy government spooks, threats of global warfare a great adventure unfolds. Fabulous characters seem to be a real mark of Jim's books and this one does not disappoint. Man finally gets to live on the moon with lots of twists and turns on the way. With a kind of Star Trek feel,Teardrops in the Sky celebrates the best of humanity. When we work together for the common good we can achieve anything.
March 15, 2014
To be honest I hate sci-fi movies, I hate sci-fi books, everything's about sci-fi find it really boring! However I love dystopian stories if that make sense? Anyway, this book really amazed me and never disappoint me at all! It's mind blowing and never thought someone could write about living on the moon. It's magic! While I'm reading this novel it amaze me how the characters had been put together. Omg.. I laughed hard as most of the characters are brilliant esp. Cookie! Love him to bits! Apart from that, this novel will take you as high as your imagination. It feels like I was watching a film. I'm not kidding! This book is surreal! Highly recommend it! Love this book! Great job J W Murison.
October 12, 2015
I loved this story. I would have given it a 5 star rating, but I am just really tired of the poor editing I am finding in e-books. An editor who can spell would be great. Also, someone who knows the difference between there and their, to and too, you're and your, poring and pouring, , etc. I would still recommend the book, because it is a very enjoyable read and I certainly intend to read the sequel.
September 1, 2015
Moral of the story
Just a good old fashion moral of story type novel. A space Opera to an extent with door wide open for more to follow. I don't know if there are more stories of two ships but I will look forward to reading them.
As a personal message this story brings forth a pride in doing the right thing even when might not be the easy thing to do.
Just a good old fashion moral of story type novel. A space Opera to an extent with door wide open for more to follow. I don't know if there are more stories of two ships but I will look forward to reading them.
As a personal message this story brings forth a pride in doing the right thing even when might not be the easy thing to do.
September 2, 2015
Good book
I enjoyed this book. The author is good and has feelings that shows that he enjoys writing. Wish that I could put into words. What is running around in my head like he does. I wish the author all the luck in future books. I read science a lot. This only book I've found by a new author in the last six months that I've enjoyed.
I enjoyed this book. The author is good and has feelings that shows that he enjoys writing. Wish that I could put into words. What is running around in my head like he does. I wish the author all the luck in future books. I read science a lot. This only book I've found by a new author in the last six months that I've enjoyed.
August 20, 2015
Nicely done and enjoyable.
Once again an author that doesn't waste time unimportant details, results in an easy to read and enjoyable story. They pull the trigger and the gun shoots,,.
Once again an author that doesn't waste time unimportant details, results in an easy to read and enjoyable story. They pull the trigger and the gun shoots,,.
September 11, 2015
Slow start but great finish.
The first few chapters were hard to get through for me but as I went on I found the story pulling me in. I'm impressed and will continue on to the next book in the series. As a binge reader this should come as high praise. Well done.
The first few chapters were hard to get through for me but as I went on I found the story pulling me in. I'm impressed and will continue on to the next book in the series. As a binge reader this should come as high praise. Well done.
August 19, 2016
Help wanted - editor
A reasonably good idea was squandered by poor writing, non- existent editing, a juvenile perspective, and several iterations of the same undeveloped, one-dimensional characters.
A reasonably good idea was squandered by poor writing, non- existent editing, a juvenile perspective, and several iterations of the same undeveloped, one-dimensional characters.
August 15, 2015
Teardrops in the Night Sky
A feast for those that love Star Trek and Star Wars space adventures. Only one politician as a bad guy was perhaps a bit farfetched.
A feast for those that love Star Trek and Star Wars space adventures. Only one politician as a bad guy was perhaps a bit farfetched.
September 18, 2015
Very well written
Overall a very good book that keeps you interested till the end. I didn't stop reading it till I finished. I will definitely download the next one.
Overall a very good book that keeps you interested till the end. I didn't stop reading it till I finished. I will definitely download the next one.
November 20, 2015
A book that is just fun to read
A fun read a book that you can't put down until it's done and then you have to brush by the second the series and keep going
A fun read a book that you can't put down until it's done and then you have to brush by the second the series and keep going
November 5, 2015
Perfect!!!!!!
A perfect symmetry of words and story! Words alone cannot describe this book,so all I can say is please read this book and you will agree with me.
A perfect symmetry of words and story! Words alone cannot describe this book,so all I can say is please read this book and you will agree with me.
December 23, 2015
Crackingly good adventure
Crackingly good adventure spell check tells me there something wrong but what words describes Si-Fi adventure that had every thing even a dog on the moon.
Crackingly good adventure spell check tells me there something wrong but what words describes Si-Fi adventure that had every thing even a dog on the moon.
October 11, 2018
This is an inventive, very enjoyable sci-fi read. As soon as I finished it I purchased and started reading the next installment "The Black Planet." Enjoy!
December 25, 2019
Book one
Mistakes: I found four mostly missing words but one was where the secretary of defense was called minister of defense.
Plot: Alien spaceships, a crazy president, moon bases, prison breaks. This book has a lot going for it.
Characters: I like the Mc but honestly found it strange that so many would betray their oath. This was later explained in a believable fashion that left me satisfied.
8/10
Mistakes: I found four mostly missing words but one was where the secretary of defense was called minister of defense.
Plot: Alien spaceships, a crazy president, moon bases, prison breaks. This book has a lot going for it.
Characters: I like the Mc but honestly found it strange that so many would betray their oath. This was later explained in a believable fashion that left me satisfied.
8/10
November 29, 2021
This book is an excellent read. The first chapter grabs you and makes you want to turn to the next page in the next chapter in the next one after that. This was the first book by JW Murison that I have read. I like the imagination that he shows and, as a science fiction writer myself, I really like the sequence of events and how it is put together.
On a side note, everyone should read the dedication. I can understand his friend. It takes a lot of courage to come back from a major accident.
On a side note, everyone should read the dedication. I can understand his friend. It takes a lot of courage to come back from a major accident.
January 11, 2022
A Fun Read with Good Science Fiction.
A good read have demonstrates the good qualities in people and shows some politicians to be what they are, Jerks. I enjoyed Stevie's character and his humanity, his ability to be well balanced and a loyal friend. I also love the interaction of the ships and Murison's cool idea about needing both a male and female ship. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
A good read have demonstrates the good qualities in people and shows some politicians to be what they are, Jerks. I enjoyed Stevie's character and his humanity, his ability to be well balanced and a loyal friend. I also love the interaction of the ships and Murison's cool idea about needing both a male and female ship. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
March 29, 2022
Not anti-American
There are reviews that say this book is anti-American. It's a work of friction, not a political manifesto. Teletubbies are not gay, they are fictional characters. The characters in this book are fictional, not anti-American. The story is interesting. The plot and character development need a little work, but are well within
acceptable limits. I enjoyed reading this book. It's worth your time reading.
There are reviews that say this book is anti-American. It's a work of friction, not a political manifesto. Teletubbies are not gay, they are fictional characters. The characters in this book are fictional, not anti-American. The story is interesting. The plot and character development need a little work, but are well within
acceptable limits. I enjoyed reading this book. It's worth your time reading.
May 8, 2022
Teardrops
I liked the book until I came to the part where the character Lewis was introduced. It was jarring to read a character written in modern times being described as coloured and speaking with a slave dialect. I am very disappointed the author could not describe this character better. It took something away from the story for me. I probably will not read any more books in this series.
I liked the book until I came to the part where the character Lewis was introduced. It was jarring to read a character written in modern times being described as coloured and speaking with a slave dialect. I am very disappointed the author could not describe this character better. It took something away from the story for me. I probably will not read any more books in this series.
July 6, 2022
Superb book
Slightly slow to get started, but it needed to lay out a set of circumstances that were relevant to the rest of the storey
Once it got going, it was well placed, written in an easy to read way and highly entertaining, with some decent humourous moments
I try not to give to much away with my reviews, but the last paragraph of the book was a nice touch and did reflect Stevens character totally
Slightly slow to get started, but it needed to lay out a set of circumstances that were relevant to the rest of the storey
Once it got going, it was well placed, written in an easy to read way and highly entertaining, with some decent humourous moments
I try not to give to much away with my reviews, but the last paragraph of the book was a nice touch and did reflect Stevens character totally
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews