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Tau Zero

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Poul Anderson's Tau Zero is an outstanding work of science fiction, in part because it combines two qualities that are often at odds in this genre: an interest in the emotional lives of its characters and a fascination with all things technologicalMorePoul Anderson's Tau Zero is an outstanding work of science fiction, in part because it combines two qualities that are often at odds in this genre: an interest in the emotional lives of its characters and a fascination with all things technological and scientific. In Tau Zero these components are not merely fused; they work together with a remarkable synergy that makes the novel much more than just a deep space adventure story.

The novel centers on a ten-year interstellar voyage aboard the spaceship Leonora Christine, and it opens with members of the crew preparing for their departure from earth. It is an especially moving departure because they know that while they are aboard the ship and traveling close to the speed of light, time will be passing much more quickly back home. As a result, by the time they return everyone they know will have long since died. From practically the very first page, therefore, Tau Zero sets the scientific realities of space travel in dramatic tension with the no-less-real emotional and psychological states of the travelers. This is a dynamic Anderson explores with great success over the course of the novel as fifty crewmembers settle in for the long journey together. They are a highly-trained team of scientists and researchers, but they are also a community of individuals, each trying to make a life for him or herself in space.

This is the background within which the action of the novel takes place. Anderson carefully depicts the network of relationships linking these people before the real plot begins to unfold. The voyage soon takes an unexpected and disastrous turn for the worse. The ship passes through a small, uncharted, cloudlike nebula that makes it impossible for the crew to decelerate the ship. The only hope, in fact, is for the ship to speed up. Less

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Community Reviews

Lyn

rated it really liked it
6 months ago

Anderson has in Tau Zero, more than any other book I have ever read or heard about, created a sense of unimaginable isolation and otherworldliness.

I am sure there is a list on Goodreads about books that must be read by a true science fiction fan, and Tau Zero by Poul Ande... Read full review
Stephen

rated it really liked it
over 3 years ago

Shelves: award-nominee-hugo , multiple-award-nominee , award-nominee-locus , mind-blowing , 1970-1979 , science-fiction , exploring-the-universe
This CLASSY SF CLASSIC concernimg a cadre of colonists setting sail to colonize a compatible star using an interstellar “Bussard Ramjet” is a superior sample of Hard science fiction. For those of you unsciencey/non nerdy types who are unfamilar with what a "Bussard Ramjet... Read full review
Apatt

rated it really liked it
6 months ago

Tau zero

Poul Anderson is a writer's writer, David Brin, Vernor Vinge and others swear by him and Vinge even dedicated his epic A Deepness in the Sky to him. His influence on their work is fairly obvious, Anderson knew his science and was able to employ that knowledge to m... Read full review
Megan Baxter

rated it liked it
about 3 years ago

I'm reading this book as moderator of a discussion on Sci Fi Aficionadoes this month. No one has chimed in yet on the discussion. It's a little lonely. The reason I'm bringing that up is because Tau Zero was the winner of our "Time Travel" theme, which has me a little bit... Read full review
mark monday

rated it it was ok
over 5 years ago

Shelves: futuristik-classik
faster, faster, faster - to the future or to death!

fascinating ideas; less than fascinating execution. characters are often tedious, yet still manage to be surprisingly real and at times even moving. overall: dry, thoughtful, mournful, mind-boggling (a word that i probab... Read full review
Brad

rated it really liked it
over 1 year ago

Shelves: worldbuilding-sf , sci-fi
As a novel to showcase ideas, it succeeds. As a novel to showcase misogyny and thin characters in an attempt to bring real storytelling to hard SF, not so much.

I'll talk of the good parts first. I learned, or eventually recalled something that hadn't immediately made a co... Read full review
Manny

rated it liked it
about 8 years ago

Shelves: science-fiction
Poul Anderson doesn't understand Special Relativity very well (an interstellar ramscoop spaceship can't carry on accelerating indefinitely, for all sorts of reasons). His understanding of General Relativity is even worse. Even if the Universe is cyclical, whatever would i... Read full review
Ints

rated it it was ok
over 1 year ago

Shelves: sf
Lēnā garā esmu nolēmis aizpildīt savus robus zinātniskās fantastikas klasikā. Ja ar Padomju klasiķiem esmu diezgan labi iepazinies jau savā bērnībā, tad piecdesmito un septiņdesmito gadu angliski rakstošie autori man ir gājuši secen. Iemesls ir pavisam triviāls - kad es a... Read full review
Chris Beaton

rated it liked it
over 4 years ago

Shelves: science-fiction

Live girlflesh

Let me start by saying that I liked this book. With my 'internal' rating system, I'd give it four stars, but GoodReads informs me that this means I "really liked" a book and I think I just "liked" it, so I'm downgrading to three... Regardless, a VERY pleasur... Read full review
Jason

rated it really liked it
over 1 year ago

The novel begins in a garden of sculptures. Taking a stroll their last night on Earth, Charles Reymont and Ingrid Lindgren walk by Orpheus, Pegasus, and Rodin’s “The Hand of God,” all artistic representations of mortal man’s insignificance in the cosmos. A fair warning fo... Read full review

Other Books by this Author

  • The Broken Sword
    The Broken Sword
    by Poul Anderson
  • The Boat of a Million Years
    The Boat of a Million Years
    by Poul Anderson
  • Three Hearts and Three Lions
    Three Hearts and Three Lions
    by Poul Anderson
  • The High Crusade
    The High Crusade
    by Poul Anderson
  • Trader to the Stars
    Trader to the Stars
    by Poul Anderson
  • Ensign Flandry (Flandry, #1)
    Ensign Flandry
    by Poul Anderson
  • Brain Wave
    Brain Wave
    by Poul Anderson
  • Time Patrol (Time Patrol #1-4 + 6 omnibus)
    Time Patrol
    by Poul Anderson
  • Guardians of Time
    Guardians of Time
    by Poul Anderson

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Book Details

Paperback, 190 pages
Published February 1st 2006 by Gollancz (first published 1970
ISBN
0575077328 (ISBN13: 9780575077324)
Edition Language
English
Original Title
Tau Zero
Literary Awards
Hugo Award, Seiun Award 星雲賞

About this Author

32278. ux50 Pseudonym A. A. Craig, Michael Karageorge, Winston P. Sanders, P. A. Kingsley.

Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received...
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Quotes

Their flight was not less exhilarating for being explainable.
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we can't go on ... having regular bowel movements ... while creation happens!
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for a moment infinitesimal and infinite, men, women, child, ship, and death were one. It
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