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Ancient Heavens
Richard Drake didn't take the Church of Lost Eden seriously – until that last surviving 20th-century cult gave him the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream.
His job is to transform a distant, hostile planet into a new human Eden. And he is provided with the resources, the time and the technology for the greatest engineering feat in human history. But man does not live by bread alone – and water and free oxygen are not enough to keep the inhabitants of New Earth satisfied.
They want a Creator to worship. And Richard is the top candidate for the job...
His job is to transform a distant, hostile planet into a new human Eden. And he is provided with the resources, the time and the technology for the greatest engineering feat in human history. But man does not live by bread alone – and water and free oxygen are not enough to keep the inhabitants of New Earth satisfied.
They want a Creator to worship. And Richard is the top candidate for the job...
- GenresScience Fiction
246 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
15 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 12, 2017
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!
As I was reading this, I was beset with a number of problems. The first being that it appeared to be tied to Vardeman's fantasy series, the second being that I was only given this book 3 days to read before it gets archived. So, freaking out, I made a couple of conclusions... the first being that I don't have to read the rest because this appears to be straight terraforming SF with no fantasy involved, and the second being a non-starter because I read fast.
That being said, I plowed through it with quite a bit of enjoyment!
This came out 5 years before Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, but it shares SOOO MUCH IN COMMON that I was both nostalgic and rather amazed, making me think about all the other SF authors who had done terraforming fiction with so much science and verve and I just couldn't think of any, so now this guy has got my attention.
Vardeman got so much right! :) Of course, he's working with a nearby star system rather than Mars, but that doesn't matter to me. The fact that he focuses on both story and the science is the thing!
Yes, it kinda felt like a Greek tragedy at times and other times it felt like the blurb was going to make it a lot more cheesy by the end than it really was.. and that's another thing! I do NOT like the blurb here for this novel. It cheapens the fact that so much story actually occurs and the world-building is rather impressive if heavy-handed in places.
I'm giving a lot of that a big long pass, because I remember Red Mars doing a lot of the same damn thing and yet BOTH of these belong in the same category and same level of world-building. Granted, Red Mars is clearly the winner, but I am not going to ignore the fact that this was very decent and comes nearly to the same heights as the other, later, novel.
Hats off! Respect!
On a purely story note, however, there's a number of plot holes I wish weren't there, but none of them are so bad as to make me dislike anything as a whole. :)
As I was reading this, I was beset with a number of problems. The first being that it appeared to be tied to Vardeman's fantasy series, the second being that I was only given this book 3 days to read before it gets archived. So, freaking out, I made a couple of conclusions... the first being that I don't have to read the rest because this appears to be straight terraforming SF with no fantasy involved, and the second being a non-starter because I read fast.
That being said, I plowed through it with quite a bit of enjoyment!
This came out 5 years before Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, but it shares SOOO MUCH IN COMMON that I was both nostalgic and rather amazed, making me think about all the other SF authors who had done terraforming fiction with so much science and verve and I just couldn't think of any, so now this guy has got my attention.
Vardeman got so much right! :) Of course, he's working with a nearby star system rather than Mars, but that doesn't matter to me. The fact that he focuses on both story and the science is the thing!
Yes, it kinda felt like a Greek tragedy at times and other times it felt like the blurb was going to make it a lot more cheesy by the end than it really was.. and that's another thing! I do NOT like the blurb here for this novel. It cheapens the fact that so much story actually occurs and the world-building is rather impressive if heavy-handed in places.
I'm giving a lot of that a big long pass, because I remember Red Mars doing a lot of the same damn thing and yet BOTH of these belong in the same category and same level of world-building. Granted, Red Mars is clearly the winner, but I am not going to ignore the fact that this was very decent and comes nearly to the same heights as the other, later, novel.
Hats off! Respect!
On a purely story note, however, there's a number of plot holes I wish weren't there, but none of them are so bad as to make me dislike anything as a whole. :)
did-not-finish
August 21, 2018I stopped after 15%, roughly about 40 pages. I could not develop any interest in the story, the characters left me cold, I despised the beginning of the book and the religious theme. Probably a classic case of „it‘s me, not you“. Not rating it, as I read so little of it.
I received this free e-copy from the publisher/author via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review, thank you!
I received this free e-copy from the publisher/author via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review, thank you!
November 17, 2017
“Ancient Heavens” eBook was published in 2017 and was written by Robert E. Vardeman (http://www.cenotaphroad.com). Mr. Vardeman has published more than 100 novels of many genre. This is the 7th novel in his “War of Powers” series.
I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because it contains minor scenes of Violence. The story is set in 2055-2285. Humanity, in the form of “The Church of Lost Eden”, make the decision to expend their considerable wealth and be the first humans to migrate outside of the Solar System. While this is risky, persecution on Earth leaves them little choice.
Richard Drake is hired to run the long range terraforming operation to make a planet of the Alpha Centauri system ready for the colonists. He and about 300 leave for the 50 year journey. They arrive and spend years beginning the transformation process. The Church, without warning, shows up decades early forcing Drake and his team to find a way to house and feed thousands.
I thought that this was an interesting read of 7.5 hours for this 321 page science fiction novel. This wasn’t the typical science fiction thriller. Most of it was spent dealing with the engineering challenges encountered with terraforming the planet. A lot of time too was spent with dealing with unforeseen problems. It is also a bit unusual in that it spans a period of 230 years. It reads well as a stand alone novel. The cover art is OK. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.
Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.
I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because it contains minor scenes of Violence. The story is set in 2055-2285. Humanity, in the form of “The Church of Lost Eden”, make the decision to expend their considerable wealth and be the first humans to migrate outside of the Solar System. While this is risky, persecution on Earth leaves them little choice.
Richard Drake is hired to run the long range terraforming operation to make a planet of the Alpha Centauri system ready for the colonists. He and about 300 leave for the 50 year journey. They arrive and spend years beginning the transformation process. The Church, without warning, shows up decades early forcing Drake and his team to find a way to house and feed thousands.
I thought that this was an interesting read of 7.5 hours for this 321 page science fiction novel. This wasn’t the typical science fiction thriller. Most of it was spent dealing with the engineering challenges encountered with terraforming the planet. A lot of time too was spent with dealing with unforeseen problems. It is also a bit unusual in that it spans a period of 230 years. It reads well as a stand alone novel. The cover art is OK. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.
Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.
March 30, 2015
Tolerable novel of terraforming, but stronger in plot than character - and saddled with a notably episodic plot, at that.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews