"Songs of Distant Earth" First Impressions *No Spoilers*

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

Come talk about your initial, general impressions!

Please save all discussion of particulars, details from the story, character choices, plot questions, etc. for the full spoiler thread.

[Alex]

Just read the opening word by Clarke, and my goodness, a lot of things have changed since he wrote it in 1985! Also, he doesn't seem to have much respect for the changes in technology the original Star Trek series inspired... though I guess he hadn't seen many of them yet.

[Jan]

I've read Clarke's opening comments, and also the first 20 or so pages of the actual story, and am somewhat intrigued. The timeline of the story is confusing, but no doubt will become clear as the book proceeds. Interesting that Clarke claimed he wanted to write a book that wasn't 'fantasy' but based on real science with potentially achievable ideas rather than fantasies such as FTL.

[Danii]

I’m about 50 pages in and I’m loving it so far! Glad this book was picked because I probably wouldn’t have read it otherwise. I love the jumps back and forth about how humanity came to be where/how it is.

[Mitch]

I'm liking this though it feels vaguely frictionless. Love the harder sci-fi elements. It feels like going on a tropical vacation.

[E.D.]

Clarke states that he developed this novel from a short story he wrote in his collection, 'The Other Side of the Sky'.

That was one of the first science fiction books I read in my early teens in the 1960's, but having reached page 50 it's not ringing any bells with me. Probably says more about my memory than Clarke's writing although I can remember two other stories in the collection fairly clearly. Perhaps it's because those two contained a stronger fantasy element.

So far I'm finding the story readable but not riveting. I shall persevere and see how I feel at the end.

[Stephen]

About halfway through and enjoying it. Feels like an easy read, but there’s a lot happening.

[D]

I'm a couple chapters in and wondering how I never read this before. First impressions balance between seeing A.C. Clarke as visionary and recognizing 'issues' with the technology.

I'm getting interested after a slow start.

[Jen]

I'm a few chapters in and suddenly realized this is by Arthur C. Clarke. For some reason, through the whole nomination and polling and beginning of reading process I was thinking this was by Isaac Asimov. I already had it on my kindle so I didn't look too closely I guess.

As I was reading, I was thinking "this doesn't read like Asimov, this sounds more like Clarke," and so it is. Ha.

[D]

It's my first time reading Clarke and I'm really enjoying it!

[Olga]

Just finished Part Two and savouring the book so far.
I really appreciate how Clarke explains the sciency parts of the sci-fi.

[Douglas]

AC Clarke was one of the best of the classic authors of the 20th century, but they all suffer from the decades that have passed since and it's not just the technology! Reading these older books really impresses upon me how much our society has changed to become more multi-racial, more equal, and more accepting of individual distinctions. Not that we're perfect! But we have made progress in areas these authors didn't even consider.

[Bonnie]

Except for a couple short stories, I have not read any Arthur C. Clarke in A-GES. The last was Rendezvous with Rama, and I didn't like it.

So I'm glad to get a couple more, this book and The City and the Stars (on back shelf of my IRL group) under my belt.

Through Part I Thalassa/Chapter 5. The setup seems promising! Okay it will probably be no Darkover series (lost colony), but clash of past and present, old and "new" via the colony here, could get interesting. There are already some characters and relationships in play, and already that seems better than what I remember of Rendezvous with Rama!


Was this also a premise for the Coyote colony by Allen Steele?