Titan (Gaea) by John Varley Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Titan (Gaea)
Book Review: Disappointing beginning and middle, but ending saves Titan...
Summary: 3 Stars
Having been nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula was enough to get me to read this sci fi. On a whole you can expect the quality of the books that were nominated and/or won either prestigious award to be better than average. Varley's Titan certainly fits the bill, but what I have also come to expect as that many of the earlier nominees and winners can have a very dated feel to them, and Titan also fits that bill.
I had trouble getting in to this one because of how dated it felt, in both the writing and the type of sci fi genre of the time. Often slow and never with any sort of action of some sort to inject life in the beginning stages of the book, Titan followed the well worn genre path of discovering an alien world and then exploring it, oftentimes on accident. This had a very similar feel to Rendezvous with Rama, a Hugo and Nebula winner, where both were exploring and unimaginably large world with its own ecosystems and weather patterns. Both had the dated feel to them that detracted from the storytelling and ultimately made me, in today's age, not care to read it.
I pushed on, though, and ultimately found that it began to turn around and become enjoyable. This didn't really happen until the Titanides and the Angels fought, the first plot sequence of any kind to make me sit up and take notice. From there, ultimately, the real tale of the book shines through as we see the epic struggle that Cirocco and Gaby go through, both physically and mentally. They struggle to the top of the world to speak to Gaea and get answers, ultimately coming in to another ecosystem where the Angels lived. This section was altogether fascinating and intriguing and fully set up the rest of the trilogy and , more specifically, lead in to the next in the series, Wizard.
I could not possibly give it more than three stars just because of how uninteresting the bulk of the story was, but I couldn't give it any lower than a three star either because of the fascinating ending and lead in to the rest of the trilogy. I can't say that I look forward to reading Wizard, but I certainly won't hesitate if the chance arises despite the beginning and middle of Titan. A tentative recommend.
3 stars.
Book Review: Entertaining pulp
Summary: 3 Stars
These books are nominally sci-fi but really have more of a fantasy flavor, especially the second and third installments in the trilogy. Heroes, gods, monsters, epic quests, nukes, and lots of human-human and human-alien sex. In other words, all the ingredients of a pulp space opera. The series makes good beach reading but parts of it are not for the squeamish, so be warned. The dust jacket of my copy of "Titan" compares it with Frank Herbert's Dune books, which is ridiculous, but all in all these novels aren't a complete waste of time.Book Review: Fanciful fantasy, not Sci Fi
Summary: 2 Stars
Have to agree with other the other critical reviewers...very disappointed. Read this after strong recommendation from fellow Dune fan to whom I recommended the Hyperion/Endymion series. This is pretty silly, unsatisfying stuff. If you like explorations through exotic alien landscapes with cartoonish creatures like living dirigibles and 6-legged kangaroos where not much happens, then read on. The characters are flat, there is very little dramatic tension or suspense, or even a plot, and the writing is mundane. Won't bother to read the rest of the series.Book Review: First book in an excellent series
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the first book of the Gaea series, and you will want to read the whole series for any of this to make sense.
This book introduces us to the group of people from earth that is sent to discover what an object around Saturn is (a very large alien space ship), and the encounter destroys the earth space ship. From there the story is about reuniting the crew of the space ship in the artificial world Gaea. The story has a lot of adventure and action as well as some well thought out think pieces to go along with it. There is a lot of sexuality in this book, much more than any of the other ones in the series.
You also get to meet the intelligence that runs the Gaea, and start to learn that things are not alright in the alien space ship. There are signs of decay, and the inventive intelligence that has been watching radio signals from earth and learning about earth from radio and television serials.
There is also betrayal, homosexuality, violence, and the deep desire to remain connected even when separated by millions of miles, or circumstances that get in the way. This is truly a 5 of 5 star book, and hugely enjoyable to read. One of those stay up all night kinds of books. You will want to get the whole series, titan, wizard, demon to go along with the story and learn how the whole thing ends up.
Book Review: Great but read this to get to the next two books
Summary: 4 Stars
I hadn't read any science fiction in over 12 years when my wife, a voracious reader who reads a great variety of work but little sci-fi, recommended this trilogy (she's read it at least three times). This is what great reading is about: compelling, fascinating characters you love, an interesting plot that slowly reveals itself, drama, humor, irony and a marvelous imagination at work. It has renewed my interest in this field. It is also the only trilogy I've read where every book was stronger than the previous one versus the middle book being the weak one. The other viewers' comments are accurate. Bear with Varley's long descriptions of the planetary structure Gaea and you will be in for a delicious read.