Titan (Gaea) by John Varley Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Titan (Gaea)
Book Review: Hot Fire
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a really good book. The hero goes though trials and tribulations, you couldn't even imagine. And then afterwards, they are thrown more trials. It's really robust with a lot going on. If you do intend to read this one, you should get the other two because they complete each other to make for a wonderfully epic journey.Book Review: Huge disappointment
Summary: 2 Stars
I was a science fiction fanatic for most of my life, and when TITAN came out, I felt kind of guilty for not reading it immediately. I just couldn't get past the pictures of centaurs and blimps with eyes. But having read so much other "landmark" sf over the years, I finally decided to give TITAN a fair reading.
Though the narrative caught me up at first, I started to have some misgivings with the childishly "sophisticated" discussions of shipboard sexual musical-chairs.
The misgivings became pure boredom as I realized that TITAN is simply a sort of Dr. Seuss story for adults--but without the pleasant word play. Basically, the author creates a fantasy world and then has nearly flat characters wander through it and gape.
To avoid the dead-end of most transported-to-a-fantasy-land fiction, a little bit of interaction with the outside world is tossed in. Of course this also paves the way for the sequels, which I won't read.
This is not true science fiction, but, by 2008 standards, largely formulaic fantasy wrapped with a light gauze of scientific sounding jargon.
As for character development, if it had been here, the book might have been more bearable. I sure didn't enjoy the company of these fellow travelers.
I wish I had gotten reading this out of the way 30 years ago when it was first published so I wouldn't have been so disappointed to find what rates as a classic.
PS Any comparison to DUNE (as on the back cover) is pure fantasy and an insult to Frank Herbert!
Book Review: I ate my hat - now will you?
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this on the recommendation of a friend and to be honest, I had a few reservations. All the descriptions of the book, including those here on amazon.com sounded a little hoky and a little weird. I said I would eat my hat if I loved the book. In time I was duly forced to get out the salt and pepper and get torn in to my trilby. This is a massively enjoyable book that is an exercise in imagination beyond imagination. For those looking for a more concrete idea of what Titan is about and how good it is then look no further than Larry Niven's Ringworld or A World Out of Time. It's drawn from exactly the same vein as those two classics. Varley has let his imagination run wild while still retaining suspension of disbelief. To those who claim this book is not SF then I would challenge you to point out exactly where. This is no less SF than the aforementioned Niven classics and as a fan of hard SF than is a strong recommendation in its favour. Varley writes with a terrific style, being easy to read and maintaining a breakneck pace, never once lulling into middle-book periods of tedium that seem to plague some novels. Having read this book, having been proved wrong and having enjoyed it immensely I can't recommend this book strongly enough to anyone with a mind for SF or good fantasy for that matter. If you like the aforementioned Niven books then why haven't you bought this earlier? My only regret is not discovering it sooner. Now, anyone know where I can get a copy of Wizard and Demon? :o)Book Review: I've read this, plus both sequals many times.
Summary: 5 Stars
Each one is interesting, imaginative, and something I enjoy reading over and over (which I have done). They are books I would suggest to anyone who loves science fiction, fantasy, or good entertainemnt.Book Review: In the trash
Summary: 1 Stars
Incestuous lesbian sex does not a novel make.
Utterly, utterly boring. This book sent in the trash before I was a quarter of the way through.