Echoes of an Alien Sky

by James P. Hogan

Book Overview

18 years have passed since the first manned mission to Earth arrived from Venus. With the first colonists already establishing themselves, Kyal Reen arrives to join the Venusian scientific &... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416555323
• ISBN13: 9781416555322
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Baen Books
• Length: 422 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Good science fiction

James P. Hogan is one of my favorite science fiction writers. I do however prefer his earlier work to the newer novels. I like stuff that is technically believable even if it is very futuristic and Hogan's novels are. The empahasis is on the science part of science fiction.

Refreshingly delightful...

I bought this book as an afterthought, relying on my love for the way Hogan weaves his tales. I was not disappointed... As others have stated, the main story outcome is pretty much telegraphed from the beginning. However, the way he arrives at the finale makes this book a must read, heh heh. Throughout, twists in the characters logic are presented that make you wonder about the finish, and the individual personal stories continuously distract you. Definitely worth picking up, and you won't put it down often!

Typical Hogan

There are only a handful of authors I hold in high enough regard to chance buying their latest release in hardcover, before I can go over reviews from other readers. James P. Hogan is one of those authors. I've been a fan of his for a good twenty years or more. So, am I glad I took a chance on "Echoes of an Alien Sky"? For the most part, yes. The basic premise of the novel will be familiar to readers of other Hogan novels, such as "The Anguished Dawn" and "Star Child". Colonists from Venus, a hot, swampy world whose equatorial zone is barely habitable, have recently begun settling the next planet out from the sun, Earth. It is an older world than Venus, with enormous swathes of ocean, startling valleys and mountain ranges clearly sculpted/ravaged by catastrophism, and climates ranging from arctic to desert to jungle. Oddly enough, it seems a more suitable place to live for Venusians than Venus itself, one of many things about Earth which has the scientists scratching their collective heads in puzzlement. The biggest mystery of all is what happened to the former inhabitants of Earth. They seemed to be very much like Venusians, except for one key difference: whereas Venusians were rationalistic, and solved their problems and worked out their differences by consensus, the old Terrans were a savage race, prone to warfare, ruled by superstition, driven by their fear of ancient, angry, cosmic deities. Indeed, there were ruins of cities on Earth, many thousands of years old, leveled by atomic bombs. To complicate matters, older records, carved in stone or written on well-preserved paper, could still be read, but the more recent electronic records, which were needed to fully understand the fate of Terran civilization, were rarely readable. Moreover, whereas Venusians spoke one language, with a few regional variants, the Terrans spoke thousands. Each one had to be decoded, keeping armies of translators very busy. By the start of "Echoes of an Alien Sky", enough was understood about ancient Earth culture to have a significant influence back on Venus. There was an increasingly militant political group called the "Progressives" who wished to emulate Terran ways, feeling that their hierarchical top-down structure was a better way of managing people and resources than the more loosely organized Venusian ways. It was all well and good for people of merit to attain to positions of influence in their fields of endeavor, but what of those others who were not born with the right kind of talents? Why should they always be left behind? Some of these Progressives have also set up shop on Earth, learning from their research of Terran records ever more devious ways of manipulating public opinion. Inevitably, the two different political philosophies will come into conflict, tugging at the loyalties of the novel's characters. What will be the future for Venus then? If you're looking for something completely new, "Echoes of an Alien Sky" is not for y

A solid and enjoyable read!

I personally thought this book was well done. I wouldn't say it was Mr. Hogan's best novel, but it was definitely a book I enjoyed reading. Leaving the plot to the jacket and product review descriptions, I'll just focus on a few points. This novel, like many of James P. Hogan's novels, draws from his current interests at the time of writing. Many of the themes in his recent non-fiction work "Kicking the Sacred Cow" find their way into this book. Perhaps this is what the Publishers Weekly critic deemed pseudoscience and polemic. Of course, that's the critic's prerogative; but if they're so opposed to exploration of possibilities, they almost certainly have no business reviewing science fiction for a living--and thus they all but invalidate their own opinion through hypocrisy, in my mind. I would say, however, that I was mildly disappointed with a few points. Without introducing spoilers, I would just say I'd have liked a more in-depth exploration of some of the technology involved, and a more in-depth resolution of something I really thought would be far more impactful than it ended up being. On the first point, I would argue that while the exploration of the technology was sufficient for the purposes of telling the story, it didn't seem to be as organised, thorough, and as detail-oriented as past Hogan novels' science-based extrapolations (the gravitics throughout the Giants novels, for instance, or the multiverse in the last of that series being good examples where Hogan went into greater detail that was far more awe inspiringly introduced). It felt, on the whole, like there was a very large scientific awe factor to be had, similar to the aforementioned examples, that was back-burnered in favour of exploring social and political points. Not that exploring the latter is a bad thing. It just could have leaned more heavily on the science, and seems to break with the JPH tradition a little in this one respect. It felt, for pretty much the first time since I've read his work, like punches were pulled and significant scientific avenues inadequately explored. On the second point, I reread the relevant last five or so chapters and once passage in particular, and the "conclusion" to this one single aspect of the book seemed (to me) to contradict itself. I felt forced to accept one possibility over the other, lest it feel like a completely ignored or overlooked plot thread. I may just be missing something in my interpretation, however, a fair percentage of communication lying in interpretation. That aside, I enjoyed the novel a great deal. Despite the aforementioned bleed-over of material from KTSC, the material here did not get nearly as repetitively "preachy" as, say, "The Legend that was Earth"--a novel which I also enjoyed immensely, and which was marred only by that exact quality in excess--and still was not ruined by it. Where TLtwE hit you repeatedly over the head with a singular point -almost- enough to detract from the stor

interesting science fiction thriller

Almost two decades ago Venus landed a manned spacecraft on Earth to find the ruins of an intelligent society. Scientists, archeologists, and other professionals arrive to study what became of the earthlings. Not long afterward, colonists arrive. Back home the findings have divided the Venusians into traditionalists who welcome what the creator Vizek has provided and the Progressives who believe Venus is in trouble for accepting the status quo; each side sees the ruins of earth differently. Kyal joins a Venusian expedition whose goal is to reconstruct the history of the Terran race especially why it became extinct; the most prevalent theory is an outer space calamity caused climatic destruction. Amidst the ruins, Kyal meets biologist Lorelei, who seeks an explanation as to why life forms on both planets are similar since Venus is considered a much younger planet than Earth yet all evidence proves that life on earth died before life on Venus emerged. The work performed by Kyal and Lorelei will have major impact on Venusian society on two planets. This is an interesting science fiction thriller mindful of the movie 5 Million Miles To Earth. The story line contains two premises; the first (and more fascinating) being the Venusians struggling with the archeological ruins of the great Terran society to learn what happened to destroy it; the second being the major conflict back home between progressives seeking change and traditionalists insisting Vizek set the values which need to remains the same. When the intrusion of the earth findings occur, this tale is top rate as just finding the remains impact how a race sees itself, but when the plot focuses on the dispute itself it loses its orbit. Still readers will enjoy this delightful look at the ruins of earth. Harriet Klausner