Wheelers

by Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart

Book Overview

In the year 2270, with travel to the nearby planets well established, a bizarre discovery is made on Callisto, the eighth moon of Jupiter. Dozens upon dozens of strange wheeled artifacts-wheelers-are... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446610089
• ISBN13: 9780446610087
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Warner Books (NY)
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Sense of Wonder

For those of us of a certain age, our first SF reads brought a sense of wonder -- "yes, yes it *really* could be like that!" we'd say to ourselves. And then, for most of us, the world caught up with the sense of wonder. We were on the moon. We were cloning. We had the Internet. This book, this literally marvelous book, re-awakens that sense of wonder. Cohen and Stewart's aliens are really *alien.* The science of 200 years from now is not only plausible but seems inevitable. The plot is great; you care about the characters (who actually grow by book's end -- something rare in SF), but it's the science that raises the hairs on your arms. Read a chapter by Cohen -- I presume it's Cohen as he's a reproductive biologist -- on how the aliens reproduce and it's the biological equivalent of listening to Bach knock out a clever etude. And if all this doesn't light you up, the book also has a fey English wit. You won't be disappointed -- it's one of those books that's fun to read again and again.

Round and round and round...

Wheelers is a collaborative novel by two writers better known for their non-fiction. Ian Stewart is a Professor of Mathematics who writes columns for Scientific American and who has published many popular science books. Jack Cohen is a biologist who has also had a long and eminent career as an academic. He's blotted his copy book a lot though - he is a long time SF fan and has been a popular speaker at many a British SF convention. He has been the power behind the SF throne of many a novel, in that he can't resist providing the hard scientific advice that has raised a lot of SF books head and shoulders above the competition. He devised much of the clever biological speculation that made Harry Harrison's Eden novels so memorable, for instance.Now, with Wheelers these two non-fiction giants have turned their hand to story telling with, it must be admitted, mixed success.It is the twenty third century. The world is recovering from a technology meltdown caused by a generation of "smart" computers that proved to be too smart for their own good. The world is now quite under populated and the Moon and the asteroids are largely the province of a curious Zen Buddhist offshoot cult who make a very rich living mining them.Prudence Odingo is an ex-archaeologist and something of a recluse. Her early career was ruined partly by her own headstrong behaviour and partly by the wheelings and dealings of her post-graduate supervisor. She has spent many of the years since then in space. She returns to Earth from an expedition to Callisto where she has excavated wheeled artefacts that seem to be more than 100,000 years old.In a dramatic courtroom scene, the wheelers come abruptly to life and provide evidence of their extraterrestrial origins by gliding smoothly from the courtroom on anti-gravity beams. It takes the world by storm.But a new crisis arises. A comet from the Oort cloud is heading towards the inner solar system. It seems likely that it will collide with Jupiter. To the consternation of observers on Earth, the four inner moons of Jupiter suddenly change their orbits and their altered gravitational influence diverts the comet. Now it is heading directly for Earth.It seems obvious that some alien intelligence (probably connected with the Wheelers, given that they were discovered on one of Jupiter's moons) is manipulating the comets. Perhaps it is a declaration of war. Prudence and the Zen Buddhists and the academic who once destroyed her career are all charged with making contact with the aliens and attempting to persuade them to modify the Jupiter moon orbits again in order to prevent the comet hitting the Earth. It turns into a nail biting race against time...It's a great plot, with great characters and the tension is admirably maintained right through to the end (will the comet hit the Earth or won't it?). Certainly the book has a lot going for it. Unfortunately the authors inexperience with fiction shows - they fall so much in love with the ideas the nov

Excellent sci-fi from scientists

Anyone who appreciates real science will appreciate this book. Like science, the most exciting thing about Wheelers for me was delving into ideas that are new. As you read along totally involved in the story line, all of a sudden the authors poke you gently in the side ribbing you a bit to make sure you're still paying attention. Such play on words is also one of the trademarks of their science books. Excellent character development without over doing it, leaving room not only for the great imagination of the authors, but for the imagination of the reader. I felt as if I was a participant in the building of the possibilities that are explored.

Topical Grab Bag Of Themes And Plot Elements

Recently awarded Locus' nod as one of the best first novels of the past year, this entertaining novel is a potpourri of popular and topical themes, drawn from such diverse sources as ecoterrorism and diversity, cloning, Zen Buddhism, Egyptian archeology, Von Daniken's "Chariots of the Gods," and the anticipated future cataclysm of a killer comet, recently so thoroughly milked by both the news media and Hollywood. While one might suspect that the authors, both of whom have extensive scientific and academic publishing resumes, have been somewhat calculating as to their inclusion of plot elements, there is little question that they have interwoven these themes into a successful and entertaining novel, written with verve and a great amount of imagination.Though the introductory chapters start out appearing only tentatively connected, pursuing multiple storylines that at first seem largely unrelated, it is not long before the authors begin to bind their protagonists' tales together, spinning out their coalescing narrative at an ever increasing pace that soon matches the onrush of climatic events that equally propel towards the book's conclusion. Once the reader enters the climacteric phase of the novel, it is difficult to put down, marred slightly only by the final chapters, which become a summary tidying up of events and characters that seem somewhat a let down after all the excitement preceding. Nonetheless, the authors succeed in investing much of their tale with an ever-increasing suspense that is handled deftly, and which largely offsets any flaws found in the final slowdown of events.In addition, while a blend of both hard and soft science, the multiple points of view are balanced, as well as well integrated into the plot elements, science and conceptual elements only on occasion dominating at the expense of the storyline. Further, the authors use their tale to delightfully parody contemporary government and beauracracy, as well as academia and the news media, with a sardonic humor reminiscent of authors such as Terry Pratchett, which are bound to raise a chuckle, even if darkly lined, and leaven the narrative throughout.Even though not a huge fan of science fiction, I found this book enjoyable, and will certainly follow the authors' novels in future---hopefully there will be successors. While, if allowed, I would have given this first effort only 3 and a half stars, I suspect fans of the genre will respond more generously.

SF at its finest

In the twenty-third century, archeologist Charlie Dunsmore knows he handled his brilliant assistant and her discovery that the Sphinx was much older than first thought wrong. An irate Prudence accuses him of stealing her success, especially when a frustrated Charlie blithely tosses her contract in her face. Charlie realizes he overreacted and plans to apologize. However, Prudence has left the dig to travel to the moons of Jupiter to confirm her abilities to her mentor and lover.On Jupiter's eighth moon Callisto, Prudence proves her success in Egypt was no fluke. She uncovers WHEELERS under the ice of the moon. She has no idea who junk-piled them and what their functions were. Prudence immediately returns to Earth to declare her find. Meanwhile, the moons of Jupiter defy gravity and somehow reposition themselves. In turn, the realignment leads to a change on the orbit of a comet that now targets planet earth as part of its orbital projectory. Apparently, sentient beings inhabit the Jupiter planetary system and they are now defending themselves from the destructive comet even if it means destroying Earth. Somehow, the desperate earthlings must communicate with this alien race to save their planet from the comet's destruction.WHEELERS is an exciting science fiction thriller that brings into focus a future earth and an incredible look at an alien culture. The exciting story line is well written, but contains a bit too many subplots even though each one of these are fun to read. Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen show their abilities to write a futuristic novel especially when describing the residents of the Jupiter planetary system.Harriet Klausner