This book reads like an odd combination of a trite young adult fantasy and a science fiction novel of planetary exploration hung on a truly intriguing concept. A physics experiment gone wrong leaves our protagonist stranded on an earth like planet inhabited by human like people where one important law of physics works quite differently: things that are used don’t wear down, they instead improve towards perfection (i.e., as they get “practice”).

The Practice Effect is a decent yarn, but not really in the same league with Startide Rising or The Uplift War. I found the feudal politics and economics of the world to be superficial, and none of the characters to be particularly compelling (the love-interest princess and the evil villain both felt particularly thin). The strategy and tactics of the climactic battle are unconvincing, and completely ignore the profound implications of the planet's reverse entropy physics to boot.

Not a great novel, but I found it moderately satisfying in a guilty pleasure kind of way. ( )

http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts... ( )

http://www.leftfield.org/~rawdon/book... ( )

http://www.davidbrin.com/practiceeffe...
David Brin's Official Web Site: The Practice Effect (sample chapters) ( )