Robert L. Forward (1932–2002)

The physics geek in me loved this. The physics of neutron stars makes for an intriguing read, and placing alien life on one is a truly out-of-the-box idea. The descriptions of the cheela reminded me a little of Flatland, a book I greatly admire.
However the hard sci-fi critic in me was less satisfied. For me, the brilliance of this genre is not just physical plausibility, but also biological (including xenobiological) plausibility. On the second front, I don't think the book holds together. show more The alien life forms imagined for a neutron star never quite felt capable of supporting the kinds of cognition and civilization the novel gives them.
And perhaps this is nitpicking, but inconsistencies like this do bother me: given the level of automation and materials engineering implied elsewhere in the novel, why would close neutron-star investigations require sending humans rather than autonomous instruments? More broadly, the writing sometimes feels like a sequence of thought experiments rather than an engaging narrative.
All in all, this is a very smart and intellectually stimulating physics novel, but one that falls a bit flat in biological plausibility and narrative engagement. show less

I'm not really sure what to think about this book. I liked the parts with the cheela best. I didn't really find any of the humans believable. Maybe there was too much effort in making them "from the future"? Whatever the case, I connected much more with the cheela than the humans.

It took me a long time to get into it. The concept is fascinating, though, and I'd be curious to see what it was like if we ever did meet an alien race who lived on a different time scale from us. (Well. I'm curious show more to meet another (peaceful) alien race, period.)

I had the same complaint others had about all the humans being intelligent and (in the case of the women) beautiful. Also: why did there need to be mention of not wearing a bra in space? And did anyone else stop to think about the no-bra-in-zero-G logistics? That could get really annoying and potentially painful for the woman. Yeah. Give me the cheela over the humans any day. show less

We need more sci-fi books like this. There is all I love in a sci-fi book: hard physics, a mind-bending concept of alien life, an optimistic view of the future. I don't want to spoil the fun so I won't go into the details of how the pressure, magnetic field and gravity of the neutron star affect its inhabitants, but if you have some knowledge of physics (and/or of Star Trek LOL) you'll guess what's coming!
I hadn't had such fun since the spider society in Children of Time, and I have to say show more that the two books are very similar, albeit Dragon's Egg predates the other novel by decades. Forward must have inspired a whole genre, and I am here for it.
The social evolution on the surface of the neutron star is very much modelled on human history - again, pretty much as in Children of Time - and the human characters are quite roughly sketched, but the novel is thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless, especially if you like to be introduced to a different way of experiencing the world, through the eyes of an alien creature. I particularly liked the way Forward gave the Cheela society an original twist about sex, gender relationships and parenthood without making it feel forced. At some stage I was thinking Cheela for few minutes even after putting the book down :)
The biological evolution of the Cheela is also quite fun to witness, at least for a reader like me, quite ignorant in matters of biology and biochemistry. Maybe people with a more solid background will find the science laughable, but I had a helluva time. show less

The concept is brilliant: intelligent life evolves on a neutron star, which means they experience the world a million times faster than us.

The question of how to communicate with a being whose lifespan unfolds over your coffee break adds an interesting personal dimension, as we see relationships develop in which each side has a very different experience of their shared time. The progress of the civilisation as a whole is just as compelling. The cheela (inhabitants of the neutron star), show more while capable of reasoning and abstract thought, had been acting essentially on instinct, under the harsh constraints of their environment. But with the slightest prod from human contact, they explode into civilisation.

Given their ability to spend a lifetime planning a response to any move from the humans, the cheela are able to run rings around us; no spoilers, though, about what they choose to do.

As usual, I'd love to be able to read a book like this without having to hear how hot all the female scientists are, but hey. show less