Gregory Benford

Disjointed and surprisingly uninvolving. Critically well received in 1978, this book would seem to have all the components for a great SF novel: space travel by an author who knows his science, first contact, cosmic implications, not at all pulpy, serious attempt at the personal side of things. And yet, not once did I get pulled into the story or care a fig about any of the characters. Part of the problem is that this is a fix-up novel, based on separately published stories. It avoids the show more redundant passages that sometimes happen with such novels, but not the problem of many small conclusions replacing one grand arc. But for me the biggest issue is the coldness and flatness of the telling of the story. The protagonist is a pretty cold fish, going through some major personal crises early on, all of which he observes with a sigh. Even the sex scenes are clinically told. show less

This science-fiction classic is lauded for marrying hard physics-based sci fi with strong character stories, but the characters were precisely the reason I didn’t like the book. The plot is intriguing: in a future (actually 1998) plagued by environmental catastrophes, a couple of physicists hatch a plan to send a message back in time, hoping that the scientists of the past can avert the catastrophe. But I couldn’t get into the story because all of the characters were unlikeable, show more stereotyped or just plain flat.

For example, in an early chapter, the wife of one of the physicists is approached by a squatter asking for some milk for her child. She refuses, saying she only has enough for her family. Okay, I can understand that reaction; food supplies are obviously running short. But then, a few days later, she hosts a lavish dinner party for her friends, where she serves three desserts! This brought to mind what I most dislike about humans and what is really at the root of a lot of our problems, including climate change: that we can rationalize that avoiding our own minor discomforts and deprivations is more important than helping to meet the basic needs of a fellow human being. I really couldn’t like any of the characters after that scene, no matter how hard they tried to save the world. show less

If the Stars Are Gods is a philosophical exploration of the concepts of life and humanity. Throughout the book, we encounter various forms of extra-terrestrial life, including Earth germs on Mars from a "contaminated" landing, stereotypical flesh-and-blood aliens on a spaceship from another star, gaseous beings in the atmosphere of Jupiter, and crystalline beings on the cold moon of Titan. The main character is a high-minded scientist who has to continually work against Earth's political show more machine to continue his work on extra-terrestrial life and intelligence. The political situation becomes even more charged after Earth creates and then tries to expunge a small number of genetically-enhanced humans, who seem better equipped to understand the strangeness of the forms life can take. While it's blatantly obvious that humanity, obsessed with its petty squabbles, is not ready to deal with other intelligences, it remains an open question whether a devoutly scientific man or even a genetically-enhanced person is either. The tone of the book is very reflective and encourages the reader to think upon the central theme--can the human mind comprehend the strangeness of life? show less

Benford, Gregory. Great Sky River. 1987. Galactic Center No. 3. Aspect, 2004.
I like to imagine Gregory Benford sitting in a theater in 1984 watching Arnold Schwarzenegger terrorize California in The Terminator. He must have thought, I can do this in my Galactic Hub series and make the mechs more plausible. Three years later, that is exactly what he accomplished in Great Sky River. Having discovered the hostile mech civilization at the center of the galaxy, humans have begun to settle show more multiple systems trying to grab a toehold in which they can survive. Great Sky River is set on a colony planet where things have not gone well. The ecology has been devastated by mech invaders and only a few bands of nomadic humans survive to wage a feeble insurgency. They scavenge and adapt what they can of mech technology and struggle to maintain their cultural heritage. By this point in the series, Benford has a solid grip on where he wants the six-novel sequence to go. Epic space opera at its best. show less