Beyond Heaven's River

This is an early novel for Bear, and experimental, so it deserves a little generosity, but I still was disappointed in some ways, given the setup and premise that, as others have noted, is fascinating. It is unusual and it did keep me reading till the end, but I didn't find myself feeling much when I got there. The last 20 pages especially fell flat for me... but it's an early work and Bear is clearly trying to do something unusual here, so I can't quite pan the novel.

Still, it serves as an object lesson in how times change. I suspect this novel would not get published today, for a few reasons. (But it reminds me of Kim Stanley Robinson's Icehenge, another novel I think probably couldn't get published today by a newcomer, so maybe it's show more a 1980s thing?) show less

This is a curious little novel. The premise is an intruiging one but the treatment is unusual - certainly not what one would expect. I think this is what really made it interesting to read - the fact that one really did not know where it was going or what was going to happen. Many readers I'm sure might be bemused by the cosy domesticity of the story, particularly given the way it starts which promises all sorts of mysterious alien involvement, corporate skullduggery and extreme angst on the part of the protagonist, a WW2 Japanese pilot who is plucked from his sinking aircraft carrier and pullled 400 years into the future. None of this early promise is fulfilled, but I found it a gripping read anyway since I was wondering throughout show more exactly where this was all going. I'm not certain i would be anywhere as intrigued during a second read though.

Overall, an unusual little novel that is lacking in the usual fireworks and whiz bang one usual expects from Bear's novels. show less

I was a little disappointed in this because the premise - WW2 Japanese airman is captured by aliens and is released 400 years later for no apparent reason - promised much but didn't (for me ) deliver. I was expecting more gosh-wowery on the part of the Japanese protagonist at the world of the future and how everything turned out, and instead we got a competent future corporate thriller (as far as I remember - a while since I read it).

I didn't hate this, it was okay, but not amazing. I don't really feel like I understood some of it, and I dislike that feeling. Perhaps a closer reading was necessary, or maybe sloppy writing, not sure which was at fault.

Interesting concept and plot. Characters were a bit shallow.