Shadows of Eternity
by Gregory Benford
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"Humanity has established a SETI library on the moon to decipher and interpret the many messages from alien societies we have discovered. The most intriguing messages are from complete artificial intelligences. Ruth, a beginner Librarian, must talk to alien minds who have aggressive agendas of their own. She opens doors into strangeness beyond imagination and in her quest for understanding nearly gets killed doing it"--Tags
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Member Reviews
Shadows of Eternity by Gregory Benford is a highly recommended science fiction novel set two centuries in the future and spanning decades.
"Humanity has established a SETI library on the moon to decipher and interpret the many messages from alien societies we have discovered. The most intriguing messages are from complete artificial intelligences... Ruth, a beginner Librarian, must talk to alien minds—who have aggressive agendas of their own." Important: read the post-script, which shares discussions between Benford and Poul Anderson, before the novel as it will provide background information for the actual plot. Also, keep in mind that the format is a collection of short stories rather than a continuous novel.
What I wanted was a hard show more science fiction space opera following Ruth's work within the SETI library on the moon, discoveries, and subsequent travels, and Benford provided this. The actual format of Shadows of Eternity, however, was a bit of a surprise. It is really a series of short stories following Ruth's start as a Librarian, showcasing some of her subsequent work with alien messages, and then the main encounter that is still broken into shorter stories. The stories are all revolve around Ruth and the SETI library (until the last one), but, as with any novel that is told in this manner, characters are left behind and story lines are left without a resolution.
This disjointed flow of the novel represented in the collection of stories, rather than an ongoing space saga, is part of what I really didn't want. Additionally, the character of Ruth was not all that appealing and I don't think Benford's writing in the voice of a female main character was entirely successful or believable here. There were several scenes and actions that were off-putting and really added nothing to the plot. The latter stories in the novel were more interesting, but as a whole this was an uneven novel. Benford has been a favorite novelist for years. While Shadows of Eternity showcased many of the reasons why, it needed some more editing or a firmer direction and separation of parts. 3.5 rounded up
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Gallery/Saga Press via NetGalley.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/10/shadows-of-eternity.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4291352049 show less
"Humanity has established a SETI library on the moon to decipher and interpret the many messages from alien societies we have discovered. The most intriguing messages are from complete artificial intelligences... Ruth, a beginner Librarian, must talk to alien minds—who have aggressive agendas of their own." Important: read the post-script, which shares discussions between Benford and Poul Anderson, before the novel as it will provide background information for the actual plot. Also, keep in mind that the format is a collection of short stories rather than a continuous novel.
What I wanted was a hard show more science fiction space opera following Ruth's work within the SETI library on the moon, discoveries, and subsequent travels, and Benford provided this. The actual format of Shadows of Eternity, however, was a bit of a surprise. It is really a series of short stories following Ruth's start as a Librarian, showcasing some of her subsequent work with alien messages, and then the main encounter that is still broken into shorter stories. The stories are all revolve around Ruth and the SETI library (until the last one), but, as with any novel that is told in this manner, characters are left behind and story lines are left without a resolution.
This disjointed flow of the novel represented in the collection of stories, rather than an ongoing space saga, is part of what I really didn't want. Additionally, the character of Ruth was not all that appealing and I don't think Benford's writing in the voice of a female main character was entirely successful or believable here. There were several scenes and actions that were off-putting and really added nothing to the plot. The latter stories in the novel were more interesting, but as a whole this was an uneven novel. Benford has been a favorite novelist for years. While Shadows of Eternity showcased many of the reasons why, it needed some more editing or a firmer direction and separation of parts. 3.5 rounded up
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Gallery/Saga Press via NetGalley.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/10/shadows-of-eternity.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4291352049 show less
As with the best scifi, mind-opening and accessible.
I reviewed this book for Nerds of a Feather:
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2021/12/dear-gregory-benford-kindly-stop-writing.ht...
(TL;DR this novel is a disgusting piece of rape apology that should never have been published)
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2021/12/dear-gregory-benford-kindly-stop-writing.ht...
(TL;DR this novel is a disgusting piece of rape apology that should never have been published)
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237+ Works 22,268 Members
Gregory Benford, was born on January 30, 1941 in Mobile, Alabama. He is a physicist and science fiction writer who earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego, in 1967. He is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and a consultant for NASA. Benford's first novel "Deeper than the Darkness" (1970), which was revised as "The Stars in Shroud" show more (1978), gave him notice as a serious Science Fiction writer. His most popular work is "Timescape" (1980), which was the winner of the Nebula and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards; it presented a hard physics approach to limited time travel. "In the Ocean of Night" (1977), "Across the Sea of Suns" (1984), "Great Sky River" (1987), "Tides of Light" (1989) and "Furious Gulf" (1994) were all a part of the Galactic Cluster Series. He has also written the juvenile novel "Jupiter Project" (1975), "Against Infinity" (1983) and the thriller "Artifact" (1985). He has been nominated for 12 Nebula Awards (winning for "Timescape" and for the novelette, "If the Stars are Gods"). Benford, writing alternately with Bruce Sterling, produces science fact articles for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. They took over after the death of regular columnist Isaac Asimov. He has also co-edited theme anthologies with Martin H. Greenburg, which include "Hitler Victorious" (1986), "Nuclear War" (1988), "What Might Have Been, Volume 1: Alternate Empires" (1988), "Volume 2: Alternate Heroes" (1989) and "Volume 3: Alternate Wars." (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2021-10-19
- Epigraph
- When on some gilded cloud or flower
My gazing soul would dwell an houre,
And in those weaker glories spy
Some shadows of eternity.
—Henry Vaughan, "The Retreate," 1650 - First words
- The woman who had gone in only three minutes before came back out.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)DEAR READER, THIS IS THAT BOOK.
- Blurbers
- McDevitt, Jack
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- (2.90)
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- English
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- Paper, Ebook
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