Summertide

Sheffield, Charles. Summertide. 1990. Heritage Universe No. 1. SF Gateway, 2013.
Charles Sheffield (1935-2002) was a physicist-mathematician, and for a while, chief scientist at Earth Satellite Corp. He only turned to science fiction writing in his forties but still amassed nine series with impressive world-building. Summertide, the first novel in the Heritage Universe series, is typical of what he could do. Our arm of the Milky Way is littered with large artifacts created by an alien race that disappeared 5 million years ago. One system has two tidally stressed planets in a multiple star system. Both have space elevators. When there is a summer conjunction, both planets suffer severe quakes that make life on one difficult and on the show more other impossible. A rare grand conjunction attracts a group of scientists, government officials, and adventure tourists of several species. They land on the most severely stressed planet, ominously named Quake, in hope of discovering why the ancient aliens built a space elevator on such an inhospitable world. The scientific speculation is inventive and several of the characters are intriguing. Sheffield reminds me a lot of Arthur C. Clarke. Good stuff that deserves to be better known than it is. 4 stars. show less

This is a better-than-average, light, space-opera adventure. While the plot relies on ancient BDOs and intrigues working against each other, the strength of "Summertide" lies in the character development; Sheffield does a good job creating and presenting complex individuals who don't suddenly act out-of-character to suit the storyline. Even the aliens are _alien_ enough to not be just funny-looking humans but still maintain complex backstories and motivations. It's entertaining and intelligent.

El brazo espiral de la Galaxia está repleto de artefactos pertenecientes a los Constructores. Se calcula que hay más de mil doscientos, la mayoría de ellos un absoluto misterio; incluso algunos han causado la muerte de los exploradores que se han acercado a investigar. Sin embargo, en el sistema planetario Dobelle formado por Sismo y Ópalo, se espera una conjunción de planetas y estrellas como no se ha visto en 350.000 años. ¿Tendrá esto algo que ver con los misteriosos Constructores?

Entre los protagonistas de la historia, se encuentra el capitán Hans Rebka, que tiene la misión de estudiar el comportamiento de Max Perry, comandante en el planeta Ópalo, y convencerle de que abandone este sistema. La profesora Darya Lang, de la show more Alianza, es quizá la que más sabe sobre los Constructores, y se dirige a Sismo para estudiar el Umbilical, uno de los artefactos. Julius Graves, consejero de la Alianza, tiene como misión encontrar y apresar a unas asesinas genocidas que cree se ocultan en Sismo. E igualmente, la cecropiana Atvar H’sial, y Louis Nenda, de la Comunión Zardalu, buscan descender a Sismo. El problema estriba en la proximidad de la Marea Estival, que se espera provocará catástrofes que hacen inviable la vida en Sismo.

‘Marea Estival’ (Summer Tide, 1990), del escritor Charles Sheffield, es el primer volumen de la serie Universo Heredado. Desgraciadamente, sólo se tradujo al castellano este título. Sheffield escribe bien, y sabe atrapar al lector, algo nada fácil. Esta novela recuerda, inevitablemente, a ‘Cita con Rama’, de Arthur C. Clarke, y ‘Pórtico’, de Frederik Pohl, en cuanto a artefactos alienígenas se refiere. Es un buen libro, pero deja la trama abierta a las continuaciones, que como digo no se han traducido. Entretenido e interesante; me lo he pasado muy bien leyéndolo. show less

My reaction to reading this novel in 1997. Spoilers may follow.

This was a fun, “juvenile” novel of sf featuring several alien artifacts and colorful characters. I liked Steven/Julian Graves – an individual with a “mnemonic” implant in his brain which has failed to subsume his identity. I liked the ruthless Atvar Hsial – member of the brilliant Cecropian race who, though blind and evolving on a cloud covered plant, discover a greater universe. I liked the slave J’merlia – a brilliant linguist, navigator, and archaeologist but congenitally diffident.

An exciting story but nothing really special, intriguing artifacts and, of course, somewhat of an inconclusive story given this was the first in a trilogy.

I found this to be a very engaging story. Everyone says it's "hard sci-fi" so I'll go along with that. It has the same sort of tone as Peter F. Hamilton's writings, so if you like his, you'll probably like this series as well - though Summertide is MUCH less
long-winded and about half as descriptive as Hamilton's works.

There are a lot of technical descriptions of space-faring ideas/inventions/activities, but none of it gets boring or overly complicated. I found that the characters were diverse and interesting. Are they as well-developed as they would be in a soap-opera book, no, of course not, but you can tell the difference between the main characters; and the motivations behind their behaviors are adequately differentiated.

There is a show more big chunk of mystery/suspense in here... like who are the Builders, what is going on at Summertide, who are the bad/good guys, etc. I thought this added a nice dimension to the story. I have bought the rest of the series. show less

A really good old-style science fiction story!

Divergence then transcendence