≡ PDF Firstborn A Time Odyssey Arthur C Clarke Stephen Baxter Books

Firstborn A Time Odyssey Arthur C Clarke Stephen Baxter Books

Download As PDF : Firstborn A Time Odyssey Arthur C Clarke Stephen Baxter Books

Firstborn A Time Odyssey Arthur C Clarke Stephen Baxter Books

It's very easy to see that this book is written mostly by Baxter, not by Clarke. The 'Firstborn' is full of classic Baxter cliches:
1) Estranged characters that simply can't get over their feelings (is Baxter even able write any over characters?).
2) Super-powerful AIs.
3) Ineffective and control-obsessed governments.
4) Strange aliens from beyond time and space with unearthly technologies.
5) Unresolved endings.

If you read any of Baxter's books you can generally predict what was going to happen.

The previous book was very 'Clarkian' in its feel - it had a physically plausible threat, semi-hard SF, interesting characters, and the general optimistic tone. Very little of it here.


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Firstborn A Time Odyssey Arthur C Clarke Stephen Baxter Books Reviews

I could give a five star if not for the doubts about the future of the Time Odyssey series, now that Clarke is gone... Too many questions remains
Sir Arthur C. Clarke is the best sci-fi writer there has ever been.
Read the three book series in as many days. I couldn't stop...literary meth. I mostly enjoy super hard SCI-fi like Greg Egan's stuff, but I enjoyed this character driven story for a change. Authors Note provides some back up to the science & history portrayed in the novels. Overall...recommend.
The Three books of the Time Odyssey Series are both very satisfying and very frustrating. The first book - Time's Eye - with the fractured history on a recreated earth - is mind boggling. The Second one - Sunstorm - with earth working together to ward off the effects of an artificially induced solar flare - is amazing, in a more techincal way. The last book - Firstborn - also presents us with a peril that must be deflected - a quantum bomb. It is not a spoiler to say that in the end the problem is solved with great ingenuity. In addition, new allies are brought in to help in the fight against the Firstborn. What is disappointing is that the cover says "The Conclusion of a Time Odyssey" but the end of the novel is about as open ended as a book can be. The war goes on - and now that Sir Arthur Clarke has died - any conclusion must be strictly that of Stephen Baxter.
Firstborn is a welcome companion to the earlier books but readers should by all means read the books in the order they are written and not start with Firstborn.
 Firstborn (A Time Odyssey)
Firstborn is the continuation, and supposed, conclusion to the Time Odyssey trilogy. The book floats between several settings, including Mars, Earth, and Mir (the alternate world created in Time's Eye). This book attempts to tie in all of the previous elements of Time's Eye and Sunstorm. Once again, we follow Bisea Dutt between space and between universes, all the way back to Mir. The Firstborn are on the attack again. This time, they are lobbing a "Q bomb" at the Earth. The Q bomb will wipe out the whole of Earth, if it hits.

I can see what Clarke and Baxter were trying to accomplish with this novel. However, the ideas and writing are underdeveloped and lacking in cohesion. The novel starts out promisingly enough, with Bisea Dutt waking from suspended animation and running away from authorities. However the novel quickly loses its focus and edge by indulging in half-plots and contrived conflicts.

Much of the novel is focused on humanity's attempts to defeat the Q bomb. Without spoiling the story, the novel focuses on the conventional, government lead attempts to stop the bomb and a less conventional attempt, involving Mir.

At every step in the plot, it seems Clarke is a few pages from a great concept, chapter and book. However, he falls short - consistently. The world he initially creates is, seemingly, supposed to be more paranoid, authoritative and divided, but that is barely conveyed with the simple technical devices he creates (ex. a mandatory ident tattoo on everyone's cheek). Close to the novel's resolution, the sweeping changes in society are empty and uninspiring.

To the dismay of those who enjoyed Time's Eye, Alexander is reduced to a shell of what he could be and the Babylonian court is barely touched on. This exhibits none of the wonderful counter-factual history Time's Eye exhibited. At the same time, it does not explore any ground breaking scientific material (the Q bomb is never truly explored), nor does it give a sense of human drama as Sunstorm did.

Though it's far from out of character for Clarke, the conclusion of the book leaves another open ending and feels very unsatisfying for a true end of a trilogy. I sat puzzled and had to reread the last sentences a couple times, just to make sure I read them correctly. Sometimes needing to reread the last few sentences of a book is very satisfying, but this was not the case for Firstborn.

Lastly, in terms of the trilogy as a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed the first two installments in the series. Yet, when taken holistically with this last installment, I can't help but think there could have been a better job done of interwoven story lines, resolution and character development throughout the trilogy itself. The first two novels were excellent on their own merits, but this third installment seems as though it's trying to weave together two incompatible stories.

If you've read the two previous novels, I'd still recommend you read Firstborn, but don't get your hopes up, and wait for the paperback.
The book is great. I was very impressed by the freshness and originality of the whole series, written by an extremely accomplished writer well into his eighties.

The downside is that he died before writing a fourth book. This shouldn't have been a trilogy - the end is not really an end.

Of course you could say that being already close to ninety years of age, it would have been nice of him to write the third book with a good and convincing conclusion - but we got to make do with what we have. The entire trilogy is amazing - and my favorite book was the second (Sunstorm).
Very interesting journey by the mind of the person who created 2001. This final book of the Firstborn Trilogy continued your journey of time and space and continue stretching your imagination. The authors completed their journey through time-space, and yet, left the reader with questions to meditate on for a lifetime. Once the authors once again seamlessly wove the storyline of the first 2 books of the trilogy (Times Eye and Sunstorm) into this, the final volume - I had a hard time putting the book down. If you are a person who can mentally free yourself to think of the possibilities that exist outside of the constraints of space-time, then this is a definite must read.
It's very easy to see that this book is written mostly by Baxter, not by Clarke. The 'Firstborn' is full of classic Baxter cliches
1) Estranged characters that simply can't get over their feelings (is Baxter even able write any over characters?).
2) Super-powerful AIs.
3) Ineffective and control-obsessed governments.
4) Strange aliens from beyond time and space with unearthly technologies.
5) Unresolved endings.

If you read any of Baxter's books you can generally predict what was going to happen.

The previous book was very 'Clarkian' in its feel - it had a physically plausible threat, semi-hard SF, interesting characters, and the general optimistic tone. Very little of it here.