swingbeat: 7/26: Tuf Voyaging by George R. R. Martin
Yet another George R. R. Martin book! I cant say it'll be my last. This sci-fi book is about a interstellar trader, Haviland Tuf, who in the first chapter comes across an Ecological Seedship, which would let him clone animals, plants, and other living creatures. The character has an interesting speech pattern - he tells the truth, and if you're a wordsmith like myself, you'd enjoy the things he says (many understatements come out that evoke humor) :).
This seedship is a very powerful tool, the last of its kind - he gets to play God, and there are themes of this near the end of the book. After all, he can destroy a world by sending a viruses or huge dinosaurs, or he can help a famished world by creating a complex self-sustaining ecology (which is obviously more difficult). Fortunately, he's probably the only character in the universe who remains uncorrupted by his newfound power (remember, he's an honest guy).
This book is really good and funny, Tuf is such a unique character (I've never seen anyone like him), and he loves cats. Which is kinda quirky but it actually furthers the plot :).
An interesting theme pops up. If you had such power, it's impossible to abstain from certain decisions. One can complain to him that he has no right to decide the fates of worlds, but even if he did nothing, that's a choice of his too (and thus a famished world would continue dying). I don't think I articulated that well enough, but hopefully you get the idea :).
This book was originally published as a series of short stories in Analog magazine, and Martin captured them in this novel. So each chapter is pretty fulfilling and complete.
This is better than Windhaven, but still not as good as the A Song of Ice and Fire series (but then nothing is). But I was nevertheless impressed, admittedly because I had low expectations because the cover was so unappetizing. Definitely recommended.
This seedship is a very powerful tool, the last of its kind - he gets to play God, and there are themes of this near the end of the book. After all, he can destroy a world by sending a viruses or huge dinosaurs, or he can help a famished world by creating a complex self-sustaining ecology (which is obviously more difficult). Fortunately, he's probably the only character in the universe who remains uncorrupted by his newfound power (remember, he's an honest guy).
This book is really good and funny, Tuf is such a unique character (I've never seen anyone like him), and he loves cats. Which is kinda quirky but it actually furthers the plot :).
An interesting theme pops up. If you had such power, it's impossible to abstain from certain decisions. One can complain to him that he has no right to decide the fates of worlds, but even if he did nothing, that's a choice of his too (and thus a famished world would continue dying). I don't think I articulated that well enough, but hopefully you get the idea :).
This book was originally published as a series of short stories in Analog magazine, and Martin captured them in this novel. So each chapter is pretty fulfilling and complete.
This is better than Windhaven, but still not as good as the A Song of Ice and Fire series (but then nothing is). But I was nevertheless impressed, admittedly because I had low expectations because the cover was so unappetizing. Definitely recommended.
posted by Jay at 4:16 PM
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