| Reviews: |
|
abvr (USA: MA) (2006/11/03):
This massive (nearly 900-page) science fiction epic is set in the very near future and "stars" the visionary head of a huge, family-run international conglomerate. Her goal (for reasons hinted at early in the story but not immediately revealed, is to establish a commercial alternative to America's moribund space program. Achieving her goal requires finding outside investors, fending off challenges to her authority from within the company, overseeing the building of the first truly reusable spacecraft, and (surprise!) taking over a failing high school in order to train a cadre of young people capable of dealing with the challenges of the 21st century.Flynn intercuts multiple plotlines and multiple character-driven subplots with ease, but also pauses periodically for one or another of the Good Guys to hold forth on subjects near and dear to their (and presumably his) heart: the importance of space travel, the virtues of charter schools, environmentalists as Luddites, and so on. The lectures aren't long in and of themselves, but after the first few hundred pages all the talk begins to add up. I finally grew weary of it all somewhere around page 300, and set the book down. Your interest in the book will likely depend on your fondness for long space-advocacy epics and your sympathy with Flynn's views on the world.
|
