[DNF]≡ [PDF] Earthbound A Marsbound Novel Joe Haldeman Books

Earthbound A Marsbound Novel Joe Haldeman Books

Download As PDF : Earthbound A Marsbound Novel Joe Haldeman Books

Earthbound A Marsbound Novel Joe Haldeman Books

After a brilliant start with "Marsbound", which left room for, but did not demand, a sequel, Haldeman's 3 book series headed straight downhill. The wonderful new ideas in the opener included not one but two first contacts, great SF tech and wonderful characters with witty banter. All this just crashed and burned in the sequel, "Starsbound", for which I ended my review as follows: "I am a huge fan of Joe Haldeman and this is the first of his novels that I didn't think was great. Certainly do not read this one without first reading Marsbound - this one is not stand-alone - and don't read this as your introduction to the great SF of Joe Haldeman. Try "The Accidental Time Machine" instead. Perhaps the final entry in the series will pull everything together. I sure hope so."

Well, nope. The third one, "Earthbound" does tie everything up, but not in a very satisfying way. From a great outer space/alien romp, the series devolves into a third-rate post-apocalyptic bore that picks up right after the end of "Starsbound", on an Earth where all electrical power has been (somewhat magically) abolished by the Others. And there you have it. So far I've given away nothing, but there is really nothing to give away. Everything that made "Marsbound" so much fun is absent, and everything that made "Starsbound" so disappointing is here, and less. It was a chore to get through. In retrospect, I guess I wish I had given "Starsbound" 3 stars instead of 2 just so I could rate "Earthbound" lower. But in my scale, 1 star reviews are reserved for works that are so bad that they are unreadable, and as disappointing as it is, "Earthbound" does not qualify.

Major disappointment from an extremely talented author whom I respect very much.

Not recommended.

JM Tepper


Tags : Amazon.com: Earthbound (A Marsbound Novel) (9780441020959): Joe Haldeman: Books,Joe Haldeman,Earthbound (A Marsbound Novel),Ace,044102095X,Human-alien encounters;Fiction.,Mars (Planet);Discovery and exploration;Fiction.,Space flight;Fiction.,Fiction,Fiction - Science Fiction,Fiction Science Fiction General,Fiction-Science Fiction,GENERAL,General Adult,HALDEMAN, JOE - PROSE & CRITICISM,Human-alien encounters,Monograph Series, any,SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY,Science Fiction,Science Fiction - General,Space flight,United States

Earthbound A Marsbound Novel Joe Haldeman Books Reviews

Wow. I am a big fan of Joe Haldeman but this book disappoints in many ways, especially as a conclusion to a trilogy. I hate to spoil it but the characters I've grown fond of over the series die off and there is no resolution to the main story at all. I know it is easy to be a critic sitting here writing a review, especially since I certainly have never written anything worth reading in the science fiction genre, but I can't help but feel that this story could have been taken in so many different directions to flesh out what humanity was up against, to find out more about the antagonists and their motivation in not destroying the Earth outright. Instead what we get is a survivalist novel without a real end to the original conflict. I'm not sorry I read the book, but I would certainly have waited until it came down in price before buying it.
As many other reviewers have noted, this series started out with a great deal of intrigue. Then stopped making sense in the second book of the series, "Starbound", but still kept you interested. By the last book, however, it not only stopped making sense, but also had the exact same story line as the second book in the "Worlds" trilogy (i.e. Earth suffers some sort of cataclysmic event, and regresses to 19th century technology levels).

There were two things about this book which were very disappointing

1) How society completely breaks down about ten seconds into the loss of electricity.

I wouldn't argue with the fact that society would break down if electricity was suddenly not available, but we have had blackouts before without people immediately grabbing guns and society turning into "Lord of the Flies" in under 12 hours. Yet that is what happens here. The lights go out, and before the day is over, everyone and their brother has obtained some sort of gun and is shooting anyone else they see on sight.

2) How there was absolutely no resolution or explanation whatsoever about "the Others".

I felt kind of cheated that I invested myself in the previous two books, and was looking forward to some sort of explanation about the mysterious aliens known as "the Others". However, the mysterious aliens are not even in the book, and only their proxy "Spy" makes a couple of brief appearances. Nothing is ever explained about who "the Others" are, why they act the way they do, or what they are even trying to accomplish. I realize it wouldn't do the author credit to fully explain a mysterious alien race, but I was expecting at least some hint of information.

All in all, this book left me extremely disappointed. Out of the 200+ pages in the book, probably only a dozen were worth reading with regards to content on the series. The remaining pages is just a story of people trying to survive without electricity in a society gone insane, which is a story that I have already ready by this author before.
2.5 out of 5 stars. Haldeman seems completely lost here, and when he hits 250 pages he whips out his own deus ex machina and delivers salvation to the main character and the book just, inexplicably, ENDS. Which is probably for the best.

A disappointing end to a disappointing trilogy. This book meanders with no real plot, just a sequence of random survival events as the characters try to deal with Earth being sent back to the stone age after their never ending source of power is suddenly turned off by the Others. The entire trilogy hinges on the Others and their fascination with humanity, but he never offers to explain anything about why this race who wants to control and/or destroy us. (sigh) I always look forward to Haldeman's new books, but if this trilogy is any indication of future output I will probably be looking at his future works with a more skeptical eye.
After a brilliant start with "Marsbound", which left room for, but did not demand, a sequel, Haldeman's 3 book series headed straight downhill. The wonderful new ideas in the opener included not one but two first contacts, great SF tech and wonderful characters with witty banter. All this just crashed and burned in the sequel, "Starsbound", for which I ended my review as follows "I am a huge fan of Joe Haldeman and this is the first of his novels that I didn't think was great. Certainly do not read this one without first reading Marsbound - this one is not stand-alone - and don't read this as your introduction to the great SF of Joe Haldeman. Try "The Accidental Time Machine" instead. Perhaps the final entry in the series will pull everything together. I sure hope so."

Well, nope. The third one, "Earthbound" does tie everything up, but not in a very satisfying way. From a great outer space/alien romp, the series devolves into a third-rate post-apocalyptic bore that picks up right after the end of "Starsbound", on an Earth where all electrical power has been (somewhat magically) abolished by the Others. And there you have it. So far I've given away nothing, but there is really nothing to give away. Everything that made "Marsbound" so much fun is absent, and everything that made "Starsbound" so disappointing is here, and less. It was a chore to get through. In retrospect, I guess I wish I had given "Starsbound" 3 stars instead of 2 just so I could rate "Earthbound" lower. But in my scale, 1 star reviews are reserved for works that are so bad that they are unreadable, and as disappointing as it is, "Earthbound" does not qualify.

Major disappointment from an extremely talented author whom I respect very much.

Not recommended.

JM Tepper