- Paperback
- Publisher: Avon (Jun 1981)
- ISBN-10: 0380001004
- ISBN-13: 978-0380001002
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,412,840 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Rogue Moon (S.F. MASTERWORKS)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
This study of the human psyche has an incredible amount of power which when combined with the study of relationships and exploration of that final frontier - the inevitable truth that is death - creates a unique and breathtaking novel that simply has no equal, a true classic in every sense. (Antony Jones SFBOOKREVIEWS blog )
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
Described by Robert Silverberg as containing 'The most terrifying pages in any SF novel I have ever read', ROGUE MOON is the disquieting story of what happens when monstrous scientific ambition is matched by human obsession.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
I liked this a lot, for pretty much all the reasons the previous reviewer disliked it, so your response to it will probably depend on how you peg your own tastes between the two perspectives.
It's anything but a slam-bang action story. It is, in every sense, an existential novel, about how to live in good faith in an utterly indifferent universe. If you're already recoiling, this is not the book for you. If you're intrigued, it's strongly recommended as a book which uses what's still an original SF idea to make an important point - and make it more effectively than mainstream novels could ever do. The plot isn't full of incident, but that's because the narrative is used to reflect and develop the ideas and characters in an unified manner. The characterisation is vivid and well-drawn, particularly in the context of SF of this vintage. On which point, the previous reviewer found this book dated. I felt the decision to set it in the year of publication (1959) was an effective way to prevent it from dating; the characters and technological speculation are of their time, so anachronisms don't get in the way of the themes, which are as relevant now as they were then. And the last chapter isn't a bit of tagged-on pulp action, but a sting in the tail which sharpens and clarifies everything that's come before.
It's not perfect: it does drag in places, and bits of the dialogue are overly theatrical. But for the most part it's a novel of great ambition which is largely realised, and, in its deep and unflinching look at human nature, a remarkable achievement from an author who was still in his late twenties when he wrote it. It sees SF as a genre capable of more than providing entertaining diversions (not that there's anything wrong with that) and is a highly honourable precursor of much of the good stuff to emerge from and follow the "New Wave" SF of the sixties.
It's anything but a slam-bang action story. It is, in every sense, an existential novel, about how to live in good faith in an utterly indifferent universe. If you're already recoiling, this is not the book for you. If you're intrigued, it's strongly recommended as a book which uses what's still an original SF idea to make an important point - and make it more effectively than mainstream novels could ever do. The plot isn't full of incident, but that's because the narrative is used to reflect and develop the ideas and characters in an unified manner. The characterisation is vivid and well-drawn, particularly in the context of SF of this vintage. On which point, the previous reviewer found this book dated. I felt the decision to set it in the year of publication (1959) was an effective way to prevent it from dating; the characters and technological speculation are of their time, so anachronisms don't get in the way of the themes, which are as relevant now as they were then. And the last chapter isn't a bit of tagged-on pulp action, but a sting in the tail which sharpens and clarifies everything that's come before.
It's not perfect: it does drag in places, and bits of the dialogue are overly theatrical. But for the most part it's a novel of great ambition which is largely realised, and, in its deep and unflinching look at human nature, a remarkable achievement from an author who was still in his late twenties when he wrote it. It sees SF as a genre capable of more than providing entertaining diversions (not that there's anything wrong with that) and is a highly honourable precursor of much of the good stuff to emerge from and follow the "New Wave" SF of the sixties.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book a few years back after being drawn in by the ideas of death, reincarnation and the links to strange moon-based environments that are conjured up by the novel's usual descriptions. Unfortunately I found it to be a rather boring litany on psychological attributes and character types, with a bit of SF pulp style action thrown in towards the end. Dated and faintly ridiculous at times, but it could be one for those interested in an unusual angle on 1960's psychology.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
15 reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
First rate, thought provoking sci fi at its best!
10 Sep 1999
Format:Paperback
The creation of human replicants allows for the study of a mysterious alien artifact on the moon. The humans and their alter ego replicants become one mentally, and both share the experience when one enters the artifact, in which all who enter ultimately die. The remaining human can then describe what the other saw and felt inside, allowing further study of the artifact. When the remaining humans are unable to communicate the information, due to insanity brought on by the memory experience of dying, a search begins for a man who can withstand the experience. That search brings together some fascinating characters, who find that facing the project is less difficult than facing their own demons, brought out fully during participation in the project. The character interactions and development are superb, and ultimately elevate this gripping story to the highest level. Fundamental human issues of life and death are explored effectively, as the characters struggle to define their lives in the face of an uncaring, unyielding and mysterious object.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
You may never have heard of this book.
29 Oct 2000
Format:Hardcover
This is a book you may never have heard of, which is a shame; it's an absolute diamond. First of all it's a book about people, the way they manipulate each other and allow themselves to be manipulated. It has a very worldly outlook for a book, which could easily appear to be a simple piece of pulp sci-fi. Most notable is that it is the first book I ever read which explained that a teleportation device is not a means of transport, but a means of killing someone and building a replacement of them in another location. The fact that it is an instrument of death is a theme that pervades the book. It's not quite Heart of Darkness, but it also offers an insight into the less pleasant motivations that can lead our actions. It won't take a long time to read, but I suspect you will want to read it again and again. It may indeed be pulp sci-fi, but I for one like pulp sci-fi, especially not when it is as engaging as this.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Sci-fi as a character study of men who live dangerously
3 July 2004
Format:Paperback
During science fiction's Golden Age, it was almost taken for granted that the characters of sci-fi were the same characters found in fantasy: consummate wizards who could solve any problem, helpless damsels in distress, and intrepid heroes who could slay the toughest dragon. True, the wizard wore a lab coat rather than a pointed hat, and the hero flew a rocket ship instead of riding a white horse, but at essence, they were the same types: flat, flawless, and wholly unbelievable. Budrys explodes the myth in this painfully honest look at what drives the kind of man who would risk his life, and the lives of others, in the name of Science.
Dr Edward Hawks heads a project that, through the miracle of teleportation, puts men on the moon. He does this by transmitting taped copies of human beings across the void, where the men are then reconstructed alive from this data. Communication is handled by an inherent psychic link between the original and his copy. With unique insight, Budrys sees this journey as a one-way trip, since the men so sent are mere duplicates of their earth-side counterparts, with no lives of their very own to come back to. Thus Hawks' machine creates life, but it is life that has no real place in our world.
While exploring the moon, these doomed men have found an inexplicable artifact. Attempts to enter this structure and learn its secrets have always resulted in the demise of the explorer. And staying in constant contact with "themselves" as they die again and again has taken a tragic toll upon even the hardened military men whose avatars are doing the investigating. So Director of Personnel Vincent Connington chooses fearless tough guy adventurer Al Barker for the job. But how will Al react to not just facing death, but actually experiencing it, dying day after day? And what of his beautiful and flirtatious girlfriend Claire, whose coquettish ways threaten to undermine the entire project? If life is this cheap, then how valuable are relationships?
Originally published in the early sixties, perhaps in response to the Nedelin catastrophe in which 126 people were killed on a Soviet launch pad, this short but strangely gripping novel focuses on the people who undertake dangerous ventures, rather than on the science behind this sketchily-drawn quest. The point of view usually lies with Hawks, and his relationships with Al, whom he sends to his death on a daily basis, and Claire, who seems anxious to shatter his inscrutable composure. Fans of whiz-bang science fiction may be disappointed by the fairly weak and dated explanations of the science involved, and the fact that many of the more scientific questions remain unresolved at the end. But despite the outrageousness of the back story, this is a unique, gripping, and very hard-boiled book that takes a hard if somewhat simplistic look at what drives the people who do dangerous work.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
