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Penumbra (Paperback)

by Eric Brown (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 346 pages
  • Publisher: Gollancz (11 Mar 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1857985923
  • ISBN-13: 978-1857985924
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 762,727 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

This is a very skilfully plotted novel about which it is best not to give too much away. Eric Brown takes a space pilot haunted by the death of his sister, a dying billionaire who may have the key to an ancient alien secret, a young Buddhist navigator, a street kid turned Calcutta homicide detective and a religiously motivated serial killer. He then adds a convoluted back history to an adventure of exploration, discovery and murder on both earth and the planet Penumbra.

This is the book for readers who really don't want to know where a writer might be taking them, and the author springs at least two genuine surprises. If there is a problem it is that Penumbra is almost too ambitious, and sometimes fails to make all the details completely convincing. Eric Brown raises a lot of serious issues, from bereavement and reconciliation, to the possibilities of religious faith and the very nature of life itself. He doesn't always explore these issues as thoroughly as one might like, as the ingenious plot races ever forwards.

The more meditative aspects of Penumbra bring to mind the calm of Arthur C. Clarke's work, while those who appreciate the involved mystery will find much to enjoy in Kim Stanley Robinson's Icehenge. Ultimately though, any reader's reaction to this book will depend very much on their acceptance or rejection of certain spiritual ideas, and to say any more would risk spoiling the journey of discovery that is Penumbra. --Gary S. Dalkin



Product Description

When a young tug pilot's career is ruined by a collision in Earth orbit he has no choice but to accept a commission to fly an eccentric ship builder to planet far from the trade routes. When they discover alien ruins on the planet and the hulk of a missing generation ship they are thrown into the centre of a conspiracy that reaches back centuries. Meanwhile on earth a young Indian police officer is trying to track down a serial killer little suspecting that the killer is linked to what is happening on a planet light years away and that her own past holds the key to everything that is happening. Eric Brown has written a novel that brings together an extraordinary imagination, rare sensitivity to character and a love of Eastern philosphy. This is a key addition to the career of one of the UK's favourite SF writers.

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting detective-space romp, 28 Jun 2000
By John Peter O'connor - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This story is constructed in three quite distinct but interwoven parts.

The first, which is an SF plot in the classic style, has a space ship captain pulled out of a dead end job and given a mission to pilot a ship to an uncharted part of the galaxy. His passenger is a rich eccentric with a strange reason for the journey. This then develops into an entertaining space-romp.

The second part, is a more down to earth scenario and sees a female cop on the trail of a serial killer. If the first part was classic space-romp, this is classic pulp detective stuff. However, while the first thread was an entertaining read, this section is pretty lifeless being devoid of suspense and it seems, ultimately existing more to tie off loose ends in the rest of the book than to add anything of its own.

The final part is the ending which attempts to draw everything together, answer all of the outstanding questions and provide a conclusion in about one fifth of the pages that are needed to do so. The result is that the conclusion of the book is unconvincing and unsatisfying.

Eric Brown is a master of the SF short story but the problem here is that, towards the end, he has forgotten that he is writing a novel and switched back into the wrong mode of writing.

I also got the feeling that, before writing this book, the author had just read the first part of Peter Hamiltons "Night's Dawn" trilogy and though "I could do that." This is of course reinforced by the title of the book which used a word which is a) liberally scatteed through Hamilton's monster trilogy and b) uncommon in English fiction.

With a more carefully constructed ending and a strengthened detective thread, this could have been a much better book. It is a shame that nobody in the publishing house pointed that out to the author.

I give this book three stars because, despite the flaws, it does contain some great writing.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Read, different style to other authors, 30 Jun 1999
By A Customer
Interesting style, as you look at Eric Brown's universe through the characters, you do get a very different feel about each situation. At times the writing does not flow together. His use of technology was quite good, but at times his imagination seemed a bit hemed in - so not very thought provoking. The story moves quite quickly, but don't hold your breath for the ending. However worth a read.
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