Arkwright
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4.1 • 36 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A hard science fiction novel from multiple Hugo Award–winner Allen Steele
Best 19 Science Fiction Books of 2016
Allen Steele, creator of the Coyote series of books, has written a triumphant science fiction novel hailed as triumphantly optimistic. Nathan Arkwright is a seminal author of the twentieth century. At the end of his life he becomes reclusive and cantankerous, refusing to appear before or interact with his legion of fans. Little did anyone know, Nathan was putting into motion his true, timeless legacy.
Convinced that humanity cannot survive on Earth, his Arkwright Foundation dedicates itself to creating a colony on an Earth-like planet several light years distant. Fueled by Nathan's legacy, generations of Arkwrights are drawn together, and pulled apart, by the enormity of the task and weight of their name.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Golden-age science fiction writer Nathan Arkwright, along with a select group of friends, has a dream of sending humanity into the far reaches of space. His vision plays out across generations in a story that focuses too much on family dynamics and too little on the incredibly cool concepts in the background. When discussing the practical science used to ground the efforts of the Arkwright family, Hugo Award winning author Steele (V-S Day) shows off his strengths. However, he hamstrings himself by insisting on repeated variations of the girl-meets-boy trope while a colony ship is being built. That leaves important discussions such as "What if something goes wrong?" and "Should we even be doing this?" by the wayside. Similarly, difficulties on the road to progress are dispatched without significant conflict, and all of the opponents to the project are ridiculous buffoons. The final pages offer an intriguing look at space colonization, but there's not enough room to explore the concept, leaving readers wanting more than this meandering, name-dropping entry provides.
Customer Reviews
Great Sci-Fi Book
I'm surprised that so far the only review that was written and then posted on iTunes was a one star. Obviously they didn't read the book. Yes there is a lot of back ground family history but it is a great science fiction book and I absolutely loved it. Recommended for any sci-fi fan.
Bleh!
Would have been nice if the author didn’t take half the book getting to the point. Also, way too much focus on people’s sex lives.
Really boring relationship drama
Well I have listened to 13 chapters of the (unabridged) Arkwright audio book and I can't stand much more if it. I purchased the book based on a favorable review of it in the March 11, 2016 Wall Street Journal. So far there has been no science at all just a lot of very old people flashing back as far as 1939, reminiscing about when they met, who was having sex with who, why someone's mom doesn't like her dad and so on. There is one young adult girl in the story who writes freelance science articles, but never has anything intelligent to say or really anything that matters. So the book is billed as a science fiction book but after 13 chapters there has only been 100% relationship drama so far, and that does not speak any promise for the rest of the book. It's not (after 13 chapters, which is 5 hours of audio listening) a science fiction book, not by any means. So one star for bait and switch, boring old characters and a story going nowhere.