Review of Lightship
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Shireen Hellberg
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- Latest Review: Lightship by Stephan Besik
Review of Lightship
[Following is a volunteer review of "Lightship" by Stephan Besik.]
Lightship by Stephan Besik
Fascinating angles on the future of Earth are presented by Stephan Besik in Lightship. The book plays out over four time periods, the first set in an epoch during which human lives have been extended to 500 years. We are treated to an absorbing look at how people have had to adapt to these changed circumstances.
The second part sees a technologically advanced civilization land on Earth a thousand years after the nuclear Armageddon. Without the interference of the now extinct dominant race, the planet is showing signs of resuscitation, and is earmarked as a possible location for settlement by the explorers. Through the investigations of the interstellar colonists, readers are privy to a thought provoking analysis of the lead up to the Apocalypse.
Besik also takes us back to the days soon after the nuclear war where, surprisingly, a few pockets of humanity survive. Most of the Northern hemisphere has been destroyed, but even in this precarious state, military maneuvers continue. The reader is given insights to the development of drone warfare before we are catapulted into another time, with a look at Faster than Light spaceships and absorbing theories about the ownership of Lunar real estate.
In all, Lightship is an interesting read. I found myself immersed in situations which may very well come to fruition in the future, given the current circumstances on this planet we call home. The sections which feature interaction between characters are most entertaining, and the theories about some of the possibilities in the future are intriguing.
However, the book is interspersed with a large amount of extremely technical sections. Although I am a regular reader of Sci-fi and Dystopian novels, I struggled to stay involved throughout. Cases in point are a section many pages long detailing a drone battle, where I became lost in the intricate and often repeated details of battle plans and the execution thereof. Similarly, the incredibly comprehensive descriptions of the workings of the spaceship’s solar sails left me with the feeling that I was wading through a textbook.
Whilst informative, the lack of a storyline makesLightship a difficult read. Without some kind of plot or link between the different sections of the book, and in the absence of any conflict between characters, I lost focus a number of times, and therefore I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.
Readers who enjoy hard science fiction, military warfare and very detailed technicalities will enjoy this book.
Generally, the book is well edited, but there are one or two sections which seem to have been missed by the editor. There is very little swearing, and no explicit sex.
******
Lightship
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Lightship by Stephan Besik
Fascinating angles on the future of Earth are presented by Stephan Besik in Lightship. The book plays out over four time periods, the first set in an epoch during which human lives have been extended to 500 years. We are treated to an absorbing look at how people have had to adapt to these changed circumstances.
The second part sees a technologically advanced civilization land on Earth a thousand years after the nuclear Armageddon. Without the interference of the now extinct dominant race, the planet is showing signs of resuscitation, and is earmarked as a possible location for settlement by the explorers. Through the investigations of the interstellar colonists, readers are privy to a thought provoking analysis of the lead up to the Apocalypse.
Besik also takes us back to the days soon after the nuclear war where, surprisingly, a few pockets of humanity survive. Most of the Northern hemisphere has been destroyed, but even in this precarious state, military maneuvers continue. The reader is given insights to the development of drone warfare before we are catapulted into another time, with a look at Faster than Light spaceships and absorbing theories about the ownership of Lunar real estate.
In all, Lightship is an interesting read. I found myself immersed in situations which may very well come to fruition in the future, given the current circumstances on this planet we call home. The sections which feature interaction between characters are most entertaining, and the theories about some of the possibilities in the future are intriguing.
However, the book is interspersed with a large amount of extremely technical sections. Although I am a regular reader of Sci-fi and Dystopian novels, I struggled to stay involved throughout. Cases in point are a section many pages long detailing a drone battle, where I became lost in the intricate and often repeated details of battle plans and the execution thereof. Similarly, the incredibly comprehensive descriptions of the workings of the spaceship’s solar sails left me with the feeling that I was wading through a textbook.
Whilst informative, the lack of a storyline makesLightship a difficult read. Without some kind of plot or link between the different sections of the book, and in the absence of any conflict between characters, I lost focus a number of times, and therefore I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.
Readers who enjoy hard science fiction, military warfare and very detailed technicalities will enjoy this book.
Generally, the book is well edited, but there are one or two sections which seem to have been missed by the editor. There is very little swearing, and no explicit sex.
******
Lightship
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Lightship by Stephan Besik
