If I wanted to read a philosophical diatribe about the nature of the human condition and the benefits of self-centered free market economics, I'd go read an Ayn Rand novel. As terribly boring and unconcerned with narrative structure as I have found Rand's fiction, I must say that Anderson combines the worst elements of her works with the worst elements of science fiction. The end result is a pompous, bloated affair that should have ended two hundred pages earlier. Almost every new character, intriguing concept, plot device, or needed bit of exposition is explained in long-suffering rants by characters who are as inhuman as the brain-in-a-box of a protagonist, and these bits of too-frequent narrative noise are predictably ended by another character "interrupting" after the fact to say more or less, "Whoa, I already knew that, stop lecturing me!" This lampshade hanging makes the trope no more palatable. And it does not help that all of the characters are so full of themselves, so ready and willing to prattle on about anything that crosses their minds.Anderson apparently figured that by sticking the role of main viewpoint character to a woman, he would be able to appear less gender-biased than traditional sci-fi fare. This works just about as well as the variety of his characters with Asiatic and Hispanic names acting in perfectly Americanized ways. Kyra Davis is prone to mood swings, debilitating moments of emotional insecurity, near-panic attacks in moments of stress, and a greatly insatiable lust for practically every male character she faces--whether it be the fellow conspirator she knows for a day at the beginning of the novel, her bodyguard, a Lunarian royal, or her boss, the aforementioned brain-in-a-box, the true hero of the story and the most human. Sure, I guess there are some philosophical issues about consciousness and identity contained in how Anderson fashions this hero--Anson Guthrie--but I was sick of him by the end of the first third, after a great deal of unneeded flashbacks into his personal life and a great deal of anti-intellectual, pro-capitalist comments on his part.And did I mention that this book was too long? The first two-thirds of the novel are essentially a slow-speed chase, as Kyra attempts to get Guthrie to safety, but it is the final third of the novel, the seemingly random switch to colonization occurring after the resolution (and falling action) of the first plot, only "foreshadowed" by the preface, that is unbearable.If all this wasn't bad enough, Anderson apparently feels that he is a poet, using a variety of cliched images and poor phrasing to attempt to appear "literary." This is one of those novels in which I would have preferred sparse prose. It would have made this nightmare a little more bearable.
I wasn't sure what the heck to think about this book as I started and (half asleep due to tiredness) continued through about the first half. It was interesting, but nothing I thought was particularly special...... until I got to the second half. I don't know what it is about Poul, but he manages to gently touch on some really heavy duty thoughts without overwhelming you, and then bring back a message of hope so profound that you're left stunned. Bravo sir. Bravo.This is a story about humanity, about love and life itself, and I wish more people would read it and other books like it. While you read this, I'll be continuing on to the rest of the series. <3
What do You think about Harvest Of Stars (1994)?
Like an Ayn Rand book set in space but while Rand is content with explaining to us laymans the true nature of micro-marco economics, this author also enlightens us all on the true nature of consciousnesses and existence using pretentious self indulgent philosophical rants that at are barely disguised as character dialog.While starting out tolerable due to a well paced chase story set over about a month, 2/3rds of the way though that story ends and we are left with a far more epic in scope colonization of another star system story. At this point I had to stop so I did not finish this book.
—Hamish Buchan
One of the things I like about Poul Anderson’s writing style is that he seems to be a pleasant mix of Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick. In no other book is this more evident than in Harvest of Stars, Anderson’s 1992 publication that describes a future totalitarian Earth with a strong libertarian underground. This is similar in tone to Heinlein’s The Cat Who Walks Through Walls and also somewhat reminiscent of Dick’s Vulcan's Hammer. An observant reader can also see a similarity with Dick’s Mr. Spaceship (published in 1953) in that Anderson describes a download of sentient life into a computer. This could also be described as a tribute to Heinlein: there are connections to Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Heinlein is specifically mentioned as a non-conformist hero who wrote about important subjects, one of the main characters, Anson Guthrie (who’s description bears a striking resemblance to Heinlein’s character Lazarus Long), shares the name “Anson” with Heinlein, and there are a couple of characters named Farnham. Of course, there are also the inevitable comparisons to Ayn Rand and this is where Anderson, for all the ambition of the novel, fails. There are lengthy, and frequent soliloquys and diatribes espousing libertarian and maybe even outright objectivistic themes, and this gets overly burdensome for the reader. Most of the negative reviews of the book revolve around this area, and even an Anderson fan like me must concede that he misses the mark in this criticism. I must also add that some lusty editing and about a hundred less pages would have improved this. All that said, Anderson remains inventive, imaginative, and at the end of the day, he tells a good story.
—Lyn
The one star rating is as low as I'll go. I did not finish this book. Maybe it's because I don't feel like investing the time it in (it's 531 pages long). Maybe it's because it's filled with crazy dialect-ridden dialog. Maybe it's because it comes across as a hyperbolic rant against religion and government. I think it's all of that and because it just wasn't very interesting. The premise appears to be that there is some future where governments are mostly puppets of huge corporations and special interest groups. One of the more powerful and benign corporations finds itself in conflict with a somewhat fascist special interest that is currently running one of the larger governments. There is intrigue. There is an AI. There are special agents. Yawn. I could put it down and did. I don't know if I'll ever pick it up again.
—Bill
