Hard scifi with great potential that falls short for me in a few crucial areas, namely writing and characterization. The writing style needs more finesse, and the science parts frequently sound too textbook-like. Brotherton is best when he invents things rather than describes real physical phenomena. For example, the opening chapter inside the bio-AI-corporation was very interesting, and the description of the space wisps grabbed my imagination. But when it came to real physical phenomena, they were explained very drily, and not well. I feel like I ought to understand what accretion and inner Lagrangian point is, but I don't. (And I have a B.S. in Engineering, and certainly knew what a Lagrangian was at one point, but way too much in this book went over my head. At least the course in Aerospace Dynamics (thanks, Prof. Kutt!) made me feel more comfortable when they were talking about travel trajectories.) On the other hand, I'm glad the author has a phD in the topic, so I could trust him. I feel that if he extrapolated more, inserted more fantasy & imagination, his science background would ground it in "hardness" and make it awesome. The writing was at first better than I expected, and I liked that he gave characters backstories and motivations, but as the book developed, they really flattened for me, felt one-note, and unrealistic. If a group of 5 people are on a spaceship for a year, would they really not talk to each other at all? Some phrasing could use more work, I noticed that he tends to repeat certain words in a paragraph. I was also hugely turned off when he used the phrase "blithering idiot" to describe a woman flinging her arms around her lover, who's about to go on a suicide mission. To be fair, the character who thought so had a major head injury, so maybe that was a way to indicate the guy was seriously mentally impaired. Still, it grated. The good things. I read the book, all of it, in 2 days, without skipping or skimming. In the middle, I get really interested and even peeked at the end, and then still read it all the way through. And that is saying a LOT for me. The plot is interesting and it moves. The idea of magnetic dragons living in plasma is awesome, and I wish it was explored more, in greater detail. What do they eat? How do they reproduce? I want this writer to grow & mature.
Just what I needed after a seemingly endless string of fantasy and paranormal books - an old school, Analog style, hard-SF adventure with some great Big Science concepts. The centerpiece are the titular dragons, life forms discovered in the accretion disk of SS Cygni, and the expedition/safari to bag one and bring it back. Along the way there's an interesting approach to wormhole-powered slower-than-light travel, and AI based on the personality of Ernest Hemingway, and an Earth future totally transformed by biotechnology.As for the biotech, I don't quite buy that one aspect of Brotherton's world building. I'm sure there's a revolution of some sort coming down the road, and that given the option people would start modifying their own bodies in new and shocking ways, but some of the applications used in the book seem a little "jet-packy," if that makes sense. (Living creatures being used as beds and chairs, for instance.)What makes the book kind of a slog through the middle section, though, are the dysfunctional characters. Flawed characters are always good for drama (and only extreme personalities would willingly volunteer for a 500-year mission) but Star Dragon's cast is so deeply messed up as to be completely unsympathetic for a big chunk of the book, and Brotherton seems to spend a lot of time writing from the point of view of the most detestable, least likable characters in the cast. The finale is suitably rousing, however, and most of the characters achieve some measure of redemption by the end.
What do You think about Star Dragon (2005)?
I can't remember. Twas a while ago. Should re-read sometime
—Shinew
A long distance probe has captured footage of a mysterious moving object in the accretion disc of a collapsed star. It seems to be an energy being. An exploration spaceship travels across the stars to capture this interstellar phenomenon, dubbed a “Star Dragon”. The story played out against the background of the mission is a psychological drama starring the five human and one AI crewmembers of the ship. Adding to the poignancy of their fate is the fact that the ship travels close to the speed of light to SS Cygni, a binary system 245 light years from earth. The trip is only a subjective 2 years for the crew, but when they return five hundred years will have passed on Earth. They have to abandon their entire existence in order to go hunting the mysterious Star Dragon.This is a very strong story which manages to escape the technobabble trap of many such efforts. The characters are few but strongly threedimensional, each seeking his or her own place in the universe. With technological progress moving fast, they all have to contend with their doubts about what place they will have in the future. Contrasted with medical immortality, this becomes a serious issue. Will the future have a place for the individuality of humanity, or are we doomed to be replaced by AIs that are better than we? And if that happens, will we transcend to a utopian existence free of want? Is that where we want to go? Star Dragon is cautiously optimistic, and yet raises many important questions about our future. It is a vast universe and eternity is a long long time. Who knows what we will find?http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=497
—Andreas
“Star Dragon” (Tor, $26.95, 448 pages) is an old-school book. The two protagonists are manly men, heroic men, though the younger has no idea what to do with relationships – but he does occasionally think about them. The older one has to abandon his family to go off and try to save the world (literally), and does so with regret. Once embarked on the mission, though, he’s much more focused on figuring out how to control a star that shoots at its own planets and their moons.This is Mike Brotherton’s second book, and writes much like the professor he is – that’s good when it comes to carefully realized scientific setups, but not so good when it comes to a page-turning narrative or a strong sense of character. That means that Boomers who grew up reading hard-science scifi will feel right at home, but those expecting a little more nuance might not be as entertained. You pays your money and you takes your choice …
—Clay Kallam
