Other reviews of this book have been a bit uneven, so I'm pleased to be able to give it four stars, for reasons I'll detail below. I ran across 'Seeds of Earth' at my local library, so it's a free read for me.Although A.I.s that run amuck are not new, ('Terminator', 'The Matrix', etc.) it is a timely subject, as there have been several warnings in the news lately from real scientists, including Stephen Hawking himself, about some very real dangers. This book also addresses respect for the environment, without becoming pedantic.Are there a few too many twists and turns? Probably. What other reviewers may have missed however, is that the Kao Chih thread is a means of informing the reader as to various races, technologies, and galactic history, without resorting to long, awkward passages of character exposition. Mr. Cobley has created a BIG universe, and does a decent job of letting the readers in on things before they become critical to the plot.What I really like most, is that there's lots of "red meat" distributed through out the book. As a reader, you will not have to endure being teased until everything is revealed in the last chapter. The characters generally act intelligently. There are places where I questioned the apparent lack of something like cellphone tracking, only to have it turn up a bit later in the book. There are a few unresolved technology gaps, but with one exception, they did not detract from my enjoyment.'Seeds of Earth' is the first book in the Humanity's Fire series, with three books out currently, and the fourth due out in 2015. After reading the whole saga of Dune by Frank Herbert (in French) a long time ago in a galaxy far far away I wanted to try the experience of a space-opera in English. And I have to admit that the fact that I read it in English (and English not being my native language) is playing a greater part in my review than I would like. To keep it short: I'm not sure I will read the sequel, even if things get interesting at the end. My references being limited I thought during the experience of this book a lot about the aforementioned "Dune" with a twist of the "Farscape"-series. Not bad references, but I didn't enjoy this one as much, with a lot of descriptions, factions and other complicated explanations that, well, to quote one of the characters "I'm sorry, er, Construct, but I don't quite understand." I guess it will be a more interesting read for native speakers because there's a sense of great potential about the story of these 3 futuristic Noah's Arks....
What do You think about Ziarna Ziemi (2009)?
Sprawling space opera indeed! Looking forward to the second book.
—brenda
Very Slow, Hopefully the next installment will be better.
—Lora
Workmanlike, sometimes much better, dystopian space opera.
—aaliyah1608
Solid sci-fi, easy read - sets the pace for a lot more...
—navya17
