End of an Era

It was nice to read Canadian science fiction by a prominent Canadian author featuring paleontology, Toronto locales - especially the Royal Ontario Museum, and a Canadian dinosaur site in Alberta. It even featured one of of my university professors!

HOWEVER - this was not Robert J.'s finest hour! I admit that this is only my fifth novel by him, and I am looking forward to reading many more - my wife has an almost complete collection.

If want to expeience Robert J. Sawyer at his finest, try "The Terminal Experiment" (won a well-deserved Nebula). A second choice would be "Hominids" (won a not-quite-so-well-deserved Hugo) and its 2 sequels.

As an aside, I would note that not all Hugo nominees are created equal - I was not very impressed that "Humans", the second book of the trilogy begun with "Hominids", received a Hugo nomination. It was okay, but I only rated it 1 1/2 stars (= C in my system) - so really not up to Hugo standards. It really does seem that the big names do have a well-oiled machine to ensure that anything at all that could conceivably be nominated does get nominated, and that there are enough undiscerning fans among the nominators who will vote to nominate anything by "their guy/gal", even the no-so-great material. One wonders if some of these folks haven't even read the novel they are "supporting"???

SPOILER ALERT - my comments below include spoilers!

I was not very enthusiastic about "Brandy", the protagonist. Who on earth would accept such a ridiculous nickname? It almost seemed that RJS had gone out of his way to make him a wanker. And to say that there are only a couple of worthwhile positions in paleontolgy in Canada?! Does he mean it's not worth doing unless you are at the top of the top? Is he pandering to Americans, where there are lots and lots of such positions? Does he mean that unless you have a fabulous salary, it's not worth doing. I don't imagine RJS thninks so - but he does give his hero these ludicrous thoughts.

The aliens are interesting, but the story takes a bizarre turn with the long, convoluted history of their evolution, and battles with other aliens. I really had to force my way through this history. I really don't think "dinosaurs as mind-controlled tanks" is a great concept. Imaginative, clever, unusual - maybe yes - but great, or even passably good - not so much.

The happy ending, with all presumably forgiven - seemed a little "deus ex Machina" to me. I mean - would YOU choose to willingly continue to co-habit with 'Brandy'???

My rating system: I begin with one star being equivalent to a rating of "C-". Progressing upwards, I add ½ star for each step, up to the maximum 5 stars, which is equivalent to a rating of "A"+. I reserve ½ star for BOMBS, there being no option of zero or negative stars. As a result, I set aside my rating space for good books, and don't squander half or more of that rating space on books that are of marginal quality.