Seveneves: A Novel

861 pages

English language

Published July 6, 2015

ISBN:
978-0-06-219037-6
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3 stars (4 reviews)

"What would happen if the world were ending? A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space. But the complexities and unpredictability of human nature coupled with unforeseen challenges and dangers threaten the intrepid pioneers, until only a handful of survivors remain . . . Five thousand years later, their progeny--seven distinct races now three billion strong--embark on yet another audacious journey into the unknown . . . to an alien world utterly transformed by cataclysm and time: Earth" --

3 editions

Review of 'Seveneves' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

All of the positive raving for this book is true! All of the criticisms are also true! Stephenson is his own thing and he breaks all the rules of fiction. He breaks them in a couple different ways in this book. When it's great it's REALLY GREAT. When it's not so great, it kinda sucks. At different moments, I wanted to give this five stars. It's a hell of a book and I absolutely recommend it to any "hard" SF fans. Know that the exposition can really be a brick wall in the storytelling and it's not artfully done at all. But Stephenson has certainly earned himself a place on the hard-core SF shelf with this one (if he hadn't already).

Review of 'Seveneves' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Great start, and enjoyed most of the first 566 pages. The last 300 were another book, with a different style. Together they don't work as well as they would separately. The current ending works, but could also leave room for a third book. Overall rating - liked it.

The first long book is mostly about solving technological problems, and works. A lot of interesting characters, including a Neil deGrasse Tyson role. The pace was good, the challenges realistic, and I really enjoyed the swarming robots. It was refreshing to see humanity reacting to a disaster in a mostly positive way - quite different from most disaster stories.

I enjoyed most of the characters, but didn't really like the added politics towards the end. Reminds me of Battlestar Galactica (and others). In hindsight, a lot of this felt forced - these characters led directly to the "Eves" of the final part …