I won't review the series, plot-point-by-plot-point and character-by-character. I'm just going to state my overall opinion of the series.
It suffers from what us fen might call "Riverworld Disease". That is, it starts out with a very good novel, but succeeding ones become increasingly dilatory and pedantic. Sailing Bright Eternity in particular becomes a series of physics lectures at one point.
I'm fascinated by physics (majored in it for three years) but not when it's lectures in the middle of a novel.
An even worse flaw is the huge bloating of the series. The last three novels (none of which are short) could have been combined into one much better one without losing a single essential incident. Mind you, incidents would be lost -- but none are actually important.
But the ending would still be terrible. I boil it down to "But then the good guys are saved for reasons the writer defines as inexplicable." Annoying.
It's so disappointing mostly because I enjoyed the first couple of books.
Has anyone else read the series? I'd be delighted to get other opinions.
In the Ocean of Night
Across the Sea of Suns
Great Sky River
Tides of Light
Furious Gulf
Sailing Bright Eternity
5 comments:
I haven't read the Benford series, but Riverworld Disease drives me nuts. A few years ago I read Peter F. Hamilton's "The Night's Dawn" trilogy. I really enjoyed the first book, but by the end of the third book, I was disgusted because the story had just dissolved into a nonsensical mess. It's one of the only books that actually made me mad.
I've never read anything by Peter Hamilton. Anything good there, or just wasted potential?
I've not read any Benford, but I have to say that I find the term "Riverworld Disease" (which I'd not previously heard) quite appropriate. If ever there were a more exciting premise expressed in a reasonably fine first volume that utterly failed to live up to its promise....
Why is this so common, I wonder? There are so many examples - Ringworld, Dune, Star Wars - and so few counterexamples. I don't think it can be completely blamed on simply running out of ideas or a wish to milk the series for more money....
Ah, well. There's always all that old Heinlein that needs rereading for the 18th time.
IMO, the Hamilton triology could be made into a really good book by a skilled editor. A better ending would be required, too. Hamilton clearly didn't know how to end the story, and instead relied on a silly deus ex machina. There are lengthy plot lines that never go anywhere and are never wrapped up. After a couple thousand pages the reader is left wondering what ever happened to certain characters to whom hundreds of pages are dedicated.
All that said, portions of the books are well written and very interesting. There are some clever, original ideas. Which is why I was so frustrated and even angry by the time I made my way to end of the last book.
As far as I know, I coined "Riverworld Disease".
I have the whole thing on my bookshelf. Haven't cracked one of them in years.
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