|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Wird oft zusammen gekauft
Produktinformation
|
Mehr über den Autor
› Besuchen Sie die Seite von Joe Haldeman auf Amazon
Produktbeschreibungen
Aus der Amazon.de-Redaktion
Mitte des 21. Jahrhunderts empfängt Professor Aurora Bell von der Universität in Gainesville in Florida die überraschende Botschaft eines Objekts, das sich beinahe mit Lichtgeschwindigkeit der Erde nähert. Sie lautet schlicht: "We are coming." Aurora berechnet die verbleibende Flugzeit auf genau drei Monate und kündigt der Öffentlichkeit die Ankunft der Außerirdischen am 1. Januar 2155 an. Natürlich setzt ein gewaltiger Medienrummel ein, doch im Kampf um die besten Sendeplätze konkurrieren auch Meldungen von Unruhen und dem drohenden Krieg in Europa.
Wie in einem Staffellauf übergibt Haldeman die Erzählperspektive wechselnden Personen, die sich dabei manchmal nur zufällig begegnen. Dadurch entsteht atemlose Spannung und zugleich das fassettenreiche Bild einer nahen Zukunft. Neben technologischem Fortschritt setzt Haldeman bewusst auch manchen Rückschritt: Auroras Ehemann muss beispielsweise wegen homosexuellen Neigungen mit Strafverfolgung rechnen. Den fiebernden Countdown bis zur Ankunft der Fremden erleben wir gleichzeitig durch die Augen einer alten, wirren Obdachlosen, einer jungen Medizinstudentin, die sich ihr Studium mit Virtual-Reality-Pornografie verdient und vielen anderen. Trotz manch düsterem Zynismus ist The Coming kein wirklich pessimistisches Buch. Vielmehr ist es eine feinsinnige Studie der menschlichen Natur mit all ihren Schwächen und Stärken -- ein Manifest der Hoffnung. --Birgit Will
Amazon.com
Professor Aurora Bell receives a message from space that simply states, "We're coming." The message appears to be alien, and according to Professor Bell's calculations, the vessel that sent it is headed toward Earth and will arrive in three months. As the local population and the rest of the world begin to examine what a visitation from a superior alien force might mean, speculation looms about whether or not the message is a hoax. The arrival approaches, and Professor Bell and those around her become embroiled in the media circus. The politics and intrigue of the situation take on a life of their own.
Haldeman paints a vivid picture in The Coming of a world on the brink of another world war, where homosexuality is illegal, technology is advanced, and yet, humans really haven't changed that much. The tension in Florida is a microcosm that reflects the larger picture of Earth in trouble. But The Coming doesn't really get interesting until the final third of the book, and even then the ending is disappointing. Every few pages the story moves on to a different character, so most of the them are a bit flat. Haldeman has focused the story so tightly on one city that all the important events take place off stage and the characters have little to do but react. --Kathie Huddleston -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.
Welche anderen Artikel kaufen Kunden, nachdem sie diesen Artikel angesehen haben?
Vorgeschlagene Tags zu ähnlichen Produkten(Was ist das?)Setzen Sie den ersten relevanten Tag hinzu (ein Schlüsselwort, das mit diesem Produkt in engem Zusammenhang steht).
|
Eine digitale Version dieses Buchs im Kindle-Shop verkaufen
Kundenrezensionen
Aber was macht der Autor daraus?
Während Schriftsteller wie Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury oder auch Jules Verne wirklich neue, vionäre und revolutionäre Ideen und Sichtweisen in ihre Erzählungen einbrachten, scheint man im Jahr 2056 in den Staaten nichts dazugelernt zu haben (der Autor schrieb den Roman im Jahr 2000) - es gibt immer noch Individualverkehr, der die Straßen verstopft, man ißt und trinkt das Fastfood aus Pappbechern und Plastiktellern und benimmt sich generell so wie immer - natürlich sind die USA immer noch die führende Weltmacht. Es gibt Intrigen und Korruption, vor allem innerhalb der US-Regierung, als ob aus den Fehlern lernen nicht notwendig wäre und die Welt nicht endlich etwas näher zusammenrücken sollte um einer Umwelt- und Klimakatastrophe zu entgehen.
In Europa seht (laut Autor "so wie alle 100 Jahre) ein Krieg zwischen Deutschland und Frankreich (!) bevor, mit Rußland als Verbündeten Deutschlands.
Irgendwie kommt die EU überhaupt nicht vor, der Autor hat nur einen Scheuklappenblick rein aus Sicht der (heutigen) Vereinigten Staaten - der Rest der Welt interessiert ja nur ganz am Rande, wenn überhaupt.
Die Geschichte tümpelt vor sich hin, verstrickt sich in Ränke und Intrigen innerhalb der Geheimdienste und der US-Regierungskreise, die Aliens kommen eigentlich nur marginal vor. Science Fiction ? Bis auf paar technische Details, die jetzt 11 Jahre nach Romanveröffentlichung schon zum Teil altmodisch klingen, gibt es nichts Visionäres.
Und die Auflösung? Nur deswegen gebe ich überhaupt 2 Sterne - überraschend, aber leider nur auf 2 Seiten ganz am Schluß.
Fazit: Über lange Strecken, gerade für uns Europäer schlicht nur langweilig, langwierig, unglaubwürdig, da der Focus nur auf die Staaten gerichtet ist - nur wegen 2 guten Schlußseiten braucht man das Buch nicht lesen. Lieber zu den altbewährten obengenannten SciFi-Autoren greifen.
There are a couple main characters but the book belongs to their supporting cast as much as to Dr. Bell and her music professor husband. One of the most enjoyable parts of this book is its narrative style; all of the characters hand off the narration of the story chapter to chapter. One character comes into contact with another and the point of view character changes. Excellent way to see the world of the book and its characters from all sides. We do get to see the characters warts and all.
There are many twists in the story, and none of them ring untrue. Sure you know something's fishy...sure you think one of the characters isn't what he seems, but you don't know what or in what way...until the end, and it is a good surprise ending (but not a total surprise--it's all there and rings true).
And the best thing is we don't come to the end (as we did with -the movie- Contact) and find out the aliens are her dead father! What a gyp!) So anyway, this book is much better than the other reviewer would lead you to believe. It is well worth the time. And I will say so in my review which I will now write for a review journal (which shall remain nameless).
Go! Read this book. It's Good.
All three are set into motion by the ominous message recorded by Astronomy Professor Aurora "Rory" Bell in Gainesville, Florida. In a repeated gamma burst transmission, the same message is sent over and over again-"We're coming." They apparently are as scientists on the moon confirm the transmission as well as the fact that it came from deep space. Clearly from beyond where any human spacecraft has gone, the ship seems to be three months out from arriving on Earth. In fact, it appears that it will arrive on New Year's Day, 2056 and the event is quickly dubbed "The Second Coming" by the media.
The message and imminent arrival of an alien craft swings into motion a number of events over the next three months as detailed in the book, including the eventual arrival of the alien craft. Some events have a direct relation to the arrival, while many, seen through numerous characters do not. The science fiction elements become very secondary as the work focuses more on the human relationships between the many, many characters as well as various casual linkages between them.
Which is where the interesting premise and story are tremendously weakened by the execution. Almost every other page, the reader is shifted to the point of view of another character. After fifteen or twenty of these shifts in perspective, it becomes rather annoying as stereotypical character after character is added. At times, the work switches back to the allegedly main characters, but more often than not, it is off in some sort of far-flung jaunt through the actions of a distantly related character. That problem of story telling along with the insertion of two very graphic gratuitous sex scenes which seem to have no purpose other than to serve as titillation on someone's whim, weaken this novel tremendously. In so doing, an interesting premise with lots of potential becomes a lower than average read and a real disappointment.
The primary plot is pretty easy to explain, but the story goes much deeper: Set fifty years in the future, a professor in a quiet Florida college town studying deep space gamma ray anomalies disovers a very unnatural message in a burst originating just outside the Solar System: "We're coming." The implications of this message are of course incredible. The reactions of the characters feels entirely real. People don't go bonkers. Stores open, the mail gets delivered, oh, and aliens may be showing up on New Years day.
As the story unfolds it has as much to do with the affect the message has on the characters in the novel as the mystery of the message itself. The novel has two protagonist, but it is almost an ensemble piece. The story is told from many perspectives and the transitions from character to character are handled in an unusual way that I really liked.
Here are the high points of the novel for me:
I really liked the way Haldeman makes 2054 feel like a natural extension of today. Most science fiction authors make even the near future seem alien and unnatural. Haldeman's future is very believable, I didn't have to strain to see the canvas he was painting for us.
The characters are deep and well written. You could easily re-read the novel and discover how much things you learn late in the novel illumiate small character traits introduced ealier. I guarantee you haven't met protaginist like the couple in this novel! They really seem like people you could know. Definetely not Holywood Action Hereos!
Haldeman is a physicist and can write hard science that even a layman like myself can understand. He adds just enough science to keep the story believable, but not so much that it bogs down.
I bought this book when it came out, but didn't decide to read it till the other day. I only intended to read for an hour before bed and ended up reading till 4 AM. I only (painfully) put it aside because I had to go to work the next day! I finished the rest the minute I got home. I haven't done that in a long time. The book really is a lot of fun - I think anyone who like an intelligent sci-fi/thriller will feel the same.
Kunden diskutieren
|
Das Forum zu diesem Produkt
Fragen stellen, Meinungen austauschen, Einblicke gewinnen Aktive Diskussionen in ähnlichen Foren
Kundendiskussionen durchsuchen
|
Ähnliche Foren
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lieblingslisten
|
|
Ähnliche Artikel finden
Anhand des Sachgebietes nach ähnlichen Produkten suchen:
Ihr Kommentar
|
