Science Fiction Books


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Science Fiction Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Science Fiction
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: A Pop-up Adaptation
Published in Hardcover by Little Simon (2003-10-01)
Author: Lewis Carroll
List price: $26.99
New price: $16.05
Used price: $4.45
Collectible price: $26.99

Average review score:

A Wondrous Pop-Up Adventure
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-30
This is a truly excellent version of Lewis Carroll's classic. The 7 two page spreads are gorgeous. The first spread contains Alice reading, the White Rabbit, and the tree that the White Rabbit is walking away from; its dimensions are 11 inches wide and tall, and 8 inches deep. The full text is contained in a mini-book embellishment with each spread. These mini-books are astonishing! They're very colorful with additional pop-ups. This is simply a stupendous book that I recommend highly! Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: A Pop-up Adaptation

Beautiful
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-13
This book is a wonderful adaptation of the famous tale.

It is art as much as a book, and like others I would recommend reading this book to younger readers (as oppossed to letting them handle it)

I have always loved pop up books since I was a child, and this one is one of the best.

amazing
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-31
the book is so beautifull, as a huge "alice" fan- its the top of my items!!! its like having something taken out from a museun in my house!i highly recomend

Excellent format for a great story to interest your kids
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-15
I purchased this book as the first pop-up book for my three-year old son and two-year old daughter. I knew it could be a risk, due to the fragile nature of pop-up books, however this one is truly a treat for my children, my wife, myself and everyone else who has seen it!

I'd recommend the book (for self-reading) to older children who know how the fragile the pop-ups can be, but if you read to your kids I recommend this to anyone. It's a classic story which inspires a child's imagination and has an excellent graphical presentation of the story which really captures my children's attention while they're read to.

I only gave this book four of five stars due to the small portions through-out most of the book which actually has the written text. These are also created with mini-pop-ups, but are not incorporated into the whole width and length of the book. Instead the main text of the book is grouped into small 3-4 inch wide pages with small text. Not something you want if you read to your children at bedtime with minimal lighting.

However, don't let this prevent you from buying the book! It is worth the price and has some of the most fantastic pop-ups I've ever seen!

Family Treasure
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-10
I purchased this book because of the last page. I had seen it at my Book Club and knew my grandchildren would love it. They love peaking down the rabbits hole and finding the additional pop ups on each page. A book you will definately want to pass on down the family. Truly a classic come to life.

Science Fiction
The Encounter (Animorphs#3)
Published in Paperback by Scholastic Paperbacks (1996-08-01)
Author: K.A. Applegate
List price: $4.99
New price: $0.53
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

Tobias love
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-19
Awww. I think this is the book that scored a million and one rabid Tobias fan girls. The plot is still being introduced for the series, but we get to see inside the tragic mind of the wonderful Tobias after his unfortunate accident.

A good One
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-03
It was a good action book, alot of unexpected things happend to the Animorphs, another good into to the Animorphs series.

Animorphs The Close Encounter
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-01-28
This book is interesting for kids that like their mind wonder and imagine how it feels transform into an animal. Also, this book is for kids that like to read adventure. This book is about a group of kid that can transform into diffrent kind of animals, but they cant stay to long into an animal or they will stay stuck into that animal and they cant go back into being a human and they have to act like an animal and think like an animal so that they can survive and live long. Also they have to to eat real live animals, and watch out for predetors that will eat them. It also lets know kids that its ok to be diffrent than others that every kid is unique in thier own way.

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Tobias...
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-24
Tobias isn't like the other Animorphs. When they're done fighting Yeerks or flying through the sky, they just morph back from their animal bodies to their regular bodies. But Tobias stayed in hawk morph for longer than two hours. Now, he's going to be stuck as a hawk forever. Tobias is trying to deal with this pain, but nothing can make him feel better about it. Especially when he starts to feel attracted to a female hawk--even though he's a human on the inside.

Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and Marco are trying to help him get used to life as a hawk. But they're busy worrying about a gigantic Yeerk ship, and a new secret discovered--the Yeerks need lots of water from Earth for them all to survive. The kids use this information to morph fish and get inside the Yeerk ship. But when they get trapped, it's up to Tobias to save them--even though he's not human.

THE ENCOUNTER is the first Tobias book, and Tobias books are one of the best of the Animorphs. I thought that K.A. Applegate described Tobias's struggle through life as a hawk very well. The only problem that I had with this book was that it was a little boring. The only real action of the book was towards the end. But it's a good-read for Animorphs fans, and a must-read for all Tobias fans.

Redtailed Approves
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-09-13
A delightful find. This is the third book in the young adult/teen series "Animorphs" in which the character Tobias permanently becomes a Red-tailed Hawk. The Animorphs story is generally very good and the characters interesting and rich. The author manages to write about the animal aspects in a believable way. I usually find transformation and shapeshifting stories to have story lines that make the whole point of transformation become lost. Applegate keeps the adventure intact by being descriptive, entertaining, and involving. This series is a must-read for those who enjoy animals, shapeshifting, and adventure.

Science Fiction
The End of Eternity
Published in Mass Market Paperback by Del Rey (1984-10-12)
Author: Isaac Asimov
List price: $2.95
Used price: $3.50
Collectible price: $17.95

Average review score:

Asimov, time travel and SF at their best!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-25
I read this book many years ago, and I don't remember much about about it other than the following: Its one of the best books of science fiction I have ever read, has one of the bests plots about time travel, and finally is one of Asimovs bests. So I highly recommend it if you like science fiction, time travel and/or Asimov.

Not Free SF Reader
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-04
Harlan is a technician and works for a political sort of organisation called The Eternals. They minister to time over tens of thousands of centuries, and try and keep it running with a minimum of adjustments.

People being what they are, Harlan decides to make a minor fiddle because of his feelings for a woman.


The dangers of too much caution and avoidance of risk-taking
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-11
I probably first read this classic sometime in the late 1950s; certainly, it's the earliest time travel novel I can remember reading. Andrew Harlan, a native of the 95th century, is a Technician in Eternity, a member of a corps of self-appointed guardians of reality that exists outside of ordinary time. It's a highly stratified society and Harlan is a member of the caste that actually effects changes by making the "Minimum Necessary Change" at the selected point in time and space. Then he meets a woman outside of Eternity with whom he falls in love -- sort of -- and takes it upon himself to protect her from a Change planned for her continuity. Of course, it's a far more complicated matter than that, as Harlan finds out the hard way. In fact, the very existence and survival of Eternity is at stake. But maybe it ought not to survive. The writing seems a bit sappy now, a bit turgid, but styles and tastes change. The basic "time patrol" theme, however, has been riffed on by scores of subsequent novels and short stories. Some points seem rather naive to us now: The enormous size of the "computaplexes," even thousands of years in the future, a voice recording device that's still large enough to require a storage case and a separate microphone, and so on. (It's always surprised me how many Golden Age authors failed to anticipate the minute size of electronic devices so short a distance in their future.) But ignore all that and just enjoy the story for what it is.

What goes around, comes around
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-20
Isaac Asimov has written a brilliant glimpse into the fragile psyche of man. In our neverending quest for knowledge and to seek the unknown, we take chances. In Asimov's future we have The Eternals to keep us safe from ourselves. The Eternals manipulate the timeline by altering any dangerous situations that may harm mankind in the long run. This creates a dichotomy as mans adventurous and sometimes self-destructive basic need to break free clashes with our conservative desires to play it safe. Asimov explores the end results of this clash with the central character Andrew Harlen. Harlen is the catylist as he unwittingly is played by both sides in a fascinating chess match of truly epic proportions. Some of the aspects of this story were later explored in Spielberg's "Minority Report", as in preventing future events from happening before they can do harm. The best Science Fiction is the kind that really makes you think and this book most assuredly does that.

This Book is Why I'm a Time Travel Fan
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-22
Time travel is a great, speculative sub-genre of scifi. Although mildly dated this is book highly worthwhile. Asimov's storytelling and imagination are legendary due to works like this.

Science Fiction
Book of Names (Diadem: A Fantasy Mystery, No. 1)
Published in Paperback by Apple (Scholastic) (1997-08)
Author: John Peel
List price: $3.99
New price: $0.88
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

Diadem rocks!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-09
This book is the most exciting, adventurous, and fun book ever. The characters are so realistic. It's very suspenseful. I can't wait to read the next book.

Great book for kids into fantasy
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-06
I picked this book up at a Scholastic book fair ten years ago, when I was in the third grade, and I absolutely loved it. This series and the Animorph series were my group of friends far-and-away favorites. I recommend this book to any young readers - it is enthralling. If you want to get your kids into fantasy, get them this book!

Teamwork
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-14
In a very unique way, John Peel brings together three very different teenagers to defeat a very evil wizard. But he makes it clear that it is only the first battle in a long war for the trio

Diadem
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-04
I have only read 1, 2 & 3 but i absoulutley love the whole series. I especialy like oracle because I wrote down all of the riddles and fond a pattern.
These boks are superb. my raing Third place (Sorry)

Wonderful, funny, GREAT!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-11
This book is great! It's like a puzzle, and only in the end it all fits together. I stopped and looked at the puzzles a few times and tried to figure them out. It is a great book. You won't want to stop reading it. Ever.

Science Fiction
Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul: 101 Stories of Courage, Hope and Laughter
Published in Kindle Edition by HCI (1998-07-01)
Authors: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen, and Irene Dunlap
List price: $14.95
New price: $9.99

Average review score:

Best Book Ever
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-13
Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul; 102 Stories to Give Kids Courage, Hope, Laughter

This book is more than just a book. My friends and I have read it and we agree that it's an awesome book.

Worth many books. Each section can be considered a book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-15
My wife loves this book. I get tired of the same fables with pictures. It's nice to read something that peaks the child's curiosity and allows discussion about meaningful things.

Good Inspirational Stories
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-01
I bought this book for my little daughter, but I ended up reading it, too. It had good, inspirational stories about kids. I really enjoyed it.

A good book for Kids!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-27
Chicken Soup for the Kids Soul
JAck Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Kimberly Kirberger, Mitch Claspy
K. Gan
P. 6

This book is what everything a kid goes through. They go through love, friendship problems, family problems and attitude a justment. Every kid should get this book because this book has the answers to your problems. No matter what situation, good or bad, this book does have the answers. This book shares a lot of problems a kid goes through and a lot of good times in their childhood. For me, i don't dislike the book, i really love it!
As I was growing up, I had a lot of problems. One of my problems was the fact that my bestfriend was moving. In this book, it says "But the more i thought about it, the more I realized I wasn't really losing her. The person taught me so much in life and laughter, the person who had helped me grow to be myself, was just going away for a while, to do some growing and learning up of her own." This quote is really true. The person who taught me so much is still here with me. I think that he just needs to keep learning. He was always there for and he made an impact in my life that no matter where he is, he is always going to be apart of me.
This book teaches a kid not to take things for granted. Lately, I been taking time for granted. Me and my brother has been really distance in the last few years. Me and him are seven years apart and we and him never really talked. In one short story in the family section it says " Hey Tova,It's me Sara. I just called to tell you I love you." This quote is a good quote. In this story, Tova is travaling to Egypt to study by herself. Her sister, Sara, is a few years younger then her. Sara wanted to be everything her sister is, so she copied everything she did. On the night Tova left, Sara noticed how quiet it is without her older sister so she cried all night. She then got the courage to call her and say I love you and she did. I wish that I could do this, so this short story gave me the courage too.
I have no favorite part in the book because everything in this book is really usefull in a kids life. This book covers every aspect in a kids life. Turning from a kid to a teenager, this book has it all. I advise every kid to read it because it's really handy when your in need.

Parents beware
Helpful Votes: 28 out of 30 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-22
I have not read this book, but my nine year old daughter has read and enjoyed most of it. Last night though, she cried herself to sleep after reading graphic stories (near the end of the book) by an incest victim whose father was sent to jail and the daughter of an injection drug user who woke up one night with police pointing guns at her. I'm sure the inclusion of these stories was well-intentioned, but there's no way they are "chicken soup" for the average kid's soul.

Science Fiction
Down These Mean Streets
Published in Paperback by Vintage (1997-11-25)
Author: Piri Thomas
List price: $12.95
New price: $7.45
Used price: $3.74
Collectible price: $12.95

Average review score:

Perfect Condition!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-29
This book was in perfect condition when I received it. My only issue with my purchase was when I received it. The only option for shipping when I ordered was standard shipping, not sure why?? Anyway it took about two weeks to get to me. All in all, it was worth the wait.

This my personal favorite
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-19
If you want to hear the truth about the old days, here it is. This was a perfect example of what many people in El Barrio saw and/or did. Its so real that if you read certain passages slowly, and then close your eyes, you could actually see how it went down. This book can help you look deep and realize that we, in this day and age, have it 50 times better than our fathers and grandfathers. Lets thank our stars and our parents. Praise to you "Don" Piri.

Forever a classic
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-11
Down These Mean Streets is the story of Piri Thomas' journey into adulthood. The book is set in Spanish Harlem in the 1940s. The author's writing style is refreshing and lyrical. He uses some Spanish words here and there(readers might find the glossary in the back of the book helpful), and kicks in a few slang words as well, which makes the dialogs that much more genuine.

Piri struggles through poverty, family troubles, and desperately wanting to belong. He fights with being a dark skinned Puerto Rican during a time when racism was strong, and trying to find his place as neither black nor white. Piri did some not-so-good things in his life, being in a gang, drug addiction, and armed robbery among other things, but throughout it all it is easy to tell that Piri is a good guy at heart.

Overall, this is a captivating story. You might find yourself wondering what you would have done faced with the same situations. I even found myself rooting for Piri at times. This book is still a very accurate depiction of "the hoods" of New York, despite being published for the first time about 40 years ago.

I was sad to have to finish the book, and in the end I felt like I knew Piri. I look forward to re-reading this book over the years. It is truly a classic. Everyone should read it. Anyone can find something in the story that they will be able to relate to.

an exciting nonfiction book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-28
This book really told me what it was like to live in Harlem in the 40s. The discrimination and racism is real and raw (although Mr Thomas does get a little jaded and think all white people are bad). The way he describes coming off heroin is realistic, colorful, and explosive. This whole book is very alive, as a memoir. It was funny to see the slang they used back then!

One of the best memoirs ever written
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-10
I've read this book more than a few times and have taught it to different level readers a few extra times. There was one high school student who came to me after the book was done and told me, "This is the first book I ever finished." Even if it's not the first book you've read, you'll find writing that is fearless, honest, and powerful. You won't forget it, and if you're really lucky, you'll get to share it with someone else.

Science Fiction
Fire And Ice
Published in Library Binding by Topeka Bindery (2004-06)
Author: Erin Hunter
List price: $16.40
New price: $16.39

Average review score:

Read It, Love It
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-24
I've read AND own all the Warriors books that are currently published. I am waiting for Book Four of the Power of Three series. I recently read all the manga books, the original series, The New Propphecy,the Feild Guide, and Cats of the Cans. I also read the three Power of Three books that are sold now.
I recommend these books to everyone. Little kids will enjoy the adventure, but there is buits of romance, sadness, horror, and funniness in these books. They are great for all ages, but the older you are the more you understand. I recomennd reading them slowly, they pass by too quickly. I've read... hmm... 19 books- no, 23- in probably 2 months. And thats just this series. I've read plenty more. so please, please but the first book of the series. If you want to buy this one and you read the ones before, please do because all of them are very good books. I'm only 11, but I think these books are great! firestar, Brambleclaw, Jaypaw, and Graystripe are the different ain characters of each series. But the series are connected. for example, Firestar is eventually leader in Warriors, and is also leader in all the other Warriors series. PLEASE BUY THIS BOOK!!

Warrior's Rule!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-05
All of the Erin Hunter books are great! I just love them and have read them many times over. I am not a reader, I hate to read!!! But give me a Warrior series book and leave me alone for a few days. They are the best. Thanks Erin for opening up a new world for me.

KCS Warriors
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-04
This book to me was very, very exciting. The main character, Fireheart has just become a true warrior of the Thunderclan, along with his best freind Graystripe. Together they faced many things but when Graystripe meets a she- cat from an enemy clan they're freindship starts to fall apart. Another problem in this book is Tigerclaw, the deputy of the Thunderclan. Every cat in the Thunderclan looks up to Tigerclaw, except Fireheart, who besides Graystipe and a fromer cat from thunderclan, named Ravenpaw, know a very cold- blooded thing that this deputy has done.When no one believes the story that Fireheart has to tell about Tigerclaw strnage tings start to happen in the Forest.

Great series
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-12
Pre-teen and early teen girls love the series. It has my 10 year olds attention. She is reading like never before.

very good
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-01
this book is very good. I like all of the characters(except Tigerclaw!), and I like how Bluestar asks Fireheart and Graystripe to find WindClan. The events are very exiting, but I don't get why it's called Fire and Ice. It has nothing to do with the book. This book will have you wanting to read every second of the day!

Science Fiction
Lost City of Faar (Pendragon (Turtleback))
Published in School & Library Binding by Topeka Bindery (2003-07)
Author: D. J. Machale
List price: $15.80
New price: $15.80
Used price: $7.98

Average review score:

Lost in the book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-28
This second book is a real charmer. With a little bit of everything, D.J. Machale reaches inside the readers emotionaly. He makes fantasies come to life inside these wondrous pages.

A Sign of Things to Come
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-09
I won't be able to put an in-depth review since I read the book a while back and am on book 7 right now so my head is swimming with information from all the books.

The second book in the Pendragon series throws the reader back into the territories of Halla. As we last read, Bobby had gotten back to Second Earth to realize that his life there was over. When Loor and Press come to drive him away back to another territory, he once again leaves behind Courtney Chetwynde and Mark Dimond, the two who he had been sending the journals to.

This book has an even more enthralling storyline as you meet yet another traveler, Spader, a young guy from a territory completely underwater. You grow to like him and his "people-person" attitude.

This book continues to show Saint Dane's power, and just what happens in the beginning (I don't want to spoil anything, but it has to do with two floating cities) has a very eerie feeling to it.

This is a must have, as it connects the characters further along in the book and helps make way for book three.

My fav. so far
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-12
I love this book for multiple reasons.
The first, I think, is because of one of the side characters, Spader. He's so dreamy!!! I love him soooo much!
The second is because the plot is just so fascinating. The idea that a world could exist that is completely on water is just so cool.
The third is because of Saint Dane, the evil dude trying to take over Halla(all existence, all times, all places, and all creatures, great or small). He's such an evil person I just could hit him. ARRGGG!
The fourth reason is because of Bobby. I think he's one of the funniest characters I've ever read about(yes, I'm saying he even tops Ron Weasley in Harry Potter!).
I love this second installment so much!
You should definitely surrender to your craving!! Way to go DJ!

Original, Creative Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-24
I loved this book, it is fun and creative. I didn't want to put it down. This series is fun for all ages.

A real tum-tigger...hobey ho!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-07
Before I begin, let me say that I'm an adult (to give this review some context).

I read "The Merchant of Death" (Pendragon #1) a couple of weeks before ordering this book. I enjoyed "Merchant". I thought it was inventive and unusual, and it certainly addresses issues that young adults face. I'm sure kids enjoy reading books where their peers are heroes.

This book is even better. I say that for two reasons. The setting of the first book is quite grim. That was appropriate for the story it told, but it was kind of a downer, reading about those people being exploited. This book's setting is incredible - a world covered entirely by water where humans live on floating, barge-like habitats. I love water, and if I could somehow visit that world, I would do so in a heartbeat.

The other reason I like this book better is that the new Traveler we meet is incredibly endearing. I like Loor. She's a great person to have at your side. However, the Traveler we meet in this story is very funny, and that makes this book a lighter read (in tone) than the first one. He's also flawed, though, which makes things interesting. I relate to him better than I relate to Loor. (Does she have a flaw? I don't think I've spotted it yet.)

Overall, I recommend this book with a big smile on my face. It's a good ride, the characters are endearing, the setting incredible, the themes well developed, and it leaves you wanting more.

See you at Grolo's! Last one there buys the Sniggers!

Science Fiction
Pirateology: The Pirate Hunter's Companion (Ologies)
Published in Hardcover by Candlewick (2006-07-11)
Author: William Captain Lubber
List price: $19.99
New price: $2.50
Used price: $0.53
Collectible price: $19.99

Average review score:

A kids book that doubles as a treasure chest
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-27
Secret pouches, treasure gems, letters, pirate flags...lots of fun!

We bought this for our young children (5-year old and 4-year old) as they were excited by the Pirates of the Caribbean movie trilogy.

We bought this book along with "Pirates" by John Matthews last year. We take the books off the shelf every couple months and read through them for bedtime. The books will stay in our collection for years to come.

This book helps introduce a large amount of new vocabulary but, more importantly, covers so much ground that it acts as a fantastic springboard to further study history or science.

Pirateology, Arrrrggh...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-29
Avast thar ye bilge rat, I thumbed through this yar book at thee "Pirates of the Caribbean" shop in Disneyworld and me thinks, "I gots to get me one of these treasures". Knowings thats Amazon can beat prices like a full broadside I waited and ordered online once I got home, saving about ten dollars. This book is amazing with all kinds of stories, pictures, and facts. Aye, Ye kids may be setting up a pirate camp once they reads it. This will entertain ye kids five to one hundred and five. If you or anyone you know thinks pirates are interesting, cool, or scalliwags of the Earth, be sure to get them this here book matey. I highly recommend this yar book for ye piratical family types especially.

My 6-year old godson loves it
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-03
it's a great book, filled with all kinds of pirate facts, legends, stories, and "artifacts" . My godson got a real kick out of it. He loves pirates and the book is written as if first-hand by a privateer (a pirate commissioned by the government to hunt down enemy state vessels, and rogue pirate ships).

This book will definitely be one he enjoys for many years. Some of the subject matter is just within his attention level and understanding, but the more intricate details and artifacts will prove fun discoveries as he gets older and has the patience to read over each part carefully. i'm a big fan of the whole series.

Pirateology
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-22
This book was received timely, and my son loves it! All the books in this series are great!

Fantastic book for young readers!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-18
My 7-year-old son could not wait to sit down and start looking through this. The day it arrived we had some younger children visiting, and he "wowed" them all by showing them different parts of the book. He is very excited about it, and I am a happy mother for finding another great book for a young reader.

Science Fiction
The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith
Published in Hardcover by Nesfa Press (1993-06)
Author: Cordwainer Smith
List price: $25.00
New price: $20.00
Used price: $17.61

Average review score:

Step into the fantastic mind of Cordwainer Smith
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-29
Wow, what a mind. Kind of like the literary verson of Salvador Dali. Get past the first few stories and you're on a wild fantasy ride for 600+ pages. Some people will find his writing too weird but I loved it. Original, creative and like nothing else. I was totally drawn in. I love that kind of escape where you leave earth completely because anything remotely tying you to the world you know is completely gone and replaced with a completely new world.

The stories are written as if Mr. Smith has an entire universe spanning thousands of years in his head and only a very small sampling of that universe finds its way to the stories. Not everything is explained and there are gaps but this doesn't take away from the world he creates, it only serves to add depth and mystery. Apparently he lost his notebook, leaving it in a restaurant, and then he died early so who knows what more he would/could have written.

For Serious fans and historians of science fiction
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-02
Didn't care for it. The writing just didn't draw me in. The story ideas were sorta good but the authors corny / dumb down naming of objects and peoples cheapens and dates it badly (1955-66). Examples: Fighting Trees (trees used to absorb and neutralize radioactive contamination from past wars), True men, Wise Old Bear (failed bear to human mutation), Unauthorized Men (failed dog to human), Brainbox, Helen America, Mr. Grey-no-more, Sailors (meaning astronauts), "Up-and-Out" (space), "Clown Town the underpeople place" ........

Like others say, and I agree, this is for serious fans of C. Smith and/or historians of science fiction.

Talk of a hidden gem
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-09
I encountered Cordwainer Smith many many years ago, in a Fantasy-Science Fiction magazine in my home country; by the way, with an introduction by a scholar of CS! Do you know of anyone in the US?. It was "Under Old Earth", which has haunted my soul ever since like no other piece of literature, haute or 'low-brow'. In contrast to my second-favorite SF writer, Phillip K. Dick, CS conveys a sense of poetry and subtlety absent in the rough-edge writing of PKD, while bringing about the unique strength of SF, that of exploring the inner and outer limits of the human experience.

After all these years, I still wonder why CS remains such a hidden treasure. It is perhaps the built-in disdain of literary critics and scholars for SF, understandable but not less a prejudice.

As I write my comments, Kafka keeps popping up in my mind: just change Samsa's bed and the castle for harvested organs and the Instrumentality. Or was the Old Man also a Fantasy writer?

The Glory That Was Cordwainer
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-21
Cordwainer Smith was unique. Although the contents of this volume represent more than half of his entire science-fictional output, what he lacked in quantity he made up for in superb and very different quality. His prose is colored by some very non-standard phrasing and imagery, at least some of which came from his close connections with Chinese culture (his god-father was Sun Yat-sen, and he was a close confidant of Chiang Kai-shek). There is a feeling, an ambience to his stories that I have never seen even approximated by any other author. But the themes he tackled in his stories are ones that everyone can relate to, covering prejudice, greed, lust for power, crime and appropriate punishment, and the seeming boundless desire to go where no man has gone before.

Perhaps the main highlight of this collection is "The Dead Lady of Clown Town", which is a very forceful retelling of the Joan of Arc story. I ended up in tears at the end of this one when I first read it, and subsequent re-reads haven't lessened its impact. I've had this one in my top ten `best of sf' short fiction list since my first encounter with it.

"A Planet Named Shayol" will make you do some heavy thinking about just what can or should be done to punish a society's law (or custom) breakers, or if punishment is ever even really justifiable at all, and will give you a nightmare vision of just what hell on Earth (or any other planet) just might be like.

"The Ballad of Lost C'Mell" may be the centerpiece of his entire envisioned future history, as the Instrumentality of Mankind, which for centuries has managed the human population to avoid disease, war, or hard labor (for which tasks the Underpeople were created), is driven to the conclusion that a viable civilization must have some dark elements, as championed by Lord Jestocost and girly-girl Cat-person C'Mell.

Almost all of the stories here are part of Smith's envisioned universe governed by the Instrumentality, a vision that stretches from near-Earth future to a very distant far-future galaxy where humanity has spread almost everywhere. Smith clearly has some overriding messages: his fear of all-powerful ruling bodies, his attachment to all forms of life and the respect that each individual should have, and a basic belief in the power and utility of religion. All the details of this universe are not filled in, and it is sometimes the tantalizing glimpses of what he does not describe that will capture your imagination, and your wish that there were more stories about this unique world. His Underpeople are marvelous creations, showing not only those traits normally associated with the best of humanity, but also characteristics of their underlying animal heritage, whether it be cat, dog, or turtle.

Not every story here is a gem, most especially those not set in his Instrumentality universe or those dealing with the very near future. But they are all very readable, and the overall level of quality here is absurdly high. Read this first. Then take on his only sf novel, Norstrilia. You won't regret it.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

Not Free SF Reader
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-22
A fine idea to put all Smith's short stories together, although the lesser known work is certainly that for a reason. It is still good to see all the Instrumentality of Mankind stories in one place, as some of them are brilliant, and there isn't a bad piece in the lot.

Even with the weaker unrelated stuff at the end, this still manages to average almost 3.75. Very nice.

Rediscovery of Man : No No Not Rogov! - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : War No. 81-Q revised - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Mark Elf [Mark XI Vom Acht sisters] - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : The Queen of the Afternoon [Vom Acht sisters] - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Scanners Live in Vain - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : The Lady Who Sailed The Soul - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : When the People Fell - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Think Blue Count Two - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : The Colonel Came Back from Nothing-at-All - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : The Game of Rat and Dragon - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : The Burning of the Brain - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : From Gustible's Planet - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Himself in Anachron - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Golden the Ship Was Oh! Oh! Oh! - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : The Dead Lady of Clown Town - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Under Old Earth - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Drunkboat - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Alpha Ralpha Boulevard - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : The Ballad of Lost C'Mell - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : A Planet Named Shayol - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : On the Gem Planet [Casher O'Neill] - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : On the Storm Planet [Casher O'Neill] - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : On the Sand Planet [Casher O'Neill] - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Three to a Given Star [Casher O'Neill] - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Down to a Sunless Sea - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : War No. 81-Q - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Western Science Is So Wonderful - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Nancy [The Nancy Routine] - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : The Fife of Bodidharma - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : Angerhelm - Cordwainer Smith
Rediscovery of Man : The Good Friends - Cordwainer Smith

Soviet science couple's brain needle journey.

4 out of 5


Licence to kill, robots, anyway.

4 out of 5


Manhunter not too helpful for old timer.

3.5 out of 5


Suspended animation Underpeople awakening gives girl an Instrumentality role.

3.5 out of 5


Monopoly is bad, and worth doing something about.

5 out of 5


Solo starnaut sheila's suitor.

4 out of 5


Chinese Venusian megadrop.

3 out of 5


I am sailing, I am spoiling, across the stars, should be freezed.

3.5 out of 5


Lost soul pinlighting.

4 out of 5


Another actual use for a live cat. Fight you little bastich.

4 out of 5


Mind destruction manoeuvre rescue transfer.

3.5 out of 5


I wish they'd duck off.

3.5 out of 5


Time enough for love Knot.

4 out of 5


Lost planet female cancer trannie aggression solution is timeslip cat kill cull.

4 out of 5


Time for war, duckie.

4 out of 5


Witch woman and dead robot animal trial.

4.5 out of 5


Too happy is bad.

3.5 out of 5


Rage through space, really fast to dreams out of space.

4.5 out of 5


Old North Australia's mutant mad mink secret defense doesn't pussyfoot around with thieves and murderers. Or, Stop, You'll Eat Yourself.

5 out of 5


Hard to believe in France.

3 out of 5


Underpeople Lord assisted execution escapage.

4.5 out of 5


Pain punishment makes skin way more deep.

3.5 out of 5


Test dictated for horse help.

3 out of 5


Turtle girl's longevity vigil requires warrior assistant.

4 out of 5


Comeback confrontation dictated.

3.5 out of 5


Cackle-gabble telepathy search eating solution.

3.5 out of 5


Sacrifice power.

4 out of 5


Licence to kill, robots, anyway.

4 out of 5


Fascinated Martian chat.

3 out of 5


Virus life.

4 out of 5


Dainty noise weapon.

2.5 out of 5


Funny voice medium.

3 out of 5


No party mission.

3 out of 5



4.5 out of 5


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