Review of Tau Ceti: A Ship from Earth

[SunVixen]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Tau Ceti: A Ship from Earth" by George T. Hahn.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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The book Tau Ceti: A Ship from Earth by George T. Hahn is set in the future. A small human colony has existed on the planet Pitcairn for over two hundred years. One day, a highly anticipated spaceship from Earth lands on this remote planet. However, the ship is commanded by a computer. Moreover, its entire crew consists of robots. It seems that the Earth’s government is hiding new advanced technologies from the people of Pitcairn. Besides, some strange traces appeared near one of the human settlements on this planet.

Tau Ceti: A Ship from Earth is excellently edited. There are no typos or errors. Alas, the author has a very specific dry style. For example, there are almost no descriptions of settings and characters in Tau Ceti: A Ship from Earth. The action in the book takes place on another planet. Such a work can involve detailed colorful descriptions of the landscapes of an alien planet, amazing living creatures and unusual plants. They are just necessary in order to properly imagine the life of a faraway world. There is nothing like this in Tau Ceti: A Ship from Earth. The same problem exists for characters. George T. Hahn doesn’t condescend to describe their appearance in any way. Consequently, you can hardly tell Susan from Stephanie and Jack from Jason.

It should be noted that Tau Ceti: A Ship from Earth belongs to the Library Ship Saga series. Nevertheless, the book can be read as a standalone.

Anyway, this book is a real treat for fans of hard sci-fi. Its characters are always talking about wormholes and nanotubes, Descartes and Turing. At times, Tau Ceti: A Ship from Earth is very realistic. For instance, humans easily chew away alien food in many sci-fi books. George T. Hahn doesn't make that mistake. He notices in one episode that the native proteins on Pitcairn were very different from those on Earth. They were useless and even dangerous to the human body.

Unfortunately, the peculiar realism is the only advantage of Tau Ceti: A Ship from Earth. The problems with very indistinguishable main protagonists aren’t just about their looks. They are almost devoid of individual traits too. As a result, the most memorable character is the ship's computer named Isaak. It has consciousness and individuality. In addition, he considers himself a child and is looking for adoptive parents in order to socialize properly.

Of course, this book is not psychological prose. Main protagonists in many sci-fi books often seem primitive and trite. Nonetheless, this circumstance is more than redeemed by their extraordinary adventures. By contrast, the plot of Tau Ceti: A ship from Earth develops very slowly. Practically nothing happens for many pages. Together with a very meager writing style, this can turn off many readers.

Therefore, I give this literary work only 3 out of 4 stars and 4 out of 5 stars. However, fans of hard sci-fi may like the book even despite its shortcomings.

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Tau Ceti: A Ship from Earth
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[Amy Luman]

I have seen several books in this series and have always bypassed them since they didn’t seem like something I would be interested in. After reading you review, however, I have changed my mind.

[SunVixen]

I have seen several books in this series and have always bypassed them since they didn’t seem like something I would be interested in. After reading you review, however, I have changed my mind.

As I mentioned in this review, the author has a very matter-of-fact style. However, I like hard sci-fi and read this book with ease. Sometimes I get tired of books where people stuff their mouths with extraterrestrial fruitы and make love to aliens.

But this very dry writing style might be a problem for other people.

[SunVixen]

...and little Isaak was really funny.

[Ben Madeley]

I like the sound of this. It seems like my kind of style and it interests me that the colony is called Pitcairn, that sounds familiar.

[Streo Stelen]

the book really has a writing style similar to that of captain logs in Star Trek.

[Flourish Sunday]

I don't enjoy historical books but I think this one sounds interesting and captivating. I will give it a try. Good job on this perfect review.

[SunVixen]

I like the sound of this. It seems like my kind of style and it interests me that the colony is called Pitcairn, that sounds familiar.

This planet was named after an island in the Pacific Ocean for some reason.

It also mentions a spaceship called Asimov.

[SunVixen]

I don't enjoy historical books but I think this one sounds interesting and captivating. I will give it a try. Good job on this perfect review.

Thank you for stopping and reading! However, this is a science fiction book.

[SunVixen]

the book really has a writing style similar to that of captain logs in Star Trek.

That's a great comparison. However, I warned about this strange writing style.

[Clare Jose]

I don't think I'll be able to handle all that talk about 'wormholes and nanotubes'.
I also often find it difficult to enjoy fiction when I can't relate to the characters to some degree. It's a hard pass for me with this one.
Thanks for your review!

[SunVixen]

In theory, a good writer could make a conversation about wormholes very interesting. The characters in a good book could go through a wormhole to another universe populated by pink ponies and talking cakes or something like that. And the сharacters can also go through a wormhole to another time and see something interesting with their own eyes.

Unfortunately, this author couldn't do that. Anyway, thank you for stopping and reading my humbly review.