Mission to Minerva (5) (Giants)

James P. Hogan's MISSION TO MINERVA provides a fine timeslip epic in which Victor Hunt and his colleagues are investigating the strange physics of alternate universes in conjunction with Thurien's alien scientists. Add military action and you have a fast-paced adventure.

This excellent story is number five in the "Giants" series. It starts with the main hero of the previous books, Dr Hunt, getting a call from his equivalent self in another universe ... The individual volumes in the series to date are 1) Inherit the Stars (one of the best SF stories ever written) 2) The Gentle Giants of Ganymede 3) Giants Star 4) Entoverse 5) Mission to Minerva There are also two omnibus volumes: "The Two Moons" which combines the first two books (The moons concerned being Earth's moon, and Jupiter's moon Ganymede) and the a "3 in 1 Giants Omnibus" which combines the first three. All these novels follow on from a story which begins in "Inherit the Stars" when modern astronauts on the moon find a 50,000 year old human body which completely overturns our ideas about man's place in the universe. During the course of the series, and usually several times per book, the heroes keep finding new discoveries which force them to re-evaluate their ideas about the origins of humanity all over again. A positive aspect of that is that it keeps the books fresh as the stories often go off in different directions: a negative aspect is that some readers who like the first book may find some of the subsequent ones a little silly. The scientific and computer backgrounds appear to be very carefully researched and thought through, but some readers will find the leaps of imagination a too extreme to retain credibility: others will find the sheer ambitious breadth of Hogan's imagination to be the very thing which makes these works of fiction so memorable and entertaining. I enjoyed all five novels and warmly recommend them. If you like the kind of science fiction which stretches the imagination, you will very probably enjoy these stories.

This is the fifth book in the Gentle Giant series. Humans were not the first intelligent life to develop in our Solar system. James P. Hogan's earlier books explore in detail how a taller life form developed on Minerva. They call themselves the Thuriens. Minerva later became our asteroid belt. The Thuriens left our Solar system 25 million years ago. Humans developed on Minerva, and after a deadly war which destroyed Minerva a remnant of humanity migrated to Earth. In these books we find that part of the reason humans have been so warlike is another branch of humanity, the Jewlense, have been manipulating the people on Earth to start wars. Things work out. The first four books are nicely summarized in the prologue, the first seven pages of "Mission to Minerva." In the first chapter Victor Hunt, one of the main characters from the previous books, gets a phone call from himself from another universe, a parallel or alternate universe. The first half of the book recounts the efforts of humans and thuriens to develop the technology to go to other universes. This was fun and pleasant. The second half of the book is about a trip back in time to try and save the humans on Minerva from blowing themselves up. There was a little more tension in this part of the story. My biggest complaint with the story is that right after developing the technology to go back in time to other universes they mount an expedition to do so. It would seem that after figuring out how to do so, they could have spent some more time mastering the technology before they rushed off to Minerva. Since they can go back in time, they could have waited another five years, or even fifty years. They would have been better prepared and had more technology. Because they rushed off to Minerva there was much greater tension in the story, but I felt the tension was artificially created. All in all it was a fun read. If you've read the other stories in the series, and enjoyed them, this should be a fun read.

I was 12 when I first spotted "Inherit the Stars" when it was released here in the U.S. The cover was fairly striking with two astronauts uncovering a body on the front and a close up of the body with a headline of "The Man on the Moon is Dead!" I bought it and that afternoon sat engrossed under the shade of our Maple tree devouring every word. Today the latest in the series, "Mission to Minerva", arrived at the house and once again I found myself sitting reading Mr. Hogan's work and engrossed with a series that now spans 28 years. "Mission to Minerva" picks up with familiar characters and their habits in ways that jog your memory in clever ways. I've already dusted off my copies of the first 4 books to re-read and appreciate the interaction between the characters of Victor and Chris and all the rest. (The book references a view of Thurien from a building in "Giants Star" that I can remember as clearly as the day I read it.) As usual I find myself daunted in appreciating all of the physics involved but just as Inherit the Stars prompted me to poke around the library for scientific fact so has this one. (Easier with the internet now.) This book wraps up some long standing questions from Giants Star: What happened to the Jevelenese troublemakers from the end of Giants Star who last seen had arrived in proximity to Minerva. The set up for getting "there", Minerva, a journey of time and distance, consumes over half the novel. When the stage is set we finally get to see where Charlie and Koriel came from: a world on the brink of ecological change that will bring about the death of one world and the beginning of life on ours. I don't want to spoil any of this book for someone who's followed the series along so far. I enjoyed it and think anyone who's invested the time in the saga so far would be shortchanging themselves for not buying and reading it. I have a spoiler but will save that until the very end. The summary of the other 4 novels in the series that begins "Mission to Minerva" does so aptly but without the emotional impact of the first two novels. (Not a slam at the next two but there are some drop dead page turners in "Inherit the Stars" and "Gentle Giants of Ganymede" that really need to be read to set the stage for what this book brings to the series.) For casual readers it does a good job of setting the stage. I'm glad Mr. Hogan has continued the series. Few series such as this from the 1970's has held up as well or lasted as long. I think that's a statement to both the quality of the work and the ability of the author to weave scientific discovery and theory into a tapestry that makes sense despite the advancement of technology in the real world. There really isn't a much higher compliment. Spoiler Warning! Really! I'm not kidding! For heavens sake, turn back now! Ok... The number one reason why this book needs a sequel is the one area that it disappointed me: Charlie and Koriel. We don't meet them and we don't "witness" their b

It's seldom that sequels live up to their predecessors. James P. Hogan shows once again that he can not only live up to his past work--he can deliver work that surpasses his past accomplishments, yeilding brilliant work that enthralls and tantalizes readers. The fifth in the "Giants" series by Mr. Hogan, "Mission to Minerva" is a wonderful novel of discovery, philosophy, and that unique mix of action/adventure and -hard- science of which his past works have proven him a true master craftsman. This book delivers. When I read the original three Giants books some years back, having picked them up at a yard sale, I had no idea that an as-yet-unknown-to-me author would surpass Arthur C. Clarke as my favourite author of "hard" sci-fi. I read them and said, "THIS is what 2001 could have been!" That's been my feeling ever since. All of Mr. Hogan's books have delivered on all fronts, mixing "hard" sci-fi with solid, enchanting character and plot development to provide hours of solid enjoyment and a tour de force experience. This book is different only in that I feel the author has actually outdone himself. This magnificent piece of work recaptures the universe presented in the first four novels in the series, and goes on to expand upon it dramatically. Written some fourteen years after the fourth novel in the series, none of the characterizations are lost--in fact, they're spot-on, and it feels like the author never put down the pen or stopped for any appreciable amount of time. A true sequel, this book gives you the characters you came to love in the original books, and goes on to explore new plot directions and some mind-bending new scientific direction for the series. In fact, I can't recall reading a better MultiVerse treatment--be it from Mr. Hogan himself, or any other author I've read. Fans of "The Genesis Machine" (also by Hogan) will get a heady thrill of that kind of hard-edged science coming back in this installment of this series. It is a work that tries to delicately balance that sense of page-turning wonder, awe, and suspense against the desire to read a passage again to make sure, "Yes, I actually read that correctly--WOW, what a detailed explanation of something so -cool-!" And what's more, it suceeds in achieving this balance pretty much perfectly. What's more, it mixes the familiar "older" science of the original books (which was really well executed to begin with) with more contemporary and modern science, without any awkward transitions or backtracking. It's a solid progression throughout, and this book is complimentary to the series, not contradictory--something that must have been a result of a lot of effort on the author's part, and which deserves a lot of recognition, as it adds immeasurably to the continuity and enjoyment derived. I've waited about five years since I read the series the first time through, hoping for a sequel to appear. I can wholeheartedly say that this book delivers in classic Hogan style, wit