And All the Stars a Stage

by James Blish

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 038000013X
• ISBN13: 9780380000135
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Classic Science Fiction in the Truest Sense

This is a really good classic science fiction tale. The elements of classic Science Fiction in this novel: 1. Written with an attempt to make the science match story. No warp drives here. Well ok. Maybe kind of a warp drive but just one! 2. Written before the computer age. It is fascinating to see the writer's visions of the future before our society was digitized to nothing but a series of 1's and 0's. 3. Short. Classic Science Fiction was written cleanly and shortly and rarely filled with fluff. Made for a quick read. 4. Character development. Like most classic Science Fiction the main character is developed and the surrounding characters only to the point needed to tell the story. No extra characters are added if not needed. The story is the point. 5. The technology is there to drive the story not the other way around. 6. And of course there is a shocking ending. Great ending in this case. Well worth the read. (I hope you haven't read one of the spoilers by other reviewers!) No real cons except when it is over you are left wanting more but that is the way we all would like it I think. Very very good that approaches 5 stars but just misses it in my book. Definitely a must read for fans of classic Science Fiction.

Fantastic tale

This is science fiction about as good as it gets. I read this a long time ago and have read it many times since. A starship prepares to take a group of inhabitants of a planet doomed to destruction. Our unlikely hero slowly emerges as a natural leader. The society described is eerily similar to our own with some differences.The travelers have adventures on several worlds and almost despair of ever finding one but at last they do. And, of course you know it's Earth. It is early China and they have arrived to see Earth's first king. The epilogue was such a quiet yet powerful summary. Chinese scientists recorded a bright light in the sky in 1086. It is, of course, the travelers's sun going Nova. And, you see, the Chinese astronomer who recorded this event in the imperial records is unaware that he is an ancestor of a union between Chinese and the aliens.Terrific writing, mesmerizing in fact. A real winner.

And All the Stars a Stage

This book is a favorite of mine, as it presents a distant world with an interesting "back story" while telling a tale of a stellar diaster. The human inhabitants of the planet have to make a sudden exodus into the galaxy to find a new home. They discover that the universe at large is not as welcoming as they might have expected and they also have to deal with realistic problems such as the scarcity of home-like planets and, when they do find them, some less-than-hospitable inhabitants. I especially liked the ending.