Balshazzar's Serpent

by Jack L. Chalker and James L. Chalker

Book Overview

With the universe's wormholes collapsed, darkness has fallen across interstellar civilization until Dr. Karl Woodward, commander of the starship The Mountain, ventures to an uncharted world and into a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067131999X
• ISBN13: 9780671319991
• Release Date: June 2001
• Publisher: Baen Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.1" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Not bad - a good start to an interesting series

I'll admit up front I have never written a book, I am a consumer not a producer of books. I acknowledge the fact that good ideas and great stories are hard to come by. I'll also acknowledge that in art there are themes and patterns that are unique to an artist and make up distinctive and recognizable styles. However I expect this more in terms of styling than story line. Having read a ton of Chalker (since I was 12) there are times when his themes though could be construed as bordering on the lack of original ideas. I wouldn't exactly characterize this book in that vein, but I did notice at least one simliarity, namely the setup of planetary system which three inhabitable worlds was similar to his The Four Lords of the Diamond series (which I highly reccomend). However I can't fault him for that entirely, just noting a thematic similarity. Regardless, its clear Chalker sets out to write a series, and this book largely sets up the books to come, but I found that over all I enjoyed the book. The major story lines centers on a evangelical Christian group proslytizing colonial outpost worlds that have been cut off from contact since the "Great Silence". I was worried that Chalker would use this as a means to grind an ax against religion in general, and was pleasantly surprised to find not only a fairly balanced account, but an exploration of faith in the face of doubt and the individualism of worship juxtaposed against congregational preaching.I am looking forward to finishing the series, and am glad that the other two books have already been published and I won't have to wait for publication to finish the series.