Cascade Point

By Timothy Zahn

Book Overview

From the author of Cobra and Cobra Strike, Cascade Point includes the Hugo-winning title story and the 1985 Hugo Award finalist Ret urn to the Fold.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671656333
• ISBN13: 9780671656331
• Release Date: April 1987
• Publisher: Baen Books
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Not Free SF Reader

Not sure why I waited so long to read this - all the Zahn novels I have read I thought were reasonable enough. So is this book - a bit better in fact at 3.42 and no dud stories, and a couple of strong ones and the clear majority above average. The Hugo novella title track is a sort of eighties A. Bertram Chandler update, and that, to me, is a good thing. A 3.75 type book, rounded up. Cascade Point : THE GIFTIE GIE US - Timothy Zahn Cascade Point : THE DREAMSENDER - Timothy Zahn Cascade Point : THE ENERGY CRISIS OF 2215 - Timothy Zahn Cascade Point : RETURN TO THE FOLD - Timothy Zahn Cascade Point : THE SHADOWS OF EVENING - Timothy Zahn Cascade Point : NOT ALWAYS TO THE STRONG - Timothy Zahn Cascade Point : THE CHALLENGE - Timothy Zahn Cascade Point : THE CASSANDRA - Timothy Zahn Cascade Point : DRAGON PAX - Timothy Zahn Cascade Point : JOB INACTION - Timothy Zahn Cascade Point : TEAMWORK - Timothy Zahn Cascade Point : THE FINAL REPORT ON THE LIFELINE EXPERIMENT - Timothy Zahn Cascade Point : CASCADE POINT - Timothy Zahn Blindsight future defense. 4 out of 5 Moon communication alien. 3 out of 5 Black hole firefly. 3.5 out of 5 Crazy docking stress. 3.5 out of 5 Block failure. 3 out of 5 Shadow Warrior Mindlight Master. 3 out of 5 Deathworld match. 3.5 out of 5 Vision breakdown fleet future. 3.5 out of 5 Freedom Party? No, boy, I want you to be the next dictator. 3.5 out of 5 Lottery rehire plan. 4 out of 5 Multiple personality dome test. 3.5 out of 5 Baby minding. 3 out of 5 Unreal rotation ghosts. 3.5 out of 5

Excellent collection of Zahn's early work

Timothy Zahn is one of the most imaginative science fiction authors writing today. He has written a large number of novels, which range from fair to excellent, and is probably best known for his contributions to the "Star Wars" Universe, particularly the novels in which he bought to life the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn and his people, the Chiss. However, Zahn's four short story collections are perhaps his best achievement. This collection is named for a story set in a Universe where the pilot of a star ship, as it travels between the stars, passes through "Cascade points" where he or she will see a pattern of images showing how he or she might have appeared in a slightly different reality in which different major lifestyle choices had been made. Sometimes Zahn revisits the characters or wider universe he created in previous short stories. For example, his subsequent book "Distant Friends" contains the story "The Evidence of things not seen," which is a direct sequel to the title story of "Cascade Point." Another very memorable story is "The Giftie Gie Us" (as in the Robert Burns poem, "Oh Wud some Powr the giftie gie us, to see our selves as others see us.") Set in a post-holocaust Canada, a World War Three veteran meets and falls in love with a blind woman. Then he wonders how she can appreciate what is going on around her ... All these short stories are disciplined and to the point, as they have to be to make this format work: they are also very accessible and easy to read. As with his novels, Timothy Zahn's short stories are characterised not just by an amazing range of weird ideas about the creatures or scientific principles we might find in the universe, but also about the difficult moral choices which humans - and other intelligent creatures - might face as a result. Some of these stories have a romantic element, some don't, and when they do the hero may or may not get the girl. Since Zahn doesn't write to a formula in this respect, you cannot always see a romance coming, or predict the outcome. This makes some of the stories more satisfying and others more poignant. If you like these stories, you will like his other collections which are: Distant Friends (and others) Time Bomb and Zahndry Others Star Song and other stories

A highly enjoyable read

A selection of short stories based on a science fiction theme. This book is highly recommened and it is a complete shame that it's out of print. "The Giftie Gie Us" is about a post apocalyptic world where justice is won the hard way and love is even harder to find. "The Dreamsender" is a story about a possible future where very special people can go into others dreams and send messages, or just talk to them. "Dreamsending" doesn't seem to have anything to do with time and space...meaning that a person can just as easily send messages across the galaxy as they can to their next door neighbor. So when a conspiracy happens on the moon and men seem to be kidnapped how do they get messages in and out of their prison? "The Energy Crisis of 2215" is about humanity needing more energy for the earth. They capture a black hole to fulfill this requirement. What they don't know is the black hole is unstable and sitting right next to the earth. "Return to the Fold" is about a person that has been conditioned since birth to want to be away from other people. Not only can he not stand being in the same room as someone else, he can't stand being in a room someone else was in. This works well on space voyages lasting twenty or thirty years, but horrible when a person wants to be like everyone else. What is he to do? "The Shadows of Evening" is about humans colonizing another planet and an indigenous life form that doesn't like technology. This life form encircles anything technological and tries to get rid of any people around it. There is a special group of men that can get rid of these "shadows" and have been doing it for generations. When a new, easier way is found to rid the world of "shadows" these highly trained, highly respected Shadow Warriors are no longer needed. These men start to resent the newly trained Mindmasters. "Not Always To The Strong" is the sequel to "The Shadows of Evening." In this story a rich man wants to control the newly made Mindmasters. To do this he gets the help of some of the best Shadow Warriors he can, including the main character in the last story. "The Challenge" is about humanities obsession with video games and an alien race watching us from the outside. "The Cassandra" is about humans that can see disasters and death in the future. Sometimes their predictions are right, usually they're not. Or so people assumed.... "Dragon Pax" is about what happens to a planet after mankind has had a war that turned human civilization throughout the universe into chaos. On this planet there is a ruler called the Dragonmaster. This man has absolute power over gigantic dragons that can cause death and mayhem to anyone he desires. Does this man really want to have the kind of government he has for this country or will he make someone stand forward to help bring democracy to this world? "Job Inaction" is about a future Earth where people get jobs based on a lottery rather then work experience, or education. In this

Wonderful compilation of Zahn's early work

This book is a great read whether you know Zahn's other work or not. Filled with several solid short stories, the author also takes the time to explain where some of the ideas came from as well as why he has problems with some of the stories. I felt that there was potential full length novels (or at least worlds where a novel could be set) that I haven't seen him visit yet, so hopefully additional readers of this book will feel the same way.

A good intro to Zahn

An excellant collection of early short fiction by Zahn I particualrly liked 'Shadows of evening" and the sequel 'Not only to the stong". Some stories are clearly showing a writer still learnign hsi craft, but are still veryu good, and the title story is top-notch.