A Maze of Stars - Hardcover

BRUNNER, JOHN

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0345365410 ISBN 13: 9780345365415

Publisher: Del Rey, 1991

Synopsis

Human beings born and raised on the more than six hundred thousand stars in the vast Arm of Stars grow up unaware that they were put there by the Ship, the greatest feat of technology ever achieved

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

The ship's millenia-long mission was to preserve humanity. But humanity was becoming more alien, and the ship--impossibly--more human...
From the Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly:

The latest novel from award winner Brunner ( The Crucible of Time ) reads like a series of short stories loosely linked by a framing narrative and a potentially intriguing plot device: a sentient spaceship. Called simply the Ship, this technologically superior vessel placed human colonies 500 years ago on the hundreds of hospitable worlds in the densely packed Arm of Stars. Programmed to return periodically and monitor the colonies' progress, the Ship is permitted to rescue endangered settlements--or individuals--and carry them to a more suitable planet. Since the Ship was developed with the capacity to think, Brunner depicts it striving to understand its own ultimate purpose and evolving personality. As it visits the various colony worlds, Brunner chooses several of these planets for closer inspection, producing a largely self-contained short story in each case before the Ship moves on. These sections display the author's impressive imaginative powers as he creates detailed, unique cultures and histories for each of his worlds. These independent narratives do not, however, add up to a successful novel. The passengers become little more than talking heads, asking the Ship questions that allow Brunner to fill in background details. The final section, in which Brunner explains the origins and purpose of the Ship, is flat and hurried.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Del Rey
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0345365410
• ISBN 13: 9780345365415
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 393