The Coming (Ace Science Fiction) - Hardcover

Haldeman, Joe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0441007694 ISBN 13: 9780441007691

Publisher: Ace, 2000

Synopsis

Astronomy professor Aurora ‘Rory’ Bell gets a message from space that seems to portend the arrival of extraterrestrial visitors. According to her calculations, whoever is coming will arrive in three months— on New Year’s Day, to be exact.

A crowded and poisoned Earth is moving toward the brink of the last world war—and is certainly unprepared to face invasion of any kind. Rory’s continuing investigation leads her to wonder if it could be some kind of hoax, but the impending ‘visit’ takes on a media life of its own. And so the world waits. But the question still remains as to what, exactly, everyone is waiting for…

About this title

About the Author

Joe Haldeman is a Vietnam veteran whose classic novels The Forever War and Forever Peace both have the rare honor of winning the Hugo and Nebula Awards. He has served twice as president of the Science Fiction Writers of America and is currently an adjunct professor teaching writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Reviews

Acclaimed Nebula and Hugo award-winner Haldeman delivers a disappointingly weak tale of the turmoil wrought by a message from outer space. Thin on plot, character and suspense, very little about this novel convinces, except details such as the prevalence of Spanish phrases in casual conversation and some techno gizmos. Clear as astronomy Prof. Rory Bell's name, the message "We're coming" is broadcast from only a 10th of a light-year away to mid-21st-century Earth. The message senders will arrive in three short months and will tolerate no attempt to block their "peaceful" landing. While Rory engages in political battles within her university and against the U.S. president's hawkish reaction to possible alien invasion, another, wider-scale battle among the European nations seems destined to launch WWIII. Meanwhile, a local mobster threatens to expose Rory's husband's illegal homosexuality, which would destroy both his and Rory's credibility. Unfortunately, relating the narrative by more than 20 different characters drains any tension from the story and results in disjointed, stalled storytelling. The concluding revelation about the aliens' nature and intentions, threadbare from overuse by other writers, arrives mercifully quickly. (Dec. 11) Forecast: Haldeman's widespread and well-deserved reputation for exciting and thoughtful work plus marketing to his core SF audience will put lots of books on shelves, but fans of the author and newcomers to his work will withhold the positive word of mouth that can help propel titles to major success.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Forever War (1972) and Forever Peace (1997) won Haldeman about as many awards as an sf writer could win, and those books' companion, Forever Free (1999), may bring more. Now the Floridian author takes inspiration from fellow Sunshine Staters in the crime-novel biz--Willeford, Leonard, Hiaasen, among others. The Coming exemplifies a long-established sf type--the story of first-contact with extraterrestrial beings--but unfolds like a crime caper, in which what seems to be and what is are two different things, and the caperers scheme and sleuth. On 1 October 2054, astronomy professor Rory Bell receives a message, "We're coming," from an Earthbound object way out in space that will arrive on New Year's Day. Soon Rory, her composer husband, her chief faculty protege, the university president, a mob shakedown artist, a Gainesville cop, the mayor, the governor of Florida, and, finally, the president and her cabinet are all conniving away in response to the momentous announcement. Several humbler Gainesvilleans, including a shopping-cart lady and a comely student earning her way through med school as a porn actress, constitute something of a Greek chorus, unwittingly commenting on the principals' doings. As noisy as the first-contact movie Independence Day and as cynical, if not as funny, about human dignity as Mars Attacks, Haldeman's fast-paced, cannily constructed yarn is ultimately most like that granddaddy of first-contact flicks, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Maybe better. Ray Olson
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Edition details

• Publisher: Ace
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0441007694
• ISBN 13: 9780441007691
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224