Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Del Rey (1983), Mass Market Paperback
Description
In a moving story of sacrifice and triumph, human scientists establish a relationship with intelligent lifeforms-the cheela-living on Dragon's Egg, a neutron star where one Earth hour is equivalent to hundreds of their years. The cheela culturally evolve from savagery to the discovery of science, and for a brief time, men are their diligent teachers.
User reviews
LibraryThing member sgsmitty
Wow, this book surprised me and I am glad I stuck with it. Let me explain. When I started reading/listening to this book I will be honest and say that much of it was going over my head. The scientific descriptions of the sun and the dragon eggs star were something I was not understanding, and I
Sticking with it paid off for me. I cannot say much more I think but once communication between the cheela and the humans is attempted it started getting much more interesting. By the end of it I had that "sense of wonda" that I really enjoy.
So, give it try and stick with it.
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tended to skim or daydream at first. Then the whole descriptions of the cheela's evolution and growth as a society was to me a yawner. But I stuck with it, mainly because this is a short book compared to some I read. Sticking with it paid off for me. I cannot say much more I think but once communication between the cheela and the humans is attempted it started getting much more interesting. By the end of it I had that "sense of wonda" that I really enjoy.
So, give it try and stick with it.
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LibraryThing member antao
(Original Review, 1991)
I just got around to reading DRAGON'S EGG. It is probably one of the best hard science fiction novels I've ever read. I thought the human characterization was weak in places (not enough introspection, lack of diversity of characters), but clearly Bob knows about the
But there is a nit to pick, which I do not believe I have seem mentioned in SFL (*). With a very high Gauss field, not to mention the dense atmosphere, would not there be some strange optical effects? The atmosphere should make for strange refraction patterns, similar to those on Venus, where the horizon curves UP into the sky. And the high Gauss EM field should make optical effects dependent upon the direction you are observing them. If this is correct, then the optics practiced on the DRAGON'S EGG must be far more complicated than were presented in the book.
The only real mention I recall of strange optics were those at the poles, which were attributed to relativity. Are they the EM effects mentioned above? Or were they effects due to the high gravity (acceleration) at the surface? (I believe the distinction here is between the special and the general relativity effects).
Note to Dr. Forward: the book had to be special ordered... how many are out and why are they so scarce? Also, do you ever think a single book will win the Nobel, Pulitzer, Hugo, Nebula, and Moebius {?} prizes? Somehow, no matter how good a book it is would seem not to appeal to at least one of the judging groups! Also, how fast is long and short talk? Does the reference to acoustic waves mean "sound" speed? The speed of sound seems fantastically slow communication method to beings a million times faster than us.
The ending of DRAGON'S EGG in the original draft sent to Ballantine/Del Rey was a long, rambling discussion on the future of intelligent life. It was full of philosophy on robotics and the nature of intelligence, space, time, and the universe. It encompassed all of space and time and contained zero plot, characterization, and action. Fortunately Lester del Rey got to Bob Forward before the readers had this rambling letdown ending imposed upon them. HOWEVER, those masochists among you who would like to plow through 4000 words of the stuff (cut from 7000 words) can send me their NETMAIL address and sometime next week I will inflict a copy on you...I've got it on my BBS but it's still not publicly available.
I also note that there is a sequel to Hal Clement's "MISSION OF GRAVITY" called "STARLIGHT" which evidently has been out since '71, but which I just noticed. I enjoyed "MISSION", though I found "DRAGON'S EGG" a much more interesting discussion of much the same problems. A major difference between the two is that Clement assumes the Mesklinites run on real-time (e.g. "human" time), and the cheela run on mega-human time (1 million times faster). It Is interesting that Clement did think of this, as witnessed by his character remarking "We knew things would fall faster here, but we just assumed you (Mesklinites) would therefore have faster reaction times."
[2018 EDIT: This review was written at the time as I was running my own personal BBS server. Much of the language of this and other reviews written in 1980 reflect a very particular kind of language: what I call now in retrospect a “BBS language”.]
[2018 EDIT (*): "Science Fiction League" for those of you who have no idea what it means...]
I just got around to reading DRAGON'S EGG. It is probably one of the best hard science fiction novels I've ever read. I thought the human characterization was weak in places (not enough introspection, lack of diversity of characters), but clearly Bob knows about the
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scientific establishment! Actually, I thought that the alien characters were better drawn.But there is a nit to pick, which I do not believe I have seem mentioned in SFL (*). With a very high Gauss field, not to mention the dense atmosphere, would not there be some strange optical effects? The atmosphere should make for strange refraction patterns, similar to those on Venus, where the horizon curves UP into the sky. And the high Gauss EM field should make optical effects dependent upon the direction you are observing them. If this is correct, then the optics practiced on the DRAGON'S EGG must be far more complicated than were presented in the book.
The only real mention I recall of strange optics were those at the poles, which were attributed to relativity. Are they the EM effects mentioned above? Or were they effects due to the high gravity (acceleration) at the surface? (I believe the distinction here is between the special and the general relativity effects).
Note to Dr. Forward: the book had to be special ordered... how many are out and why are they so scarce? Also, do you ever think a single book will win the Nobel, Pulitzer, Hugo, Nebula, and Moebius {?} prizes? Somehow, no matter how good a book it is would seem not to appeal to at least one of the judging groups! Also, how fast is long and short talk? Does the reference to acoustic waves mean "sound" speed? The speed of sound seems fantastically slow communication method to beings a million times faster than us.
The ending of DRAGON'S EGG in the original draft sent to Ballantine/Del Rey was a long, rambling discussion on the future of intelligent life. It was full of philosophy on robotics and the nature of intelligence, space, time, and the universe. It encompassed all of space and time and contained zero plot, characterization, and action. Fortunately Lester del Rey got to Bob Forward before the readers had this rambling letdown ending imposed upon them. HOWEVER, those masochists among you who would like to plow through 4000 words of the stuff (cut from 7000 words) can send me their NETMAIL address and sometime next week I will inflict a copy on you...I've got it on my BBS but it's still not publicly available.
I also note that there is a sequel to Hal Clement's "MISSION OF GRAVITY" called "STARLIGHT" which evidently has been out since '71, but which I just noticed. I enjoyed "MISSION", though I found "DRAGON'S EGG" a much more interesting discussion of much the same problems. A major difference between the two is that Clement assumes the Mesklinites run on real-time (e.g. "human" time), and the cheela run on mega-human time (1 million times faster). It Is interesting that Clement did think of this, as witnessed by his character remarking "We knew things would fall faster here, but we just assumed you (Mesklinites) would therefore have faster reaction times."
[2018 EDIT: This review was written at the time as I was running my own personal BBS server. Much of the language of this and other reviews written in 1980 reflect a very particular kind of language: what I call now in retrospect a “BBS language”.]
[2018 EDIT (*): "Science Fiction League" for those of you who have no idea what it means...]
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LibraryThing member Lukerik
If you are obsessed with plot and character then you need to read this novel. It has neither and still works. In concept it is what is technically termed, I believe, 'far-out'.
It's quietly and calmly written which works well with the technological aspects, though if I'm honest, I don't understand
The lack of characterisation is caused by the sheer amount of time that passes. A cheela can barely come on stage before they're dead and during the latter sections so little time passes for the humans that you only see them for a few seconds at a time. The cheela are wonderfully conceived and you really get a sense of how physically weird they are. Love the way that inside they're just like us and how the development of their civilisation mirrors and comments on our own.
Yes, a thoroughly enjoyable novel. I love the bit with the black holes at the end. It's complete in itself but there's also a sequel called Starquake.
It anyone's interested there's a very loose Star Trek Voyager adaptation called The Egg.
It's quietly and calmly written which works well with the technological aspects, though if I'm honest, I don't understand
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the science and in place of 'magnetic monopoles' or whatever I just read 'flux capacitor' and 'inverted tachion field'.The lack of characterisation is caused by the sheer amount of time that passes. A cheela can barely come on stage before they're dead and during the latter sections so little time passes for the humans that you only see them for a few seconds at a time. The cheela are wonderfully conceived and you really get a sense of how physically weird they are. Love the way that inside they're just like us and how the development of their civilisation mirrors and comments on our own.
Yes, a thoroughly enjoyable novel. I love the bit with the black holes at the end. It's complete in itself but there's also a sequel called Starquake.
It anyone's interested there's a very loose Star Trek Voyager adaptation called The Egg.
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LibraryThing member jerevo
This tale of life on the surface of a neutron star is deservedly regarded as an sf classic. The science is well worked out, and the appendices are almost as enjoyable as the novel itself. The cheela, loveable blobs of nucleonic protoplasm that they are, are almost impossible to dislike.
On the
On the
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downside, as the author admits, the science preceeded the story - and it shows. The human characters are two-dimensional sketches, foils to the the flowering cheela civilisation. This initially irritates, but once the starship St. George (natch) arrives in orbit around the Egg, this ceases to matter, as the cheela are the real stars of the show. The book stands multiple re-reading. Enjoy. Show Less
LibraryThing member FrancoisTremblay
Dragon's Egg is a weird mix of hard sci-fi and a goofy pseudo-alien civilization. A team of scientists from Earth investigate a neutron star and are very surprised to discover a thriving civilization where time passes a million times faster. Or, it should be more accurate to say, a race of
I say goofy because despite being absolutely nothing like humans physically, these aliens go through the same patterns of development, including a tribal stage, a Roman Empire-like with barbarians, a State religion and a Jesus, democracy, and so on. Forward has got the science part perfectly right, but his sociology is absurd to say the least. Maybe I've been spoiled by Ursula LeGuin, but I can't suspend disbelief about this, it is just too silly.
The last third of the book does not really redeem the rest, but it's a lot better, since Forward leaves his idea of social development behind and never really comes back to it, which is for the best.
The whole "humans find a planetoid where time passes a lot faster and see a whole civilization develop" has been done and done, and I was really hoping for something great, especially with the wonderful premise of life on a neutron star, the physics and biology of which is very well developed. But as much as I want to love this book, I can't. You can't drive a whole story purely with exacting science, as fascinating as it is.
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extremely small and dense beings living under the extreme gravity and magnetic field of a neutron star eventually discover that their god is a human-manned spaceship, and that those humans (the "Slow Ones") live a million times slower than they do.I say goofy because despite being absolutely nothing like humans physically, these aliens go through the same patterns of development, including a tribal stage, a Roman Empire-like with barbarians, a State religion and a Jesus, democracy, and so on. Forward has got the science part perfectly right, but his sociology is absurd to say the least. Maybe I've been spoiled by Ursula LeGuin, but I can't suspend disbelief about this, it is just too silly.
The last third of the book does not really redeem the rest, but it's a lot better, since Forward leaves his idea of social development behind and never really comes back to it, which is for the best.
The whole "humans find a planetoid where time passes a lot faster and see a whole civilization develop" has been done and done, and I was really hoping for something great, especially with the wonderful premise of life on a neutron star, the physics and biology of which is very well developed. But as much as I want to love this book, I can't. You can't drive a whole story purely with exacting science, as fascinating as it is.
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LibraryThing member Lyn.S.Soussi
Probably second or third in my top five favourite books... An amazing story which stretches the mind... Read it.
LibraryThing member FlyByPC
A rogue neutron star passes close to our solar system and an expedition is sent to investigate. What they find is... absolutely fascinating. Very highly recommended!!
LibraryThing member aviatorz
This is a GREAT one in the sf genre. The late Robert L. Forward was a respected physicist, and If you like hard science in your science fiction, I can almost guarantee you won't be disappointed by Dragon's Egg. I have read it twice in the past, and plan to read it again. MEMORABLE.
LibraryThing member RobertDay
An ingenious novel, with copious notes about how to actually make gravity catapults and time machines. Unfortunately, Bob Forward, nice guy though he was, couldn't really write prose for peanuts (at least, not when he wrote this novel). Fortunately, the ideas make up for it (slightly).
LibraryThing member stubbyfingers
This is qualified as hard sci-fi, although being written in 1980, some of the science is slightly out of date, although not badly. In the not-too-distant future, researchers at Caltech discover a star closer to Earth than any other, located just below the constellation Draco, hence the name Drgon's
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Egg. It's a neutron star--a collapsed star that is very, very small (about 20km across) and dense and not very bright. A few generations later humans send out a manned spaceship to investigate it more closely. What they discover shocks and amazes them: intelligent life on the surface of the star! Most of the story is told from the point of view of the cheela, the lifeforms on Dragon's Egg. How does life survive in a place with so much gravity that molecules can't even exist? This book is similar to Hal Clement's "Mission of Gravity" (written in 1953) only moreso. A very good read with lots of interesting science (including a 20-page appendix for more details) and lots of ideas to think about long after you're done reading. This book has a sequel, "Starquake," which I look forward to reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member ChrisAdonn
This is one of my favorite books of the science fiction genre. It was fist given to me by a very good friend who wanted to broaden my horizons back when i was a teenager. I read it ten years later and I'm glad I waited. This book is aimed at an adult audience and a moderate appreciation and
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understanding of evolution is necessary of one really wishes to grasp it's brilliance. I loved that the science was so well focussed on even if there are some inaccuracies. It was even a little poignant towards the end. I'd strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves the genre. Show Less
LibraryThing member wenestvedt
This has got to be one of my favorite hard science fiction books ever. The premise is an interesting one, yet the story isn't neglected for the science. The sequel wasn't as good, mind, but this was a very good book.
LibraryThing member Black_samvara
I was revisiting an old friend, for some bizarre reason I didn't own a copy so when I saw one sitting around minding its own business I pounced with glee. This is science fiction at it's best, detailed, informative and compelling. The kind of book where you resent the need to sleep because there
The story is based on a species evolving on the surface of a neutron star, they are tiny, high density and utterly alien. A human ship makes contact just as the Cheela reach a stage of development high enough to talk back but the time scale they live in means that a Cheela lifetime passes in 15 human minutes.
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are things going on you don't want to miss.The story is based on a species evolving on the surface of a neutron star, they are tiny, high density and utterly alien. A human ship makes contact just as the Cheela reach a stage of development high enough to talk back but the time scale they live in means that a Cheela lifetime passes in 15 human minutes.
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LibraryThing member Lyndatrue
Life on a neutron star, from a physicist. Who knew something so prosaic could be spellbinding?
LibraryThing member pussreboots
I enjoyed the book very much. The opening bit of the Cheela's story is a tad slow and the ending, while providing perfect closer is also a tad hokey. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It reminded a great deal of The Listeners by James E. Gunn.
LibraryThing member joeydag
I was amazed at how much my interest in this novel sped up as I read it. It starts slowly enough half a millions years ago and much of it takes place one day in the not too far future as a space expedition to visit a neutron star approaches within a manageable number of diameters of the solar
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system. Apparently this is a classic of hard science fiction and I can see why. Quite a number of characters appear and pass on limiting their time on the scene, but there are quite a few heroic and epic stories told. I was quite satisfied when I finished it in one day. I just did not want to put it down. Show Less
LibraryThing member Steve_Walker
A classic "hard" sf novel and a very unique first contact novel. Over 30 years old it is still an amazing read.
LibraryThing member MarkLacy
good structure and good science, but dialogue is dry and some parts too long and boring; did not appreciate alien Messiah parallels; good beginning, great ending
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
A very interesting treatment of different time scales in our reactions with other intelligences. The Cheelas live 40 minutes per generation as they inhabit a neutron star. We help them move through their development but in the long run.... a good read in hard Sci-Fi.
LibraryThing member drmaf
I enjoyed this book immensely, having a great preference for hard sci fi, and this is the hardest of the hard, however, there was a feeling that the author's exposition of hard science often overwhelmed what was an exceptional story. While the aliens are more than adequately dealt with, the huiman
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characters never develop properly, and remain ciphers. That disappointment apart, this is a great piece of writing about a fantastic world and its truly alien inhabitatants. Any devotee of pure sf will love this one. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — First Novel — 1981)
Seiun Award (Nominee — 1983)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1980
Physical description
309 p.; 17.2 cm
ISBN
0345316665 / 9780345316660
Local notes
Omslag: Darrell K. Sweet
Omslaget viser et stjernekort med en rigtig drage på
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Dragons Egg
Omslaget viser et stjernekort med en rigtig drage på
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Dragons Egg
Similar in this library
Pages
309
DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |