Starborne

by Robert Silverberg

Other authorsRichard Oriolo (Designer), Bruce Jensen (Cover artist)
Paperback, 1997-08

Status

Available

Call number

PS3569.I472 S76

Publication

Bantam Spectra (New York, 1997). Bantam paperback edition, 1st printing. 240 pages. $6.50.

Description

This is a story about the crew of the starship Wotan, escaping a decadent planet Earth and seeking a new Eden in the stars. But things do not work out well, a suitable planet proving difficult to find. The ship then travels deep into uncharted space.

User reviews

LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
I was looking for a sci-fi novel along the lines of the original Star Trek, and this kind of fit the bill (especially the year-captain, who 'moves around the ship like a cat, and knows every hidden corner of it better even than the man who designed it', which totally reminded me of Captain Kirk,
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but I might be obsessed).

Anyway, I enjoyed the characters and the insular setting, but felt that the story should probably have been longer. The fifty-strong crew of a spaceship are sent into 'no-space' to scout out a new home world, because Earth has become 'one vast pleasant suburb of well-to-do elderly childless folks'. We meet a handful of the crew, including the year-captain who is never named, and Noelle, a blind woman seemingly on board for the purpose of communicating with the folks at home via a telepathic bond with her twin sister (sounds bizarre, but Silverberg makes it work). Everyone spends bides their time playing Go and sleeping together, while waiting for new planets to survey in the hope of settling a new civilisation in outer space. Strangely though, what should have been the dullest part of the book was actually the most interesting - getting to know the characters from their day to day lives. The final chapters felt rushed in comparison, but rather poetic all the same.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1996-10

Physical description

240 p.; 5 inches

ISBN

0553573349 / 9780553573343
Page: 0.4193 seconds