Most helpful customer reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Different, But Interesting Nevertheless..., Mar 22 2004
In this novel of the "Second Starfaring Age", Norman Spinrad has us on the starship Dragon Zephyr, a ship that instantaneously jumps from point to point in it's travels between star systems, covering several light years with each jump. The pilot of the ship (always a female) is an integral part of the jump circuit, and she enters a seemingly subjective state of ecstasy during these jumps. Captain Genro Kane Gupta becomes infatuated with the pilot and this leads to a terrible conundrum. In addition, there are also many passengers on this starship, and they lead a life of luxury in a complicated cultural and erotic lifestyle. The emotional lives of the crewmen and passengers are meticulously detailed by Spinrad, this being a well done and positive aspect of the novel, lending support to a superbly structured plot. My only criticism is that I felt that Spinrad used a convoluted sentence structure much of the time, that coupled with frequent use of arcane words really did make this novel a chore to read, at least for me. Overall though, well worth reading.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely worth the effort, Oct 7 2002
I have to admit that when I first started Spinrad's novel I found the tone and the use of so many foriegn words pretentious and irritating. However, a third or half way through, I was hooked; Spinrad's description of the human relationship that develops between the captain and the unique pilot, and of the tension the captain feels between his duty and his obsessive lust for the transcendent experience the pilot opens his eyes too, are compelling. Spinrad creates a strange alien setting, but uses it to describe emotions and dilemmas that are timeless and universal, with which most readers should be able to identify.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
All those phallic rocket ships, Sep 20 2001
Well, this is a blast from the past. I was very surprised to see this listed as 'new in paperback', but then there does seem to be a swathe of classics being re-released.Is this a classic? Not sure. It must be around 20 years old now, and certainly when first released it was regarded as prime new wave material - advetised in *Omni* no less! But of course age doesn't make it a classic. It's certainly original: I can't think of any other tale in the genre predicated on starships propelled across space by the power of orgasm. But that doesn't mean this is a sex fantasy either. Spinrad makes the idea work, and casts the captain of his ship into a credible (at least within this premise) dilemma, and eventually a real bind ... with a very new wave lack-of-ending to boot. The genre may have moved on from the needs to break through barriers of editorial conservatism that - in part - inspired books like this. In some ways 'The Void Captain's Tale' will seem terribly dated, and I have to say that I think other wirters have since tackled broadly similar ideas and one it better. So this re-release may be of more interest to people who are bona-fide fans of 70's sci-fi than to the general reader. But if you want some idea of where the genre has come from, it's worth a look.
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