The Tranquility Wars: Amazon.ca: Gentry Lee: Books

Product Description

From Library Journal

It is the 25th century, humans have colonized space, and even as the various colonies vie to be first among equals, space pirates are upending everything. When young Hunter Blake finds himself kidnapped by pirates, he has some tough decisions to make. From the coauthor (with Arthur C. Clarke) of the best-selling "Rama" series.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Bright, personable, young medical technician Hunter Blake impatiently awaits acceptance to medical school on Mars. When designated a Covington Fellow, which entails a generous scholarship and two years' training with the best minds on Mars, he can't believe his good fortune. His pleasure is compounded when his old girlfriend, Tehani Wilawa, returns after three years' absence and plans to accompany him to Mars. Romance burns hot in their ship's tiny cabins, but their lives are abruptly detoured when anarchic space pirates capture the ship. Hunter and Tehani find the pirates' lives vastly different from how the government and media portray them. Tehani's beauty causes disruption when the pirate chief becomes infatuated with her, and Hunter has to grow up quickly, conquer his jealousy, and reexamine his political ignorance when the pirates put a challenge to him that promises either great adventure or permanent exile. Lee handles technology and action deftly, but stilted dialogue and Hunter's unlikely success with every woman he meets detract from the novel's overall appeal. Roberta Johnson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

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3.1 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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2.0 out of 5 stars Shallow and boring, Mar 1 2003

By	IHiJump "ihijump" (Arkansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tranquility Wars (Mass Market Paperback)

I had forgotten what I didn't like about Lee's Rama books until I began reading this. The Rama books were all full of underdeveloped, oversexed characters.

This book was heavily laced with gratuitous sex and nothing but gratuitous sex... There was no plot, there were no characters. I read about 100 pages, put the book down and picked up the Orson Scott Card book I had waiting.

When I finally got the nerve to finish the book I found even more gratuitous sex and even less plot. I did manage to finish the book... well, I think I finished it. I'm wondering if there may have been missing pages at the end or maybe one or twelve missing chapters. There was no climax to the book (well, so to speak) and the ending just... well... ended.

Unless the author is planning a sequel to answer all the questions left at the end of this book (like "what was the plot?") don't waste your time. You'll be disappointed.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A good story from a good author, Jan 31 2002

By	Joseph Zasada "Joe Zasada" (Beaumont, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Tranquility Wars (Mass Market Paperback)

An engaging story... This is one of those books that you just can't put down! An excellent work of Science Fiction... and a plausible outlook on things to come. Save this one for vacation... otherwise, you will not get any sleep!

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3.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but not on Par with his other books, Dec 11 2001

By	noravasc (Earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tranquility Wars (Mass Market Paperback)

Set four hundred years in the future, when a large part of humanity has moved into space, Tranquility Wars is a sci-fi/adventure story. Not much of the story can be told with out taking away part of the fun of the book. But the basic idea can be told. The main character is Hunter Blake, a 20 year old who lives with his parents on an asteroid in our solar system. Out side the asteroid, the solar system is split between two governments. The first controls the south side of Mars, and every thing within Mars� orbit, including Earth�s moon. The second controls the north half of Mars, and everything outside of Mars� orbit, including the asteroid that is home to the Blake family. The book follows Hunter on his first trip to Mars, to become one of a few selected government scholars. The book does a good job of describing some of the problems of living in space, and how they could be dealt with, along with creating a vivid and complex political system.

While the book is a fun read, in general the story is lacking that which turns a fun read into a good book. As stated before, the book follows Hunter on his trip, and while we see him make a few choices, the key decision are made for him. But the reader is still given pages of inner thought on key issues, ranging from how far science should go, to how much control the government should have. But these segments on key issues feel forced, and don�t fit with the characters� other traits, almost as if Gentry Lee was trying to address key topics with a story along side. (In his other books, he wrote a good story that had important topics on the side.) There were also several cases of irrelevant side stories, that neither advanced the plot (as they suggested during the reading), nor helped develop the characters. This proved frustrating, as some of the suggested plot developments were more interesting than what really happened.

Overall this book was fun to read, but not worth a great deal of praise. And it is most definitely not at the same level as the Rama series or the Bright Messengers story.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars World building
I have just finished this book and found it interesting and will recommend it, although conditionally. Read more

Published on Jun 1 2001 by mitch

4.0 out of 5 stars The Tranquility Wars are revolutionary!
For Hunter Blake, the future is bright. After years of separation he is reunited with the one woman he has ever loved & has been awarded an exclusive fellowship in the... Read more

Published on April 15 2001 by Rebecca Brown

2.0 out of 5 stars Boring boring boring
This book was dull and uninteresting. There is not much action and even less plot. There are several graphic sex scenes sprinkled throughout the book. Read more

Published on Feb 18 2001 by CenVillager

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but lacking...
I enjoyed myself while reading this novel, but I must say that Gentry Lee seems to be treading to many lines between ideas and ends up with a book which never commits to be truly... Read more

Published on Dec 2 2000 by bblakk