EAGLE AGAINST THE STARS: Amazon.ca: STEVE WHITE: Books

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12 Reviews

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2.3 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

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1.0 out of 5 stars Neat Idea, Ruinous Execution, Oct 14 2009

By	David Johnston (Sexsmith Alberta) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The idea of a future United States being a faux-Japan undergoing their own Meiji restoration after being forcibly opened up by aliens is a good idea. But it would have been better if he hadn't decided to grind his modern-day political axes and preach about libertarianism instead of telling the story that would naturally rise out of his premise. Are we actually supposed to believe that Teddy Kennedy would be remembered as a great villain centuries into the future? Or as anything more than a footnote? And needless to say, he makes no effort whatsoever to figure what things look like from the point of view of his villains, despite actually writing large chunks of the book from that perspective.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Skip this one, May 13 2004

By	Andrew Byers (Durham, NC United States) - See all my reviews

I went into this book with relatively low expectations -- I was just hoping for some light, action-oriented science fiction adventure -- but even those low expectations weren't met.

The other reviewers here have largely covered the book's (thin) plot, so I won't rehash that here. Suffice it to say, the characters are wooden cut-outs and/or stereotypes and the plot is trite and banal. The pacing was slow and extremely predictable. I was badly disappointed in Mr. White's work here, and I probably won't be giving him a second chance.

The author's political views are presented in a very heavy-handed fashion that jar you out of the narrative every time one of his mouthpiece characters begins a new diatribe. Don't get me wrong, I think Clinton and the Kennedys are despicable (as Mr. White clearly does), but I don't need to be constantly reminded of this in a science fiction novel.

Frankly, I'd advise you to take a pass on this one and read something else, even if you're just loking for a light read.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Not bad for a first novel -- too bad it's his ninth!, Sep 24 2001

By	D. Jason Fleming (Hollyweird, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Nominated for this year's Prometheus Award (it lost to Smith's somewhat better Forge of the Elders), this book helps demonstrate the problems with literary prizes that reward political views, rather than literary work.

I'm a little bemused that White has been writing for nearly ten years, as this reads like a first novel. Most of the thematically important material is related through background narration or several painfully direct dialogue scenes. Every time the theme and the plot threaten to interfere with each other in interesting ways, a monkey-wrench gets thrown into the works, spinning them far away from each other for another fifty pages (except, as stated, when the plot stops altogether so that one character can tell another character the theme of the book at length). And none of the characters attain much in the way of depth. Though the plot machinations show some ingenuity, the characters acting them out are seldom more than cartoons.

Which is a shame, because there is more than adequate material for a good book here. Fighting against aliens who aren't exactly good, but are far less evil than the humans facing them poses many interesting questions -- none of which are dealt with. In fact, the game of Musical Antagonists ends with a big space battle against one faction of the aliens, utterly undercutting the most interesting parts of the book.

If Mr. White had taken more time with this, if he had made his enviromentalists and statists actually sound like they believed what they were saying, and if he hadn't sloughed off most of the work of antagonism onto the evil faction of the aliens, this could have been a much better book.

As is, it remains a mildly amusing waste of a few hours, if you don't disagree with his politics too vehemently.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Standard Space Opera
Eagle Against the Stars is standard space opera. Which means that you shouldn't read it to try to find trenchant commentary about important social issues or intellectual musings... Read more

Published on April 18 2001 by E. Dale Franks

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
This book is proof positive that Steve White is a full-fledged partner of the StarFire series, despite some snide commentary from the politically charged "readers"; and... Read more

Published on April 15 2000 by Derek Nalecki

2.0 out of 5 stars eagle against the stars
turttledove! where are you when we need you? this book shows why a little information, in the hands of someone with no historical context, is considered dangerous. Read more

Published on Mar 18 2000 by david o sandoval

4.0 out of 5 stars Forget negative Leftie reviews and have a good read.
I enjoyed this book with NO apologies. Comments about it being slowly paced have me wondering whether other reviewers even read the same book. Read more

Published on Feb 5 2000 by M. Stephenson