Neverness: Amazon.ca: David Zindell: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

After acclaim in recent years for his short fiction ("Shanidar"), Zindell delivers a typical first novel: talented, ambitious, wildly uneven and desperately in need of more editing. This is the story of Mallory Ringess, starting with his induction as a pilot in the Order of Mystic Mathematicians. Seeking nothing less than the secret of life, Mallory flies to the Solid State Entity, a computer goddess whose mental space is a treacherous interstellar region. Navigation and survival depend on the pilot's solving the intellectual tests put before him. Following this lively rite-of-passage opener, however, is a melodramatic multi-page sequence of primitive life among an Eskimo-like people. Several hundred more pages are devoted to the city of Neverness, and to Mallory's rebellion against his father, the Lord Pilot. Cliches and fortune-cookie profundities are unfortunately interspersed amid thoughtful philosophic concepts and challenging writing, recalling early John Barth, particularly Giles Goat-Boy.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The lifelong quest of Mallory Ringess, master pilot of the spacefaring Order of Pilots, leads him beyond the "manifold" of space into the mind of a godlike being who imparts to him a secret that will alter the course of the universe. From the wonders of the ice-city of Neverness to the vast field of exploding stars known as the Vild, Zindell's heady prose opens a gateway to a world of rich imagination. Based on his short story "Shanidar," this first novel is highly recommended. JC
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars woah., Jul 5 2004

By	C (AUS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NEVERNESS (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the best, most engrossing science fiction book I have ever read. Truly a breathtaking experience from start to finish (with the possible exception of a few pages here and there). anyone who criticises it is most likely just jealous of Zindell's masterful abilities (or can't pick up the concepts, however well they're presented).

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5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry and mathematics, Jun 23 2004

By	A reviewer (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NEVERNESS (Mass Market Paperback)

Science fiction is a crappy genre. It has potential, but unfortunatly the oly ones to write it seem to be spoty adolecents that never grew up (the author of neverness being an exeption) Nothing good has come out of it in the last 100 years, people who say differently should read joyce, beckett, proust, homer, dante, shakespear and the other greats. neverness, however is different. It is the only good science fiction ever written. Dune was fun by shallow, as was hyperion, ender's game and the rest. they will be forgotten in 50 years. neverness is brilliant. The use of philosophy from nietzche, russell, shophenhaure, and others is breath taking. He is the first science-fiction written to have any good grasp of great literature. the use of the 5000 year old "the Epic of Gilgamesh" as a representation of a literal caharcter was inventive, the use of the poetry of William Black's poem "the tygar" to highlight the eternal nature of human kind whilst the main character is piloting through an infinitly greater entity, and the quoting of the poetry of Emily dickenson by the warrior poets (also taken from the 700 year old "villand Saga" from iceland) is brilliant. The goal of all great writing is to comment profoundly on human life. Science fiction does not do this, but neverness does. the charcter realises, as we do, that humanity will never change, and reamins as barbaric as always, despite many increaes in other fields, we still remain clever apes. There is to much to write about in this review here, so i will leave the rest up to the intelligent and well-read reader. unfortunatly, this book will not last, because the science-fiction audience that its genre attracts claim it as "boring" and "a rip off from dune" (A chapter from Neverness has more to say about human kind that Dune ever has) and will not pick up what a brilliant work it is, because they have not done the real reading that creates a scholarly and well-read individual. Serious readers will not read it because of its damning place as a science fiction piece (a genre that at the moment no serious reader should bother with).

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4.0 out of 5 stars Sci-fi philosophy the way it should be done, Aug 5 1998

By	discord@wans.net (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NEVERNESS (Mass Market Paperback)

Hidden behind a poorly motivated story is a man's fascinating search for the meaning of life. His debates with various entities through the course of the story were interesting and smart. This book is certain to leave you thinking, and hopefully debating with your friends. On the downside, there is a large chunk in the middle of the novel where the characters live with some Fremen-inspired, Eskimo-like cavemen. Unless you enjoy reading detailed descriptions on the art of eating seal blubber, this could be a stumbling block in the otherwise smooth flow of the narrative.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent world-building and writing--unfocused plot.
I pretty much concur with the other reader's raves--this is a very fine piece of epic, worldbuilding SF. Zindell's writing is miles ahead of most of the genre's writers. Read more

Published on Jun 28 1998 by glennrpop@aol.com

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome.
Neverness is definitely among the best SF books I have ever read. I think the world David Zindell has created is the best realised since Dune, and I think that anyone into SF... Read more

Published on Jun 16 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars David Zindell is a sci-fi genius
I am currently reading book four of the series of requiem for homo sapiens. I have had to practically pry my nose out of all four just to get things done. Read more

Published on Jun 15 1998

4.0 out of 5 stars Neverness is brilliant, complicated, mind boggedly Sci Fi.
I have not even read all the book yet. But it is brilliant.

I'm afraid I have'nt read much Sci Fi in my time. I usually find it far too technical for me. Read more