Wonderful Book
I have read other reviews on amazon about this book and am slightly disappointed. Those who are true sci-fi fans do there best to see the big picture but let bits and pices of rational thought slip so they can take in the fantasay of it all. Some who have reviewed this book have not looked at things with an open mind all the way. This text is wonderfully written and in time will be one of the sci-fi treasures of the 20th century. Aldrin has lent his insight of alien worlds come through, but Barnes has certanly worked all the magic. If you are a true sci-fi fan this is a must read.
Excellent almost real sci-fi
Sure, some spots are slow and very detailed, however the rest of the book makes up for that. I am amazed by the future technology that he discusses, technology that is just now being discussed in the press, and much that is a reality. Such as laser engine drives, or optical storage, and nano technology. So believable, in fact I am not surprised when I hear another news report of a new technology that Buzz wrote about in 1977.
It's Buzz, after all! How can you NOT buy it?
This one will win no great awards. The aliens are anthropomorphized far too much. The technical details, while impressive, are often overbearing. And the narrative is undercut with too much dreamy vision.HOWEVER, the actual story is really really good. And, believe it or not, all of the characters sing with consistency, believability and three-dimensional life.
So, if you can tolerate Buzz's incessant self-aggrandizing style, and if you can forgive the overbearing technical precision of much of the science, then this is a highly enjoyable novel.
Good in parts, but slow sometimes
I really liked Tiber. I like the concept of going back and forth in time and enjoyed seeing the view points of the different Tiberian races and the earthlings - maybe the BC earthlings should have had a bit more character. After all they were able to trick a species about 8000 years ahead of them, they should have had some more depth to them.
I enjoyed the technical explanations to a point - I am a long time fan of Arthur C. Clarkes books and there is quite a bit of SF technical descriptions there - but at times it got to much from Aldrins descriptions of how things exactly might work. Even I had to scan over some paragraphs to not get too bored.
Maybe the middle section with all the Tiberian views were a little too long and could had been interrupted a couple of times - also the end was very anti climactic - but it was fun anyway.
Dialogue silly; some inaccuracies in technical details
I gave up on this book 250 pages though because it couldn't hold my interest. Aldrin and Barnes are more technically oriented than some but they went in a little over their heads. I appreciate technical details but they must be consistent and accurate, otherwise they annoy and detract from the plot. The plot wasn't all that coherent in the first place--this was not "page turner". The dialogue was not realistic. The charaters' speech were too artificial in their use to explain this and that. Some of the subjects the "professionals" spoke about were too simplistic for actual professionals to discuss. They sounded more like space enthusiasts. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more as a juvenile.
