By: Buzz Aldrin, John Barnes Publisher: Aspect Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Aspect Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 656 Publication Date: May 01, 1997
Product Description: Chronicles the story of an astronaut who discovers evidence of an extinct race of aliens that has left evidence of their civilization on the moon and Mars. Reprint. NYT.
Amazon.com Review: Buzz Aldrin, one of manned space flight's pioneers, has helped create a stunning, possibly prophetic novel of the future of space exploration. A radio beacon from an unknown world leads an astronaut to disaster on the Moon -- and his son far beyond that as he searches for the key to the mystery of Tiber, a civilization who left artifacts in the solar system some 9,000 years ago, with sufficient impact on human affairs to explain some odd references in the Bible. The villains of the book are not the aliens, but the benighted politicians with the minds of accountants who won't fund the necessary scientific derring-do to save the world -- apparently an affliction which alien astronauts also have to bear.
You can read an exclusive interview with Buzz Aldrin written by Frank Braun.
One of the best SF novels I have read Isaac Asimov has always been my favorite author, but Encounter with Tiber is the only book that I have read more than twice (4 times to date). About every other year or so, I will pick it up and read it again, and I have enjoyed it every time. I would love to see a sequel to this novel, and in fact, I am adding this review after searching the net to see any possible news/references to a sequel.
This book sould be turned into a movie. This is a science fiction story that blends different stages of technical engineering developments around the character development of two civilizations, one from Earth. Plot discussion leverages off known existing technological challenges, solutions and observed facts. This becomes insightful and relevant to today's space efforts and developments. The book contains canonical hooks that could be evolved into many discussion issues around space technology, space law, planetary settlement (nation building), physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, metallurgy, everything. The credibility associated to the discussion by the experienced elder astronaut author takes the book out of the realm of the throwaway science fiction diatribe into discussable scientific trial balloons that warrant further discussion. This book should be turned into an epic movie.
One of the Best I've ever read In my long and often fruitless search for decent sci-fi once in a while a gem is found. This is one of those cases. Also this book written in '96 predicted a 2nd shuttle accident which of course happened in Feb. 2003. The current science is very well researched and yet also leads us to see how future things may develop. The characters and the plot are very believable: characters and events are subject to wise decisions but also the flaws that exist in even the best people and governments have their part to play.
Not since the original writings of Asimov have I seen such decent and well planed out sci-fi writing.
Note to the 1st reviewer: B. Aldrin has a doctorate in astronautics from MIT. How can he be "in over his head" in writing a sci-fi book???
Interesting tale People tend to love or hate this book I noticed, but personally I found it akin to Barnes's other novels which I have enjoyed, but simultaneously get annoyed by. Buzz's authorial voice is hard to pull apart from Barnes except where there's a lot of technical concepts flying around - definitely Buzz's material there. A curious omission that many have missed is its silence about the violation of conservation of momentum that the deccelerator loop on the Earth Starship causes - at no point do the authors note the large accelerations such a thing would cause. Also its flight-time seems to be based on non-relativistic calculations - these aren't major errors, but odd considering Buzz's meticulous details on other technical matters.
Thick novel of ideas... Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes wrote the long, but quite thought-provoking science fiction story "Encounter with Tiber". At almost 600 pages, it takes a reader at least a couple of days to trudge through the story, especially the early highly technical parts of the story. Aldrin essentially predicted commerical space travel, and from the news, we may not be far off from the scenerio that Aldrin and Barnes present here. The story is told through five different narrators with three humans at various points in the 2lst Century, and two "Tiberians" who came to Earth(or as they called it Setepos) in ancient times. Basically, the message is that science and space exploration takes time and commitment, but it's worth pursuing. The novel leaves the reader wanting more, as Clio(an astronaut traveling in the late 21st Century) discovers that her journey is just beginning. It leaves room for a sequel, which depending on your attitude towards the story is good or bad. I enjoyed this rich novel, and recommend this for anyone who really wants to know why we should try to go to Mars.
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