Jan 19, Jim rated it really liked it. Have you ever reread a book years after you first read it--because you remembered how much you liked the book but you don't remember why? This science fiction book was published in and I must have read it in the 90s. I remember thinking it was just a great book and, in fact, passed it on to my father to read.
I got it back at some point and it's been sitting in a box with other books I've read--and, finally, I took it out to read it again. I really did not remember the plot or how it ended- Have you ever reread a book years after you first read it--because you remembered how much you liked the book but you don't remember why?
I really did not remember the plot or how it ended! From the cover, I could recall the protagonist was a young girl and the story was set in a post-apocalyptic world. Now, having reread it, I think it was a great story and I enjoyed reading it again. It's the story of Candidia "Candy" , an eleven-year-old girl who is the survivor of an apocalypse.
In this case, it's the Cold War of the s turning hot, with hard-line Communist leaders of both Russia and China working together to destroy the USA, mainly by using a bioengineered plague.
Candy is able to survive in a very well-stocked shelter constructed by her father, who works for the government. When the plague hits, Candy's father is away in Washington but she, fortunately, goes into the shelter--and survives. It helps that she is a super-genius and, when she emerges, she goes on an odyssey across a depopulated America seeking other survivors. I liked the character of Candy the genius child. I also liked how the story is told, for the most part, by her log entries.
And she traveled with a wonderful companion--Terry the hyacinth macaw. All in all, a very engaging story. However, there is a shocking murder that occurs. Somehow I had managed to forget about it and, maybe, along with the shocker, I also managed to forget the rest of the story! Unfortunately, and I checked on this, the author seems to have written only a couple other books, including a sequel continuing the Candy saga.
I'd like to find that. Oct 16, Barbara Notte added it. The book is definitely worth reading, even thuogh not exactly my style. I recommended it to a friend of mine and got back only positive feedback. Jan 09, Tony rated it it was amazing Shelves: science-fiction , have-reread-more-than-once.
This was another novel which I had started reading as a series of short stories in either Analog or Asimov's in the early 80's. But the unique writing style, and the delightful lead character has made this a book that I still returned to every few years.
I have always thought it a real shame that Palmer never wrote more than two novels, his talent suggested that he was capable of many more great things. View all 3 comments. Mar 27, Barbara Brown rated it did not like it. I did not like this book. I was mostly annoyed throughout. What bugged me? First off, the shorthand, log-entry style of writing was hard to take. I plowed through thinking that surely the author would begin to write complete sentences at some point but I was sorely disappointed.
Homo post hominems are the only su I did not like this book. Cool concept but carried out in a boring and functional sort of way. The book reads like a text book on survival techniques — a text book written in Pittman shorthand.
Naturally, Candy as super genius has all the answers even at age 11 and seems to be expert at everything as are any other characters who appear. The children are not only precocious but annoyingly precocious. It grates on my nerves after a while. Probably most difficult entry have ever faced. Emotional control fragile as crystal, unstable as if balanced on pinpoint.
Forgive rambling if occurs. Will do best, but subconscious probably try to steer me away from subject. A lot. And as stared, felt unfamiliar stirring: undefinable, comforting. Source eluded identification; but awareness of assemblage somehow expanding, deepening… Shared warmth, togetherness almost tangible.
She relates everything like a robot. There is nothing to make me feel her pain or emotions at the loss of her father or her teacher or the rest of humanity or her joy at locating any survivors. Sorry, but it is a good thing homo sapiens are rare in this book because they would likely want to scratch her eyes out. I sure did. At the halfway point in the book I found myself just scanning pages because it just drags on and on. That is highly unusual behavior for me.
Is the new species of mankind really going to be so clinical? This is fine for a history book which this journal is supposed to be but makes for a terrible novel. Cormac McCarthy was blunt and stark but lyrical, and Andy Weir, while still explaining how to solve problems of survival on Mars did not present the information like a text book or robot and the character emoted and was genuinely funny and real.
We were pulling for him throughout, not wishing he would shut up about it already. If the entire book had been more like the last pages I might have rated it another star. Jan 11, Stephen rated it really liked it Shelves: award-nominee-hugo , sf-apocalyptic-and-post-apocalyptic , award-nominee-philip-k-dick , multiple-award-nominee , award-nominee-locus , award-nominee-compton-crook , award-winner-compton-crook.
Superior post-apocalyptic science fiction story with an excellent main character and well-written plot. Highly Recommended!! Jun 15, Peter Tillman rated it liked it Shelves: award-win-nom , science-fiction , reread-list , friend-recos , fantasy , not-at-bg , not-at-pa. I'm not sure why I gave this one just three stars. If I had notes, they're not on the machine. Review written by Russ Allbery in the style of the book: "Short story remains simply brilliant, best science fiction short story reviewer has ever read.
Book worth high price for first fifty pages alone. Expansion not train wreck feared — faithful expansion of subject material, readable, interesting, engrossing, maintai I'm not sure why I gave this one just three stars. Expansion not train wreck feared — faithful expansion of subject material, readable, interesting, engrossing, maintains original tone. Beauty and force of initial narrative not quite sustained, dulled slightly by additional material, words, events, but effective variety also introduced.
Expanded story exposes far-fetched background more thoroughly, gives reader additional time to analyze, suspension of disbelief to suffer. World background requires excellent suspension — strong cables, tight fastenings, powerful winch, disbelief pulled firmly into air. Narrative style helps considerably — too busy admiring language, identifying with emotions, caring about narrator to bother dissecting details. Still brilliant. Novel revived complete love of style, language, story, main character.
Very tempted to give perfect score despite flaws — love of story that strong. Will refrain. Short story absolutely receives perfect score, novel very close. Apr 17, C. Murphy rated it it was amazing. As I've no doubt said before, re-reading old favorites is fraught with tension, because what if they don't hold up?
It holds up in spades. There are some moments of unintentional amusement and cognitive dissonance, particularly regarding microfiche libraries and Russians as The Bad Guys TM , but even if you put the book in an absolutely modern co Having unpacked the books we couldn't do without, I picked up one of my all-time favorites, David Palmer's EMERGENCE, to re-read it. There are some moments of unintentional amusement and cognitive dissonance, particularly regarding microfiche libraries and Russians as The Bad Guys TM , but even if you put the book in an absolutely modern context there's an argument for the microfiche, so it was just mildly amusing.
While reading it I kept having little jolts of remembering What Happened Later--not so much Next as Later--but it was nearly like reading it again for the first time despite that. I had every bit as much emotional investment--possibly more, because I'm a big old softie these days--as I ever did reading it previously, which is pretty wonderful. Also, Betsy Mitchell was one of the editors on it, which made me laugh out loud when I read the acknowledgements. I suspect that book must have been one of the very first places I encountered Betsy's name, thus setting me up for a lifetime of wanting to work with her.
Jul 25, Kristi rated it really liked it Shelves: science-fiction , comfort-reads , adult-books-for-ya , owned-books. Maybe an odd choice as a comfort read, but I've loved this book since I was about ten years old and swiped it off my dad's shelves of science fiction when I desperately needed something new to read. Something about the combination of apocalyptic landscape, brilliant and funny eleven-year-old girl, and sciency stuff even though, looking back, the science is horrible and also now incredibly dated just hit all the right notes for me then, and even now I pull it off the shelf and reread it every o Maybe an odd choice as a comfort read, but I've loved this book since I was about ten years old and swiped it off my dad's shelves of science fiction when I desperately needed something new to read.
Something about the combination of apocalyptic landscape, brilliant and funny eleven-year-old girl, and sciency stuff even though, looking back, the science is horrible and also now incredibly dated just hit all the right notes for me then, and even now I pull it off the shelf and reread it every once in a while when nothing else suits.
At this point the cover's fallen off and several pages have been taped back together multiple times, but unfortunately the book's out of print so I've had trouble finding a better copy. Still, if you can find it somewhere, it might be worth a read!
Mar 04, Julia Doyle rated it it was amazing. Years and years ago when I was in my early teens , David gave me a copy of this and a Heinlein off of his own bookshelf I'm pretty sure my sci-fi romance started out because of him. A fun story, with a smart, quirky girl at the core?
Who wouldn't love it. It's one I've come back to over and over again. I'm fortunate to have read more of his work than most, and I can't recommend this one quite highly enough.
I had to replace my copy a few years ago paperbacks just don't stand up to heavy readi Years and years ago when I was in my early teens , David gave me a copy of this and a Heinlein off of his own bookshelf I had to replace my copy a few years ago paperbacks just don't stand up to heavy reading for over a decade.
I'd spent several years pre-Amazon hunting for it locally and was thrilled to find that now I could find it with the push of an enter button! Feb 28, fromcouchtomoon rated it it was amazing. Gripping, touching, unpredictable. When it's all been done before, this is how you do post-apocalyptic fiction. Add a bird, skip most of the stranger danger, and blast off into MFing space!
Mar 12, Steven rated it did not like it Shelves: post-apocalyptic , sci-fi , fiction , Might have gotten better score if not for the 30 page exposition why it would be rational for a 45yo creepy dude to do the naughty with the 11yo protagonist. For the rest totally unremarkable. Nov 06, Vellichor rated it it was amazing. This book is really hard to find, and if you do, it's probably going to be expensive. But- you'll never read anything like it.
It's one of my favorite novels of any genre, and I've read lots and lots of post-apocalyptic titles. If you are lucky enough to find this, read it. It's just plain fun as well as impossible to put down, so save it for a lonely weekend. Absolutely do not plan to read it out loud to anyone else, because it was written by a court reporter and reads like it was.
It was ser This book is really hard to find, and if you do, it's probably going to be expensive. It was serialized as a novella in "Analog" magazine and there was such a clamor that he lengthened it into a novel by adding an implausable ending, still very entertaining. I'm not sure that it improved the story, however, it did give us more time with the protagonists, who we love despite the story going way, way beyond plausible coincidence.
If you get the chance to read this fun piece of "almost everybody else is dead" fiction and can actually find this one, it's well worth your time. View 2 comments. Oct 07, Jason Markus rated it did not like it. The author uses a stream of consciousness writing style that annoyed me from the first second. Which is too bad because I have heard this is a good book.
I can't be the only one who feels this way. Aug 13, prcardi rated it really liked it Shelves: science-fiction , pg , post-apocalyptic , hugo-finalist , lgbtq , hard-science-fiction , dirty-old-man-syndrome , young-adult. A trait far too often absent from science fiction texts but which is a necessary requisite for any excellent story. Palmer has consistency. An abundance of it. He tries something risky with the writing, giving us a clipped syntax that was rough on even my poorly-trained grammatical senses, but he stays with it.
Long after the reader thinks, "this is not really going to keep going this way, is it? Then there's a point that you thank him for doing so. Somewhere along the way you got over the hump, you managed to settle in and accept the new grammar, reading it as if a linguistic savant. It is not only the writing that is consistent though, it is the character. The character is as unfamiliar as the syntax, but Palmer makes her real. The author wants to do some extraordinary things with her, so Palmer spends a lot of effort working through plot holes.
He's got the right backstories, the needed scientific explanations, the appropriate excuses for paths not taken. Again, consistency.
One could easily lose their sense of humor in arranging so many details, but Palmer manages to include some wit and comedy. He also tosses in some other character moments, changing up the pace and tone of the whole thing, making sure you appreciate the foundations of what he's built.
Always thinking ahead, that David R. Palmer, taking away most of the criticisms one could launch at the book. I, however, am not an easily deterred critic. There were just a few elements that kept this from going on my "greatest science fiction in the history of the world" shelf. First, I was so dazzled by the care in which the journal entries and our main character were put together, that I expected that same care in every other element of the novel.
And it just wasn't there. A brilliantly conceived writing style and astounding main character deserved an equally exotic storyline.
That storyline was nothing more than acceptable, however. Palmer wasn't especially good at generating tension or expectations.
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