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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780441013432
Format: Unabridged
ISBN number: 0441013430
Label: Ace
Manufacturer: Ace
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 304
Printing Date: July 25, 2006
Publishing house: Ace
Sale Popularity Level: 189396
Studio: Ace
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The passengers aboard the starship Ad Astra spend most of their time on the thousand-year journey to Beta Hydrii within the virtual reality of twentieth-century Earth. There, they can experience nostalgia for the hardship of a life they've since evolved beyond.
But when people inside the virtual reality chamber start to die, engineer Jacob Brewer finds himself face-to-face with a sentient machine obsessed with humanity. It has put itself in charge of the ship. And it wants to talk to Jacob...
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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Haldeman is a man who usually writes military sci-fi... actually, his best works are all about the military. Now here is Old Twentieth, where he stirs in the flavors of military-SF, cyber-SF and historical fiction. Such a rich combination resulted in a multi-faceted portrayal of an immortal people disenfranchised with the modern state of affairs, who also look back at the twentieth century as a time of calm and peace. They escape to the twentieth century by way of a virtual reality machine in which they can interact with the environment and people for 12 hours at a time. Attention has been paid to the details of the times, so that the client can experience an authentic reality (sights, sounds and smells are all important). This form of escapism is addictive, it seems, so nearly everyone on the generation ship takes part in the vise. Further, the construction of the generation ships is a detailed report, adding crucial elements to an already explored area of sci-fi literature. Haldeman may actually trump is military-SF with this unsual mix of history, cyber-SF and military-SF.
Rated by buyers 
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Tired of being cooped up in a crowded ship during a long space journey? What better way to keep off the doldrums than with a virtual reality vacation in the past? The 20th Century offers all kinds of exciting amusements no longer available in the brave new under-populated, ostensibly immortal present, with the added bonus of being able to experience death first-hand and risk-free. No wonder the machine is booked solid... at least until something goes wrong and users of the machine start dying for real. The protagonist, who is responsible for the machine, risks his own life by visiting the times and places where his shipmates have died, and tries to untangle the mystery. This is the setup for a thrilling and suspenseful novel by science fiction stalwart Joe Haldeman.
From the beginning, this certainly seems to be a fine science fiction novel with a credible romantic subplot, realistic scenes from shipboard life, and lengthy excerpts from exciting adventures in the old 20th. This reader's attention was rapt until the final denouement... which was a serious disappointment. So serious in fact that one wonders how works get published like this. Why didn't the editor tell Joe, "Fantastic novel you've got here - maybe your best ever. Let me know when you're done fixing the ending."? The three star rating is in recognition of the fact that readers can always write their own endings and salvage what up to then had been a pretty good story.
Rated by buyers 
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I rate this 1 star because normally I can finish a book (unless it is the Da Vinci Code). This boring meaningless wander into nowhere left me grasping for a reason for it being written and to find any sympathy with the characters.
I read about two-thirds and just had to give up. He might be an award winning novelist, but not with this dross. I never liked the later Star Trek incarnations particularly because of the Holodeck (you can do anything to fill up time, create any sort of maladventure) and basically that's what this novel is.
I didn't get from other reviews that it's ALL about virtual reality, and that the space ship part has hardly any relevance to the story (at least as much as I read).
Boring, meaningless, and I couldn't get into the characters (BTW, they can change sex at will as well - Jeez!).
Some of my SF muscle has been used up for nothing :o(
Rated by buyers 
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This book starts off sad, goes uplifting for a while then goes sad again. The end of the story is quite the shocker.
Rated by buyers 
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I have no doubt that Joe Haldeman is a great guy, but this book is a stinker. The individual 20th century scenes are fine, but the overall story goes nowhere, and the technobabble is laughable. The (lack of an) ending is particularly irritating also.
I have to complain about the refueling scene near the beginning of the book... the justification given for sending fuel in separate ships makes no sense, the writing is dull, and nothing happens. It adds nothing but padding.
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