SOJALS rating:

Very good (4/5)

I first read this in March 2001 and most recently on the 21st September 2012

I recalled being moved by this book when I'd read it previously, but had to struggle through the first fifty pages or so this time around. It wasn't gripping and the writing seemed stilted but then I'm happy to say the novel got me again. The romance and tragedy of these poor dying souls from a collapsing civilisation, struggling to do good science to save the world. Heroes all of them. In fact it resonated rather more strongly now as we have [in 2012] the NASA Curiosity robot trundling around Mars. That's not quite one of Clement's "Labs" but one can see the future possibilities.

Initially I didn't like the emphasis on the military approach to science, but by the conclusion, I was all for it. This is the book to get you into science. Or the army.

Very neatly constructed and frankly, inspiring.