Leaping To The Stars - David Gerrold Book Review

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Review Summaries

" Tor, Mar 2002, 24.95, 316 pp. ISBN: 0312890672 Thirteen-year-old Charles “Chigger” Dingillian and his reconciling family seek a new home. They debate whether to relocate to the Outbeyond, light years from earth. Ultimately they vote overwhelmingly for relocating to the somewhat unknown Outbeyond. However, the trip across the stars turns dangerous because everyone seems to want Chigger's HARLIE unit, an artificial intelligence device placed inside a monkey. The government, revolutionaries, and revelationists want HARLIE for different reasons. The government believes the device is so superior it will enable them to strengthen their positions of power. The revolutionaries want the unit so they can overthrow the government and take over the positions of power. However, the greatest known peril to the Dingillian brood comes from the revelationists who consider HARLIE as evil and his owners as devils needing eradication. Then there is HARLIE growing in intelligence to the point that even Chigger fears where the AI gadget is going. LEAPING TO THE STARS is a fantastic concluding tale to David Gerrold's wonderful trilogy starring Chigger and his family. The story line is faster than space travel and will hook fans of the two previous novels from the very first meeting between the Dingillians and Commander Boynton leader of the ship taking them to the Outbeyond. New readers either should try the first two books before this novel or stay patient while Chigger methodically fills in the gaps from events previously told. Science fiction fans will jump, bounce, and leap to the stars with the Dingillian clan trilogy. Harriet Klausner "
Harriet Klausner, Resident David Gerrold Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%

Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Coming of age Yes
Youngster becomes - an adult (general)
Tech./$$$/Info hunt Yes
Stealing/recovering/destroying - computer/database
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Family relations Yes

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - student
Age: - a teen
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - mastermind
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a contemporary society
Planet outside solar system? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a significant amount of technical jargon
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

Most similar books by Gordonator ranking
Bouncing The Moon by David Gerrold
The Impossible Bird by Patrick O'Leary
Memory by Linda Nagata
Time For The Stars by Robert A. Heinlein
Young Rissa by F.M. Busby

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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