Tau Zero Kindle Edition

Published in 1967 the writing is notably dated. Because of it's time of publication, I've not based my rating on the way women are portrayed in the book.Fifty very bright and capable experts in their fields set off from Earth to colonize another world. The basis of their propulsion is that the ship gathers hydrogen along the way, burning it, and gaining speed. Disaster strikes and the ship's ability to decrease speed is ruined and they continue to gain speed, passing their destination and catapult through the universe.As hundreds of billions of years pass outside it's only a matter of years inside. At no point in this alleged masterwork do I form any sort of bond with the people aboard. The bond that I did form was for a people who know that their own civilization, their own solar system, is long ended, and they are in complete isolation on this ship.Then there's the science. It's considered hard science fiction and much of the science in this book has been completely debunked.

Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, Ben Bova, and Stanislaw Lew produced some of the best classic hard science fiction. But every list of classic novels in that sub-genre invariably includes Poul Anderson's wild ride into interstellar space, Tau Zero.A great example of classic hard science fictionIn fact, hard science is so deeply embedded into Anderson's story that you might need a PhD in physics to understand what's going on. The author, who held only a BA in physics, demonstrates far more than undergraduate-level understanding of the field in the novel. He alternates narrative passages and dialogue with sometimes lengthy explanations of relativity, time dilation, and the nature of the cosmos. It's hard slogging for a reader like me without a scientific background. Yet the vast scope of the tale and the insightful presentation of the characters under stress make this nonetheless a fascinating and rewarding read.Tau Zero begins simply enough. Some two centuries in the future, one of several starships is about to leave Earth orbit for a distant planet. Ingrid Lindgren is the First Officer of the Leonora Christine, and former police colonel Charles Jan Reymont is the Constable. Although we meet a large number of others among the fifty passengers and crew on the ship, the focus throughout is on these two. They set out on a journey of thirty-two light years toward the third planet of Beta Virginis.For decades, humankind has been traveling to the stars. The Bussard engine, a concept developed in the twentieth century, enables their ship to gradually approach (but never attain) the speed of light.Sophisticated presentation of psychology as well as physicsAnderson demonstrates impressive command of psychology in describing the couplings and conflicts of his fifty characters. Lindgren and Reymont quickly move in together, then abruptly split up when Lindgren strays. Some of the others form casual liaisons; others still enter into partnerships that last throughout. Their lives are stressful despite the many amenities on board, but conflict breaks out into the open nine light-years from Earth when the Leonora Christine collides with a cloud of debris that damages the propulsion system. And that catastrophic accident changes their destiny forever.Tau Zero presents an intriguing if highly unlikely future for the people of planet Earth. A nuclear war has destroyed the superpowers who waged it and led to an unusual form of world government. Sweden, now the world's wealthiest country, is at the helm, enforcing the general disarmament that followed the war. Lindgren herself, the ship's captain, are both Swedes, but nearly all the rest of the passengers and crew represent dozens of other countries as well as a few who have lived on human colonies in the solar system. Anderson does a good job avoiding the temptation to stereotype the different nationalities. (Interestingly, the author himself was Danish-American and grew up speaking both his parents's language as well as English.) It's no wonder Tau Zero is so widely regarded as one of the best examples of great example of classic hard science fiction.

As a physicist and a sci-fi fan for MANY years, this is perhaps the worst "hard sci-fi" book I've ever read. I fail to understand the rave reviews it's received -- the characters are ridiculous, the engineers and scientists running the ship give up at the first sign of trouble, and the obnoxious militaristic constable is the only one presenting possible solutions to every problem, technical or social, while others wring their hands. Absurd. And a lot of their hard science is just wrong -- yes the ship appears much more massive to whatever it encounters, but the reverse is also true: dust becomes as massive as boulders from the ship's perspective. That's the essence of relativity -- there is no special frame of reference. And the pseudo-gravity they experience is without any credible explanation.Years ago I read lots of sci-fi as a kid/teenager, and this one seems aimed primarily at 15 year-old boys. Women fawning over men "acting manly" and eager to jump in bed; guys eager to get in physical fights over arguments, everyone except the constable always out of ideas when anything happens. I don't recall Anderson's other stories and novels being like this at all, and my general impression was I liked a number of his.BTW, just to explain my frame of reference: Arthur C Clarke was/is my favorite sci-fi author followed by Robert Heinlein (many works, especially Stranger in a Strange Land), Larry Niven (Ring World), Robert Forward (Dragon's Egg), Carl Sagan, and some others.Anyhow I quit about half-way thru hoping it would get better after the first 10 or so pages. But it only went downhill from there.

What to do when hope is lost?It's all about the stories one tells oneself and each other.The aspect I really disliked was the way the ship's Constable basically took over the ship, engaging in pretty oppressive tactics, and being manipulative as hell- and that "saved" everyone... but was it worth it?I don't think there were any black people on the ship, though there were a number of other ethnicities. Also- while the author had a distribution of half women in the ship- the women were not respected the same way the men were, and were casually excluded from various of the power centers. Ingrid was something of an exception- but she was also completely OK with having sex with men to whom she was not especially attracted, to get them to buy in to the overall agenda- and that's a stereotype of Scandinavian women that's pretty obnoxious.It's "hard" sf, although I suspect lots of the science is more hand-waving than realistic; however, I am not a physicist.I did enjoy the read. Just keep in mind that it was written in the late 1960s, and thus was progressive...for the time.

This is what one might classify as 'hard SF' from the 1960's. There are some interesting and thought-provoking concepts and illustrations of the effects and consequences of Einstein Special Theory of Relativity, such as time dilation when approaching the speed of light. There is a lot of science in the book, and the effects of time dilation are taken to the extreme.Where this book falls down for me is in the writing, characterisation and dialogue. The prose is quite clunky and I had to re-read a number of sentences to make sense of them. This is as much as exploration of being lost in space with little chance of rescue on the psychology of the travellers, but for me Anderson doesn't have the writing skill to produce interesting and believable characters. Despite being relatively short, I still found it a bit plodding. It could easily have been shortened to a novella. Interesting single concept, but Anderson fails to produce a good book around it.

Female characters are poorly regarded but if you accept that as part and parcel of reading a 50 year old book, there is still much to enjoy despite that: the immensity of space, the tragedy of relativity, the power (and loss of same) of human connection.My other issue is the actual print quality of the book is terrible. Words misspelt or missing letters or mixed up completely. It was a headache to read, with blotchy ink.

The main character is the ship's police officer. He's a 'proper' man, who belittles anyone who disagrees with him and is quick to temper, fighting at the slightest provocation - and he's much better at fighting than the scientists he's threatening. The rest of the crew admire him - a good man is hard to find! - rather than revile him. Women will do anything for him - they're just sex objects in this chauvinist book - including asking other women to satisfy their hero boyfriend for them. The scientists take advice on science matters from him - who better to plot a course than the police officer? Who knows relativistic physics better than the police officer? Not the professors of relative physics and stellar dynamics! Only the police officer has such mastery, because he is such a thinly drawn 'great man' that I really do wonder if the author wrote a parody. But there's nothing amusing, no commentary on the human condition, just a boorish man that the author seems to think is how 'real men' should be, and a whimpering crew that the author thinks should do anything for the 'real' man. Even by the standards of the day this was written in, the sexism and 'great man' narratives are extremely uncomfortable reading.An SF masterwork? Not by a long shot. I literally don't want to read anything else by this author because of this book, which is a shame because he's written a lot of time travel stories, which are one of my favourite types of story.

I grew up with Anderson's brand of hard sci-fi but never got round to reading this one. It starts with a fascinating possible future where the Swedes rule the world (as the only people who can be trusted not to start a war!). A starship sets out to investigate a potential alternative Earth - then hits a problem which means it can't put the brakes on at journey's end. How to get out of it (which I'm not going to explain) and how the crew and passengers cope is the basis of the plot.One small detail which actually makes this book more workable is the things that Anderson skips over: for example, the central character, who's a combination sheriff and sergeant-major, made a name for himself when he "fought for the Zebras" during the troubles on Mars. No need to explain as it's not relevant to the reader, but a citizen of Earth in the period when the book's set would know exactly what was meant.

I enjoyed this short story. It's a tale of being confined to a space craft on a long voyage and the social effects on the crew. Where it fell down for me was the fact that it's scientifically inaccurate. Even at the speed of light they'd still take 40,000 years to cross our galaxy.