Mission to Minerva (5) (Giants) Mass Market Paperback – October 1, 2006

I was 12 when I first spotted "Inherit the Stars" when it was released here in the U.S. The cover was fairly striking with two astronauts uncovering a body on the front and a close up of the body with a headline of "The Man on the Moon is Dead!" I bought it and that afternoon sat engrossed under the shade of our Maple tree devouring every word. Today the latest in the series, "Mission to Minerva", arrived at the house and once again I found myself sitting reading Mr. Hogan's work and engrossed with a series that now spans 28 years."Mission to Minerva" picks up with familiar characters and their habits in ways that jog your memory in clever ways. I've already dusted off my copies of the first 4 books to re-read and appreciate the interaction between the characters of Victor and Chris and all the rest. (The book references a view of Thurien from a building in "Giants Star" that I can remember as clearly as the day I read it.) As usual I find myself daunted in appreciating all of the physics involved but just as Inherit the Stars prompted me to poke around the library for scientific fact so has this one. (Easier with the internet now.)This book wraps up some long standing questions from Giants Star: What happened to the Jevelenese troublemakers from the end of Giants Star who last seen had arrived in proximity to Minerva. The set up for getting "there", Minerva, a journey of time and distance, consumes over half the novel. When the stage is set we finally get to see where Charlie and Koriel came from: a world on the brink of ecological change that will bring about the death of one world and the beginning of life on ours.I don't want to spoil any of this book for someone who's followed the series along so far. I enjoyed it and think anyone who's invested the time in the saga so far would be shortchanging themselves for not buying and reading it. I have a spoiler but will save that until the very end.The summary of the other 4 novels in the series that begins "Mission to Minerva" does so aptly but without the emotional impact of the first two novels. (Not a slam at the next two but there are some drop dead page turners in "Inherit the Stars" and "Gentle Giants of Ganymede" that really need to be read to set the stage for what this book brings to the series.) For casual readers it does a good job of setting the stage.I'm glad Mr. Hogan has continued the series. Few series such as this from the 1970's has held up as well or lasted as long. I think that's a statement to both the quality of the work and the ability of the author to weave scientific discovery and theory into a tapestry that makes sense despite the advancement of technology in the real world. There really isn't a much higher compliment.Spoiler Warning!Really! I'm not kidding!For heavens sake, turn back now!Ok...The number one reason why this book needs a sequel is the one area that it disappointed me: Charlie and Koriel. We don't meet them and we don't "witness" their backstory. Some elements in the book bring to mind the characters, a card playing reference that makes you think of Charlie's diary entry from "Inherit the Stars" and a particular characters actions but the great potential is left unrealized. At the end of the novel Victor Hunt is thinking of Charlie and speculates as to where he is which by the last few pages I was wondering as well.Perhaps the greater disappointment came in Koriel's absence as well. We know Koriel from his first appearance at the start of "Inherit the Stars" and then his dramatic and out of the blue historical reappearance in "Giant's Star". I've always thought of him as being a part of the team that these novels have centered around and I found myself waiting for him to appear in some form or another in "Mission to Minerva".That being said the time of the events in this novel differ from the time of the final Cerian and Lambian conflict that Charlie and Koriel were a part of. Alas something along the lines of the end of "Inherit the Stars" didn't end "Mission to Minerva" and that unkept promise, the compelling reason to go back in time for the readers went to the wayside. That we don't meet Charlie and Koriel was the one horrific and jarring note in an otherwise fantastic work. It seems to me petitions are in order.Highly recommended.

I read the three original novels in this series when they were first published and was unaware that three additional volumes had been written expanding the series. This volume is a combo set of books five and six in the original format, I purchased it thinking it was the original third novel and discovered my mistake when reading the summary at the beginning. Though not as intriguing as the original trilogy the second trilogy is well worth reading. I have aged decades since first reading the original trilogy and my different perspective has altered my outlook on some of the ideas proposed in this second trilogy.

Inherit the Stars was the first James P Hogan novel I ever read. Must have been 35 or 40 years ago. I think I’ll read the whole series again.

If you want to follow in the last adventures of Hunt, Danchecker, Lyn, Zorac and Visar, this is it. If he had finished the series with Entoverse, I would have been disappointed. Take one final voyage on the Shaperion with Garuth and his crew of gentle giants.

James P Hogan hits a galactic home run in these books great suspense and subtle action in play that makes you think are we intelligently looking at the past and future of the human race

Really enjoyed this latest addition to the series. I enjoyed reading Inherit the Stars back in 1978 and now in this story Hogan helped to fill in some of the questions arising from Entoverse while at the same time showing more about the lives of the Ganymeans and what happened to them after 25 million years. Nicely done.

I read these books many years ago, and I had a very good, although quite vague memories of them... Well reading them again today in an internet/.smartphone hyper connected era, hasn't detracted a iota of their freshness . Truly a masterpiece if one loves REAL science fiction .

Would have said, Great, Stupendous, Literary Genius. But truth is that I found out why you do not put a paperback in your pocket when going to the toilet. It can fall out of your pocket in to the toilet. So, since I did not get a chance to read it Amazon; Can you find me another copy??????????

great

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James P Hogan -- is one of the best hard core SF writers about --- I found ‘Inherit the stars’ 30 years ago -- this is vol 5 in the giants series, it is the best all round set of SF books I have ever found, thrilling -- gripping --- thought provoking --- bring on the rest in kindle I want the lot,

I've always like the series and this was a welcomed book as I did not have it.

This is a conclusion to the core "Giants" series by James P. Hogan. If you haven't read any of the first four parts ("Inherit the Stars", "The Gentle Giants of Ganymede", "Giants' Star" and "Entoverse") you should probably skip that book (you could of course, try to read it as a single book, as there is some kind of "Giants" chronology at the end - but I still recommend reading the other books first).As the cover states, Earth is adapting to a future of amicable coexistence with the advanced aliens from Thurien, descended from ancestors who once inhabited Minerva, a vanished planet of the Solar System. One of the main characters, Victor Hunt and a group of his colleagues travel to Thurien, to conduct a join investigation with the alien scientists into the strange physics of interconnectedness between the countless alternate universes that constitute ultimate reality. After some strange events, a notion is conceived of sending a mission back to the former world of Minerva (pretty much a time travel) with the objective of creating a new family of realities in which its destruction is avoided.I have a mixed feeling about this book. There is no question here that the first three parts of the series are great and if you are fan of good classic SF, you should probably read them. The "Entoverse" was a bit weak, and I have to say that "Mission to Minerva" is probably somewhere in between. It is still an enjoyable read (and it you like time travel you should like this one too), mostly because it's a conclusion to the whole series (somehow the "conclusion" part of the book is acceptable for me). However, the book seems to be a bit too long - especially the first half when you basically "wait" as "something" will get invented (I don't want so say "what gets invented" as I don't want to spoil the book). I would say it's a "weak 4 stars" book (and I would actually give it solid 3.5 stars if I could), but somehow still enjoyable and entertaining.