Jᴀᴄᴜʀᴜᴛᴜ - Tʜᴇ Cᴀsᴛ Oᴜᴛ

invisible jetsam, the ethereal flotsam, like some graceful leviathan swimming a terrestrial sea

Bill W wrote:Anderson must be a better writer than this, otherwise they wouldn't keep letting him into major franchises like Dune, Star Wars, and Star Trek.

R. Swanson wrote:My biggest quibble with this book is that nowhere does the book say it's a grade school/jr. high level story, which it clearly is (except for a few words I don't want my preteens knowing, and I can't imagine them being interested in a Cold War story). The writing it juvenile in every way, from motivation and (lack of) character development to storytelling.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. All and all I'd like those hours back.

a comic book fan wrote:(KJA:) To paraphrase an old Don Henley song ["Gimme What You Got" from The End of the Innocence, ed.], you can steal more money with the stroke of a pen than with a gun.

someone who can't wait to have it whole wrote:You’re something of a superman yourself ­ being a prolific author. So are you interested in writing more superhero novels ­ either with existing characters or those of your own creation ­ why or why not?

D Pope wrote:Enemies & Allies reviews on amazon.

Bill W wrote:Anderson must be a better writer than this, otherwise they wouldn't keep letting him into major franchises like Dune, Star Wars, and Star Trek.

R. Swanson wrote:My biggest quibble with this book is that nowhere does the book say it's a grade school/jr. high level story, which it clearly is (except for a few words I don't want my preteens knowing, and I can't imagine them being interested in a Cold War story). The writing it juvenile in every way, from motivation and (lack of) character development to storytelling.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. All and all I'd like those hours back.

http://www.amazon.com/Enemies-Allies-Ke ... ewpoints=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Anderson's latest is a hokey, contrived imagining of the first meeting between Batman and Superman, set during the thick of the cold war and hobbled by flat characters and flatter dialogue (My source was murdered shortly after she spoke with me. That tells me that Luthor must not have wanted her talking). The two superheroes are initially introduced when Clark Kent interviews Bruce Wayne for a feature in the Daily Planet, and their alter egos cross paths again as Batman and Superman are drawn into Lex Luthor's dastardly scheme for world domination. (It involves the Soviets and Death-ray transmitters.) To stop it, Batman and Superman embark on a ludicrous globe-trotting mission that's equal parts camp and Forrest Gump. A schlocky mediocrity for die-hard fans only. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Though the book Enemies & Allies is not advertized as a young adult novel, I did wonder more than once, if this book was written for 11 year old male readers. The text can be overly simplistic, and the dialog seems to be lifted from older comic books. My 17 year old son read the book the same week as I and found though he liked it, he too wondered what age level Anderson was going for.

My 17 year old...wondered what age level Anderson was going for.

Fulvio, on the SofSS wrote:Space Opera for Children; My main problem with this book is in the behaviour and thought processes of the main characters. These are people who are supposed to be highly intelligent leaders of worlds and yet who act and react with child-like simplicity.
I have never had a reaction like the one I experienced while reading a certain passage in this book. It's hard to describe but basically I did the reading equivalent of a "double take". Anderson has these floating factories that harvest hydrogen in the upper levels of gas giant planets. He also has these factories completely open to the environment. Open-air factories in the noxious, poisonous atmosphere of a gas giant! Wow. I actually had to pause for a moment when I read this. And there are more science gaffes in this book; so many in fact that I just cannot fathom how someone so obliviously ignorant of science ever got started down the path of writing science fiction.

Fulvio also wrote:Just silly silliness.

SandChigger wrote:

Chapter One

Occultus Ora, Stardate 58358.1

The Starship Titan rolled slowly in the dark, dancing between the invisible jetsam, the ethereal flotsam, like some graceful leviathan swimming a terrestrial sea. All around it the other occupants of this region, the inspiration for the ship's lingering ballet, also pitched and spun in apparent counterpoint to the vessel's motion.

Titan's astronomers had dubbed the region Occultus Ora for some reason known only to them. The physicists called the things residing here exotic matter plasmids but, lately, those who'd been tasked with ferreting out their secrets had taken to referring to the strange objects simply as darklings.

The image came from a myth Dr. Celenthe had heard on its homeworld of Syrath, something about the Catalysts of creation hiding in the dark.

Wow... isn't that good?

The Starship Titan rolled slowly in the dark, dancing between the invisible jetsam, the ethereal flotsam, like some graceful leviathan swimming a terrestrial sea. All around it the other occupants of this region, the inspiration for the ship's lingering ballet, also pitched and spun in apparent counterpoint to the vessel's motion.

Titan's astronomers had dubbed the region Occultus Ora for some reason known only to them. The physicists called the things residing here exotic matter plasmids but, lately, those who'd been tasked with ferreting out their secrets had taken to referring to the strange objects simply as darklings.