Mindbridge (Orbit Books) (Gollancz SF collector's edition)

by Joe Haldeman

Jacque LeFavre is a tamer - a member of one of the tough and honed exploration teams that, since the dramatic discovery of the Levant-Meyer Translation, humankind has been able to send to the stars. And Jacque's first world is the second planet out from Groombridge 1618. It isn't an especially promising place; the planets accompanying small stars rarely pan out. But the strange and mysterious creature that Jacque and his colleagues find there, with its gift of telepathy, leads to contact with the alien and enigmatic L'vrai, and confronts humankind with an awesome opportunity - and appalling danger.

• ISBN10: 0354041444
• ISBN13: 9780354041447
• Publish Date: April 1977 (first published 1 August 1976)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 19 January 1994
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: TBS The Book Service Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 254
• Language: English

Reviews

[Metaphorosis Reviews]

reviews.metaphorosis.com

2.5 stars

Jacque Lefavre is a bit of a wild man, but he manages to hold himself together long enough to accepted as a Tamer - a matter transmission scout. He makes close connections with other Tamers, and when one team makes a startling discovery, Jacque and his crew are pushed into a central role.

Joe Haldeman is deservedly famous for The Forever War. Until recently, that and its sequels were most of what I knew about him. Unfortunately, the limits on that fame may also be deserved. Reading my second new-to-me Haldeman novel in a few months, I again found myself underimpressed.

Haldeman's writing style itself is fine. He quickly establishes his lead character, and his prose is simple but effective. The book, despite its nominal structure as a collection of historical documents, is eminently readable, and moves quickly and surely most of the time.

The plot is a different matter. The plot feels constructed of disparate materials, stuck together only thanks to Haldeman's engaging style. That style falls through at the end, which is essentially infodump-ex-machina, with a small coda to wrap up. Overall, the effect is of a really thoroughly written set of authorial background documents wrapped into a synopsis - as if Haldeman sent a concept package to his agent, who said "Looks great! Listen, why don't you work on something else, and I'll try to sell this as is." It's disappointing, because the story could and should have been quite a strong one. What we have, however, feels very half-baked, with no great effort put into the resolution. If you really like Haldeman, go to it. Otherwise, there are better uses for limited reading time.