I thought "Silence" was an effective psychological story. I liked the fact that the enemy aliens never appear on stage. (A lesser writer might have had the protagonist turn out to be an alien or some other corny twist.) The ending may have seemed disappointing because the author did telegraph it a bit, although it seems logical and inevitable.
The psychological effect of being a prisoner of war, particularly for such a long time, was quite believable. I wonder if the author was thinking of rumors of so-called "brainwashing" during the recent tragedy in Korea.
I also appreciated the fact that the author made use of a wide variety of names to indicate that this was truly an international cast of characters. (I might quibble that this appears to be an all-male crew -- unlike the crew in "King of the Planet" -- but this is a military vessel in the heat of battle, and readers might not accept women in the front lines, even in the far future. Of course, Soviet women did serve as combat pilots and snipers during the Second World War, but the situation is different if one's homeland is invaded by the enemy.)
(Hmmmm. Given that the USSR seems to currently be ahead in the "space race," I wonder if the first person to travel into space will be a Soviet woman? It could serve as fine Cold War propaganda!)
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timeasmymeasure
"Silence"
Date: 2014-08-17 11:24 pm (UTC)The psychological effect of being a prisoner of war, particularly for such a long time, was quite believable. I wonder if the author was thinking of rumors of so-called "brainwashing" during the recent tragedy in Korea.
I also appreciated the fact that the author made use of a wide variety of names to indicate that this was truly an international cast of characters. (I might quibble that this appears to be an all-male crew -- unlike the crew in "King of the Planet" -- but this is a military vessel in the heat of battle, and readers might not accept women in the front lines, even in the far future. Of course, Soviet women did serve as combat pilots and snipers during the Second World War, but the situation is different if one's homeland is invaded by the enemy.)
(Hmmmm. Given that the USSR seems to currently be ahead in the "space race," I wonder if the first person to travel into space will be a Soviet woman? It could serve as fine Cold War propaganda!)
Four out of five stars.