Book Review - Shakespeare's World by Clifford D. Simak
Title: Shakespeare's Planet
Author: Clifford D. Simak
Publication date: 1976
This will be my first negative book review.
This book was really bad. Completely forgettable. It has very little to do with Shakespeare.
It starts off with an interesting premise: a spaceship is sent out from Earth to find a new planet on which to settle. Four people (two men, two women) are held in a cryogenic sleep while the computer's brains (actually three human brains, somehow merged into one) scouts out the universe. Since the universe is a big place, it is a thousand years before the spaceship decides to set down on a suitable planet. Unfortunately, only one of the frozen humans has survived. However, it hardly matters, because I was not attached to any of them, or the survivor.
The survivor finds out there is (at least) one other sentient being on the planet. He also finds out that, in the time since his ship left Earth, someone has built "tunnels" connecting a whole bunch of planets. Too bad the one on this planet has been locked.
The beginning of the book sets up several mysteries, which were enough to get me interested. After that, though, it just sort of peters out. I found the philosophical portions (discussions between the ship's brains) to be boring.
I guess my main issue with this book is my lack of involvement with the characters. If I had cared more about them, then maybe the ending of the book would have been more potent. But, I didn't and it wasn't.
So, in conclusion, avoid this book. Unless you must read everything by Clifford D. Simak, for some reason.
However, I would recommend City
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