Monday, February 03, 2020

Titan by John Varley

(pb; 1979: first novel in the Gaea trilogy)

From the back cover

“It begins with humankind’s exploration of a massive satellite orbiting Saturn. It culminates in a shocking discovery: the satellite is a giant alien being. Her name is Gaea. Her awesome interior is mind-boggling─because it is a mind. A mind that calls out to explorers, transforming all who enter.”


Review

Titan is a bold mix of hard and soft science fiction, sex, classic cinema, action and realistic take on human nature (in all aspects). Its distinctive and consistent characters, many of whom go through wild transitions, are memorable. Titan is a fast-paced work, one of my all-time-favorite science fiction reads (as are all three Gaea books), and one worth owning, as long as you are not a prude about frank sex or not open to hybrid-genre science fiction.

Followed by Wizard.

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