HEART OF THE COMET, by Benford and Brin

[Michael Caplinger]

This book disappointed me. A capsule synposis would be IN THE OCEAN OF NIGHT
meets STARTIDE RISING. I was surprised at how the flavor and favorite plots
of the authors came through, but I don't think they mix very well.

Basic plot: expedition to Halley's Comet in 2061 runs into trouble. We
have intelligent computers, genetically-enhanced supermen, a love
triangle, and strange lifeforms. Time prohibits me from drawing parallels
to earlier works, but they're obvious if you've read the above books.

By the way, is anybody disappointed in Benford? I thought TIMESCAPE was the
best SF book about physics there ever could be, but it seemed to be a fluke--
he hasn't written anything even half as good since. (ARTIFACT was just
awful--it might as well not have been SF.)

I don't recommend buying this in hardcover. You might wait for the paperback.
It IS well-written, competent hard SF; it just doesn't cover much new ground
or say anything terribly interesting.

- Mike Caplinger (mi...@bellcore.com)