King Arthur Movie Tristan

Nymeth hosted the Try Something New Mini-Challenge and I read The Colors of Space. My reading partner is Rhinoa, who has sent me a set of questions to answer as part of my review.






title: The Colors of Space

author: Marion Zimmer Bradley

published: 1963

genre: science fiction/YA

first line: It was a week before the Lhari ship went into warp-drive, and all that time young Bart Steele had stayed in his cabin.

Bart Steele has just graduated from the Academy and qualified as an Astrogator. Instead of getting a berth on a human ship, however, he disguises himself as an alien Lhari and signs on to one of their ships, risking his life to break the Lhari's monopoly on intergalactic travel by finding out what element is missing from human attempts to copy the Lhari's star drive.

Questions from Rhinoa:

1. What was the The Colours of Space about?

Young Bart Steele has just graduated from the Academy and is on his way back home to Vega. While waiting for his father to pick him up, he sees a strange man come towards him and tell him to 'follow his lead'. This man is pretending to be Bart's father and warns Bart that his life is in danger. Turns out this man, named Briscoe, knew Bart's father and is here to save Bart's life.



There are alien Lhari that allow humans to travel through space at warp speed in Lhari ships. The humans are first put to sleep so that their bodies can endure the warp-drive. Turns out Bart's father thought the Lhari were lying and that humans can find their own way through space. Bart winds up disguising himself as a Lhari and trying to find out the secret to warp speed. Are the aliens trying to keep humans from finding their full potential?



The reason this book is called the colors of space is because Bart has a special genetic mutation that allows him to see the extreme high light illumination levels in the Lhari planet. Bart can see what is called the 'eight color'.





2. Did you enjoy reading this book?
The Colors of Space was an interesting read. It had a pretty good plot, but didn't blow me away. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it.





3. Did you find a favorite character?

I think Bart was a good character. He was smart, loyal and independant.




4. Was this book very far out of your comfort zone?


I enjoy science fiction, but don't get to read it as much as i'd like to. I tend to watch sci-fi films and programs instead of reading books in this genre. So this read was out of my usual comfort zone, and hopefully i'll start to read a bit more sci-fi.



5. Have you ever read anything similar?

I used to read and really enjoy the Star Trek Voyager books! *lol...don't ask me why*

I recently read Well's 'War of the Worlds'. But I think my favorite sci-fi read so far is Stephenie Meyer's 'The Host'.




6. Have you read anything by Marion Zimmer Bradley before?

Nope, this is my first time reading her work.




7. Will you read anything by her again?

I hope so. One thing I found interesting, is that Marion Zimmer Bradley is a 'she'. I always thought this author was a dude! (just because of the name Marion) And Miss Bradley also wrote the book The Mists of Avalon , which I have in my TBR pile.






8. Would you recommend this book?

I would recommend this one to fans of sci-fi. It's a quick and easy way to get a good dose of science fiction. It's good for young adults too.



9. Did you enjoy this challenge?

Yes I did enjoy it and am glad to have stepped out of my comfort zone.




--------------------------

Last but not least, here's my facorite passage:

One by one he picked out the constellations. Aldebaran swung on the pendant chain of Taurus like a giant ruby. Orion strode across the sky, a swirling nebula at his belt. Vega burned, cobalt blue, in the heart of the Lyre.

Colors, colors! Inside the atmosphere of Earth's night, the stars had been pale white sparks against black. Here, against the misty-pale swirls of cosmic dust, they burned with color heaped on color; the bloody burning crimson of Antares, the metallic gold of Capella, the sullen pulsing of Betelgeuse. They burned, each with its own inward flame and light, like handfuls of burning jewels flung by some giant hand upon the swirling darkness. It was a sight Bart felt he could watch forever and still be hungry to see; the never-changing, ever-changing colors of space.

I read this book online courtesy of Daily Lit.