This is the second book in a two part series. The star has, yes, you guessed it, a starquake, and things get a little weird. We have barbarian hordes vs.robots. We also have a space station and the discovery of immortality both created by an accident.

If you're not excited by feeling your mind being stretched by science that is right at the very edge of theoretical physics, then you may be someone who thinks this book is "boring". If you aren't filled with wonder as an entire utterly alien civilization is presented to you, then you might not like this book.

But if you're enraptured by a plausible alien civilization that uses almost future-magic technology which is nevertheless comprehensible (especially if you're an avid reader of physics journals or popularizations), then this book will be one of your favorites.

Negatives: Bob Forward is at his best when writing about the science; he is weakest when writing dialog. For the alien dialog, this isn't really a problem, but sometimes the way his human characters phrase their sentences will make one wince. I found this fairly easy to overlook, but others may not.

Dragons Egg and Star Quake are my all time favourite sci-fi books ! (Star Quake is the follow on to Dragons Egg) I just could not put this book down ! Trying to describe the story line in the space available would not do the book justice. Robert's description of this civilization, its history and its personal stories in all of its micro wonders is just amazing. This book is hard to find, if you see it anywhere ... BUY IT IMMEDIATELY !

"The Owl" is a fine book, if you're a mystery/thriller lover.
For SF lovers, note that Robert D. Forward is not the same as Robert L. Forward, the science fiction writer.

I'm a voracious reader of mysteries and thrillers and this is absolutely one of my top five favorite books. The authors' use of descriptive language is amazing. He makes you feel the streets as you follow The Owl through the action. This book is truly a page turner because the action just pops out of nowhere. If you like Andrew Vachss you'll love this book!

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I find the character compelling. The action, while not always believable (suspension of disbelief is big here) is non-stop. The intensity level of the Owl never decreases. I would highly recommend this book to any fans of Robert B. Parker, Andrew Vachss, Denis LeHane. I also find it a shame that I've never been able to find any other books along these lines from the author.

This is the only Robert Forward book i've read, but I would like to try some more. The "Fluben" are the most interesting aliens i've read about except maybe the "Moties" from "The mote in god's eye". They are very diffrent anatomically from human beings ,which is logical ,and they are all mathematical geniuses. They're all brain. that is, their whole body ( which is a cloud of a dense fluid hovering in the ocean )is allso the thinking organ. They can become smaller, tighter and harder, form a "rock" and in that state they are even more smart then usual ( and the usual is something like 400 i.q's ). Another thing about this book is that the aliens and the humans don't fight, they get along and like each other. the opponent is nature. Buy the book, it's an interesting read.

This is my favorite version of the three similar stories, all by Dr Forward. I first read Flight of the DragonFly (4.5 stars). A couple of years later, I read the full version of Rocheworld (Flight + parts of an earlier Rocheworld edition + additional material) and all of its sequels. I liked it even more than Dragon's Egg, my previous Forward Favorite.

This is a really good story which in fact has a high probability to really occur. A sailing spacecraft is in fact possible. The star system that is visited seems to be possible, even if it isn't very likely from a celestial point of view that two planets should exist in such a constellation. I will anyway recommend this book!

The book was not written to the author's satisfaction due
to time contraints. He was later able to write the "expanded"
version titled "Rocheworld", which you should buy if you
just want to read the novel. If you just want to have the
original for your collection, buy this one also.

An exeptional well researched and written book.
A probe from earth discovers life on a distant double planet.
No further information is transmitted from the probe.
A research team is scrambled from earth. The team knows it will never return back.
The book describes very poetic their journey and the difficulties encountered by the engineering team on earth to keep this spaceship operating.
When the spaceship arrives, they unexpectedly encounter an intelligent lifeform.
The aliens are a friendly species mostly occupied by mathematic problems.
Though very interested in their new visitors.
Everything doesn't go as planned - but then again - they seldom do.
Although this seems detailed - but the good stuff has been left out.
No violence - but a very beutifull and rich detailed story.
Figures to explain the technical stuff is included and of excellent nature.
I read it first time in german. I think it is originally french.
Karsten Jeppesen

The term bioresonance therapy was coined in 1987 by the Brugemann Institute for therapy with the patient's own oscillations. The idea can be quickly outlined: all diseases and their pre-conditions are accompanied or to be more correct, caused by electromagnetic oscillations. There is no pathological phenomenon without the presence of pathological oscillations in or around the body. Since the patient's own oscillations or signals are electromagnetic in nature, they can be picked up from the patient's body using special electrodes . These electrodes consist of several layers and contain a specially prepared magnetic foil with a field strength corresponding to the maximum magnetic field of the Earth, which according to scientific calculations was around three times stronger in earlier centuries than it is today. There various types of resonance therapy. One type is called type Ai. This therapy means that physiological and pathological oscillations are inverted and was used almost exclusively in the first four years of bioresonance therapy. Bioresonance can be used as a diagnostic tool. It is effective to perform Electroacupuncture according to Voll (EAV), durg testing, detection of scar interference fields, allergy testing, geopathic stress, etc. It is very useful for the treatment of any diseases using exactly what each patient needs. The programs can be divided in basic therapy, meridian related therapy, therapies according to indications and special programs. I could say, it is an electronic homeopathy.

Robert Forward, the author, is a physicist and lets you in to the wonderful future of technology. He outlines what breakthroughs must be made before these new technologies will be possible. For instance, with the development of high tensile strength materials it will be possible to make an equatorial space elevator, and ride an elevator to orbit. Just a little matter of figuring out how to make cable with 10 million pounds per square inch tensile strength... approximating the strength of single crystal carbon whiskers already available in the laboratory. There are even more futuristic discussions, like how to produce a zero gravity condition right here on the surface of the earth. Not something for the faint of heart. Read it and be let in on how physics can often be used to predict the future. The title comes from proclamation of another physicist, Arthur Clarke, that "sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".

Bob Mueller has an easy way of making everyday life not only manageable---but exciting! In 49 informational pep talks using practical illustrations, the former priest gives us lots to chew on---without preaching or over simplifying. A modern day Dr. Peale!

This is a great book and has changed my life you should try it.

As you'll read a plot synopsis and some specific puffs and pans of the author's writing abilities in the other reviews, I'll stick to what I have always found to be the most intriguing part of the book: The Cheela. They become people. They develop a self awareness, personalities, an intriguing society, ethics, science, and sufficient patience, tolerance, and appreciation of a totally alien race of beings (humans) to make contact in a mutually beneficial manner.

Yeah, there's a bunch of "hard" science in here, but not as much as some of the other reviews make it seem. I disagree with the reviewer who thinks the author pokes some fun at humanity as he tracks the Cheela. Instead, it seems he presents some strong moral lessons along with the Cheela's history, and invites the reader to compare how we (humans) have faced the same challenges. As allegory, this is a superb story.

The writing at the beginning is a bit dry, but don't give up on it. As the plot and narrative style unfold, the pace picks up, and the story blossoms.

This book is best appreciated by the young and impressionable.

I first read it when I fit into that category, and for many years its insights haunted my reality. When I went back to it, still many more years later, I wasn't as bowled over by some of the revelations as I had been the first time through. Partly, this was because I'd explored the author's ideas in greater depth from the perspectives of other disciplines, and partly because there's a tinge of cynicism that creeps in over the years.

For all that, I still rate it as one of my top ten books of all time (and I've read thousands). Admittedly, it didn't make it there because of an elegant prose style. That short coming, however, is more than compensated for by its ability to provoke reflection on so many levels, and in so many disciplines, that one comes to treat the author's visions as touchstones.

A perfect follow-up for this book is Arthur C. Clarke's RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA. It also presents a first contact story from a totally different, though equally thought-provoking, perspective.

If you're not excited by feeling your mind being stretched by science that is right at the very edge of theoretical physics, then you may be someone who thinks this book is "boring". If you aren't filled with wonder as an entire utterly alien civilization is presented to you, then you might not like this book.

But if you're enraptured by a plausible alien civilization that uses almost future-magic technology which is nevertheless comprehensible (especially if you're an avid reader of physics journals or popularizations), then this book will be one of your favorites.

Negatives: Bob Forward is at his best when writing about the science; he is weakest when writing dialog. For the alien dialog, this isn't really a problem, but sometimes the way his human characters phrase their sentences will make one wince. I found this fairly easy to overlook, but others may not.

This is a first contact story, with in my view, extremely alien aliens - you get the whole story of their civilisation and development, but the twist is that they are living life thousands of times faster than the humans, so for example when they converse, each human reply is given to a successive generation of cheela. Talking to the humans to cheela becomes a hereditary quasi-religious post. Brilliant stuff! Love it!

Bob Forward is a bit old-fashioned on his love and sex, as many equally talented hard science writers are, but I don't care - This is his best book for a story. Also read Camelot 30K which has similar aliens but without contact.

I would like to start by saying that I am a big Asimov fan, and that this is the only novel I have ever read of his which would earn anything under four stars. "Forward the Foundation" takes place about 10 years after "Prelude to Foundation" (which was one of my favorites by the way,) and continues to feature Hari Seldon as he develops his psychohistory. While all the other Robot and Foundation novels offered some unforseen twist or new emphasis, this book did nothing of the kind. The first two stories were fun and interesting and promised to make this at least a four star book, but it was all downhill from there. I grew so board with the reiterated speculations about "lemonade death," that it took me a week to read that one section. Although the epilouge provided a somewhat satisfying (if somewhat predictable) ending, for the most part the entire second half of this book is extremely boring. Another unsatisfying aspect of this book, is that Asimov never even answers all the questions raised at the beginning when the emperor is killed. He asks how could psychohistory ever acount for such random events as that? and then never answers at the end. although you should definitly read this book if you've read the others in the series, you may be disappointed, as I was.

Forward the Foundation is the last book that Asimov wrote. Out of the seven books in the Foundation series it is chronologically the second, following Prelude to Foundation. I recommend reading both the Robot and Empire series prior to starting the Foundation series. Both "Prelude ..." and "Forward ..." contain a major character from the Robot series.

Forward consists of four novelettes separated by ten years each. Hari Seldon is the main character throughout the work and the description of his aging from 40 to 70 seems to reflect on Asimov's own disillusionment with the aging process. The first three parts each eliminate a major character from Prelude in order to provide a seamless transition into the original Foundation trilogy written in the 1950's. The last part gives details on Seldon's development of the Second Foundation.

Forward isn't stellar but is quite engaging and a good read overall. I felt that the individual stories served as more than adequately convincing links betweeen Prelude and Foundation. Part 4 and the Epilogue overlap slightly with the first story in Foundation. I did find the ending to Part 2 to be particularly weak. I've read the entire Foundation series now and didn't notice any "spoilers" in Forward that ruined anything for me. The location of the Second Foundation is fortunately *not* revealed in Forward. It's worth the read and is a great linking book.

This was Isaac Asimov's last novel; he died in April of 1992. This book, a part of Asimov's noted Foundation series, concerns events taking place between "Prelude to Foundation" (1988) and "Foundation" (1951) and helps pull together those two books. It consists of a series of four stories, each taking place at a different time in the life of the mathematician Hari Seldon. The first story ("Eto Demerzel") begins about eight years after the end of "Prelude to Foundation." Seldon's work on his mathematical theory of psychohistory is going slowly. He finds that he has to assist the First Minister of the Empire, Eto Demerzel, in defeating a populist demagogue. (A new Foundation trilogy was begun in 1997. "Foundation's Fear" by Gregory Benford takes place between the first and second stories in "Forward the Foundation." Greg Bear's "Foundation and Chaos" and David Brin's "Foundation's Triumph" also take place within the time frame of "Forward the Foundation") The second story, "Cleon I", takes place ten years later. Seldon is now First Minister of the Empire and he finds that he and his adopted son, Raych, must defeat the remnants of an opposition group and stop an assassination attempt. In the third story, "Dors Venabili", occurring about ten years later, Seldon and his wife, the historian Dors Venabili, must quelch the designs of a ruthless military junta that is governing the Empire as well as detect and stop someone within the psychohistory project from taking it over. In the last story ("Wanda Seldon"), about six years later, Seldon and his granddaughter Wanda must find a way to obtain funding to continue the research after Hari Seldon dies. He soon comes up with the idea of two, independent Foundations whose goal it is to return the Galaxy to his former glory after the upcoming millennia of dark ages. In addition to these four stories, there is a short Epilogue that takes place two years after the end of Part I of "Foundation" (1951). This series has had an enormous impact in the history of science fiction and all serious students of science fiction literature should be familiar with all of the books in the series.