I found this book at a out of print book sale. i put off reading it but found it one day. It totally shocked me. I was expecting some dainty "sci-fi" novel that avoided all contreversy and toes, but what i found was a gut wrenching novel where the seemingly "bad guy" was NOT always bad. The characters had depth and the plot was very intertaining.

Hard to find, but well worth it

At his best, Sheffield fits in the category with Larry Niven in that Sheffield is able to deliver a fully developed world driven by several far-sighted predictions of where technology and need will drive mankind. Sheffield seems to produce his very best material when he writes solo and (frankly) when he writing 20 years ago.

"Sight of Proteus" fits both those parameters, and in my opinion is among the two or three best that Sheffield ever produced. The story is based in a world where changes to the human form can be ordered from a public catalog - and of course the darker underworld where prohibited changes can be obtained.

In an over-populated world where underground scientists are willing to push the envelope of human form and evolution, this novel broke new ground pushing the "what if?" question related to human potential. I have the paperback in its 1978 edition and it has a permanent place in my SF collection.

Its the first book in a series of three. Some real good advanced biothechnology,intristing lead charecter,good plot. He really took his time and thoght about all kinds of human forms. Get the trilogy,if you know whats good hard science fiction is.

At the dawning of the enlightenment, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin, stands as a voice of reason. England is beset with rumor of the supernatural--vampires, werewolves, and demons. Darwin approaches everything with an open-minded skepticism. Together with his treasure-anxious sidekick, Colonel Jacob Pole, Darwin delves deep into the mysteries that confront 18th century England finding, among other things, the Loch Ness Monster, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and a forgotten race of humans.

Author Charles Sheffield has created a charming set of stories of a past not too different from our own. Darwin contains the best of Sherlock Holmes as well as the gluttony of Nero Wolfe. I suspect that Sheffield meant his novel to be a reminder to us, in the 21st Century, to always remember to look to rational and scientific causes before we ascribe whatever we see to the supernatural or unexplainable. It is easy to see why Sheffield, a scientist, would choose Erasmus Darwin as his hero.

THE AMAZING DR. DARWIN is both powerful and amusing. Darwin is fallible enough to be sympathetic, and Pole is sympathetic without being completely brainless.

Charles Sheffield is perhaps the best science fiction writer actively writing today, especially if (like me) you disdain fantasy sci-fi. The two novels in this paperback both introduce a joyful litany of great concepts, great plot, and great characters skillfully interwoven. Sheffield not only comes up with earth-shaking ideas, like form changing for humans, he works out the practical details. The effect is complete believability for the reader. The moment you finish this book, you'll want to then read "Proteus in the Underworld". (Charles: write more! Please!)

To start with, this is a collection of some stories that Sheffield has written over the years. In fact, I seem to remember reading a few of them elsewhere, although that could have been in a different Sheffield collection or possibly in Science Fiction Magazines. The stories all have to do with the two members of a legal firm many years from now. These guys have a tendency to get into (and out of) trouble, both on Earth and on many of the Planetary bodies in the Solar System. There isn't much science in these stories, so you don't need a degree to enjoy them, but they are just fun romps. Usually, pure, dumb luck is all that saves these heroes, although the rest of Humanity seems to think they know what they're doing.

A recommended read, especially for those who liked the MacAndrew stories.

In a post successful USA the reader finds him or herself caught up in the life of an unlucky individual. A hero who rises from the bottom to achieve a goal. Yet this is unknown till only the end when the final and most drastic decision is made.

Brother To Dragons is the story of a man born in the midst of a terrible time, in a deep city charity ward with extreme birth defects. Early in life he is, without knowing it, exposed to the illegal drug trade, because of which he ends up in a supposedly unescapable juvenile delinquint house with purposely lethal conditions, but somehow manages to escape. He then spends about ten years as a multi-lingual street vendor, until the government pulls him out by way of blackmail (his recent first love was, without the protagonist's knowing it, a member of an important political family). The government then uses him to find out what's going on in the country's biggest complete security prison/Toxic And Nuclear Disposal Installation facility. He comes back not only with what he was sent for, but also with a way to save the world, which he himself puts into action shortly before dying. Although I have read lots of science fiction, this book is the first book of its kind I have read (3 times!), and I look forward to reading more of Sheffield's work.

When I read this, I was unsuspecting of what this story really was. Originally I just pointed out a book and bought it. Fortunatly my choice out of blind luck turned me on this dark look at the future focusing on an unfortunate good soul growing up in the worst conditions who would change the world forever. The cover is misleading, but I didn't feel at all jipped at being mislead. Infact, I greatly appreciated stumbling upon this jewel of a story.

I think his book Dark as day is amazing. Chareles was my uncle. If you did or did not know this he passed away November 2,2002 of a brain tumer. He was a talented writer and his books are very interesting but im just 13 so go ahead and read.

This is one of the better science fiction novels I've read lately, and one of the better novels, period. The science and the big SF ideas are well done, of course, but the excellent characterization is what sets this novel apart from most SF. Sheffield has crafted characters that range from the naive and delicate, to the most powerful and repulsive.

(There are a few nitpicks. There's some hand-waving done with quantum mechanics to get faster-than-light communication, for example. But, overall, it's such a pleasure to read that I forgave it these slight shortcomings.)

The sequel to Cold as Ice, Sheffield brings back one who is becoming one of the great characters of science fiction, Rustum "Bat" Battachariya, along with a whole host of new characters. (He likely drew Bat's Puzzle Network handle, "Megachirops," from "chiropter", a noun meaning any mammal of the order Chiroptera, comprising the bats. Weighing in at 300 kilos or thereabouts, he definitely is "mega.") Two of the new characters, Janeed Jannex, an orphan who has looked after her self-adopted "brother" (also an orphan) for almost her entire life, and Paul Marr, First Mate on the Outer System Line (OSL) Achilles, come together in a manner distinctly reminiscent of Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and First Mate Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) of the original, 1933 version of the movie King Kong.
While not without blemishes (such as putting the action a mere 95 years from now, much too soon for the technology and colonization described in the book to take place -- why, oh why, do sci fi authors insist on doing this?), the book is nonetheless brilliant in scope and effectively weaves together several plots lines and even a couple of subplots. The gist of the story is how events slowly, but inexorably bring together a handful of people (well, maybe a couple of handfuls) from disparate walks of life and different corners of the Solar System to confront a danger from the past that threatens all life in the Solar System, human and otherwise. Along the way Sheffield plays out storylines that held my interest completely, never wanting to put the book down. Heck, anyone who can weave in the use of statistical mechanics as part of analytical prediction theory and keep my interest in the process...well, Sheffield is a master storyteller! He even throws in some "SETI Cryptanalysis 101" for good measure. He is fast carving out his place in the Sci Fi Hall of Fame. A resounding 5 stars, along with a wish that a third sequel, to include the Bat, is in the offing. (And with the Seine, a Solar System-wide computer super network being introduced here, there definitely is hope for a sequel!)

I am not fond of futuristic science fiction novels. I was not fond of futuristic science fiction novels, that is... Sheffield has converted me. His pseudo-physics speculation is fascinating. His stories keep your interest and don't waste time with undue detail. His characterization lags by comparison to the rest of the story - but is still better than most of your sci fi/fantasy writers. You spend the whole book thinking, "That's really cool" while you keep turning the pages to see what happens next. I highly recommend it.

This was one of the best books I have ever read! It's about the best physicist, his expeditions in space, and the captain of a spaceship who has to follow him all over the universe. In the time period in which this is set, a mechanism has been invented that allows you to travel at faster-than-light speeds. The physicist, McAndrew, improves this mechanism by 100 percent. The spaceship captain, Jeanie Roker, has become his friend, and tries hard to make sure he doesn't get into trouble. However, together they face the "Headmistress" (I would call her that, based on her personality) of a slower-than-light spaceship with weird customs, a serial-killer, and many other people and machines that wish to kill them. Most of the time they don't deserve it, though, and they are always able to solve the problem.

I was glad to see that all of the McAndrew stories are available in a single volume. If you like hard science fiction, well, these stories definitely put the "science" in science fiction. Certainly character development is not a major consideration in any particular story, but by the end of the book we have a pretty good idea of what McAndrew and Jeanie are like.

One or two of the stories suffer in comparison to the others, but the overall quality is pretty high. I loved this book, but if you are not a fan of hard SF, this may not be the book for you.

I became involved with the Drake at the beginning as the story established his love and relationship with his wife, Ana. This was paramount since the rest of the book gets into heavy content. Drake is an unusual hero, a sensitive musician/composer, who must become an expert in many sciences to rescue Ana.

This was not an easy book to read. Drake's quest through millennial millennium of time and space are details concocted in the mind of a physicist/mathematician author; words or paragraphs couldn't be skipped if his concepts were to be understood. The author worked with different paradigms, but anchored them in the constants of physics. However, he went beyond my feeble reasoning many times.

What kept me going was Drake's love for Ana which carries him through to a final reunion.

I really hesitated whether I would give it a chance after I read "The Mind Pool" by Charles Sheffield, which started excellent, but ended as a big mess. But then I saw that people had given "Tommorow and Tommorow" such good reviews, and I figured Charles Sheffield deserves another chance.

The book started really well: the story is set at the end of the 20th century and tells about Drake Merlin, a musician and a composer. Drake and his wife, Ana, live a happy life. Both do not pursue money or power but instead concentrate on their professions (Ana is a singer), and live in bliss. But this doesn't last for too long, as Ana contracts a strange and lethal disease, leading to her death in a fairly short period of time. Drake is heartbroken, but decides not do despair. He contacts a company called "Second Chance", and freezes Ana in a cryotomb - hoping that sometime in the future technology would be high enough to revive her and cure whatever she has. Afterwards, Drake works for a few years, collecting knowledge which he figures would be very useful in the future as well as making money so he could afford keeping Ana frozen for a long period of time, and also afford to freeze himself. Drake hopes that in some time in the future, both of them will be revived, Ana be cured, and they can continue their life. His love for Ana is really strong, and he is determined not to give up. The time comes, and Drake is frozen - only to be awaken 500 years in the future, in a totally changed society.

This is but one of the many times Drake will be frozen only to be woken up in the yet farther future.. things have not gone as smoothly as Drake had hoped..

This took exactly one half of the book, and was really fantastic. The author built a completely believable future (actually, several futures), and the story was very captivating:
I totally thought I had misjudged Charles Sheffield, and couldn't put this book down.
However...
Then Drake wakes up, and the book takes a very strange twist. Apparently in the very, very distant future, Drake (as an "ancient and primitive human") will be needed to save the descendants of the human race, as they are fighting for their survival against a force from outside our galaxy which cannot be fathomed. Drake must take control, find out what is the problem, and then solve it. Other reviewers commented on the accuracy of the science in this part. I agree. However, it is still very boring. For me it was a distraction of the main story, and frankly, I think this shouldn't have been put in this book. I read the entire second half of the book in one long evening, because I really wanted to get to the end, which wasn't very satisfying (but better than not reading the end at all). I really wanted to see whether Drake and Ana will be united.

To summarize this book: first part is really good, but the second part might disappoint you. Overall it is still definitely worthy of a read.

Charles Sheffield does a fine job here in this eons spanning tale, to me at least it mostly appears plausible. Here you will read of cryonic suspensions, control of matter at the atomic level, downloading of minds into other vessels of thought, a universe of post-humanity, and many other amazing things, it was page-turning material for me. The primary character is Drake Merlin, his wife died of an untreatable condition and he had her cryonically suspended, willing to do practically anything to bring her back to him, an obsession indeed. He goes through many trials and tribulations along the way, all of this is believable in the hard science fiction tradition. I could relate to the refreshing world-view permeating this novel, no myth filled views here, this is a journey into unimaginable stretches of time, well worth reading. The only real criticism I found in this book is how Sheffield treats the subject of cryonic suspension, he does seem to present many inaccuracies, a minor point here, but I do take one star off for it. For a better description of how cryonics actually works in real life read "The First Immortal" by James Halperin, or "Tech Heaven" by Linda Nagata. These two are very fine novels and not to be missed for the science fiction aficionado.

This is a fairly easy book to read, and the author has a fair following. The ideas that he puts together and his ability to tie together such diverse concepts as he does in this work is beyond question.

People read science fiction for either the ideas or the story or both. For those who read it for the ideas, this will be a book that delivers. For those that are looking for a bit more...

The dialogue tends to be long sermons on particular subjects not delivered through story, and the story itself tends to be fairly predictable save for the spots where new concepts are introduced. For the reader looking for more in terms of reading, this will leave you a bit dry after.

Although the critical acclaim is not that easily ignored, and should not be, do not expect the same kind of fabulous experience that comes of the classics.

One of my favorite science fiction books, the sort of book I think back on every once and a while that has stuck with me (I read it around 10 years ago).

Really a fantastic set of ideas!

I dont why i've always thougt that BTSON is writen in the same style of Larry niven. Exellent science, cool charecters ( the kind that can take care of themselves in any situation ), and really amzing ideas about big things like immortality, and about small things like the fact that in s-state everything looks a bit different because of pseudo-red shift. Anyway, allthough im a big Niven fan, this time Sheffield took Niven in his own style. get this book. Its really a masterpiece. Its a shame that sheffield is not acknowledged as the giant he is.