Tau Zero
Dec 2010 · S.F. MASTERWORKS Book 64 · Hachette UK
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About this ebook
The epic voyage of the spacecraft Leonora Christine will take her and her fifty-strong crew to a planet some thirty light-years distant. But, because the ship will accelerate to close to the speed of light, for those on board subjective time will slow and the journey will be of only a few years' duration.
Then a buffeting by an interstellar dustcloud changes everything. The ship's deceleration system is damaged irreperably and soon she is gaining velocity. When she attains light-speed, tau zero itself, the disparity between ship-time and external time becomes almost impossibly great. Eons and galaxies hurtle by, and the crew of the Leonora Christine speeds into the unknown.
The epic voyage of the spacecraft Leonora Christine will take her and her fifty-strong crew to a planet some thirty light-years distant. But, because the ship will accelerate to close to the speed of light, for those on board subjective time will slow and the journey will be of only a few years' ...
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Ratings and reviews
45 reviews
Lee Moore (ljredux)
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September 8, 2026
The core concept is extraordinary, and the last few chapters are spectacular even if some of the science is outdated and doesn't really work anymore.The characters are a bit shallow, but it's still a very compelling story. With a different ending, this could easily have been one of the most existential works of fiction ever written.
Riccardo Govoni
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October 4, 2013
The idea around the which the book is structured is exciting and promises to deliver much: a combination of physics, relativity and the psychological drama of a group of people confined into a finite space for pretty much the rest of time. The book maintains that promise for a long while, but I found the conclusion a bit disappointing and the overall topic (both the physics and psychology traits) not as deeply explored as it could have. That said, it's still an enjoyable and recommended read (even more if you consider it was written 40+ years ago).
2 people found this review helpful
Levi B
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October 21, 2017
Great science fiction held together by the characters of the main players. Compact, a real page-turner with barely a dull moment.
About the author
Poul Anderson was born in 1926 in Pennsylvania and educated at the University of Minnesota where he gained a degree in physics in 1948. Among his many fine novels are BRAIN WAVE, THE AVATAR, WAR OF THE WING-MEN and THE BOAT OF A MILLION YEARS, as well as the Fantasy Classics THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS and THE BROKEN SWORD.
Poul Anderson was born in 1926 in Pennsylvania and educated at the University of Minnesota where he gained a degree in physics in 1948. Among his many fine novels are BRAIN WAVE, THE AVATAR, WAR OF THE WING-MEN and THE BOAT OF A MILLION YEARS, as well as the Fantasy Classics THREE HEARTS AND THRE...
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