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Customer Reviews of Titan

Humanity's Last Adventure. The Anti-2001.
The first several hundred pages of Stephen Baxter's epic, "Titan", details the demise of manned space exploration and the descent of America into Right-Wing hell. None of it would have been half as depressing as I found it had not events in reality begun to imitate the course of those in the novel, but this work is nonetheless a masterpiece of hard science-fiction. Baxter squeezes in every juicy scientific detail he possibly can to magnificent effect, and pointing out the technical shortcomings of artificial gravity from centrifugal spin was the cherry on the sunday. "Titan" exudes reality so thoroughly throughout its pages, you'll be reaching for the Prozac a third of the way through, and sighing relief that it isn't actually real once you've finished, but this story is so incredible you are absolutely REQUIRED to read it if you consider yourself a serious science-fiction reader. If for nothing else, read it as a cautionary tale, it will still be worth the adventure even if you hope it never comes true.

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It can be a real chore.
This was my first Baxter book and it may be little while before I return for another.

My interest in the book peaked due to the current Cassini mission and I was actually looking for a Sci-Fi book that dealt with a Titan Colony. So I grabbed this one.

The book starts of very slow and stays that way. Baxter can be descriptive but many times he will bore you with the details. The characters are weak 2-d stereotypes: from the war mongering Air force General to the Ex-moon astronaut reminiscing about the good ole days to the wimpy neurotic science geek to the extremist American president, it can be one cliché after another.

Frankly I was a bit put-off by the political tone of the book, but trudged on anyways. Baxter beats you over the head with his view that the world is on a self destructive path and is being lead down that road by America.

You can sense a bit of joy in the descriptiveness of his cataclysmic doomsday scenario as these soulless characters get wiped out.

There is a twist to the ending, some hope injected to an otherwise bleak read and makes you wonder if it was part of the story or requested by the editor.

The book offers a detailed account of what it will take to travel the solar system with the current off the shelf technology. The descriptions of Titan are vivid and at times allow you to connect. But, just when the books seems interesting Mr. Baxter's disdain for the current state of affairs and even humans in general peaks through and you return to the grind of the book.

It's too bad, in the end the weak plot and characters can't carry this interesting subject.

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Bogged Down in Angst
Being a fan of Baxter's more fanciful works, I approached this book with a vague reluctance, as I didn't hold a lot of excitement for a Baxter novel in a more down-to-earth setting. Unfortunately, my inital misgivings seemed to been justified. I think, most of all, I found the author's angst-ridden and pessimistic view of humanity to drag the entire novel down to the point of nearly drowning out all book's good qualities. While I applaud any sci-fi author that portrays humanity's future as something far less then the utopia portrayed in Star Trek, Baxter seems to possess a closet desire for humanity's collective stupidity and ignorance to truimph and deservedly destroy us, while the indirect actions of a few humans end up creating a more enlightened race far more worthy of inheriting the universe (This sentiment seems to be implied in some of his other works as well).

Of particular irritation is some of the author's naive views on American culture and politics. While this can be attributed, in part, to living on the other side of the pond, his portrayal of this seems based on a lack of a clear understanding of the aforementioned. America's final president, for example, takes the form of a man bent on destroying the progress of science, imposing religion in schools, and is apparently your standard Southern bigot. (say what you will about Bush Jr.'s nauseating social conservatism and general cluelessness - Baxter's caricature would never propose a return to the Moon or a trip to Mars, for example). In short, take Pat Buchanan on steroids. The subsequent chaos, fracture, and pre-Enlightenment, anti-science hysteria that befalls the nation(s) is even more absurd (though oddly amusing, as one wonders if Baxter actually considers this paranoid supposition a possibility). Some of the reviewers here seem to have been spooked by this portrayal, but even the general unease of the past 3 years couldn't create the situation in this book, IMO.

Despite all this, it does have some things going for it. His descriptions and observations on the inner workings and politics of NASA are very much spot-on (this is where Baxter's pessimism is merited), particularly in light of the book's eery fate of the Shuttle Columbia. The years-long voyage to Titan - and the eventual landing and exploration of the moon - are easily the best written parts of the book. One really gets a sense of just how grueling and tiresome space travel can be (though, perhaps not surprising, if one were to retrofit a Earth orbit-only craft). His descriptions of the varied landscapes of Titan are probably the book's shining moment - the mountain climb being almost inspiring. The characters embarking on this journey are generally well-written, but occasionally fall into soap opera silliness from time to time. The goal of the mission - to search for life on Titan - may not be accurate, however. The general sentiment of the Cassini-Huygens team seem to regard life on the moon as not a high possibility (Not like the Jupiter's Europa, anyway). Still, its provided a good vehicle for creating the adventure.

In the end, Titan kind of reminds me of Clarke's final Rama book. You occasionally find a some diamonds in the rough, but its bogged down by annoying generalizations and and cartoonish stereotypes. If you want a better read in the same type of setting, check out Baxter's Moonseed. Definitely a superior book.