Probability Space | ||||||||
Nancy Kress | ||||||||
Tor Books, 367 pages | ||||||||
|
A review by Greg L. Johnson
There is one character who does grow up during the course of the book. Amanda Capelo, daughter of Thomas Capelo, has become a
teenager since the events of Probability Sun. When she witnesses her father being kidnapped, Amanda runs away into a world
of politics and intrigue concerning the use of an alien artifact that could either save or destroy humanity in its long, possibly
losing war against the Fallers. She also finds a little romance along the way. But Amanda's adventure runs parallel to the
others, and she is off-stage when the main action occurs. Amanda's story, while in some ways the best parts of the book, in the
end feels separated from the main narrative. That feeling, that the separate story lines are somewhat disconnected from each
other is reinforced by a sub-plot involving a military coup, which provides us with the book's main human villain. But Admiral
Pierce is featured even less than Amanda. As a character, he is more a problem to be dealt with than an understandable
personality, and in a series in which the author has consistently fleshed out the motivations and backgrounds of even the most
unsympathetic characters, such a faceless villain is a disappointment.
Still, there are plenty of good things here. We learn what has happened to the aliens living on World, the story itself moves
along at a rapid pace, the characters find their way through many difficulties, and the secret to dealing with the alien
technology is convincingly clever. Probability Space is a well-written space-adventure, which, because it focuses
more on story than character, should satisfy readers of the Probability series who want to know how the story ends, but may
disappoint those who'd like to know more about the people in the story.
Reviewer Greg L. Johnson lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where in the winter, it's probably cold. His reviews also appear in the The New York Review of Science Fiction. |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
If you find any errors, typos or other stuff worth mentioning,
please send it to editor@sfsite.com.
Copyright © 1996-2014 SF Site All Rights Reserved Worldwide