“In science fiction there is only a handful of books that stretch the mind—and this is one of them.”—Arthur C. Clarke In a moving story of sacrifice and triumph, human scientists establish a relationship with intelligent lifeforms—the cheela—living on Dragon’s Egg, a neutron star where one Earth hour is equivalent to hundreds of their years. The cheela culturally evolve from savagery to the … from savagery to the discovery of science, and for a brief time, men are their diligent teachers.
Praise for Dragon’s Egg
“Bob Forward writes in the tradition of Hal Clement’s Mission of Gravity and carries it a giant step (how else?) forward.”—Isaac Asimov
“Dragon’s Egg is superb. I couldn’t have written it; it required too much real physics.”—Larry Niven
“This is one for the real science-fiction fan.”—Frank Herbert
“Robert L. Forward tells a good story and asks a profound question. If we run into a race of creatures who live a hundred years while we live an hour, what can they say to us or we to them?”—Freeman J. Dyson
“Forward has impeccable scientific credentials, and . . . big, original, speculative ideas.”—The Washington Post
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I like SciFi that sticks to laws of physics and Dragon’s Egg certainly does that. I didn’t, personally, understand all the science, but I appreciate an author that does. I was pleasantly surprised how engaging the neutron-based creatures were.
An Interesting read for people who like technical details but not much of a plot.
One of the most original takes on the subject I’ve ever read! To quote an oft used phrase: Fascinating!
This book (and its sequel: Starquake) depicts an alien species in a way that holds up a stark mirror, reflecting the eons of human development, with an optimistic look at what our future could be.
Developing a civilization a million times faster than humans make an interesting story.
For the science fiction fan, one of the “must have” books…
I had to quit after several chapters. Not my cup of scifi.
Although I probably won’t purchase the e-book since I have a paper copy from many, many years ago, I heartily recommend it to readers who like stories based on realistic, though far-out, science. As a physicist interested in super-gravitation myself, I found the author’s treatment of the neutron-star environment fascinating. I remember the story …