“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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If you like hard science fiction…this book is for you…You will learn more about Neutron Stars…and the idea of life on one is facinating…
I love science fiction and this was excellent story crafting – what would happen if a species was on a different time scale? Think tortoise versus the hare as impacted by a violation of the Star Trek Prime Directive, even though it was inadvertent.
A great, thought provoking read.
Too technical. Impossible to follow the plot or relate to the characters.
A sci-fi classic!
Didn’t know what to think when I first started and to be honest, didn’t know if I could finish it…so much techno babble and believe me there is a lot BUT if you can hang in there, the story is unique, well written and enjoyable. I haven’t run across character quite like those of Dragons Egg. Hang in there and enjoy
Very interesting story of connectors with alien life and the potential differences and dangers.
Well written and interesting.
Great, really original science fiction, highly recommend this book!
Incredibly thought provoking!
This is one of the most original and convincing stories of human-alien interaction that I have ever read. The descriptions of the science work on earth are interesting and convincing. The scientific speculations on possible life on a neutron star are fascinating and the imaginative leaps from those speculations to stories of the evolution of life …
One of my favorites. Great character development and story line. Truly mind expanding.
Maybe my favorite aliens ever. Size, biology, lifespan, faster-than-light travel, they’ve got the whole package, especially since their homeworld is a neutron star. I guess you could say this puts the science back in science fiction.
Surprising and thought provoking.
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This book is a challenging read for a couple of reasons.
First, there is a lot of science, very detailed science, in the book. Gravity, the challenges of describing life as it might exist in a neutron star, time differentials as well as the difference in scale between humans and these amazing aliens. I won’t pretend to understand most of it and …
Interesting view of the universe.
Definitely one of the best SI FI books I’ve read in a long time. Amazingly inventive creating an organism able to create a society able to communicate with humanity. Loved it.
I jumped past a lot of the technical science part to enjoy the storyline, which was totally fascinating! Being the person I am, I would have desired a little different ending, but I can see why the writer choose the one he did.
I read this book years ago. It was as delightful in a second reading as the first
Dragon Egg by Robert Forward is a good example of a Big Idea “hard” science fiction story. This story is all about exploring its Big Idea – intelligent life evolving on a neutron star. There is not much emphasis on plot or the development of characters. Character development and plot are strictly in the service of exploring the Big Idea. …