Life Probe by Michael McCollum

Life Probe by Michael McCollum

Rating 3.5 out of 5

The writing and research of the book is excellent and well thought out. It paints a very realistic picture of the dawn of the space age when we can finally colonise our solar system and start looking beyond the stars. The story provides a depiction of the reaction of humans to a visit from an alien spacecraft  (a life probe) and all the political intrigues involved.
I personally found the political tensions and the resulting space war rather boring. I would have preferred more emphasis on the Makers civilisation and the probe's journey.  The characters are quite 2-D and you never really associate with anyone in particular. In fact, character development was rather lacking in this book. There are goody two shoes and there are evil ones! Very flat.

I did enjoy reading the Alien Probe's view of humanity - very perceptive.  In addition, the scientific discussions are really interesting.  Overall, it is a good book though slow at times.