Charming story. The fuzzies are very cute, the main characters are sympathetic and the story line is relatively simple, but engaging. ( )

When John Scalzi mentioned this book on his blog, I knew it would be classic and quaint. But I expected it to be a little more timeless. I look forward to seeing what Mr. Scalzi does to update it.

In the meantime, I listened to the audiobook to see what the hubbub was about. Wow. Piper wrote a future that is just like our present, except we have travel to other worlds, contra-gravity, and verdicators (advanced lie detectors). I think I would like to have air cars, but only in rural settings like those in which the initial chapters of the book take place. Anything more urban and you just multiply the current traffic problems by a third dimension.

I would also not like to live in a world where every witness was subjected to verdicators. I don't think that any society would long endure that sort of mental fascism.

Overall, the story was interesting enough and pleasant enough. However, I found the writing fairly clunky, based on the examples above, plus space commodore, atomic age, constant discussion of sapience and mentation, and sun stones. I suppose they fit the view of the future seen from the early 1960s. But as I previously noted, they are pretty dated. I also disliked some stereotypical characters and a bit of deus ex machina at the end. Nevertheless it was enjoyable. Let's see what Scalzi has done with it. ( )

Read it yet again in anticipation of reading Scalzi's remake in the near future. Still a personal favourite, and a must read for anyone who enjoys sci-fi. ( )

Very light and enjoyable. I am going to read more books by Piper.

Reading classic SF helps me remember much our culture has changed. Piper was a globalist - characters names were drawn from many countries and cultures. Refreshing to not read a story with only English and made-up names. However, most of female characters were "girls" who were "secretaries." Sigh. ( )

This was included on the Audible audiobook I read of John Scalzi's Fuzzy Nation, which was based or inspired by this book. The main story for both was how you decide whether a species is sentient.

In both, a new species is discovered on a planet being mined by a large corporation, and if the species is proven to be sentient, then the corporation will need to stop it's work there. So, of course, they bring out all their lawyers to argue against this, and their hired guns to try to make it a moot point. In both stories, there is one man who fights against them, the one that first discovered the creatures.

It's fairly interesting how they go about deciding exactly how to define sentient beings. ( )