Icarus at the Edge of Time, by Brian Greene

Review by Chad Orzel from Uncertain Principles
Originally posted on: Tue, Jan 13, 2009 9:26 AM

Or, Brian Greene Writes a Kid's Book...

This is a very odd book. It's printed on boards, like a book for very small children, but the story is a bit beyond what I would imagine reading to a normal kid of the age to want books of that format. It's too short and simple, though, to have much appeal to significantly older children, aside from the fact that the story is written over the top of 15 absolutely gorgeous reproductions of pictures of astronomical objects.

This is probably one of those objects whose cool appearance is the only real reason for the thing to exist. The pictures really are spectacular, and make it worth a look even if the story isn't all that special. Then again, I say that as a jaded lifelong SF reader and scientist-- to a young reader with less exposure to these ideas, it might very well be a mind-blowing experience.

We'll see what SteelyKid thinks in a few years.