A Voyage For Madmen [Kindle Edition] Review

This is "can't put down" read, about the rather disjointed Golden Globe circumnavigation race of 1968-9 in which 7 sailors risked everything for themselves rather than for fame and fortune. You do not have to be a "Yachty" to read this! the book is about the drive and determination of men to reach inner goals. Peter Nichols writes in an easy to read and at time quite light hearted way. One suspects that he himself has had brushes with madness on his various trans-ocean treks, Libby Purves comment that Nichols has a distain for Robin Knox-Johnson is in my opinion something that was not obvious. I would recommend this book as a 5 star plus read ideal for the beach !!!.......

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The Golden Globe [Mass Market Paperback] Review

Yes, the book meanders a bit. Yes, it's self-indulgent. Yes, it spends too much time on "look how clever I am" exposition. (Oberon II being the most outstanding example.) Yes, the ending events seem to come from nowhere. No, it's nowhere close to what _Steel Beach_ was.
However, it's still better than 99% of the tripe being served up as SF these days. Varley can actually write characters that aren't mere cardboard cutouts. Sparky, for all his self-absorption, actually feels like a real person. The Eight Worlds universe is still one of the best out there, and Varley actually looks deeply into the sociological changes that various scientific advances will have, as opposed to the pervasive "1995 people with stardrives" that so many others write.
A thumbs up, but not quite as high as I had hoped...............

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