A Hunger for the Infinite

A Galactic Center Story

By: Gregory Benford

Narrated by: Robin Sachs

A Hunger for the Infinite, which first appeared in Robert Silverberg's Far Horizons anthology, is a novella that takes place in the universe of "The Galactic Center Saga", detailing a galactic war between mechanical and biological life. Here, the pilots had made it to True Center in order to destroy something, anything, important to the Mechs, but Paris had something else on his mind. A story of the Mantis, and the decline of humans beginning in 3600 AD.

©1999 Gregory Benford (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

couldn't finish it

What disappointed you about A Hunger for the Infinite?

cardboard characters

Has A Hunger for the Infinite turned you off from other books in this genre?

no

What didn’t you like about Robin Sachs’s performance?

trying to work with such mediocre material wasn't a help.

What character would you cut from A Hunger for the Infinite?

ummm, can we start with the protagonist?

Good idea turns into a Machine Crusade re-run

What disappointed you about A Hunger for the Infinite?

It started out promising but when it turned into a machine seeking to find out what humanity is about, and using art etc, I was reminded, and not in a good way, of the Dune Prequel Machine Crusade and the associated premises. Some great descriptions and ideas about harvesting energy and evolution in machine based societies. Mr Benford would have served the reader better by making his story more about these.

Would you recommend A Hunger for the Infinite to your friends? Why or why not?

No. The story was too preachy and predictably about a machine using people to try and discover what makes them human.

What aspect of Robin Sachs’s performance would you have changed?

it was ok. Could have used a little more tonal variation and emphasis.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Yes, see above - the galactic core and energy harvesting ideas.

Hard to follow

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

There is so much going on, that unless you are familiar with the characters or story, it is hard to follow.

No Emotional Response

I enjoy good SciFi stories. This had the potential to be better then it was. I have not read/listened to any other works by Gregory Benford, so maybe I am missing part of the point to this story. I thought that some of the creatures that he created were clever and the idea that some of them lived in various orbits around a blackhole mirrors the structure of an atom, which seems novel.

What bothered me through out the story is that our protagonist does not seem to have an emotional response to anything happening around him. Perhaps it was due to poor narration, because even in the scenes where the protagonist seems to be acting on an emotion he still seems emotionless.

Short and boring

What did you like best about A Hunger for the Infinite? What did you like least?

Either I didn't understand this book or it was just too boring. Didn't really grab me like I hoped or waited for it to do. By the time I started getting interested in it, it was over. Sad but short.

What could Gregory Benford have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Added some additional adventure and storyline

What three words best describe Robin Sachs’s voice?

Dry, dull, unemotional.

Did A Hunger for the Infinite inspire you to do anything?

Stop listening