Dragon's Egg

Cheela, Book 1

By: Robert L. Forward

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

In a moving story of sacrifice and triumph, human scientists establish a relationship with intelligent lifeforms - the cheela-living on Dragon's Egg, a neutron star where one Earth hour is equivalent to hundreds of their years. The cheela culturally evolve from savagery to the discovery of science, and for a brief time, men are their diligent teachers.

©1980 Dr. Robert L. Forward (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

“Forward has impeccable scientific credentials, and...big, original, speculative ideas." ( The Washington Post)

Classic Hard Science Fiction

I love the writings of Dr. Forward. There is nothing like science fiction written by an actual physicist. I am hoping it will not take Audible long to release the second and third Cheela books as Audible titles. It has been decades since I read these books with my eyes, and now I am loving to re-read this one with my ears. :)

Very Fun Concept

Fun world building, but a bit too technical at times. Some parts were a bit slow, and I would've liked to see the humans play a more interesting part.

An amazing look into life on a neutron star

Robert L Forward did an excellent job of deduction when describing life on a neutron star. Then took it to the next level by letting a human spacecraft contact the neutron star beings. Both species have a first encounter that makes for a wonderful book.

Hard Sci-fi

This was great. Astrophysics and speculative biology with a cool narrative tying it all together.

Intense and Intriguing

Normally I can listen to a book while working, but I found that this one was so engaging in its idea and execution that I was enthralled and couldn't focus on anything else. While the Cheela did exhibit a disproportionate amount of human characteristics, leaving me to remember that Forward is a physicist and not a xenobiologist, I still found the thought expirements and ideas that the story stimulated to be joyous and intriguing experiences. Definitely a recommend listen.

Great story

The audio was a little quiet. But the story was amazing! The story is easy to follow, even if you don't know the science. I can't wait for starquake (the sequal) to be an audiobook too.

Well read, interesting concept

A good read, shows its age, but you can feel the original novelty of the story for the time it was written.

One of my favorite Sci Fi's

and I have read many. Intriguing story. Excellent narration. Good pace. I highly recommend this book.

Original story line

Interesting take on development of intelligent design. The story line moves along at an interesting pace.

Sci-fi at its best...

A slow burn that resolves into a worthy perspective shift --- simply, sci-fi at its best.