Nova
- 224
- Pages
- about 4 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“Nova” is an inventive space opera that recasts the Grail quest as a starship captain’s hunt for a nova. Delany’s future feels lived in, built from bodies, work and small habits, with tarot cards sitting beside universal cyborg technology. Some readers find the physics invented and the two heirs of the Red family unconvincing. Readers who prize ideas and texture over scientific rigour will find it a short, rich voyage.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Nоva is a science fiction novel by American writer Samuel R. Delany published in 1968. The plot concerns the spaceship captain Lorq Von Ray's search for a nova, which will produce the essential power source Illyrion, and his vendetta with the Red family, who seek to kill him. Nominally space opera, it explores the politics and culture of a future where cyborg technology is universal, yet making major decisions can involve using tarot cards. It has strong mythological overtones, relating to both the Grail Quest and Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.2 across 58 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 28% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Science fiction average of 7.8. That is how 7.6 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 6.7 | 6 | 10% |
| Hardcover | 7.3 | 52 | 90% |
Frequently asked
How long is Nova?
It has 224 pages — shorter than 91% of the ranked books in Science fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Science fiction — and a score of 7.6, the closest to this book.
