Tau Zero

I dont understand much about physics but it seems Poul Anderson does - the physical concept is the star in this novel and the story about it is really intriguing and exciting, probably as good as "hard" sf can get.

The characters are another story though. almost every single one of them is as flat and childish in personality as well-educated in the respective job - they rarely just border on sociopathy and the few i could actually relate to as human beings were flat stereotypes of the "christian" or "simple man" kind. this might be purposeful criticism by the author though, as exactly their underdeveloped personalites lead them into many problematic situations aboard (aside from being trapped in endless acceleration) and personal crisis.

But then there is the main character, who actually really takes the "fairytale hero" role in the end. He is the ships security officer who manouvers himself into the leader position by manipulation based on human-despising psychological tricks supported by occasional violence. But it happens to be just the right thing for the just as socipathic crew and also for himself - he lives for survival by any means and would not have been happy if the catastrophy would not have put him into this situation.

In the end, everyone went through personal crisis, just as the spaceship through physical, and they form a deeper sense of community when they finally reach salvation (by the "hero's" wise decisions of course).

the "social developement" part of this book can be viewed as an optimistic fairytale and hero story, or a story of hard personal and group character developement. but it can also be viewed as a glorification of authoritarian leadership and the "necessary evil" or "means-to an-end" - approach which people who don't understand much about politics and psychology so gratefully fall for all of the time.