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Delta-v #2
Critical Mass
In New York Times bestselling author Daniel Suarez's latest space-tech thriller, a group of pioneering astropreneurs must overcome never-before-attempted engineering challenges to rescue colleagues stranded at a distant asteroid—kicking off a new space race in which Earth's climate crisis could well hang in the balance.
When unforeseen circumstances during an innovative—and unsanctioned—commercial asteroid-mining mission leave two crew members stranded, those who make it back must engineer a rescue, all while navigating a shifting web of global political alliances and renewed Cold War tensions. With Earth governments consumed by the ravages of climate change and unable to take the risks necessary to make rapid progress in space, the crew must build their own nextgen spacecraft capable of mounting a rescue in time for the asteroid's next swing by Earth.
In the process they'll need to establish the first spin-gravity station in deep space, the first orbiting solar power satellite and refinery, and historic infrastructure on the moon's surface—all of which could alleviate a deepening ecological, political, and economic crisis back on Earth, and prove that space-based industry is not only profitable, but possibly humanity's best hope for a livable, peaceful future.
When unforeseen circumstances during an innovative—and unsanctioned—commercial asteroid-mining mission leave two crew members stranded, those who make it back must engineer a rescue, all while navigating a shifting web of global political alliances and renewed Cold War tensions. With Earth governments consumed by the ravages of climate change and unable to take the risks necessary to make rapid progress in space, the crew must build their own nextgen spacecraft capable of mounting a rescue in time for the asteroid's next swing by Earth.
In the process they'll need to establish the first spin-gravity station in deep space, the first orbiting solar power satellite and refinery, and historic infrastructure on the moon's surface—all of which could alleviate a deepening ecological, political, and economic crisis back on Earth, and prove that space-based industry is not only profitable, but possibly humanity's best hope for a livable, peaceful future.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published January 24, 2023
About the author
Daniel Suarez
16 books4,430 followersDANIEL SUAREZ is the author of the New York Times bestseller Daemon, Freedom™, Kill Decision, and Influx. A former systems consultant to Fortune 1000 companies, he has designed and developed mission-critical software for the defense, finance, and entertainment industries. With a lifelong interest in both IT systems and creative writing, his high-tech and Sci-Fi thrillers focus on technology-driven change. Suarez is a past speaker at TED Global, MIT Media Lab, NASA Ames, the Long Now Foundation, and the headquarters of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon -- among many others. Self-taught in software development, he is a graduate from University of Delaware with a BA in English Literature. An avid PC and console gamer, his own world-building skills were bolstered through years as a pen & paper role-playing game moderator. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
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January 19, 2023
Critical Mass
by Daniel Suarez is the second book in the Delta-V science fiction techno-thriller series. Set in the near future between 2038 and 2042, this novel has it all for readers who enjoy hard science fiction. It’s gripping, vivid, suspenseful, and filled with thrills and chills that feel credible and believable. When circumstances during an unsanctioned commercial asteroid-mining mission forces the team to leave two members stranded, the ones that make it back to Earth need to mount a rescue mission. However, global political tensions and devastating climate change effects consume governments who aren’t willing to invest in space. The crew decides to mount their own rescue in time for the asteroid’s next approach by Earth. Nevertheless, it won’t be easy or straightforward.
The prologue immediately pulls readers into the story line. The first few chapters introduce readers to the main characters: James, Priya, and Jin, as well as several major secondary characters. The characters have varying degrees of depth with James having the most. His sense of purpose was unwavering while those of others sometimes seemed to meander. James has a strong sense of justice and determination that readers can easily support. The dynamics between the characters added to the intensity of the story line.
The world-building is phenomenal, making it easy to visualize what is happening in the book. Technical details of many items that seem plausible captured my interest. The author does a great job of making the technologies easy to understand to those who aren’t scientists and engineers. The plot is suspenseful, tense, and intense. It builds momentum and peaks with an astonishing conclusion. It also gives insight into the behaviors and actions of governments, entrepreneurs, and adventurers. Everyone has agendas, but some are self-serving while others are working for the good of many. There were constant threats whether from the environments, governments, or others intent on their own achievements. Themes explored included climate change, dangerous rescue missions, space exploration and technologies, medical advancement, governmental and political pressure, entrepreneurship, trust, power, economics, and resources.
Overall, this science fiction techno-thriller was entertaining, convincing, and felt terrifyingly realistic. The tension was so thick I could feel it. The novel also had suspense, compelling and diverse characters, and a thought-provoking story line. This emotional rollercoaster kept me rapidly turning the pages. If you enjoy high-octane science fiction, then this may be the series for you. A list of references for further reading is included at the end of the book on the science technologies and themes that were explored.
PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and Daniel Suarez provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for January 31, 2023. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.
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My 4.12 rounded to 4 stars review is coming soon.
The prologue immediately pulls readers into the story line. The first few chapters introduce readers to the main characters: James, Priya, and Jin, as well as several major secondary characters. The characters have varying degrees of depth with James having the most. His sense of purpose was unwavering while those of others sometimes seemed to meander. James has a strong sense of justice and determination that readers can easily support. The dynamics between the characters added to the intensity of the story line.
The world-building is phenomenal, making it easy to visualize what is happening in the book. Technical details of many items that seem plausible captured my interest. The author does a great job of making the technologies easy to understand to those who aren’t scientists and engineers. The plot is suspenseful, tense, and intense. It builds momentum and peaks with an astonishing conclusion. It also gives insight into the behaviors and actions of governments, entrepreneurs, and adventurers. Everyone has agendas, but some are self-serving while others are working for the good of many. There were constant threats whether from the environments, governments, or others intent on their own achievements. Themes explored included climate change, dangerous rescue missions, space exploration and technologies, medical advancement, governmental and political pressure, entrepreneurship, trust, power, economics, and resources.
Overall, this science fiction techno-thriller was entertaining, convincing, and felt terrifyingly realistic. The tension was so thick I could feel it. The novel also had suspense, compelling and diverse characters, and a thought-provoking story line. This emotional rollercoaster kept me rapidly turning the pages. If you enjoy high-octane science fiction, then this may be the series for you. A list of references for further reading is included at the end of the book on the science technologies and themes that were explored.
PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and Daniel Suarez provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for January 31, 2023. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.
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My 4.12 rounded to 4 stars review is coming soon.
January 13, 2023
A certain subset of SF -- known generally as Hard SF -- has a long history of interweaving real science (up to the current knowledge of the day) with grand adventures or techno-thrillers or even philosophical treatises.
In the good ones, sometimes you get all three.
But where it gets seriously impressive is when you interweave the ideas of the Sixth Extinction and real Proof-Of-Work crypto-theory put to work on solving real grand-scale economic issues, or the very real and disturbing problems of the rise of fascism and piracy and what it means to build space stations or a near colony, while paying careful heed to great characters. There's a lot more to it, too, but these are what stood out the most to me on this read-through.
Hard SF has had a lot of these kinds of tales, to a greater or a lesser degree, but I'll just say this: it's up there with KSR's Mars trilogy if you want a good comp.
I love how it takes the next several steps forward on the path to settling in space in a highly realistic and technical way. It's also a great influx of the new technology we also have, so in a way, it's superior to most.
Highly, highly recommended.
In the good ones, sometimes you get all three.
But where it gets seriously impressive is when you interweave the ideas of the Sixth Extinction and real Proof-Of-Work crypto-theory put to work on solving real grand-scale economic issues, or the very real and disturbing problems of the rise of fascism and piracy and what it means to build space stations or a near colony, while paying careful heed to great characters. There's a lot more to it, too, but these are what stood out the most to me on this read-through.
Hard SF has had a lot of these kinds of tales, to a greater or a lesser degree, but I'll just say this: it's up there with KSR's Mars trilogy if you want a good comp.
I love how it takes the next several steps forward on the path to settling in space in a highly realistic and technical way. It's also a great influx of the new technology we also have, so in a way, it's superior to most.
Highly, highly recommended.
February 23, 2023
A group of space explorers work to get back to space to rescue some colleagues who were left behind. They need financial backing, engineering expertise and a lot of luck. This sci- fi thriller combines climate change, geopolitical conflict and a new economic model. This book is a sequel to “Delta V”, which I preferred. It can be read as a standalone, but you might as well start with the better book
Although I completely believe the threat of climate change, I am not really interested in reading about it in fiction books. The first part of the book was mostly about financing the mission (not really exciting). Things picked up when the team finally got into space, but then it was heavily engineering-oriented. Even more confusing to me than the engineering technobabble was the blockchain discussion. There were also too many characters coming and going on the space station. The book held my interest, but I’m glad that a third book doesn’t seem to be planned.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
Although I completely believe the threat of climate change, I am not really interested in reading about it in fiction books. The first part of the book was mostly about financing the mission (not really exciting). Things picked up when the team finally got into space, but then it was heavily engineering-oriented. Even more confusing to me than the engineering technobabble was the blockchain discussion. There were also too many characters coming and going on the space station. The book held my interest, but I’m glad that a third book doesn’t seem to be planned.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
April 28, 2023
"In the entire vastness of space, all we had was each other. If only everyone in the world realized that."
It's ironic that, when I read the blurb for the first book in this duology, I wasn't interested in it.
Then, a few months ago, I read the blurb for this one prior to its publication and immediately added it to my tbr. Realizing it was the second book, I downloaded Delta-V even though I wasn't sure I'd like it.
Not only did I like it, I loved it. It was incredible reading about the first humans to travel to the asteroid belt to mine materials. The story, the descriptions, and the technology had me riveted and, after finishing, I could hardly wait to download this sequel.
Unfortunately, I wasn't quite as enthralled with it, even though its blurb was the one that had interested me. It was an absolute slog at times.
I feel a bit hypocritical to say there were too many tech descriptions when I often complain that new SF books have little to no actual science or tech.
What was thrilling to read about in the first book, how they built the spaceship, the suits, the VR headsets - and how they worked -, was So. Freaking. Overdone. in this book.
Wow, I ended up doing a lot of skimming. It was tedious, on and on and on it went. I mean, there was some really cool shit. I especially love the talos - the robots that the crew operated through VR. But I did not need to know how every piece of the new ship, and the mass driver, and everything else was built. It was too much.
And then there were the chapters explaining cryptocurrency..... 💤
The story is intriguing and I even enjoyed much of the politics. If about 150 pages of technical descriptions and those crypto chapters had been edited out, I'd perhaps have loved the book.
The end unfortunately was rushed. I wanted to
I'll give this 4 stars because it's well written (aside from needing to visit a chopping block) and imaginative. I can't give it less, in spite of having to skim through parts of it.
If you read the first in the series, you'll probably want to read this one too. Just be warned that you might need to do some skimming.
It's ironic that, when I read the blurb for the first book in this duology, I wasn't interested in it.
Then, a few months ago, I read the blurb for this one prior to its publication and immediately added it to my tbr. Realizing it was the second book, I downloaded Delta-V even though I wasn't sure I'd like it.
Not only did I like it, I loved it. It was incredible reading about the first humans to travel to the asteroid belt to mine materials. The story, the descriptions, and the technology had me riveted and, after finishing, I could hardly wait to download this sequel.
Unfortunately, I wasn't quite as enthralled with it, even though its blurb was the one that had interested me. It was an absolute slog at times.
I feel a bit hypocritical to say there were too many tech descriptions when I often complain that new SF books have little to no actual science or tech.
What was thrilling to read about in the first book, how they built the spaceship, the suits, the VR headsets - and how they worked -, was So. Freaking. Overdone. in this book.
Wow, I ended up doing a lot of skimming. It was tedious, on and on and on it went. I mean, there was some really cool shit. I especially love the talos - the robots that the crew operated through VR. But I did not need to know how every piece of the new ship, and the mass driver, and everything else was built. It was too much.
And then there were the chapters explaining cryptocurrency..... 💤
The story is intriguing and I even enjoyed much of the politics. If about 150 pages of technical descriptions and those crypto chapters had been edited out, I'd perhaps have loved the book.
The end unfortunately was rushed. I wanted to
I'll give this 4 stars because it's well written (aside from needing to visit a chopping block) and imaginative. I can't give it less, in spite of having to skim through parts of it.
If you read the first in the series, you'll probably want to read this one too. Just be warned that you might need to do some skimming.
March 14, 2023
I've read all the books by Daniel Suarez. I buy his books as soon as they come out.
This was a slog! I had to force myself to finish it.
I enjoy hard sci-fi, but this felt like reading a textbook about expanding into space politics with way too much info about cryptocurrency. The plot is dry and boring.
It was a continuation of Delta-V. There were no new compelling characters. And there was no continued character development of the main characters. And don't get me started about the main character who does nothing but WHINE about rescuing those left behind at the end of the first book. It drove me crazy!!!
I've come to expect imaginative and compelling stories from Suarez with a touch of near future analysis. HIs past books explored the possibilities, and pitfalls, of technology with rounded characters and a compelling plot. This book did not live up to my expectations.
This was a slog! I had to force myself to finish it.
I enjoy hard sci-fi, but this felt like reading a textbook about expanding into space politics with way too much info about cryptocurrency. The plot is dry and boring.
It was a continuation of Delta-V. There were no new compelling characters. And there was no continued character development of the main characters. And don't get me started about the main character who does nothing but WHINE about rescuing those left behind at the end of the first book. It drove me crazy!!!
I've come to expect imaginative and compelling stories from Suarez with a touch of near future analysis. HIs past books explored the possibilities, and pitfalls, of technology with rounded characters and a compelling plot. This book did not live up to my expectations.
February 19, 2023
Critical Mess
Writing this review has not been easy. I’ve been a fan of Suarez since reading Daemon back in 2013 when I was living in Beijing. I proceeded to read and love all his books. However, I noticed the decline in literary quality with the space mining novel Delta-V, which I read in 2020, just back from several months in Japan. I will try to be fair and provide the reasoning behind my opinion. First, about the series:
Delta-V is about strip mining asteroids, a topic I’m very interested in. Sooner or later we will have to, and it will also be the stepping stone to building habitats and ships to explore the rest of the Solar System and beyond. It’s about a billionaire, Nathan Joyce, who starts a company to mine asteroids. And to be the first one out there, he cuts some corners, bedazzles some money out of some investors, and starts training teams to go into space on an experimental mining ship.
What I love about Suarez is his eye for details, knowledge, and ability to do solid research. He’s also a great writer, but then I read this: «Baliceaux Island shed some light on Joyce's modus operandi. For centuries this place had been an undeveloped 320-acre speck in the Grenadines. Its rugged topography made development too costly for resorts and vacation buy-ers, but Joyce saw what others did not: the elevation necessary to cope with the rising seas of climate change.»
Yes, the climate is like the weather and the seasons, it changes. But there is no dramatic rise in sea level. If there was, do you think real world politicians and billionaires would keep buying beachfront properties, like our own Jens Stoltenberg, current leader of NATO? Or barack Obama, former POTUS?
And then there’s the product placements. We’re quite used to it from the movies, but now it has also entered books. While I don’t mind a moderate amount of embedded marketing, Suarez mentions the Chinese Car brand Polestar, owned by Geely in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, eight times.
In the sequel Critical Mass we’re reaquainted with the heroes of Delta-V, J.T., Jin, Ade, Isabel, Priya, and of course Lucas Rochat. They have a plan to save the people left behind on the Konstantin, but in order to do so they must help build a space station near the Moon, and start an unprecedented economic system independent of Earth. I won’t get into the details from fear of creating spoilers, and the whole thing is well-researched and executed by the author. Except for one thing, where he obviously did zero research: Global warming, the name for the 50 year old UN political campaign started by UNEP Founding director Maurice Strong in 1972. It was later changed to «climate change», maybe because the warming stopped, and they couldn’t explain it, because CO2 is still going up.
It doesn’t really matter which side you’re on. If you believe it’s the sun that controls the climate, or the slight increase in CO2, which is mostly from natural sources, by adding a political message to your novel, you stand to lose half your readers.
At least the author could’ve done some research on climate change. Then he would’ve known that his story is set in a period of very low solar activity. If you’re curious about the current grand solar minimum, lasting from 2023 to 2053, read about the Maunder Minimum and the research done by Valentina Zharkova.
Or maybe this is just another example of product placement? I’m sure the globalists of UN and WEF would be happy to have a famous novelist spreading their gospel.
Anyway, Critical Mass is saturated with political propaganda. Climate change is mentioned over 30 times, and I will never again read a book by this writer. When I pay good money for a book, I expect to be entertained, not bored to death with the same political dribble being presented in the mainstream media and during political rallies.
Writing this review has not been easy. I’ve been a fan of Suarez since reading Daemon back in 2013 when I was living in Beijing. I proceeded to read and love all his books. However, I noticed the decline in literary quality with the space mining novel Delta-V, which I read in 2020, just back from several months in Japan. I will try to be fair and provide the reasoning behind my opinion. First, about the series:
Delta-V is about strip mining asteroids, a topic I’m very interested in. Sooner or later we will have to, and it will also be the stepping stone to building habitats and ships to explore the rest of the Solar System and beyond. It’s about a billionaire, Nathan Joyce, who starts a company to mine asteroids. And to be the first one out there, he cuts some corners, bedazzles some money out of some investors, and starts training teams to go into space on an experimental mining ship.
What I love about Suarez is his eye for details, knowledge, and ability to do solid research. He’s also a great writer, but then I read this: «Baliceaux Island shed some light on Joyce's modus operandi. For centuries this place had been an undeveloped 320-acre speck in the Grenadines. Its rugged topography made development too costly for resorts and vacation buy-ers, but Joyce saw what others did not: the elevation necessary to cope with the rising seas of climate change.»
Yes, the climate is like the weather and the seasons, it changes. But there is no dramatic rise in sea level. If there was, do you think real world politicians and billionaires would keep buying beachfront properties, like our own Jens Stoltenberg, current leader of NATO? Or barack Obama, former POTUS?
And then there’s the product placements. We’re quite used to it from the movies, but now it has also entered books. While I don’t mind a moderate amount of embedded marketing, Suarez mentions the Chinese Car brand Polestar, owned by Geely in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, eight times.
In the sequel Critical Mass we’re reaquainted with the heroes of Delta-V, J.T., Jin, Ade, Isabel, Priya, and of course Lucas Rochat. They have a plan to save the people left behind on the Konstantin, but in order to do so they must help build a space station near the Moon, and start an unprecedented economic system independent of Earth. I won’t get into the details from fear of creating spoilers, and the whole thing is well-researched and executed by the author. Except for one thing, where he obviously did zero research: Global warming, the name for the 50 year old UN political campaign started by UNEP Founding director Maurice Strong in 1972. It was later changed to «climate change», maybe because the warming stopped, and they couldn’t explain it, because CO2 is still going up.
It doesn’t really matter which side you’re on. If you believe it’s the sun that controls the climate, or the slight increase in CO2, which is mostly from natural sources, by adding a political message to your novel, you stand to lose half your readers.
At least the author could’ve done some research on climate change. Then he would’ve known that his story is set in a period of very low solar activity. If you’re curious about the current grand solar minimum, lasting from 2023 to 2053, read about the Maunder Minimum and the research done by Valentina Zharkova.
Or maybe this is just another example of product placement? I’m sure the globalists of UN and WEF would be happy to have a famous novelist spreading their gospel.
Anyway, Critical Mass is saturated with political propaganda. Climate change is mentioned over 30 times, and I will never again read a book by this writer. When I pay good money for a book, I expect to be entertained, not bored to death with the same political dribble being presented in the mainstream media and during political rallies.
Read
March 2, 2023This sequel is not as exciting as the first book. The sources of tension and big ideas feel recycled. There's a whole chapters about cryptocurrency which was, frankly, hatable. I'm less interested in space politics, and more interested in space exploration! The only character doing hard core exploration did so outside the narrative, and this was only revealed at the end. Pretty disappointing.
October 22, 2023
3.5/5
In many ways, Critical Mass deserves the highest praise. My score may be unfair, but let me explain my reasoning. I loved the first book in the series for its thrilling and non-stop action and for adding some hard sci-fi elements to a near-future techno-thriller.
The sequel delves deeply into the science side of things and spends A LOT of time examining various technologies, potential lunar economy, interesting use of NFTs, new ways to help our planet, and evolution of medical treatments. It's all fascinating BUT the ratio between thriller and science is odd; once the story gains momentum and you want to know what happens next, you have to spend 5-20 pages learning about something.
Both parts (thriller and rescue mission vs science) are great. It's just I'm not sure if they work well in terms of balanced storytelling. Hard sci-fi fans will love it. Readers like me, who're here mainly for characters, can struggle from time to time.
In many ways, Critical Mass deserves the highest praise. My score may be unfair, but let me explain my reasoning. I loved the first book in the series for its thrilling and non-stop action and for adding some hard sci-fi elements to a near-future techno-thriller.
The sequel delves deeply into the science side of things and spends A LOT of time examining various technologies, potential lunar economy, interesting use of NFTs, new ways to help our planet, and evolution of medical treatments. It's all fascinating BUT the ratio between thriller and science is odd; once the story gains momentum and you want to know what happens next, you have to spend 5-20 pages learning about something.
Both parts (thriller and rescue mission vs science) are great. It's just I'm not sure if they work well in terms of balanced storytelling. Hard sci-fi fans will love it. Readers like me, who're here mainly for characters, can struggle from time to time.
December 23, 2023
Off to a great start, especially now that I'm past the initial political hugger-mugger, and into the serious space-station engineering! Good, old-fashioned nuts-and-bolts stuff. But up to date, right? Like, they are directly printing their space-station from the asteroid-mined raw materials. Whee!
Yes, asteroid Ryugu is a real place: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/162173_...
We have photos and samples, courtesy of a 2018-19 Japanese visit: "The samples showed the presence of organic compounds, such as uracil (one of the four components in RNA) and vitamin B3."
The novel loses focus in the final third. In particular, the block-chain/cryptocurrency stuff, while it advances the plot, is lumpy and leaden. Cost the book a half-star. Would have been nice to have a list of the many, many acronyms in the Appendix, too. The book sets a hook for the final third of a planned trilogy, and come to a nice stopping-place. A solid hard-SF and engineering tale, 4 stars for me. Suarez has clearly done his homework.
For background: Mining the Sky: Untold Riches From The Asteroids, Comets, And Planets
My 1998 review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Warms this old miner's heart . . . ⚒︎
Read
April 1, 2023Excellent conclusion to this duology about near-future/near-Earth space exploration. Good science, good characterization, and the views are always, well, cosmic.
November 25, 2022
This is the second book in a trio, the first book, Delta-V, introduced us to a group of astronauts in the not too distant future who travel to the edge of space to mine an asteroid for resources. It took months to get there and once there they had to build the machinery used to mine and ship back the resources. This book starts up where the previous left off, two astronauts were left at the asteroid, and the rest returned to Earth, a journey they were lucky to survive. Their intention is to return to the asteroid to rescue the two left behind. The space station used as a base while they mined the asteroid has been boarded by North Korean astronauts. The story switches to the people who had returned to Earth and their attempts to get back into space. This proves very difficult, none of the space authorities want to give them launch access or the material to build a spaceship to take them back. A lot of this book talks about climate change, how it's affecting weather, causing earthquakes, droughts, fires, etc, I found at times it was a little dry. The thrill part of this book I found a bit lacking, though I think the last book in this series will nicely tie all the dangling threads up. I would recommend this book, though I would also suggest reading the first book. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Dutton for the ARC.
April 20, 2023
This book isn't exactly a novel. It lays out a multi-year plan for how cislunar space might be colonized by humanity in the next several decades, and it does that beautifully. It has characters, and dialogue, and all that, so technically it is a novel, but it feels rather more like a dramatization of the author's vision for space exploration. The characters are often quite annoying, the main astronauts especially. If you're interested in space exploration, like I am, then there's still a lot to like here. If you're not, though, I'd stay away, because that's pretty much all this book has going for it.
August 7, 2023
Critical Mass is an OK book two in the Delta-V series. Suarez here writes mostly about the building of a space station orbiting earth to launch a mission to a comet. It is hard science fiction, with tech at todays level. I love the subject but still I find the story a bit slow going.
The author is old fashioned on politics, but does draw in modern technology like blockchains which freshens up the storytelling in a general rescue story that has been written many times before in various forms. The character building generally isn't of much interest to me, but seems pretty weak. Still I prefer to let others decide on that aspect of a story.
Being a fan of stories about present day space exploration I should like this book, but I only found it OK. Not a drag to finish but not a book I just had to keep reading. Competition is too tough in the hard SF genre for me to read any book 3 in this series.
The author is old fashioned on politics, but does draw in modern technology like blockchains which freshens up the storytelling in a general rescue story that has been written many times before in various forms. The character building generally isn't of much interest to me, but seems pretty weak. Still I prefer to let others decide on that aspect of a story.
Being a fan of stories about present day space exploration I should like this book, but I only found it OK. Not a drag to finish but not a book I just had to keep reading. Competition is too tough in the hard SF genre for me to read any book 3 in this series.
November 28, 2022
Things I liked:
The plot. This book has a terrific story. Climate Change is ravaging the Earth and its economy. Some far-thinking individuals are able to start mining an asteroid for materials and to begin a new way of achieving wealth that helps the planet.
The characters. As is currently true in space explorations, individuals from many countries are involved in the building of a space station near the moon, and I liked the three main characters, who survived a disaster and hope to rescue two colleagues who didn’t make it back from the asteroid.
The setting. The transition of a shell to a bustling space station is a vision I’d like to see happen. Also humans figuring out a way to save the planet before it is too late.
The thing I disliked:
The science. OMG the science. I watch a lot of Star Trek and am used to technobabble, but this story had so much hard science that I did not follow. I’m guessing that it is true or mostly true or theoretically true, so if you are an actual scientist you may love the science. I am not a scientist and was lost in the long descriptive passages about stuff I did not understand. Still, one can skim the science.
This book is the second book in a series, which I did not realize when I chose to read it. The first book is called Delta-V. Reading Delta-V first no doubt would have explained some things, but I don’t think reading it first is required. If you like Andy Weir and don’t mind even more science than is found in his books, you may enjoy Critical Mass.
I read an advance reader copy of Critical Mass from Netgalley.
The plot. This book has a terrific story. Climate Change is ravaging the Earth and its economy. Some far-thinking individuals are able to start mining an asteroid for materials and to begin a new way of achieving wealth that helps the planet.
The characters. As is currently true in space explorations, individuals from many countries are involved in the building of a space station near the moon, and I liked the three main characters, who survived a disaster and hope to rescue two colleagues who didn’t make it back from the asteroid.
The setting. The transition of a shell to a bustling space station is a vision I’d like to see happen. Also humans figuring out a way to save the planet before it is too late.
The thing I disliked:
The science. OMG the science. I watch a lot of Star Trek and am used to technobabble, but this story had so much hard science that I did not follow. I’m guessing that it is true or mostly true or theoretically true, so if you are an actual scientist you may love the science. I am not a scientist and was lost in the long descriptive passages about stuff I did not understand. Still, one can skim the science.
This book is the second book in a series, which I did not realize when I chose to read it. The first book is called Delta-V. Reading Delta-V first no doubt would have explained some things, but I don’t think reading it first is required. If you like Andy Weir and don’t mind even more science than is found in his books, you may enjoy Critical Mass.
I read an advance reader copy of Critical Mass from Netgalley.
February 19, 2023
Ah, the joy of a well written sci-fi book! Near earth exploration in the wake of the first attempt at asteroid mining. Very tech based, well written and a believable story line. Naturally, hopelessly simplified and streamlined and yet, the dream of going to space was palpable. And of course, the new cryptocurrency saves the financial system, and maybe even earth‘s quickly deteriorating climate.
all that being critically noted, this book condensed most of what I love about sci-fi into a pageturner and great sequel. I dearly hope that we will read more of CCE and the near future of solar system pioneering!
all that being critically noted, this book condensed most of what I love about sci-fi into a pageturner and great sequel. I dearly hope that we will read more of CCE and the near future of solar system pioneering!
August 19, 2023
Adventurous, challenging, dark, emotional, funny, hopeful, informative, inspiring, mysterious, reflective, sad, and tense.
Slow-paced, but it works.
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5 ⭐
The sequel to Delta-V is a VERY different story, but as you can see...I loved it just as much (not all will, though).
This was a LOT slower, but it also had a Sanderlanch type of crescendo near the end...that made it impossible to put down.
While reading this book, I thought of many other stories. I noted them in my notes (as I read), but I wanted to also go through them here...possibly giving it context.
The core of the beginning of this book...was the continuation of Delta-V (some even happening before the end of the previous book...giving us, the reader...the context of what was happening "out there".
Then the political and corporate nature of the struggle became more and more evident. This is when I started thinking about he AppleTV+ series called For All Mankind. We are greedy and narrow minded creatures (for the most part), but there ARE people among us...that think MORE about humanity as a whole...and NOT their OWN futures. This is when we see Prya and James go up against the world (essentially). At this point, very few people even knew about what they and the other six people had done in Delta-V and with the death of Joyce...it looked bleak that Earth would survive the mounting crisis, but that Prya and James could honour their vow to save their two friends left on the Konstantine.
THEN, the story shifted a bit...to show that there ARE people on Earth and in their group (former Joyce employees and friends of CCE...that were still around and WANTED to fulfill the outlandish mission of their crazy CEO/Founder.
Then I started seeing the Mars Trilogy type storyline, but instead of being on Mars, it was taking place outside of the moon, called L2. A space station that would be called Clarke Station. This venture happened because of the desire to save the two crew of the Konstantine that was still out there, but also as the footprint to humanity being able to save Earth, but also help humanity to reach OUTSIDE of the Earth...to the stars.
It wasn't generation (at this time), but it tells a multi-year story of people working against a time limit...to build the foundation for Earth's future, but also for the two crew members STILL (hopefully) on Konstantin. They really didn't know IF they were still alive, but DIDN'T want to NOT believe.
Obviously, struggle ensued. Nothing great happens without failures...and we witnessed numerous of them, but we ALSO saw/experienced the joy of overcoming these failures, too.
Then, another shift in the story happened...which was needed for the overall story, but was also a gamble. The setting up of the future of wealth/power OUTSIDE of Earth's ability/control. The idea of a Luna (Bitcoin) money and the usage of NFTs to support humanity's future OUTSIDE of just the rich...where ALL could invest in their own/humanity's future itself.
This part of the book reminded me of Malka Ann Older's Centenal Trilogy (Infomacracy, Null States and State Tectonics). It is heady reading within THIS book and the above trilogy, but one that (though above my total understanding), was explained enough to push the story forward.
Lastly, The Martain was brought to mind...one because something is linked with Mars (RAFO) and the other is the inverse of the rescue of the Konstantin crew happened by the love and dedication of people who NEVER give up.
I truly loved this book. It will not be for everyone, but the solid REALITY of the story points...makes it a near-future representation of what CAN happen in the progression towards The Expanse by James S.A. Corey...and hopefully towards a more utopian idea of mankind, which we see in our beloved Star Trek universe.
I do hope people pick up Daniel Suarez's books. He's got amazing concepts running through his head, along with the abiltiy to put it into words on a page...creating a plausible future for us.
Slow-paced, but it works.
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5 ⭐
The sequel to Delta-V is a VERY different story, but as you can see...I loved it just as much (not all will, though).
This was a LOT slower, but it also had a Sanderlanch type of crescendo near the end...that made it impossible to put down.
While reading this book, I thought of many other stories. I noted them in my notes (as I read), but I wanted to also go through them here...possibly giving it context.
The core of the beginning of this book...was the continuation of Delta-V (some even happening before the end of the previous book...giving us, the reader...the context of what was happening "out there".
Then the political and corporate nature of the struggle became more and more evident. This is when I started thinking about he AppleTV+ series called For All Mankind. We are greedy and narrow minded creatures (for the most part), but there ARE people among us...that think MORE about humanity as a whole...and NOT their OWN futures. This is when we see Prya and James go up against the world (essentially). At this point, very few people even knew about what they and the other six people had done in Delta-V and with the death of Joyce...it looked bleak that Earth would survive the mounting crisis, but that Prya and James could honour their vow to save their two friends left on the Konstantine.
THEN, the story shifted a bit...to show that there ARE people on Earth and in their group (former Joyce employees and friends of CCE...that were still around and WANTED to fulfill the outlandish mission of their crazy CEO/Founder.
Then I started seeing the Mars Trilogy type storyline, but instead of being on Mars, it was taking place outside of the moon, called L2. A space station that would be called Clarke Station. This venture happened because of the desire to save the two crew of the Konstantine that was still out there, but also as the footprint to humanity being able to save Earth, but also help humanity to reach OUTSIDE of the Earth...to the stars.
It wasn't generation (at this time), but it tells a multi-year story of people working against a time limit...to build the foundation for Earth's future, but also for the two crew members STILL (hopefully) on Konstantin. They really didn't know IF they were still alive, but DIDN'T want to NOT believe.
Obviously, struggle ensued. Nothing great happens without failures...and we witnessed numerous of them, but we ALSO saw/experienced the joy of overcoming these failures, too.
Then, another shift in the story happened...which was needed for the overall story, but was also a gamble. The setting up of the future of wealth/power OUTSIDE of Earth's ability/control. The idea of a Luna (Bitcoin) money and the usage of NFTs to support humanity's future OUTSIDE of just the rich...where ALL could invest in their own/humanity's future itself.
This part of the book reminded me of Malka Ann Older's Centenal Trilogy (Infomacracy, Null States and State Tectonics). It is heady reading within THIS book and the above trilogy, but one that (though above my total understanding), was explained enough to push the story forward.
Lastly, The Martain was brought to mind...one because something is linked with Mars (RAFO) and the other is the inverse of the rescue of the Konstantin crew happened by the love and dedication of people who NEVER give up.
I truly loved this book. It will not be for everyone, but the solid REALITY of the story points...makes it a near-future representation of what CAN happen in the progression towards The Expanse by James S.A. Corey...and hopefully towards a more utopian idea of mankind, which we see in our beloved Star Trek universe.
I do hope people pick up Daniel Suarez's books. He's got amazing concepts running through his head, along with the abiltiy to put it into words on a page...creating a plausible future for us.
December 8, 2023
Von diesem 2. Band der Delta-v-Trilogie von Daniel Suarez war ich absolut begeistert, da er die Weltraum-Zukunft, die real gerade beginnt (siehe Starship von SpaceX oder New Glenn von Blue Origin etc.) vorwegnimmt, aber auch die Bekämfung des Klimawandels beschreibt und das alles möglichst realitätsnah. Was die technischen Innovationen angeht, bin ich sehr sicher, dass das alles in sich geschlossen und machbar ist, wenn man es nur will. Er entwirft in diesem Buch nichts weniger, als eine mögliche positive Zukunft der Menschheit von unserer aktuellen Misere heraus. Dass auch noch ein hervorragender Space Thriller dabei herausgekommen ist, trägt zu meiner Zufriedenheit bei.
Ich bin jetzt schon sehr gespannt auf den 3. Teil des Epos und kann es kaum erwarten...
Ich bin jetzt schon sehr gespannt auf den 3. Teil des Epos und kann es kaum erwarten...
June 5, 2023
Excellent continuation of the story, with plenty of action and character development. It still surprises me, however, that this is very much hard sci-fi, unlike the techno thrillers that Suarez is known for. Once again, I'm going to draw parallel with Ben Bova's Grand Tour series, especially the earlier novels.
March 31, 2024
Sehr gute Fortsetzung des ersten Teils. Suarez versucht genial die derzeitigen Möglichkeiten der Weltraumbesiedlung weiterzuspinnen. Absolut Hörens(Lesens)wert für HardSF-Fans.
April 29, 2023
Apparently space-engineering-drama is a whole sub-category at this point, but Suarez is the right author for the job
July 22, 2024
Friendship, love, loyalty, freedom, dedication, space, crypto. My perfect modern sci-fi
March 19, 2023
I was excited to read Critical Mass but quickly realized after a couple of chapters in that it was a sequel with Delta-V being the first book. Delta-V looked interesting and sounded like something I’d really like so I purchased it and devoured it.
I really loved the premise of the challenges of training, of being selected, and being the first asteroid miners in deep space. The science wasn’t too overwhelming even though it was hard Sci-Fi and I really enjoyed the camaraderie of the characters. This first book was full of action and lots of space adventures.
Critical Mass picks up right after Delta-V with 3 of the miners trying to make it back into space to build a new ship to get back to the asteroid. (Trying not to do spoilers here.)
I almost had to DNF this book. Most of the book was about science, technology, economics, politics, climate change, and cryptocurrency and for me, it was just too much. I barely understood about a 10th of it. The characters had almost no screen time. When they did, it was definitely exciting and had my attention. But it was far and few between all of the technical jargon.
I loved the premise and the possibilities of the space technology. I just wish I didn’t have to slog through the rest to get to the good stuff.
I’m sure there are many out there who love all the techno babble and who understand it much more than I did. Overall, I am glad I hung in there to find out what happened at the end.
*Thanks so much to Penguin Group Dutton and to NetGalley for the advance copy.*
I really loved the premise of the challenges of training, of being selected, and being the first asteroid miners in deep space. The science wasn’t too overwhelming even though it was hard Sci-Fi and I really enjoyed the camaraderie of the characters. This first book was full of action and lots of space adventures.
Critical Mass picks up right after Delta-V with 3 of the miners trying to make it back into space to build a new ship to get back to the asteroid. (Trying not to do spoilers here.)
I almost had to DNF this book. Most of the book was about science, technology, economics, politics, climate change, and cryptocurrency and for me, it was just too much. I barely understood about a 10th of it. The characters had almost no screen time. When they did, it was definitely exciting and had my attention. But it was far and few between all of the technical jargon.
I loved the premise and the possibilities of the space technology. I just wish I didn’t have to slog through the rest to get to the good stuff.
I’m sure there are many out there who love all the techno babble and who understand it much more than I did. Overall, I am glad I hung in there to find out what happened at the end.
*Thanks so much to Penguin Group Dutton and to NetGalley for the advance copy.*
July 27, 2023
It saddened my heart I can only give this newest novel of Suarez 3 stars. I had high hopes after the first in the series, expecting near future science and characters to tell the tale of space faring in a changing world. And we got that in the somewhat flat start. We are reengaging with the stranded austronauts on the Konstantin, a nice snapshot of Lekoswski and the state of Tighe. But the story telling through characters got me interested. But then the novel goes in a more documentary telling mode, which intensified even more in space. No more character development, just descriptions of temporal states spanning a couple of years. And I think this was hurting the character flow. Sure, the mechanics and science were cool, but it would have been far more interesting to really join the characters in their head during their happenings go through the story instead by a universal narrator. The adversary parties in the book were under developed and drives for events not always played out well. For example, global collapse was just given in 1 page, while conversations about rescuing two comrades in a few years were just way overplayed.
In the end, I got a feeling that the world building was top notch, but the story would have been so much better if all elements would have been covered through characters instead of universal narration. 3.5 stars rounded down.
In the end, I got a feeling that the world building was top notch, but the story would have been so much better if all elements would have been covered through characters instead of universal narration. 3.5 stars rounded down.
May 17, 2023
I waited a long time to read this sequel, but yes, it was worth it. Lacking some of the surprise of the initial story, this one yet caps the first with a tremendously triumphant tone whilst not shying away from ethical and moral issues.
February 24, 2023
This was one of those books hard to put down...sad when it ended as I wanted it to continue! Eagerly awaiting the third book in the series...
February 4, 2023
It still amazes me that Daniel Suarez is not a household name. A former systems consultant to Fortune 1000 companies, he has continued to produce thought-provoking and highly engaging fiction with each novel he has written being unique. His latest novel, CRITICAL MASS, clearly draws upon the work he did with NASA as it is an outer space sci-fi adventure/thriller set in the near future with a very plausible plotline.
CRITICAL MASS is set between the years 2038 and 2042 and is the second novel in the Delta-V Series that Suarez introduced to us last year. The action begins with an unsanctioned commercially owned asteroid mining ship named the Konstantin. The ship was the byproduct of a tech billionaire named Nathan Joyce who has since committed suicide. As a result of that act, an associate of his named Dr. Erika Lisowski is called before a government panel, questioning her on the tasks assigned to the small crew of this ship and the unfortunate outcome that ended up costing other lives in deep space.
A critical mission ends up with two members of that crew being stranded, in a moment that is quite reminiscent of Andy Weir’s THE MARTIAN. Since planet earth is all but consumed with geo-political and climate change issues, all funding for space missions have ground to a halt. Throw renewed Cold War-like fears into the mix and you have a real pot-boiler on terra firma. In order to rescue the stranded crew members, the rest of their team will need to launch their own completely unsanctioned rescue. The outcome of this rescue is completely uncertain and the risk factor quite high. Thus, we have the opportunity to enjoy Daniel Suarez’s skill for creating suspense in high-tech situations as this one definitely qualifies.
What really drives this novel is how scarily plausible everything Suarez creates is. It seems that every character in the novel, from the principles to those playing more supporting roles, have their own agendas and opinions which are not always in line with one another. This depiction of red tape at such a high level is certainly something anyone who follows our current political or government landscape is used to and Suarez utilizes this tactic to great extents. The rescue itself is stunning with plenty of thrills to please readers seeking high-octane charged moments. The thing that really makes the narrative sing and work so well is the intricate but humbly detailed scientific and technical information that is so seamlessly woven within these pages. I was particularly amazed and intrigued by the socio-economic climate on earth that was forcing us to mine and prepare the moon for possible occupancy.
As further proof of the details suggested within CRITICAL MASS, Daniel Suarez provides a list of further reading suggestions at the end of the book. This gives instant credibility to everything he recounted within his story and should appeal to those readers who wish to deep dive further into this subject matter for their own edification. CRITICAL MASS is another hybrid success for Suarez and continues his string of exciting and informative novels.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
CRITICAL MASS is set between the years 2038 and 2042 and is the second novel in the Delta-V Series that Suarez introduced to us last year. The action begins with an unsanctioned commercially owned asteroid mining ship named the Konstantin. The ship was the byproduct of a tech billionaire named Nathan Joyce who has since committed suicide. As a result of that act, an associate of his named Dr. Erika Lisowski is called before a government panel, questioning her on the tasks assigned to the small crew of this ship and the unfortunate outcome that ended up costing other lives in deep space.
A critical mission ends up with two members of that crew being stranded, in a moment that is quite reminiscent of Andy Weir’s THE MARTIAN. Since planet earth is all but consumed with geo-political and climate change issues, all funding for space missions have ground to a halt. Throw renewed Cold War-like fears into the mix and you have a real pot-boiler on terra firma. In order to rescue the stranded crew members, the rest of their team will need to launch their own completely unsanctioned rescue. The outcome of this rescue is completely uncertain and the risk factor quite high. Thus, we have the opportunity to enjoy Daniel Suarez’s skill for creating suspense in high-tech situations as this one definitely qualifies.
What really drives this novel is how scarily plausible everything Suarez creates is. It seems that every character in the novel, from the principles to those playing more supporting roles, have their own agendas and opinions which are not always in line with one another. This depiction of red tape at such a high level is certainly something anyone who follows our current political or government landscape is used to and Suarez utilizes this tactic to great extents. The rescue itself is stunning with plenty of thrills to please readers seeking high-octane charged moments. The thing that really makes the narrative sing and work so well is the intricate but humbly detailed scientific and technical information that is so seamlessly woven within these pages. I was particularly amazed and intrigued by the socio-economic climate on earth that was forcing us to mine and prepare the moon for possible occupancy.
As further proof of the details suggested within CRITICAL MASS, Daniel Suarez provides a list of further reading suggestions at the end of the book. This gives instant credibility to everything he recounted within his story and should appeal to those readers who wish to deep dive further into this subject matter for their own edification. CRITICAL MASS is another hybrid success for Suarez and continues his string of exciting and informative novels.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
February 28, 2023
This near-future space novel walks a line that I appreciate. On the one hand it is carefully multicultural, with strong female characters, casting plenty of shade on space billionaires and bureaucrats and diplomats in equal measure, and acknowledging the grave danger our planet it is in environmentally, economically, climatologically, and geopolitically. On the other hand the novel is very pro-technology, pro-science, and "pro-hero," an homage to strong steely-eyed imperfect but brave women and men who would rather climb mountains and fly rockets and mine asteroids than plan meetings and build collaborative networks. The heroes have the Right Stuff for the present moment... maybe to a fault.
Importantly, Critical Mass is a sequel to the author's earlier novel Delta-V (which I think should be read first). I read the novels some years apart and had a little trouble getting my head back into the story, after the somewhat ambiguous but still satisfying conclusion to Delta-V. Critical Mass picks right up as a continuation of the previous story (some ambiguities slowly resolved), and without any discrete recap of where things stood before. The basics of the prior story came back to me well enough, but I probably missed some character nuances that would've given me more appreciation for the sequel.
While Delta-V is about elite astronaut training and a secret expedition to the Asteroid Belt, Critical Mass is about recovering from the trauma of that years-long adventure while semi-secretly building a renegade private industrial presence in "Cislunar Space"... solar power satellites, lunar mass drivers, nuclear rockets, even finding roles for CRISPR and cryptocurrency... and heroes who beg forgiveness rather than ask permission, and usually get away with it. There is a lot of what some might call "technology fetish"-- lots of words and pages that describe how technology and engineering works, so that you can appreciate what can also go wrong when it does. But if you don't enjoy that sort of thing, and if you don't simply appreciate the surreal beauty of big shiny human-built objects in space (even when just described in print), you might get impatient with this story.
But for me it harkened back to reading near-future space novels of the 1960s and 70s, back when that "future" was still unfolding in a way that would surely lead to space stations, moonbases, and missions to Mars by the mid-eighties, and I was young and naïve about the way of the world and our manifest destiny. That is a sci-fi literary mythos that might be almost extinct, so finding it is sort of nostalgic, endearing, even if I can't quite suspend my disbelief that all the grand space-tech ideas are actually going to work well enough, despite the inevitable flaws of our species, to lift us up to the High Frontier, while saving the Earth in the process.
I suspect another sequel is on the way, given another glint of ambiguity in this conclusion, and I look forward to it.
Importantly, Critical Mass is a sequel to the author's earlier novel Delta-V (which I think should be read first). I read the novels some years apart and had a little trouble getting my head back into the story, after the somewhat ambiguous but still satisfying conclusion to Delta-V. Critical Mass picks right up as a continuation of the previous story (some ambiguities slowly resolved), and without any discrete recap of where things stood before. The basics of the prior story came back to me well enough, but I probably missed some character nuances that would've given me more appreciation for the sequel.
While Delta-V is about elite astronaut training and a secret expedition to the Asteroid Belt, Critical Mass is about recovering from the trauma of that years-long adventure while semi-secretly building a renegade private industrial presence in "Cislunar Space"... solar power satellites, lunar mass drivers, nuclear rockets, even finding roles for CRISPR and cryptocurrency... and heroes who beg forgiveness rather than ask permission, and usually get away with it. There is a lot of what some might call "technology fetish"-- lots of words and pages that describe how technology and engineering works, so that you can appreciate what can also go wrong when it does. But if you don't enjoy that sort of thing, and if you don't simply appreciate the surreal beauty of big shiny human-built objects in space (even when just described in print), you might get impatient with this story.
But for me it harkened back to reading near-future space novels of the 1960s and 70s, back when that "future" was still unfolding in a way that would surely lead to space stations, moonbases, and missions to Mars by the mid-eighties, and I was young and naïve about the way of the world and our manifest destiny. That is a sci-fi literary mythos that might be almost extinct, so finding it is sort of nostalgic, endearing, even if I can't quite suspend my disbelief that all the grand space-tech ideas are actually going to work well enough, despite the inevitable flaws of our species, to lift us up to the High Frontier, while saving the Earth in the process.
I suspect another sequel is on the way, given another glint of ambiguity in this conclusion, and I look forward to it.
January 27, 2023
I have a love-hate relationship with the genre of "science fiction." On the one hand, I love it because it can represent the best of humanity's ability to dream and imagine the future. On the other hand, it can be such a broad genre that publishers are willing to call anything sci-fi that has even the most minimal "science vibe." There's very little that could be called "science" in Marvel movies, Star Wars, etc., but they're still considered sci-fi even though they're more "space fantasy" than anything.
Daniel Suarez's new novel, Critical Mass, the follow-up to his 2019 Delta-V, is delightfully science-y to the extent that I'd almost categorize it as "eng-fi" or something. He clearly takes great joy in thinking through the question, "How could human beings plausibly get a foothold in space?" Delta-V begins to answer that question with, "asteroid mining," but his new novel follows upon that by trying to imagine what a sustainable space-based resource economy might look like.
One of my favorite sci-fi series, The Expanse by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, sits in a similar spot in that it realistically depicts what a multi-planetary human civilization could look like. One of the things I've always wished for was a sort of "prequel series" to The Expanse that details how humans get from Point A (now) to Point B (a couple hundred years in the future where human beings are eking out lives on rocks in space). I'm happy to say that Suarez's books largely fill that gap for me, and I hope that he keeps it going.
One weakness of Critical Mass is that he sometimes spends so much time on the science and engineering problems at hand that the plot and characterizations suffer. Indeed, I found the first handful of chapters (that are largely about the characters and their lives back on earth) to be rather stilted and slow going. But when they finally get up into space, it's clear that Suarez is getting to the part that he's really interested in.
Another weakness of the plot (at least in my opinion) is how much Suarez makes of blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies and NFTs figure prominently, and it feels rather obvious that the book was mostly written before the massive crypto crashes of 2022. At one point he tries to distance his use of NFTs from the laughingstock they've become by saying something to the effect that they've matured quite a bit since the silly uses of the early 21st century. The overall effect of crypto in the book, though, is that it simply makes it harder to suspend disbelief.
All that said, I did enjoy the book on its own terms. I've read better plots and I've connected with more richly-detailed characters, but the appeal of the book (for me) was simply the engineering curiosity Suarez puts down on paper. I found his depiction of a fledgling space economy to be for the most part compelling and plausible!
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of a fair, unbiased review.
February 4, 2023
Note: I received this book from Good Reads for a review.
An entrepreneur has financed a mining ship to the asteroid Ryugu some time in the near future. The purpose is extract resources and send them to cislunar orbit, where they can be harvested and used to set up an independent economy. As the book begins, this mission has been underway for some time, and three of the original astronauts have died. Three more have been sent back to earth to get help, on a ship that may or may not actually make it, leaving the two remaining crew members on the ship to continue mining and, hopefully, await rescue. An unknown spacecraft appears, docks and lands a crew, which turns out to be a Korean mission to take over the operation. That's the introduction. The three crew members sent back to earth do survive, and despite American, Russian and Chinese attempts to get the valuable material from them, they manage to get to the moon where a space station has been under construction with the materials. They manage to build an entire economy on this station, despite problems with the three super powers on Earth, and begin construction on a rescue ship to hopefully, return the the asteroid and rescue the remaining crew when the launch window opens again. This is just the mere outline of part of what this book is about. It's a great story, and a great read. Like "The Martian", it should be considered "hard" science fiction, because everything described is actually possible, based on physics as we currently know them. In other words, there's no "hyper-" or "warp-" drive, since such things don't, and, to our knowledge will probably never exist. For fans of really good, serious and logical science fiction, this book is highly recommended. If you want dragons, look elsewhere.
An entrepreneur has financed a mining ship to the asteroid Ryugu some time in the near future. The purpose is extract resources and send them to cislunar orbit, where they can be harvested and used to set up an independent economy. As the book begins, this mission has been underway for some time, and three of the original astronauts have died. Three more have been sent back to earth to get help, on a ship that may or may not actually make it, leaving the two remaining crew members on the ship to continue mining and, hopefully, await rescue. An unknown spacecraft appears, docks and lands a crew, which turns out to be a Korean mission to take over the operation. That's the introduction. The three crew members sent back to earth do survive, and despite American, Russian and Chinese attempts to get the valuable material from them, they manage to get to the moon where a space station has been under construction with the materials. They manage to build an entire economy on this station, despite problems with the three super powers on Earth, and begin construction on a rescue ship to hopefully, return the the asteroid and rescue the remaining crew when the launch window opens again. This is just the mere outline of part of what this book is about. It's a great story, and a great read. Like "The Martian", it should be considered "hard" science fiction, because everything described is actually possible, based on physics as we currently know them. In other words, there's no "hyper-" or "warp-" drive, since such things don't, and, to our knowledge will probably never exist. For fans of really good, serious and logical science fiction, this book is highly recommended. If you want dragons, look elsewhere.
January 25, 2023
Would give this closer to 3.5 stars if I could.
After reading through some other reviews, it seems I wasn't the only one surprised to find out Critical Mass is a sequel to Delta-V (which I hadn't yet read, but eventually paused this book to do so). I also didn't know until finishing this book that there will eventually be a third title in this series.
I'd put this book/series (so far) somewhere between Andy Weir and Neal Stephenson (specifically Seveneves) on the 'hard sci-fi' spectrum.
While I generally enjoy Daniel Suarez's books, and liked this one just fine, it (more so than Delta-V) just didn't quite feel distinctly like a Daniel Suarez book, though I can't really articulate why. It's possible I'd have a different opinion if I'd known while reading that Critical Mass is the middle of a trilogy.
Had I realized this was a sequel to a book I hadn't read, I might not have requested it. But now that I've read both Delta-V and Critical Mass, I'll be seeking out the next book in the series, whenever it's available.
*Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC*
After reading through some other reviews, it seems I wasn't the only one surprised to find out Critical Mass is a sequel to Delta-V (which I hadn't yet read, but eventually paused this book to do so). I also didn't know until finishing this book that there will eventually be a third title in this series.
I'd put this book/series (so far) somewhere between Andy Weir and Neal Stephenson (specifically Seveneves) on the 'hard sci-fi' spectrum.
While I generally enjoy Daniel Suarez's books, and liked this one just fine, it (more so than Delta-V) just didn't quite feel distinctly like a Daniel Suarez book, though I can't really articulate why. It's possible I'd have a different opinion if I'd known while reading that Critical Mass is the middle of a trilogy.
Had I realized this was a sequel to a book I hadn't read, I might not have requested it. But now that I've read both Delta-V and Critical Mass, I'll be seeking out the next book in the series, whenever it's available.
*Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC*
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