Genre: Near Future
Techno-thriller
Description:
The Earth is about to be blown to bits (not
really a spoiler, as this information is in the first sentence of the Prologue).
There is an asteroid which has been captured by Space Corps Inc to be mined for
rare minerals required for faster-than-light space flight, but is instead about
to be cut into chunks for use as missiles.
Humanity is on the cusp of being able to
‘escape the surly bonds of Earth’ as the poet says. Anshar, as the asteroid has
been named, was supposed to enable that but (mwah ha ha) a lunatic has taken
over the project and several major cities are obliterated before anyone can do
anything sensible.
The book cuts between various points of view
and locations to convey to the reader how and why things have come to this
pass. Also, who is trying to prevent the destruction set in motion, and how
they are going about it.
The sense of panic thus induced in the
reader is way past ‘page turning’. I couldn’t put this down.
Author:
McDowell is a software engineer and
technologist. He has worked at top Silicon Valley tech companies and has a
Masters degree in Information Management and Systems. He makes excellent use of
this knowledge and skill in his fiction. He is a talented writer. As a reader
one quickly acquires that confidence in the writing, essential for this kind of
tale, that the whizz-bang ride he is taking one on is not going to blow a
gasket mid-story.
Appraisal:
This is an excellent, fast-paced, thriller.
The author is well-versed in current and near-future tech, and laces the books
with oodles of drones, HUDs, brain implants, and IT things we haven’t even
imagined yet. McDowell, however, has imagined them. And he knows how to deploy
them on the page. Hopefully not in the real world or we’re all doomed.
The strength of the story isn’t in its
plotting, to be fair. It is a standard ‘end of the world as we know it’
scenario. But the characters are drawn vividly and larger than life, and the
tension is kept at ‘twang’ pitch throughout. This would make a super action
movie. There is never a dull moment. And just when you think the story is
coming in for a soft landing – whee! It takes off again.
The book is not only a wild ride, it has
plenty to say about where we’re actually heading, environmentally and
technologically. It includes IT/AI and security corporations which seem all too
familiar, and which have no ESG whatsoever in their structure. Inter alia
it asks that all-important question ‘just because we can, should we?’
Thoroughly recommended, if you like hard,
near future, SF.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
Plenty of cussing
Format/Typo
Issues:
A few continuity issues. You won’t have time
to worry about them.
Rating: *****
Five Stars
Reviewed
by: Judi Moore
Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words
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