Daniel Suarez’s hugely impressive Delta-v...fuses the real world with sci-fi, giving the space genre a new boost and new hope ... The philosophy of Nathan Joyce, Mr. Suarez’s financier-hero, is to send humans up to solve problems on the spot that pre-programmed AIs couldn’t. The risks they run provide the narrative excitement: technical failures and rival billionaire-projects in space, creditor takeovers and angry governments back on earth. Even more exciting, though, is the sense of what could and can be done ... This is the High Frontier for financiers and politicians as well as for fans.
Author Daniel Suarez has slowly gotten quite a reputation as a master of high-tech, sci-fi thrillers. Not only is Delta-v no exception, it very well may be his finest work to date ... Daniel Suarez has combined cutting-edge sci-fi with all the components of a great thriller, leading to spectacular results. He utilizes both aerospace and political themes, each rife with all the pitfalls and surprises that come with them. Throughout his career, Suarez has found consistent comparison to the late, great Michael Crichton. I can assuredly support that he is in a very small group of current writers who can carry that weighty mantle forward.
Readers are taunted a couple of times with the vision of a novel about colonizing Mars, but what they get instead is a big, boisterous book about mining an asteroid in order to shore up banking collateral. The mission is intensely predictable; Tighe himself an action-hero mannikin; the Act Three surprise isn’t actually surprising; and there are stretches of operational chatter ... very little in Delta-v should work. But Suarez is an old and practiced hand at creating silk purses out of sow cave divers. Delta-v never falters because it never doubts its own storytelling virtue; it’s a purely silly and purely effective thriller, exactly the kind of plot-driven potboiler that would once have been put before the reading public in a $3 paperback with an eye-catching cover.
Compared to his other works, Suarez’s latest is a little lighter on the actual science ... his latest offers only enough information to make the story plausible enough, before ramping up the entertainment and suspense. Tighe is a solid protagionist, though readers won’t learn most of his past until a little ways into the book (the same is true for the other characters as well), and the pacing is fast enough to keep readers engaged ... That said, the plot suffers a tad from obvious twits, and while some of the suspense hinges on loyalties and truth-seeking, veteran readers will likely see the end game coming a mile away. That doesn’t mean it won’t still be an enjoyable read, Suarez is a fine writer, but even so, the mystery element does lack some punch. Overall, Suarez manages to build a fun universe with a diverse cast of characters that sci-fi and technothriller fans will enjoy, even if they know where the story is going before it gets there.
As well as delivering the expected action, Suarez explores the very real possibility that one day soon corporations will take space away from NASA and turn it into capitalism’s new frontier. A gripping and realistic near-future thriller.
...uneven ... The overly long description...slows the action without deepening characterizations ... Suarez does his usual fine job of integrating hard science into the plot, but this effort lacks the impact of his prior books. Readers will hope for a return to form next time.
Suarez's...ability to keep things humming through low-key stretches as well as dramatic sequences reflects his skills as a writer. He makes a curious choice in quickly dropping the sexual tension arising from group showers, among other nude encounters. But Suarez is otherwise in admirable control. A cut above most tech novels, Suarez's latest benefits from his attention to detail, which boosts the believability of his futuristic vision
