This was a delightful surprise. A near-future techno-thriller with a light touch of steel-hard sci-fi, Corsair feels like it's written by Tom Clancy's mischievous, anarchist kid sister or brother. This is a compliment, by the way. Whereas Clancy's characters would be stodgy and politically unpleasant, Cambias' are cheerfully amoral and chaotic, and the story is at its heart one of cops and robbers. Even when things get serious and nasty - and they do - the book never quite loses the feel of a dynamic adventure story.
Not a page is wasted and the conclusion is immensely satisfying.
Reviews and Comments
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dare rated Marsin salaisuus: 3 stars
Seppo Harjulehto: Marsin salaisuus (Finnish language, 1974, Otava)
Marsin salaisuus by Seppo Harjulehto (Otavan nuortenkirjoja)
Tau Zero by Poul Anderson
Poul Anderson's Tau Zero is an outstanding work of science fiction, in part because it combines two qualities that are …
dare rated Seitsemän veljestä: 4 stars
dare rated Azure bonds: 3 stars
Azure bonds by Kate Novak
Her name is Alias, and she is in big trouble. She is a sell-sword, a warrior-for-hire, and an adventuress. She …
dare reviewed Corsair by James L. Cambias
Review of 'Corsair' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
dare rated World of Trouble: 4 stars
World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters (The Last Policeman, #3)
"With the doomsday asteroid looming, Detective Hank Palace has found sanctuary in the woods of New England, secure in a …
dare rated Countdown city: 4 stars
Countdown city by Ben H. Winters (The Last Policeman, #2)
Set three months before a deadly asteroid is due to hit Earth, this Last Policeman sequel chronicles the further adventures …
dare reviewed The Last Policeman: A Novel by Ben H. Winters
What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway?
Detective …
Review of 'The Last Policeman: A Novel' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book gave me nightmares, a first in fifteen years or so. The Last Policeman is essentially a bleak and relentless story about waiting for the end of the world. It's essentially asking "what's the point" and not pretending to provide any easy answers. When total destruction looms in a few months, and there's nothing you can do to affect any of it, no sane hope that it will be miraculously averted, what does one crime matter? What does anything matter?
If the novel was about existential navel-gazing. it would be unreadable. With a proactive and symphatetic protagonist who wants to survive despite everything, and who still wants to act like a human being, Last Policeman is chilling in its believability. It got under my skin in a way I hardly thought possible. I have no idea if the book was really that good or it was just me.
dare rated The Darkside War: 3 stars
The Darkside War by Zachary Brown (Icarus Corps -- book one)
"For ages, people have looked at the stars and wondered if we were alone in the universe. Now we damn …
dare rated Climbing Free: 4 stars
dare reviewed Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
There are no heroes, only villains. My father believed that a hero was going to …
Review of 'Steelheart' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Superman exists, and he's got to die.
A breathless bid-budget action romp of a dystopian superhero story set in a Terminator-esque nightmarish future. Ten years ago something called Calamity created superhumans, "Epics", every single one of which is a power-hungry, murderous tyrant. The protagonists are a bunch of normal humans, admitted terrorists whose aim is to murder the Epics right back. In particular, they are out to get Steelheart, one of the most powerful and dangerous of the Epics. Of course, he's supposed to be practically unkillable.
This is probably one of the most uncertain four stars I've given. On a different day I might have been annoyed by many of the details that I now decided to celebrate. I did like the relentlessly bleak approach, the interesting take on morality and the engaging visuals. Even the hypercompetent gun-crazy narrator kid was enjoyable, because in spite of all the impressive …
Superman exists, and he's got to die.
A breathless bid-budget action romp of a dystopian superhero story set in a Terminator-esque nightmarish future. Ten years ago something called Calamity created superhumans, "Epics", every single one of which is a power-hungry, murderous tyrant. The protagonists are a bunch of normal humans, admitted terrorists whose aim is to murder the Epics right back. In particular, they are out to get Steelheart, one of the most powerful and dangerous of the Epics. Of course, he's supposed to be practically unkillable.
This is probably one of the most uncertain four stars I've given. On a different day I might have been annoyed by many of the details that I now decided to celebrate. I did like the relentlessly bleak approach, the interesting take on morality and the engaging visuals. Even the hypercompetent gun-crazy narrator kid was enjoyable, because in spite of all the impressive stunts he kept pulling, he still felt constantly out of his depth and scared witless.
Some of the logic feels a bit shaky at times, the characterisation can be hit-and-miss, and the excellent premise isn't taken quite as far as I'd have liked. On the other hand, I thought I knew what was going to happen from the prologue onwards, but it turned out to be just a red herring. I'm also eager to start on the next one in the series, which has to count for more than any minor nitpicks.
dare reviewed Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld (Zeroes trilogy -- book 1)
Ethan (A.K.A. Scam) has a way with words. When he opens his mouth, whatever he …
Review of 'Zeros' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Powers. Personalities. Society. These are the three pillars of a good superhero story, and Zeroes builds them strong. The powers of our heroes are well-defined and understandable, yet unique - none of the standard cookie-cutter fare here. The characters are interesting and likeable, and you want to root for them even when they do stupid or hurtful things. And the world around them reacts to them, puts them in difficult situations and doesn't give them an easy way out.
Zeroes is a delight. Of course I love superheroes, but I can easily recommend Zeroes even to those the genre normally leaves cold. The plot is simple in the best possible way: no convoluted conspiracies, just normal and not-so-normal people who want things, and end up in confilct because of this.