What do you think?
Rate this book
Rampart Worlds #1
Perseus Spur
1st edition Harper Collins Voyager 1998 1st printing hardcover original, fine book in fine dw - We have traded for 20+ yearsIn stock shipped from our UK warehouse Each Book is in a protective clear bag, well packaged and normally sent out within 24 ho
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
24 people are currently reading
436 people want to read
About the author
Julian May
201 books591 followersJulian May was an American science fiction, fantasy, horror, science and children's writer who also used several pseudonyms including Ian Thorne, Lee N. Falconer and many others.
Some 1960's and 1970's biographies and children's science books may belong to Julian May (the science fiction & fantasy writer) profile but no reliable source has been found
Per Encyclopedia.com, May wrote juvenile science non-fiction along with the science fiction novels for adults. (https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/edu...)
Some 1960's and 1970's biographies and children's science books may belong to Julian May (the science fiction & fantasy writer) profile but no reliable source has been found
Per Encyclopedia.com, May wrote juvenile science non-fiction along with the science fiction novels for adults. (https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/edu...)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
September 15, 2017
Dynamic enough to be entertaining. Picturesque enough to satisfy even the most hardened sci-fi lovers.
October 30, 2023
Where to even begin?
This is one of the rare occasions where a book could not have been good from the outset. Neither premise nor execution convinced me. This merited two stars, one only given for an honestly absurd level of cliché amalgamation which made me laugh out loud at times. I suppose that counts as entertainment.
The premise: Space cowboy, disgraced son-of-CEO-of-interstellar-mining?-corporation and definitely some kind of 1980's action hero Asahel Frost alias Helmut Icicle (really?) hangs out, sports diving on random Maldives-like planet in this franchise's outer rim. His sports diving is mentioned ad nauseam, potentially because we as readers are assumed to be attracted by such virtuous pursuits? Oh shoot, his house gets eaten. Oh shoot, someone tried to kill him. 100 pages of corporate meetings follow. Halfway through the novel, CE-daddy-O appoints baby boy to be in charge of hunting down the killers/kidnappers of his older sister. It is unclear what qualifications our protagonist brings to the table, which is repeatedly mentioned by minor (read: lesser) female characters who ultimately end up accepting his authority without question, for equally nebulous reasons.
Reinstated to his former greatness (which consists, I must emphasize, exclusively in his being a son of a rich and influential family), he goes traveling Solo-style across the galaxy, accompanied by two executive-assistants-more-like-stooges. Of course they figure out the big alien conspiracy, fueled by a competing company (evil – not like Daddy’s company, whose big money orientation is clearly Just Good Business Sense). They get kidnapped, some action with the Girl ™ ensues (whose skin is described as cinnamon on at least four different occasions). Our hero (who, at times, reminded me to a large extent of former presidents’ children) figures it out, blasters shoot, people die. He goes back and hangs out in his beach house with the Girl ™.
The execution: Siri, define “haphazard”. The pace was ridiculously off at times – a variety of board meetings is described in excruciating detail, but when we get to the uncovering of The Big Conspiracy, everything must be tied up in like 50 pages. There are few to no scenes evoking real emotion – a price to be paid for a Cool Diver Guy taking up most of the novel’s space (get it…). The dialogue feels inauthentic, every corporate guy is the same boring late-90’s lawyer’s show side character, the alien worlds do not even come close to exhausting any narrative potential (in a particularly memorable scene, a human-inhabited alien world suburb is described as reminiscent of Topeka, Kansas – yes, the point is made that this is boring, but the passage still begs the question why a new planet with fully new fictive potentialities is introduced if its whole point is blandness).
Worse, still: The entire novel is peppered with pop culture references I can only assume were somewhat comprehensible to a late 90’s audience. There is no explanation why they are still equally applicable 230 years into the future, an oversight so transparent that it becomes hard to focus on the actual plot. A taste: Macavity (yes, the TS Eliot one) is referenced within our Central Boy’s inner monologue; drinks he consumes (repeatedly and intensely) are of a flyover-country fancy bar variety, ca. 1995; the dialogue occasionally drifts into surfer lingo / debatably problematic Spanglishisms; etc pp.
My penultimate pet peeve consists in Diver Boy #1 frequently encountering situations meaning his almost-death, and each time survives, barely scraping by, just to be told by some woman (inserted for this express purpose into the plot, I can only assume) that he has to rest more … only to put himself into the same kind of situation 50 pages later. Which is fine – B-movie type fiction, right? Except we get an in-detail account of his bruised and broken ribs and punctured organs and scratched knuckles every single time, at which point I was prepared to just go ahead and skip the whole thing until we got back into the action.
And yet, none of that actually bothers me that much compared to the One Big Looming Issue With This Book. The fundamental issue with this story is that it is, at its very core, a 1950s White American Suburb novel about the Great Big Danger Out There. Much research has been done on the tendencies of postwar American sci-fi following the social issues of the time, and it would be moot to restate these fundamentally acknowledged truths within the present context. But in my humble opinion, it is almost impossible to enjoy this novel from an even somewhat critically informed perspective given the assumptions underlying its construction. These assumptions go somewhat like this: There are places where we as a human community (including whom exactly?) can go but where others have already been or continue to be. There is a right to exploit the lands of these others who become Others by us constructing their Otherness. We can debate these rights but that won’t stop us from going there. Once we exploit the Others and the land that now legally belongs to us, we might find out they are not entirely friendly to us. We can attribute this property to a natural hostility that paves the way for self-defence on our part; this right to self-defence is strengthened if Our Women (a very specific set of humans constructed as more vulnerable but worth salvaging) are harmed or taken into custody. These assumptions inform practically every part of the plot, leading to an almost unbearable tension on a critical reader’s part.
The novel is exquisitely aware of this tension. More than once, alien races’ behaviours are likened to Native American resistance against colonization; the view taken here is clearly that such savagery must be tamed, which is where our Great American Hero and his family business (that he despises but benefits greatly from) comes in. From a late 90’s work, I would have expected more. Yet, a single glimmer of hope remains: Works like this may remind us just how far sci-fi has come – and how far it may go still. The disappointment with Perseus Spur only illustrates how far it lags behind the greater, more daring and transmutational works of its genre.
As such, I would not recommend you waste your time reading this subpar issue. Rather, spend it wisely on the speculative, futuristic works pushing the boundaries of what fiction can achieve. Recently, I read a fantastic collection of Malay speculative fiction in Singapore (Singa-Pura-Pura). I would recommend you satisfy your sci-fi cravings this way.
This is one of the rare occasions where a book could not have been good from the outset. Neither premise nor execution convinced me. This merited two stars, one only given for an honestly absurd level of cliché amalgamation which made me laugh out loud at times. I suppose that counts as entertainment.
The premise: Space cowboy, disgraced son-of-CEO-of-interstellar-mining?-corporation and definitely some kind of 1980's action hero Asahel Frost alias Helmut Icicle (really?) hangs out, sports diving on random Maldives-like planet in this franchise's outer rim. His sports diving is mentioned ad nauseam, potentially because we as readers are assumed to be attracted by such virtuous pursuits? Oh shoot, his house gets eaten. Oh shoot, someone tried to kill him. 100 pages of corporate meetings follow. Halfway through the novel, CE-daddy-O appoints baby boy to be in charge of hunting down the killers/kidnappers of his older sister. It is unclear what qualifications our protagonist brings to the table, which is repeatedly mentioned by minor (read: lesser) female characters who ultimately end up accepting his authority without question, for equally nebulous reasons.
Reinstated to his former greatness (which consists, I must emphasize, exclusively in his being a son of a rich and influential family), he goes traveling Solo-style across the galaxy, accompanied by two executive-assistants-more-like-stooges. Of course they figure out the big alien conspiracy, fueled by a competing company (evil – not like Daddy’s company, whose big money orientation is clearly Just Good Business Sense). They get kidnapped, some action with the Girl ™ ensues (whose skin is described as cinnamon on at least four different occasions). Our hero (who, at times, reminded me to a large extent of former presidents’ children) figures it out, blasters shoot, people die. He goes back and hangs out in his beach house with the Girl ™.
The execution: Siri, define “haphazard”. The pace was ridiculously off at times – a variety of board meetings is described in excruciating detail, but when we get to the uncovering of The Big Conspiracy, everything must be tied up in like 50 pages. There are few to no scenes evoking real emotion – a price to be paid for a Cool Diver Guy taking up most of the novel’s space (get it…). The dialogue feels inauthentic, every corporate guy is the same boring late-90’s lawyer’s show side character, the alien worlds do not even come close to exhausting any narrative potential (in a particularly memorable scene, a human-inhabited alien world suburb is described as reminiscent of Topeka, Kansas – yes, the point is made that this is boring, but the passage still begs the question why a new planet with fully new fictive potentialities is introduced if its whole point is blandness).
Worse, still: The entire novel is peppered with pop culture references I can only assume were somewhat comprehensible to a late 90’s audience. There is no explanation why they are still equally applicable 230 years into the future, an oversight so transparent that it becomes hard to focus on the actual plot. A taste: Macavity (yes, the TS Eliot one) is referenced within our Central Boy’s inner monologue; drinks he consumes (repeatedly and intensely) are of a flyover-country fancy bar variety, ca. 1995; the dialogue occasionally drifts into surfer lingo / debatably problematic Spanglishisms; etc pp.
My penultimate pet peeve consists in Diver Boy #1 frequently encountering situations meaning his almost-death, and each time survives, barely scraping by, just to be told by some woman (inserted for this express purpose into the plot, I can only assume) that he has to rest more … only to put himself into the same kind of situation 50 pages later. Which is fine – B-movie type fiction, right? Except we get an in-detail account of his bruised and broken ribs and punctured organs and scratched knuckles every single time, at which point I was prepared to just go ahead and skip the whole thing until we got back into the action.
And yet, none of that actually bothers me that much compared to the One Big Looming Issue With This Book. The fundamental issue with this story is that it is, at its very core, a 1950s White American Suburb novel about the Great Big Danger Out There. Much research has been done on the tendencies of postwar American sci-fi following the social issues of the time, and it would be moot to restate these fundamentally acknowledged truths within the present context. But in my humble opinion, it is almost impossible to enjoy this novel from an even somewhat critically informed perspective given the assumptions underlying its construction. These assumptions go somewhat like this: There are places where we as a human community (including whom exactly?) can go but where others have already been or continue to be. There is a right to exploit the lands of these others who become Others by us constructing their Otherness. We can debate these rights but that won’t stop us from going there. Once we exploit the Others and the land that now legally belongs to us, we might find out they are not entirely friendly to us. We can attribute this property to a natural hostility that paves the way for self-defence on our part; this right to self-defence is strengthened if Our Women (a very specific set of humans constructed as more vulnerable but worth salvaging) are harmed or taken into custody. These assumptions inform practically every part of the plot, leading to an almost unbearable tension on a critical reader’s part.
The novel is exquisitely aware of this tension. More than once, alien races’ behaviours are likened to Native American resistance against colonization; the view taken here is clearly that such savagery must be tamed, which is where our Great American Hero and his family business (that he despises but benefits greatly from) comes in. From a late 90’s work, I would have expected more. Yet, a single glimmer of hope remains: Works like this may remind us just how far sci-fi has come – and how far it may go still. The disappointment with Perseus Spur only illustrates how far it lags behind the greater, more daring and transmutational works of its genre.
As such, I would not recommend you waste your time reading this subpar issue. Rather, spend it wisely on the speculative, futuristic works pushing the boundaries of what fiction can achieve. Recently, I read a fantastic collection of Malay speculative fiction in Singapore (Singa-Pura-Pura). I would recommend you satisfy your sci-fi cravings this way.
May 20, 2019
I don't usually read science fiction that's a bit science heavy but I really enjoyed this novel. I passed over the science jargon and really enjoyed the action-adventure of this book.
January 11, 2017
I was disappointed in this. After a good start, our hero becomes an annoying know-it-all and the "banter" becomes forced and falls flat. I skimmed from about half way to the end. The middle section just dragged and dragged and had a transactional feel to it. Not recommended.
October 12, 2007
a great writer, all fiction but heavy on the science, reading her books makes me feel kind of intelligent
the future is controlled by corporations, money takes precedence over principle, there's extreme social stratification and aliens abound. we join our flawed hero, long after he'd been thrust from the height to the lowest depth of society, as he's pulled back into the jungle. humph, i managed to make it sound boring. it's a fun & fast read despite my description, worth trying
the future is controlled by corporations, money takes precedence over principle, there's extreme social stratification and aliens abound. we join our flawed hero, long after he'd been thrust from the height to the lowest depth of society, as he's pulled back into the jungle. humph, i managed to make it sound boring. it's a fun & fast read despite my description, worth trying
May 21, 2024
Once again, back to physical books as the jury service continues interminably, I first read this when it came out, so very long ago in 1998. So it seemed overdue for a re-read.
Every bit as good as I remember from that time, it’s another of May’s brilliant space operas which doesn’t get as much traction with fans as the Galactic Mileau series, but is just as good and just as packed with memorable characters.
Every bit as good as I remember from that time, it’s another of May’s brilliant space operas which doesn’t get as much traction with fans as the Galactic Mileau series, but is just as good and just as packed with memorable characters.
January 3, 2016
The Perseus Spur was the very first space opera I found on my own. I was in my late teens or early 20s and had just torn through Contact by Carl Sagan, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card at the recommendation of friends. I'd managed to discover the Fantasy genre on my own at my high school library thanks to CJ Cherryh's Angel with the Sword catching my eye. Since letting interesting sounding titles had worked out well with me then, I used the same mechanism as I trolled my local Border's, and there it was amidst clichéd titles: The Perseus Spur.
I devoured the Rampart series.
It's approaching 20 years since I first read these books. I'm re-reading them now, having now read stacks upon stacks of sci fi and space opera, and wow, I picked 'em well back then. This series is even better than I remembered it. I'm overwhelmed to even try to tell you how awesome it is.
It has everything I love about space opera specifically and sci fi in general:
- interesting plot
- speculative technology
- wonderfully alien aliens
- immersive world-building
- gorgeous visual descriptions that lack cumbersome sngggzzyljsw made up impossible-to-remember names or complicated social hierarchies or whatever (see also, immersive world-building; vs. the stuff where authors heap on tons of made-up names in impossible languages which I might call "disruptive world-building"... ugh.)
- actually diverse characters instead of the faux diversity common in a lot of sci fi from this era (the intrepid spaceship crew of Asian Last Name, Russian Last Name, Northern European Last Name, African Last Name and Hispanic Last Name with no actual cultural heritage reality)
and only one thing that makes me roll my eyes at most space operas:
the brilliant, strong, sexy woman falling in love with the somewhat identity-free male lead
Forgiven. Because this book is amazing.
I devoured the Rampart series.
It's approaching 20 years since I first read these books. I'm re-reading them now, having now read stacks upon stacks of sci fi and space opera, and wow, I picked 'em well back then. This series is even better than I remembered it. I'm overwhelmed to even try to tell you how awesome it is.
It has everything I love about space opera specifically and sci fi in general:
- interesting plot
- speculative technology
- wonderfully alien aliens
- immersive world-building
- gorgeous visual descriptions that lack cumbersome sngggzzyljsw made up impossible-to-remember names or complicated social hierarchies or whatever (see also, immersive world-building; vs. the stuff where authors heap on tons of made-up names in impossible languages which I might call "disruptive world-building"... ugh.)
- actually diverse characters instead of the faux diversity common in a lot of sci fi from this era (the intrepid spaceship crew of Asian Last Name, Russian Last Name, Northern European Last Name, African Last Name and Hispanic Last Name with no actual cultural heritage reality)
and only one thing that makes me roll my eyes at most space operas:
the brilliant, strong, sexy woman falling in love with the somewhat identity-free male lead
Forgiven. Because this book is amazing.
July 6, 2012
Originally published on my blog here in April 2000.
Compared to the imaginative Galactic Milieu framework which ties together May's earlier novels, the background to The Perseus Spur is unambitious. The novel itself is accessible and enjoyable, and is basically an undemanding thriller with a science fiction setting.
The major powers in this book, the first in a series, are not governments but immense corporations, the Hundred Concerns. Even companies which are not considered important enough to become Concerns control hundreds of planets; one of these is to a large extent run by the Frost family. The central character of The Perseus Spur is Asahel Frost, who was disinherited when he chose to become an investigator for one of the few governmental organisations still in existence and who is now living life as a diving tour operator on a Caribbean style world (whose wildlife is mainly named after creatures from Jabberwocky) after being framed for corruption when his work threatened the plans of one of the Concerns.
Yet, even with his total lack of power, he still becomes the victim of a series of murder attempts which also lead to him uncovering a secret which could destroy a group of Concerns - his only problem in using it is lack of proof.
As science fiction, The Perseus Spur is old fashioned, and could mostly have been written in the fifties. I was particularly reminded of Asimov's The Stars, Like Dust. It was probably fun to write, and it is certainly fun to read, but not innovative or ground breaking.
Compared to the imaginative Galactic Milieu framework which ties together May's earlier novels, the background to The Perseus Spur is unambitious. The novel itself is accessible and enjoyable, and is basically an undemanding thriller with a science fiction setting.
The major powers in this book, the first in a series, are not governments but immense corporations, the Hundred Concerns. Even companies which are not considered important enough to become Concerns control hundreds of planets; one of these is to a large extent run by the Frost family. The central character of The Perseus Spur is Asahel Frost, who was disinherited when he chose to become an investigator for one of the few governmental organisations still in existence and who is now living life as a diving tour operator on a Caribbean style world (whose wildlife is mainly named after creatures from Jabberwocky) after being framed for corruption when his work threatened the plans of one of the Concerns.
Yet, even with his total lack of power, he still becomes the victim of a series of murder attempts which also lead to him uncovering a secret which could destroy a group of Concerns - his only problem in using it is lack of proof.
As science fiction, The Perseus Spur is old fashioned, and could mostly have been written in the fifties. I was particularly reminded of Asimov's The Stars, Like Dust. It was probably fun to write, and it is certainly fun to read, but not innovative or ground breaking.
September 11, 2015
I got a big bunch of science fiction and fantasy books of a relative dwindling down his collection. Part of this were the Rampart Worlds books of Julian May. So, time to try the first part of this 3 part series to see if I want to keep them.
In the past I've read (and even re-read) The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May, which I really liked, so I started with good hopes in this book. Either my standards & tastes are different now, or this is not as good.
The writing is mediocre. The mixture of present and past tense annoys me, just as references to 20th century brands/companies in the 23rd century story. The story drags, and the tone of voice of the narrator is glib and quasi-funny. It was published in 1999, but it reads like a science fiction book from the 50-70s, including dated technologies & attitudes.
The characters, story and 'romance' are bland, bland, bland and infodumps are scattered throughout the book.
Conclusion: no, I don't want to keep them, and I'll skip on reading part 2 & 3.
In the past I've read (and even re-read) The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May, which I really liked, so I started with good hopes in this book. Either my standards & tastes are different now, or this is not as good.
The writing is mediocre. The mixture of present and past tense annoys me, just as references to 20th century brands/companies in the 23rd century story. The story drags, and the tone of voice of the narrator is glib and quasi-funny. It was published in 1999, but it reads like a science fiction book from the 50-70s, including dated technologies & attitudes.
The characters, story and 'romance' are bland, bland, bland and infodumps are scattered throughout the book.
Conclusion: no, I don't want to keep them, and I'll skip on reading part 2 & 3.
September 17, 2011
Very good sci-fi book. This story is what sci-fi should be about. Everyone lumps fantasy stories in with sci-fi and they shouldn't be. I consider this book to be classic space opera. It is about traveling between planets and solar systems and encountering alien beings. The author does a good job of making the science part plausible without letting it get in the way of the story. It enhances the plot very well, which is what science is supposed to do in sci-fi. His characters are perhaps a little more wooden and typecast but the storyline makes up for that short-coming. Not on the level of Dune or Foundation but very much in the Star Wars vein.
March 2, 2016
I must say I was disappointed in this first book of a SF trilogy. While May is obviously talented at creating worlds (Pliocene Exile and Galactic Milieu series), she seemed to phoning it in here. Her characters come off as flat, and the conflict doesn't justify an entire book, let alone two more books. This novel may be of more interest to readers who like Dashiell Hammett, or a bit of humor, but it just didn't work for me.
July 10, 2008
Interesting and unique storyline with some really good characters.
April 1, 2017
This is a pretty good sci-fi adventure. Not too long. Well-written, with likable characters. I'm looking forward to reading the next two books in the series.
August 17, 2017
I suppose the story was all right, and I rather like the worldbuilding. The romance was pretty stupid, though, and sort of ruined it for me.
I guess it would also have been easier to read in English.
I guess it would also have been easier to read in English.
August 2, 2018
Am into the second book of the trilogy now, and I want to give Perseus Spur 3.5 stars, if Goodreads allowed such a thing: a very good start, a pretty good finish, but the pace slowed waaaay down in the second quarter, which made several chapters quite a slog. About 80% of the way through May was off the pace a second time -- not with a poor choice of material, by any means, but perhaps various scenes were over-described, which made the book seem long. In fact, it actually isn't, at something like 125,000 words. (It's also the shortest segment in the trilogy.)
The idea of basing a space opera around corporate shenanigans is extremely good. Shades of that shadowy corporate giant in the Alien movies Weyland Yutani. Now, imagine WY at war with other "starcorps," and you have it.
I do like May's characters. Cap'n Helly appeals to the tongue-in-cheek part of me that adores Cap'n Jack Sparrow. I particularly like Asahel's Mexican smuggler friend, whom I see as a kind of senior Gilbert Roland (okay, okay, I like classic movies too). The love interest, Matilde "Matt" Gregoire, seems to me to be a teeny bit too "Barbie" to be taken very seriously by female readers, but I imagine guys welcomed her the way they do the Bond girls, or Heinlein's improbable Friday, so, what the hey?
The novel is far from "perfect for me," which is not the same as saying many other reviewers won't give it five stars. But I enjoyed it and am already 100pp into the second book before I find the chance to write something here. From what I'm seeing so far, I think the series as a whole is going to round up to 4 or even 4.5 stars, unless Julian May does something "off" when it's time for the finale.
The idea of basing a space opera around corporate shenanigans is extremely good. Shades of that shadowy corporate giant in the Alien movies Weyland Yutani. Now, imagine WY at war with other "starcorps," and you have it.
I do like May's characters. Cap'n Helly appeals to the tongue-in-cheek part of me that adores Cap'n Jack Sparrow. I particularly like Asahel's Mexican smuggler friend, whom I see as a kind of senior Gilbert Roland (okay, okay, I like classic movies too). The love interest, Matilde "Matt" Gregoire, seems to me to be a teeny bit too "Barbie" to be taken very seriously by female readers, but I imagine guys welcomed her the way they do the Bond girls, or Heinlein's improbable Friday, so, what the hey?
The novel is far from "perfect for me," which is not the same as saying many other reviewers won't give it five stars. But I enjoyed it and am already 100pp into the second book before I find the chance to write something here. From what I'm seeing so far, I think the series as a whole is going to round up to 4 or even 4.5 stars, unless Julian May does something "off" when it's time for the finale.
February 23, 2020
I've been pondering why it is that I just didn't care much for this book. One of them, I think, is that it's written in the vernacular of muscular misunderstood guys and the sexy-thing girls that fall for them - with admiration for cigars, hard liquor, and not taking any crap from anyone. In fact, a lot of this same story could have been set on islands in the 1950s South Pacific with speedboats and ex-GIs.
The other thing that bothered me, was botched physics. I don't mean misapplied quantum effects or something speculative like that; I mean the classical, Newtonian physics taught in high school. At one point, May has a space ship emerge from the galaxy, to be flung off in an unexpected direction due to the transformation of its angular velocity into tangential velocity, like mud flying off a wheel. No, no, no! The galaxy may be shaped like a wheel, but it isn't one! The stars and dust of the galaxy are held together by gravity, which balances exactly the angular momentum of its spin. When you cross outside the edge of the galaxy, the effect of that gravity does not simply stop!
What this all adds up to, is a lack of concern for scientific realism, and also for the creative world-building that I love about science fiction. It's ok if all you are expecting is guy-gets-girl and action/adventure, and I do admit that the characters hooked me enough to read on to the end. So not a total loss, but I won't be reading the rest of the series.
The other thing that bothered me, was botched physics. I don't mean misapplied quantum effects or something speculative like that; I mean the classical, Newtonian physics taught in high school. At one point, May has a space ship emerge from the galaxy, to be flung off in an unexpected direction due to the transformation of its angular velocity into tangential velocity, like mud flying off a wheel. No, no, no! The galaxy may be shaped like a wheel, but it isn't one! The stars and dust of the galaxy are held together by gravity, which balances exactly the angular momentum of its spin. When you cross outside the edge of the galaxy, the effect of that gravity does not simply stop!
What this all adds up to, is a lack of concern for scientific realism, and also for the creative world-building that I love about science fiction. It's ok if all you are expecting is guy-gets-girl and action/adventure, and I do admit that the characters hooked me enough to read on to the end. So not a total loss, but I won't be reading the rest of the series.
January 25, 2020
This is the first book by Julian May that I haven't liked, I shot through the Many Coloured Land series and enjoyed the Galactic Milieu but this one had a hard time keeping my attention.
Asahel Frost is a throwaway, shunned by people for crimes he didn't commit but was well setup and convicted of. Going under the name Helly he had a small business doing underwater tours, until a giant sea toad smashes his home.
He suspects this is delberate, if his submersible hadn't broken down he would have been home, it was. He chases after the culprit to be caught and left pinned down on a comet, after this silliness injured he goes chasing the bad guys who work for a rival company that his father.
It should have kept my attention there is action, adventure, treachery and aliens but it seemed drawn out
Asahel Frost is a throwaway, shunned by people for crimes he didn't commit but was well setup and convicted of. Going under the name Helly he had a small business doing underwater tours, until a giant sea toad smashes his home.
He suspects this is delberate, if his submersible hadn't broken down he would have been home, it was. He chases after the culprit to be caught and left pinned down on a comet, after this silliness injured he goes chasing the bad guys who work for a rival company that his father.
It should have kept my attention there is action, adventure, treachery and aliens but it seemed drawn out
March 18, 2022
Having read Multicoloured land when it came out I thought this might be a good book.
May certainly knows how to write very well, but this did not do it for me. One of her characters has a didactic memory, but I do not. I just found the character role call to big. When I got to page 100 another three names hit the page. To be memorable characters have to have colour and detail but moreover purpose. If I had been more sympathetic with the plot, gripped by corporate tossers with their problems and political intrigue I might have persevered. But this is no "Succession". It's a slightly tongue-in-cheek space hopping romp, with no clearly definable McGuffin.
I seem to remember that my interest in MCL faded out after book two. It was a long time ago. But I'm pretty sure I did not finish it.
Dick Barton meets Dragons Den, no thanks
May certainly knows how to write very well, but this did not do it for me. One of her characters has a didactic memory, but I do not. I just found the character role call to big. When I got to page 100 another three names hit the page. To be memorable characters have to have colour and detail but moreover purpose. If I had been more sympathetic with the plot, gripped by corporate tossers with their problems and political intrigue I might have persevered. But this is no "Succession". It's a slightly tongue-in-cheek space hopping romp, with no clearly definable McGuffin.
I seem to remember that my interest in MCL faded out after book two. It was a long time ago. But I'm pretty sure I did not finish it.
Dick Barton meets Dragons Den, no thanks
June 7, 2019
Texans in space
Years back, I loved May's series about humans becoming telekenetics etc in a galactic socierty but this 1st book of this new series I found to be a bit disappointing. I guess the main character wasn't much to my liking , he sometimes rubbed me the wrong way and I was uncomfortable with his overt immediate physical interest in a resistant female subordinate. I needed to know more about his being framed and the whole Texas cowboy in space isn't a favorite of mine. It was perhaps too simplistic for me. Still, as a library loan it was worth it. I WILL try the next book in the series.
Years back, I loved May's series about humans becoming telekenetics etc in a galactic socierty but this 1st book of this new series I found to be a bit disappointing. I guess the main character wasn't much to my liking , he sometimes rubbed me the wrong way and I was uncomfortable with his overt immediate physical interest in a resistant female subordinate. I needed to know more about his being framed and the whole Texas cowboy in space isn't a favorite of mine. It was perhaps too simplistic for me. Still, as a library loan it was worth it. I WILL try the next book in the series.
October 10, 2022
I really enjoyed this, especially all the detailed worldbuilding! It was a good read, but I took off a star because Helly, while a fun character, was a little cliché ().
August 31, 2018
6/10: Good light-weight read, well done.
A bit of a hard slog, with way too many obscure adjectives, but a plot that never the less kept me reading ‘til the end.
I liked Helly, and enjoyed the mystery. The science part was pretty intriguing too. I would have liked more development in the romance, but there was just enough to keep me happy.
I won’t be reading on in the series, but the story is still playing on repeat in my head, so deserves those three stars.
A bit of a hard slog, with way too many obscure adjectives, but a plot that never the less kept me reading ‘til the end.
I liked Helly, and enjoyed the mystery. The science part was pretty intriguing too. I would have liked more development in the romance, but there was just enough to keep me happy.
I won’t be reading on in the series, but the story is still playing on repeat in my head, so deserves those three stars.
November 10, 2018
4 stars is probably a bit much, but 3 is too little and i did enjoy it. it was a slightly cheeky corporate sci-fi adventure - and it has genetic modification in it, which was quite interesting. not up to the standard of the Saga of the Exiles or the Galactic Milieu trilogy, but worth a read and a search for the succeeding parts.
August 19, 2023
Couldn't decide between 4 or 5 stars.
Probably the best book I've read so far this year.
I liked how quickly the story just started with action and kept moving.
Hoping the series continues the standard.
Probably the best book I've read so far this year.
I liked how quickly the story just started with action and kept moving.
Hoping the series continues the standard.
November 9, 2025
A well told and entertaining tale of corporate shenanigans at an interstellar level. Includes elements of intrigue, action, exploration and scientific hocus pocus all wrapped up in a galactic adventure.
March 27, 2018
Great fun read
I loved everything about this book, the hero, the pace, the Spanglish and the humor even in the face of dastardly plots and daring do.
I loved everything about this book, the hero, the pace, the Spanglish and the humor even in the face of dastardly plots and daring do.
May 24, 2021
DNF - Not for me
July 22, 2025
Fun read. The future of corporations involve owning planets and their treatment of indigenous insapient species.
May 8, 2023
Helmut Icicle was a normal bum on Kedge-Lockerby a small unimportant planet in the Spur, he takes divers on trips to explore the marine life on this world. This is until a giant sea toad eats his home and assassins start to try and kill him. Now he must leave his quiet life to track down his would-be killer and solve the mystery of the disappearance of his sister.
Took me a while to track down the right format for this book as I already had books 2 and 3. Once I got it I started reading and finished it in quick order. This is a very good space opera spanning the galaxy with alien races, fantastic spaceships, and action and intrigue. The protagonist builds his team of motley travelers and sets out to solve the mystery of who is trying to kill him and why. As you move through the book the mystery continues with more and more surprises with the alien Haluk involved somehow.
I have only read book #1 so far in the Rampart World series but it has been an engaging read. The characters are both fun and interesting and the world-building has been really good. Julian May does a really good job of describing these alien worlds and making you feel like you are there in the thick of the action. The caves part of the book was both exciting and stressful, but I can't say more… spoilers. I have read a few reviews of this book that do pick at the "product placement" of some items, I must admit it didn't even phase me, I don't think companies like this will disappear in the future we will always need consumables so this didn't stop me at all.
When it comes to reading I can be easy to please with Fantasy & Science Fiction but it's because I love reading so much and live these stories inside my head as I am reading them.
If you like science fiction space operas that are a good read but don't take themselves too seriously this is worth your time.
Took me a while to track down the right format for this book as I already had books 2 and 3. Once I got it I started reading and finished it in quick order. This is a very good space opera spanning the galaxy with alien races, fantastic spaceships, and action and intrigue. The protagonist builds his team of motley travelers and sets out to solve the mystery of who is trying to kill him and why. As you move through the book the mystery continues with more and more surprises with the alien Haluk involved somehow.
I have only read book #1 so far in the Rampart World series but it has been an engaging read. The characters are both fun and interesting and the world-building has been really good. Julian May does a really good job of describing these alien worlds and making you feel like you are there in the thick of the action. The caves part of the book was both exciting and stressful, but I can't say more… spoilers. I have read a few reviews of this book that do pick at the "product placement" of some items, I must admit it didn't even phase me, I don't think companies like this will disappear in the future we will always need consumables so this didn't stop me at all.
When it comes to reading I can be easy to please with Fantasy & Science Fiction but it's because I love reading so much and live these stories inside my head as I am reading them.
If you like science fiction space operas that are a good read but don't take themselves too seriously this is worth your time.
May 20, 2011
I've been doing a reading challenge http://www.letterdash.com/CraigSmith/... and been updating my progress as I go along. So here are my thoughts at different stages in the book.
Page 21: I've had this trilogy of books for a long time and been looking forward to reading them for quite a while. The first book hasn't disappointed so far. A down on his luck ex-government official who was targeted for exposing corruption has fled to a far out of reach distant world. After washing away his sorrows and almost drinking himself to death he was helped back on his feet with some assitence from his sister. All goes well until a suspicious character shows up on one of his charter trips to the local reefs. And his suspicions are heightened when he returns home to find out his house had been eat by a giant sea toad...
Page 190: This is turning out to be one tangled web of a story, but that's one of the reasons why I'm enjoying it. Not that it's hard to figure out what is going on, but there are plenty of layers and there's bound to be some surprises as the story progresses. Now that Helmut has been drawn into his past life he has to do his best to figure out who is trying to tear his family and family business apart. And what makes it interesting is he's not pulling any punches and is not afraid to do what needs to be done.
Page 336: (Completed): Some will most probably disagree, but I think this is Sc-Fi adventure at its best. A serious plot line, but a load of fun at the same time. I loved the finale of the story. And look forward to reading the next in the series.
Page 21: I've had this trilogy of books for a long time and been looking forward to reading them for quite a while. The first book hasn't disappointed so far. A down on his luck ex-government official who was targeted for exposing corruption has fled to a far out of reach distant world. After washing away his sorrows and almost drinking himself to death he was helped back on his feet with some assitence from his sister. All goes well until a suspicious character shows up on one of his charter trips to the local reefs. And his suspicions are heightened when he returns home to find out his house had been eat by a giant sea toad...
Page 190: This is turning out to be one tangled web of a story, but that's one of the reasons why I'm enjoying it. Not that it's hard to figure out what is going on, but there are plenty of layers and there's bound to be some surprises as the story progresses. Now that Helmut has been drawn into his past life he has to do his best to figure out who is trying to tear his family and family business apart. And what makes it interesting is he's not pulling any punches and is not afraid to do what needs to be done.
Page 336: (Completed): Some will most probably disagree, but I think this is Sc-Fi adventure at its best. A serious plot line, but a load of fun at the same time. I loved the finale of the story. And look forward to reading the next in the series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews