A cave diver, a Chinese astronaut, a paraglider, an ex-military jock, and an African computer hacker. What do they all have in common? They were selected and recruited by billionaire Nathan Joyce to do deep space training. This group, along with several more, are recruited and sent on a secret mission to a near Earth asteroid. JT, the cave diver, is our main protagonist, and we spend most of the book with him. Meanwhile, Joyce’s real plans are discovered by the European (Swiss?) lawyer Lukas Rochat, and after surviving a plot to dissuade him from pursuing the case further, ends u upon Joyce’s payroll. This ends up being a very good thing for the main characters in the last few chapters of the book.
This book has a lot of mixed reviews online. I saw some that suggested it was ok for a casual SF reader, but it was more of a financial thriller than a science fiction story. I disagree. I really loved this book. It’s a near (10-15 years out) future story with characters we can recognize from today. The billionaire class is fed up with laws and red tape (which the characters might have appreciated in the last half of the book) preventing space mining from starting out. Some people suggested online that the science isn’t explained well enough for the book to stand on its own, but as a decidedly NON casual SF reader, I didn’t find that I needed any of the “as you know, Bob’s” that are so common in SF books written to educate the audience. I found it refreshing, and even while I listened, I found myself looking up terms I didn’t know. I didn’t find this to be distracting, but refreshing.
It took me forever to get through this book, because I have been working so hard with my new job responsibilities. But I’m glad I finally checked it out for the third time and I took advantage of a break in the work to spend the last two days finishing it. I immediately requested the sequel, which is in my Libby inbox as we speak. Very much looking forward to the conclusion of this story.
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