Darren Beyer

For a novel that billed itself as one that adhered to real science, I was slightly worried that it would lose sight of the one thing that no Fiction, let alone Science Fiction, should ever ignore. That is: A Good Story.

Fortunately, I had a good time. There was plenty of good science, but above the Campbellian ideal, this author never lost sight of the fact that interesting characters and an exciting story will always carry the day.

This is a thriller. Mind you, it's a technical thriller, but it is still a thriller to its core. There's lots of action and intrigue and it spans across several star systems thanks to at least one or two slight stretches of Handwavium in the "discovered" elements that allowed us to manufacture our own naked wormholes. There's also the matter of nanotech advancement, but I didn't say that this was a novel based on our current level of science or that I was going to rule out possible unforeseen discoveries. Hyperium and the last reveal of the novel aren't outside of the realm of possibility, mind you, but it is much easier to swallow when we imagine both as having been manufactured by an intelligence rather than being mysteriously "found". In this respect, the author is moving no further outside of the lines than Arthur C. Clarke ever did, and I think that's rather the point.

The author focused on story, political and economical pressures, and most of all, on love.

We readers do love to feel a connection to the characters, don't we? :) Well, I did. I wasn't quite sure I would, and a few pages made me wonder, but I'm very happy that I stuck with it. There wasn't a wasted passage.

I'll absolutely continue on with the series and wish the author all the very best luck! Here's to a grand adventure!

And lastly, thank you for the ARC. I was certainly not disappointed with the story nor the science. :)… (meer)

"Casimir Bridge" is an award-winning technothriller that combines deep space exploration and advanced technology with vicious corporate intrigue and global power struggles. The last thing I expected when I started this book, was to be abandoning it at 75%.

For me, the book got off to a weak start with a device I hate, a prologue. It was a short chapter that started in the middle of some action, ended with violence and was followed by a "One Week Earlier" heading before chapter two. The prologue wasn't badly done but I think it was a poor editing decision. To me, it shows a lack of confidence in either the reader or the writing. It says "let's show them some action at the beginning so we don't lose them while we're setting up."


I enjoyed the next part, which set up the good guys, the bad guys, and the likeable outsider to whom everything could be explained, in this case, a young reporter who actually investigates things.. There was some explanation of the technology and a little world building. Then, for reasons I still don't understand, we headed off for a Zulu dance festival where our young reporter turns out to be part of the privileged elite. What that added to the plot or the characterisation still isn't clear to me.

By thirty-two per cent I was wondering if I would continue with the book. I liked the idea of intrigue on an interplanetary scale, larded with big dollops of hard science but I wasn't connecting with it on a personal level. Then the plot took a turn, our young reporter was rescued from a dire situation by a tall, dark and handsome, respectful, competent, quietly-alpha male and real thriller stuff started to happen at some speed.


So I continued, initially because I wanted to know what would happen next, and then because the science was interesting.

I stopped at seventy-five per cent when I realised I no longer had anything more than a mild curiosity about what would happen next.

When I'm reading a thriller, I expect to be keen to find out what happens and or be committed to the success of at least one character.. Neither the lead good guy nor the lead bad guy had much going for them to hold my interest. The politics was too superficial to offer any surprises and, although our young reporter still offered some interest, the action was constantly slowed while we examined some aspect of space technology.

More Larry Niven than Michael Crichton, "Casimir Bridge" does Hard SF well but struggles for traction as a thriller. If your main interest is in space science, spiced with strategy games, I think you'll have fun with this. If you really want a thriller, I doubt this will do it for you.
… (meer)

This is a very solid first novel by a former NASA engineer.

Full disclosure, the author contacted me via Amazon as I had reviewed Leviathan Wakes and he thought some of the plot devices and approach to his own book was similar and he is indeed right. There are some problems with the book but I've read many first novels from successful authors that were much, much worse. Darren Beyer was very specific that he wanted an honest review so I'm going to be as critical as possible. The book has very quick pacing and is easy to read and understand, even those bits that are more theoretical than actual. Kudos to Beyer's for getting past the hardest part of writing a good SF novel.

The story features some very interesting and engaging characters and some of the locations are very unusual, including parts of the African continent and glimpses into some cultures there. For the most part I liked the characters although they all needed a bit more development.I think the book could have used more context for each but especially the primary villain whose motivations seemed one-dimensional. The story itself also suffered from a rushed-feel with short, distinct chapters that could have used some variability in length and explored once again a bit more context. But like I've already stated for a first novel you get out what you can and you adjust for the second until you hit that perfect balance. As it is, this book is borderlines a YA book in my opinion (but at least it's readable - many YA books I've read were pretty bad).

I liked the technology discussed in the book and it has an optimistic view of the space program that I can only wish will once again be true. We need more books like this and not less. I wrestled with calling this 3.5 or 4 out of 5 - it's almost a 4 to me but I decided to be more honest (at Beyer's request) and erred on the side of conservatism.

I'm also publishing this to Amazon reviews.… (meer)