Well goodness - I enjoyed this SO much!

Okay, full disclosure, I didn't realize it was a book 2 until I was already quite a was in and I didn't want to go back to read book 1 so...I forged ahead. There were times where I felt like I'd missed things (and had) but overall I was invested in the story and it didn't bother me as much.

I will also confess that I don't tend to read a lot of hard scifi. I'm more a soft scifi, scifi/fantasy, or military scifi reader (who tens to down book like that at a quick pace) so this was a bit of a challenge/change for me, but I found myself thinking about the characters and their plight and HAD to know what was happening next.

It is a LONG book that felt epically long due to how much happens, and yet I wanted to keep reading. I didn't want it to end (especially toward the end).

I can definitely recommend this to those who ready enjoy hard sci-fi but perhaps also to those whoa re interested in jumping into a deeper sci-fi read. But maybe start with book one - unlike me ;)

My rating: 4*

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Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this gifted copy! All opinions are my own.

An asteroid mining sci-fi for people who enjoy reading political, analytical, scientific, and climate crisis fiction.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

This story is told in third person and picks up immediately after the events of Delta-V, which I recommend reading first. I enjoyed this next installation almost as much as book 1. We follow James Tighe and friends as they desperately try to mount a rescue for their coworkers that were left behind at the asteroid in book 1. The story has a fast pace though I was a bit frustrated by all the delays and obstacles that were placed in their path to securing passage back to the asteroid, but it’s all a part of the compelling journey. I also felt the end was rather anticlimactic though it brings the set-up for book 3 around full circle. Can’t wait to find out what happens next!

Recommended to SciFi and techno-thriller lovers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton for a copy provided for an honest review.

I was excited to read Critical Mass but quickly realized after a couple of chapters in that it was a sequel with Delta-V being the first book. Delta-V looked interesting and sounded like something I’d really like so I purchased it and devoured it.

I really loved the premise of the challenges of training, of being selected, and being the first asteroid miners in deep space. The science wasn’t too overwhelming even though it was hard Sci-Fi and I really enjoyed the camaraderie of the characters. This first book was full of action and lots of space adventures.

Critical Mass picks up right after Delta-V with 3 of the miners trying to make it back into space to build a new ship to get back to the asteroid. (Trying not to do spoilers here.)

I almost had to DNF this book. Most of the book was about science, technology, economics, politics, climate change, and cryptocurrency and for me, it was just too much. I barely understood about a 10th of it. The characters had almost no screen time. When they did, it was definitely exciting and had my attention. But it was far and few between all of the technical jargon.

I loved the premise and the possibilities of the space technology. I just wish I didn’t have to slog through the rest to get to the good stuff.

I’m sure there are many out there who love all the techno babble and who understand it much more than I did. Overall, I am glad I hung in there to find out what happened at the end.

*Thanks so much to Penguin Group Dutton and to NetGalley for the advance copy.*

When I selected this book, I didn't realize it was the second in a series. But that's ok. I didn't feel too lost. I found this book to be slower paced than many of the Suarez books I have read. Most of his books have left me a bit frightened - they were extremely reminiscent of what is actually going on or at least possible right now. I found this book to be more distant - for lack of a better way to explain it. I really feel it is not his best work. Maybe if I had read the first book I would feel a bit different. I'm not sure.

A group of space explorers work to get back to space to rescue some colleagues who were left behind. They need financial backing, engineering expertise and a lot of luck. This sci- fi thriller combines climate change, geopolitical conflict and a new economic model. This book is a sequel to “Delta V”, which I preferred. It can be read as a standalone, but you might as well start with the better book

Although I completely believe the threat of climate change, I am not really interested in reading about it in fiction books. The first part of the book was mostly about financing the mission (not really exciting). Things picked up when the team finally got into space, but then it was heavily engineering-oriented. Even more confusing to me than the engineering technobabble was the blockchain discussion. There were also too many characters coming and going on the space station. The book held my interest, but I’m glad that a third book doesn’t seem to be planned.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Surprisingly, for a book in a series committed to telling an optimistic story of how humanity gets its start in space, Daniel Suarez’s Critical Mass focuses mainly on the absolute mess we are making down on Earth.

Though having very little in common with Neal Stephenson’s Termination Shock, Suarez’ series agrees with Stephenson’s assessment that the world is doomed, that governments cannot or will not move fast enough to save it and our only hope is the successful intervention of some well-intentioned billionaire. Suarez takes us into deep space, in search of a solution.

https://bookandfilmglobe.com/fiction/book-review-critical-mass/

Published by Dutton on January 31, 2023

Combine a geopolitical thriller with a science fiction novel that extends geopolitics into space and you get an astropolitical sf thriller. Critical Mass (a sequel to Delta-v) captures the spirit of adventure and exploration while providing a roadmap to futuristic solutions to humanity’s most pressing problems. Political and ideological strife (not to mention greed) would likely make the roadmap impossible to follow, but it’s good to imagine a better future when disaster looms.

As the novel opens, Adedayo Adisa and Isabel Abarca are on the Konstantin, a ship that is orbiting the asteroid Ryugu. They have been mining the asteroid and sending automated tugs full of minerals back toward Earth’s moon, but the ship is breaking down. The main engines cannot be engaged. Some of the crew have died. To avoid depleting food supplies, three crew members volunteer for a desperate attempt to return to Earth on a spacecraft that wasn’t designed for Earth reentry. Skilled or lucky piloting sends the craft into Earth orbit, where it is promptly claimed by China.

The three returning crew members — Jin Hua Han, James Tighe, and Pria Chindarkar — spend the first part of the novel trying to convince Earth’s nations and private enterprises to build another rocket to rescue Adisa and Abarca. Soon after they departed the Konstantin, however, the ship was boarded by North Koreans. Communications were cut and nobody knows whether anyone is still alive on the Konstantin. The three are nevertheless resolved to find a way back to Ryugu when its orbit next brings it within a reasonable distance from Earth.

Political issues dominate the early chapters. Following the startup model of Uber, Nathan Joyce built the Konstantin and sent it on its mining mission without asking for permission. Joyce’s company theoretically owns the minerals that were launched into a lunar orbit from the Konstantin, but the company is now owned by its creditors. A clever lawyer comes up with a new quasi-legal scheme to operate a business as if it were an unregulated offshore business by operating it off-Earth.

The scheme is too complicated to describe here but if Uber worked, it seems to me Daniel Suarez’s model for off-Earth enterprises might be plausible. It certainly wouldn’t surprise me to see someone try it. The key to attracting investors is the creation of new cryptocurrency that will be backed by resources in space. Everyone knows that governments haven’t been able to regulate cryptocurrencies; that’s why they exist when dollar bills are easier to understand. And a cryptocurrency backed by goods and services has got to be better than a cryptocurrency backed by dream dust.

Most of the novel is devoted to the construction of a space station in orbit around the moon’s L2 Lagrange point. “Hard” science fiction is dedicated to making sure that plots are scientifically plausible and often feature characters who “science the shit” out of problems as they devise solutions. Critical Mass is devoted to engineering more than science. It turns out that it isn’t easy to build a space station, although it certainly helps to have tons of raw materials in lunar orbit. After building a shell, the next step is to build a mass driver on the moon, so that regolith can be mined and shot into orbit where it can be refined into essential materials.

Apart from tackling engineering, economics, and politics, Critical Mass offers a complex solution to global warming. Part of the solution allows ordinary people to remove carbon from Earth’s atmosphere in exchange for the new cryptocurrency. Part of the solution involves solar collectors that beam energy to the Earth’s surface, reducing the demand for fossil fuels. All these ideas depend on mining asteroids or the moon for materials needed to build the space station rather than transporting them from the Earth, but as the novel demonstrates, governments will likely oppose private ownership of a space station that they can’t devote to their own selfish purposes. Again, the solution lies in the questionable practice of asking forgiveness rather than permission. Heinlein would have loved this novel.

Before she goes to Ryugo, Isabel Abarca proclaims that “unless we test our limits, we will never know what we are capable of.” That was a common theme in classic science fiction novels before readers and writers grew jaded. Another reason why Heinlein would have enjoyed Critical Mass.

For a book that details innovative (if unlikely) solutions to existential problems, Critical Mass doesn’t feel expository. The explanations come from briefings and conversations that integrate well into the plot. Suarez imparts a ton of information while avoiding science lectures. He seasons the novel with tense moments (space isn’t a safe place, even for occupants of a space station). Characterization was clearly not Suarez's priorty, but stock characters serve their required purposes. The story moves quickly and creates the excitement of a thriller without dulling the reader’s mind with shootouts and fistfights.

Critical Mass is good read for fans of older science fiction. The novel is a throwback to the days when the word “science” in science fiction actually mattered. It combines traditional themes of human ingenuity with modern fears of environmental catastrophe and governments that will never cooperate to solve world-spanning problems.

RECOMMENDED

Good, not great, but that's hard to get with sci-fi. I think the reason it was just good for me is that it is reminiscent of other books I'd read recently.

Scientific Techno-Thriller

The world is suffering with climate change. A group of entrepreneurs decide to undertake a risky mining venture on an asteroid. When things go wrong three of the astronauts escape to Earth leaving two of their comrades behind. This book centers on how the three make substantial engineering strides to build equipment to return to the asteroid.

The tension is not only working against time to accomplish the rescue mission, but the international tensions created by devastating climate change. In the circumstances, the government doesn’t want to back the rescue mission, so the three crew members are on their own.

The opening chapters are rather slow focusing on the lives of the main characters. They are reasonably well drawn. I found James the most interesting. He is the driving force behind accomplishing the rescue. Once the author gets into the technical details of preparing for the mission, the book gets more interesting. However, the science can be heavy. I enjoyed it, but it can be overwhelming if you only dabble in technical matters.

This is the second book in the series. The first book Delta-V does not have to be read first, but it can be helpful from the standpoint of getting into the technology. If you enjoy sci-fi with plenty of technical detail, this is a book you should check out.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.

It’s a race against time when two crew members are left stranded after an unsanctioned asteroid mining accident goes awry. This isn’t just a rescue story though. Add in the climate crisis and politics and this one told a phenomenal story. I would love to see it brought to the screen!
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Thank you Dutton and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Critical Mass is Suarez’s sequel to Delta-v, a hard sci fi race to space “thriller”. I loved Delta-v and was very excited to see the story continued. I did feel that this one didn’t quite have the luster and excitement of the first. While I love the science aspects, I fear the actual story was bogged down by the constant technical details. The way it ended, think there could possibly be a third book to wrap up the storyline - will absolutely pick that one up if it happens. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.

I have a love-hate relationship with the genre of "science fiction." On the one hand, I love it because it can represent the best of humanity's ability to dream and imagine the future. On the other hand, it can be such a broad genre that publishers are willing to call anything sci-fi that has even the most minimal "science vibe." There's very little that could be called "science" in Marvel movies, Star Wars, etc., but they're still considered sci-fi even though they're more "space fantasy" than anything.

Daniel Suarez's new novel, Critical Mass, the follow-up to his 2019 Delta-V, is delightfully science-y to the extent that I'd almost categorize it as "eng-fi" or something. He clearly takes great joy in thinking through the question, "How could human beings plausibly get a foothold in space?" Delta-V begins to answer that question with, "asteroid mining," but his new novel follows upon that by trying to imagine what a sustainable space-based resource economy might look like.

One of my favorite sci-fi series, The Expanse by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, sits in a similar spot in that it realistically depicts what a multi-planetary human civilization could look like. One of the things I've always wished for was a sort of "prequel series" to The Expanse that details how humans get from Point A (now) to Point B (a couple hundred years in the future where human beings are eking out lives on rocks in space). I'm happy to say that Suarez's books largely fill that gap for me, and I hope that he keeps it going.

One weakness of Critical Mass is that he sometimes spends so much time on the science and engineering problems at hand that the plot and characterizations suffer. Indeed, I found the first handful of chapters (that are largely about the characters and their lives back on earth) to be rather stilted and slow going. But when they finally get up into space, it's clear that Suarez is getting to the part that he's really interested in.

Another weakness of the plot (at least in my opinion) is how much Suarez makes of blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies and NFTs figure prominently, and it feels rather obvious that the book was mostly written before the massive crypto crashes of 2022. At one point he tries to distance his use of NFTs from the laughingstock they've become by saying something to the effect that they've matured quite a bit since the silly uses of the early 21st century. The overall effect of crypto in the book, though, is that it simply makes it harder to suspend disbelief.

All that said, I did enjoy the book on its own terms. I've read better plots and I've connected with more richly-detailed characters, but the appeal of the book (for me) was simply the engineering curiosity Suarez puts down on paper. I found his depiction of a fledgling space economy to be for the most part compelling and plausible!

DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of a fair, unbiased review.

After reading through some other reviews, it seems I wasn't the only one surprised to find out Critical Mass is a sequel to Delta-V (which I hadn't yet read, but eventually paused this book to do so). I also didn't know until finishing this book that there will eventually be a third title in this series.

I'd put this book/series (so far) somewhere between Andy Weir and Neal Stephenson (specifically "Seveneves") on the 'hard sci-fi' spectrum.

While I generally enjoy Daniel Suarez's books, and liked this one just well enough, it (more so than Delta-V) just didn't quite feel distinctly like a Daniel Suarez book, though I can't really articulate why. It's possible I'd have a different opinion if I'd known while reading that Critical Mass is the middle of a trilogy.

Had I realized this was a sequel to a book I hadn't read, I might not have requested it. But now that I've read both Delta-V and Critical Mass, I'll be seeking out the next book in the series, whenever it's available.

Critical Mass by Daniel Suarez is the second book in the Delta-V science fiction techno-thriller series. Set in the near future between 2038 and 2042, this novel has it all for readers who enjoy hard science fiction. It’s gripping, vivid, suspenseful, and filled with thrills and chills that feel credible and believable. When circumstances during an unsanctioned commercial asteroid-mining mission forces the team to leave two members stranded, the ones that make it back to Earth need to mount a rescue mission. However, global political tensions and devastating climate change effects consume governments who aren’t willing to invest in space. The crew decides to mount their own rescue in time for the asteroid’s next approach by Earth. Nevertheless, it won’t be easy or straightforward.

The prologue immediately pulls readers into the story line. The first few chapters introduce readers to the main characters: James, Priya, and Jin, as well as several major secondary characters. The characters have varying degrees of depth with James having the most. His sense of purpose was unwavering while those of others sometimes seemed to meander. James has a strong sense of justice and determination that readers can easily support. The dynamics between the characters added to the intensity of the story line.

The world-building is phenomenal, making it easy to visualize what is happening in the book. Technical details of many items that seem plausible captured my interest. The author does a great job of making the technologies easy to understand to those who aren’t scientists and engineers. The plot is suspenseful, tense, and intense. It builds momentum and peaks with an astonishing conclusion. It also gives insight into the behaviors and actions of governments, entrepreneurs, and adventurers. Everyone has agendas, but some are self-serving while others are working for the good of many. There were constant threats whether from the environments, governments, or others intent on their own achievements. Themes explored included climate change, dangerous rescue missions, space exploration and technologies, medical advancement, governmental and political pressure, entrepreneurship, trust, power, economics, and resources.

Overall, this science fiction techno-thriller was entertaining, convincing, and felt terrifyingly realistic. The tension was so thick I could feel it. The novel also had suspense, compelling and diverse characters, and a thought-provoking story line. This emotional rollercoaster kept me rapidly turning the pages. If you enjoy high-octane science fiction, then this may be the series for you. A list of references for further reading is included at the end of the book on the science technologies and themes that were explored.

PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and Daniel Suarez provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for January 31, 2023. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Critical Mass by Daniel Suarez
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A certain subset of SF -- known generally as Hard SF -- has a long history of interweaving real science (up to the current knowledge of the day) with grand adventures or techno-thrillers or even philosophical treatises.

In the good ones, sometimes you get all three.

But where it gets seriously impressive is when you interweave the ideas of the Sixth Extinction and real Proof-Of-Work crypto-theory put to work on solving real grand-scale economic issues, or the very real and disturbing problems of the rise of fascism and piracy and what it means to build space stations or a near colony, while paying careful heed to great characters. There's a lot more to it, too, but these are what stood out the most to me on this read-through.

Hard SF has had a lot of these kinds of tales, to a greater or a lesser degree, but I'll just say this: it's up there with KSR's Mars trilogy if you want a good comp.

I love how it takes the next several steps forward on the path to settling in space in a highly realistic and technical way. It's also a great influx of the new technology we also have, so in a way, it's superior to most.



Highly, highly recommended.

With an action-packed edge-of-your-seat opening scene where our surviving 5 members have split up, 3 trying to get back to earth, and the other 2 staying behind, and at the end of the first chapter each side has no idea if the others have survived.

I enjoyed the characters more than I did in the first book, and the plot and storyline kept me invested throughout the book. That being said, there was a lot of tech stuff, that was super detailed. Pages and pages of it, that have me convinced Daniel Suarez could build a space station on the moon himself. I did enjoy the details which helped me visualize what they were doing, but there was just so much of it, that at times it did take me out of the story a bit.

The further we got into the story, and past all the tech stuff.. which after some further research this series is described as a techno-thriller which I hadn't realized, so it all makes sense now why there was so much..., the more I was sucked in and needed to keep reading. I just had to know how it was going to end.

With the way it ended, I'm not sure if there are going to be more books in this series or not, but I'm invested now, so I will definitely read them if more come out.

Daniel Suarez did it again! If you love hard SF, rooted in science and technology, such as The Martian by Andy Weir, I highly recommend this series
The second volume of a trilogy is always a dangerous proposition, While I can not say this is a flawless novel, subplots that open and close in this installment are a bit weak, it definitely keeps the suspense going for the grand finale in volume 3. I just hope that the wait will not be that long...
This is one of the most believable visions of our near-term future I have had the pleasure of reading. The amount of research that underpins the plot is staggering, and yet the plot is compelling and does not fall into didacticism.
Highly recommended.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

I tried and tried and tried to get into the book, but struggled greatly. The action-packed intro, which you think would engage you, felt distracting to me. The story begins in the second chapter, but maybe it was something about the narrative style, but I just kept getting distracted by other titles on my device. It might be good for others, but it was merely OK for me.