Customer Reviews

Brightsuit Macbear

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I am proud to be the first in about two years to review this book. A continuation on Neil's Probability Broach series, it serves as yet another reminder that inidividuals do exist, and provides hope that, in the future, they still will.

Like Robert Heinlein, Neil gives the reader more to continue for, if only in the capacity of knowledge that someone can see a bright, sterling future.

J. L. L. F.

Fifteen year old Berdan Geanar was not a very happy boy. He didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, he wasn't allowed to carry a gun and his grandfather seemed to hate him. Now his grandfather had jumped ship, taking all the money and a experimental smartsuit with him. One that didn't belong to him.
Berdan decided to stop his grandfather, but doing so meant leaving the Tom Edison Maru and landing on a planet covered, from pole to pole, with jungle, dangerous animals and exotic cultures.
Set after the events in Tom Paine Maru ( which is set in the Confederacy universe) the novel is fast, fun and, like many of the author's books, about people who belive in being themselves - about TRUE freedom. The book could be red as a stand alone novel or as one part of the series.

L. Neil Smith again proves that rugged individualism and personal accountability are important part of anyone's life who truly wants to be free. This novel shows the trials of a young man who has been robbed of the cradle of a loving family and must find his own life through daring interstellar adventure. A great addition to the back log of Smith's books that speak well of the future and of the potential of humanity.

A young boy raised by an overbearing uncle, under a cloud because of his parent's death years ago, lives in a libertarian paradise where people can live on spaceships cruising among the stars.

But these people have their problems too; it seems some people are always going to want power over others, and there's always need for someone willing to stand up for their rights.

This is an adventure story, an exploration of growing up, a wish-fulfillment fantasy of playing with the most advanced tech seen yet, and a (sometimes heavy-handed) explication of the Libertarian point of view with horrible examples of what goes wrong when people seek power over others.

Because this book is about a heroic kid who successfully faces adversity and a hostile home life, I give this book to middle school kids in foster homes. Tom Glas