science fiction

The Venus Belt - L. Neil Smith Book Review

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Review Summaries
"Win Bear, Our Hero from 'The Probability Broach' is back, heading to the asteroid belt to solve a series of mysterious kidnappings and the (temporary) murder of a friend. Dodging murder attempts by a series of mind-controlled assassinatrices, Win must uncover two disparate conspiracies, the authors of at least one of which want him very dead."
Brian R. Hughes, Resident L. Neil Smith Scholar


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Overall Review
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Plot
Tone of book - very upbeat
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story Yes
Plotlets: - colonizing/homesteading another planet - preventing an ecological disaster
Spying & Investigations Yes
What is main char. doing? - spying/espionage in enemy territorry - finding a killer (criminal) - unraveling a conspiracy - rescue mission/escape from confinement - finding a spy/saboteur
Tech./$$$/Info hunt Yes
Stealing/recovering/destroying - method of control - state secrets
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - private investigator
Age: - 60's-90's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status: - journalist
Eccentric: Yes - obsessed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
Terrain - Space, need spacesuit - Asteroid
Earth setting: - near future (later in 21st century)
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a futuristic society
Takes place on Earth? Yes
Planet outside solar system? Yes
Not Earth, in Solar System? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - very explicit references to deaths and torture
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a fair amount of scientific explanation
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - impregnation/reproduction - description of breasts - descript. of non-breast female anat.
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books by Gordonator ranking
Deception: The UFO Conspiracy by David Bischoff
A World Out of Time by Larry Niven
The Green Brain by Frank Herbert
Infiltrator by Steven Gordon
Men in Black: The Grazer Conspiracy by Dean Wesley Smith





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