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Proteus Unbound - Charles Sheffield Book Review

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Review Summary
Behrooz Wolf lost his job with the Bureau of Form Control when his great love Mary left him. The solar system's expert on form control sat hooked to a dream machine to escape his lonely and hallucination-filled reality. Then the form control machines in the Outer Solar System started malfunctioning with sometimes fatal results. Delegates from the Outer System came to Earth, unplugged Wolf from his VR machine, and took him to the Outer System to find a solution to the problem.

Wolf believes the problems are being caused by a group of revolutionaries and outlaws who inhabit the Kernel Ring between the Inner and Outer Systems, and who want to seize control of the whole Solar System. His pursuit of the answers takes him on a dangerous trip into the Kernel Ring and into contact with an intelligence which may come from completely outside of the Solar System.

Linda Bertland, Resident Scholar


Detailed literary breakdown of Proteus Unbound
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%




Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Spying & Investigations Yes
What is main char. doing? - unraveling a conspiracy
Political power play Yes
Political plotlets - saving govt/kingdom from external overthrow
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
If enemy is a group... - pirate band

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - scientist
Age: - 40's-50's
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - pirate
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Terrain - Domed/Underground City
Which planet? - Asteroids
Spaceship setting: - futuristic human freighter/transport
Takes place in spaceship? Yes
Not Earth, in Solar System? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a significant amount of technical jargon
How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to Proteus Unbound
The Guarder Factor by Shawn P. Madison
Conquerors' Pride by Timothy Zahn
A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows by Poul Anderson
The Ganymede Club by Charles Sheffield
Time Stand Still by John Misak




Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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