Casimir Bridge by Darren Beyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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. :)

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