Orion Arm: The Rampart Worlds: Book 2 Book

Julian May's "Rampart Worlds" space-opera romps began with Perseus Spur; Orion Arms is volume two. Asahel "Helly" Frost, disgraced scion of the mighty Rampart interstellar family company, again finds himself working for them as a wise-cracking, space-faring James Bond against the evil Galapharma corporation which is selling priceless human know-how and DNA to the alien Haluk--cunning devils who've developed a "demiclone" process for turning reptilian Haluks into human form and vice-versa. The slam- bang action moves through various cinematic set-pieces: assignations in genetically enhanced brothels so lewd that even very bad men puke at the attractions offered; Frost betrayed and not killed outright but left in a death trap with one slim chance of escape; a high-tech strike against a secret Haluk base closely resembling the one in Perseus Spur; much blood and mayhem thanks to deep-penetration Galapharma traitors planted within Rampart and indeed Frost's own family; murderous last-minute reversals at the crucial board meeting, followed by a final shoot- out and the offing of the arch-villain in a way that might just allow his return for book three. Orion Arm offers colourful, tongue- in-cheek violence and drama that pulls you along but refuses to be taken seriously. --David LangfordRead More