Delta-v

Publisher's Summary

The best-selling author of Daemon returns with a near-future technological thriller, in which a charismatic billionaire recruits a team of adventurers to launch the first deep space mining operation - a mission that could alter the trajectory of human civilization.

When itinerant cave diver James Tighe receives an invitation to billionaire Nathan Joyce's private island, he thinks it must be a mistake. But Tighe's unique skill set makes him a prime candidate for Joyce's high-risk venture to mine a near-Earth asteroid - with the goal of kick-starting an entire off-world economy. The potential rewards and personal risks are staggering, but the competition is fierce, and the stakes couldn't be higher.  

Isolated and pushed beyond their breaking points, Tighe and his fellow 21st-century adventurers - ex-soldiers, former astronauts, BASE jumpers, and mountain climbers - must rely on each other to survive not only the dangers of a multi-year expedition but the harsh realities of business in space. They're determined to transform humanity from an Earth-bound species to a space-faring one - or die trying.

©2019 Daniel Suarez (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

“A cut above most tech novels, Suarez's latest benefits from his attention to detail, which boosts the believability of his futuristic vision.” (Kirkus)

"High finance and asteroid mining on the High Frontier - terrific!" (Greg Bear, New York Times best-selling author)  

Daemon Deja Vu in Deep Space

The story follows the basic Daemon pattern ... a brilliant, seemingly evil billionaire has an elaborate plan to change the world. In this case, it's deep space rather than MMO.
The good: Suarez is brilliant at weaving near-future technology into an interesting story that stretches the mind. Jeff Gurner did his usual great job at narration.
The bad: The writing and story are sloppy compared to his prior books. The first 75% of the book could have been cut in half, and the character development wasn't up to Suarez's usual standard.
The inevitable: Clearly this book is screaming for a sequel.
Overall: Worth the credit and glad I spent the time, though I'm hoping the sequel will be more tightly written.

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Unsatisfactory second half to promising story.

The opening half of the book is much better than the resulting second half which leaves a great deal in the air and largely ignores it's own premise.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

ok story

it was a good concept but completely unbelievable that the first manned deep space mission could be kept THAT secret.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Nothing special here

Having read every book by this author this book lacks the twists and turns of his other books.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Disappointed it was not as good as his other books

I’ve listened to all of Daniel Suarez’s books & am a big fan of his work. However, while entertaining, in my opinion, this book isn’t nearly as good as his previous books.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

"The Martian" on Steroids

Great book about a very Elon Musk type billionaire funding a secret asteroid mining project. However the story is mostly about the adventurous crew that has to survive the hostile challenges of space far away from any help. Great characters and a lot of info on the challenges of space beyond Earth. Plenty of action and, to me, a much more enjoyable and believable listen than "The Martian". I'm a big fan of Daniel Suarez's books and this one is one of his best. Love the reader too.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

Uncreative and Predictable

Because I've enjoyed Suarez's previous novels and the publisher's summary of Delta-V sounded compelling, my expectations were high. But unfortunately, it was about as predictable, myopic, and cliché as most Michael Bay flicks, e.g. Armageddon, Deep Impact, etc. (In fact, Ben Affleck would be a great guy to cast as James Tighe if Mr. Bay were to bring Delta-V to the big screen.)

I've not the time to write a comprehensive review. So... The plot line is uncreative, predictable, and hackneyed. There are far too many lead characters (a baker's dozen), all of whom are poorly developed and colorless. The writing and dialogue is rather bland. And Jeff Gurner's narration is neither good nor bad; it's just meh. It's gotta be difficult for a solid narrator to narrate at his best when the novel he's narrating is a mess, so can't blame Jeff.

Even though I do not recommend Delta-V, I'm still a fan of Daniel's work...just not this time.

Story: 2.0
Narration: 3.5
Overall: 2.5

14 of 20 people found this review helpful

Lots of obstacles and no complications

No character changes or developments. The story is on a railroad and is the same basic story of all the authors other novels of the human will overcoming all obstacles.

Pet peeve: everything is compared to the size of something when seen at arms length. Over and over and. Over again

The reader does an excellent job at a bad story.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Not Daniel's Best Work

I've listened to all of Daniel's book and this book does not measure up to his other books. The book is an okay listen, the ending was lacking. Jeff did another amazing job reading.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Disappointed

I discovered Daniel Suarez based upon the recommendation of “Daemon” by a work colleague. Finally, someone to fill the huge gap left by Michael Crichton’s death. “Freedom ™” was a perfect follow-up. Delta-V does not hold up to those and his others.

I had high expectations and was very disappointed in this book. The story line just never seemed to get going, the plot was highly predictable,and it lacked the events necessary to make it a real page turner for me. Was it horrible? No. It just didn’t meet my expectations based upon his other work. I hope he recovers for the next one.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

hard work

While I have enjoyed most of Daniel's work this book was a real struggle to get into. The 1st 30 chapters were a drag. I even listened to 2 other books in the middle. The 2nd third of the book was better.. but even the last 3rd was not that great. meh

awesome book. awesome read.

loved the technology and the development of the story. really gives an idea on how we can boot strap ourselves into space

No one does near future SciFi better than Daniel

Loved all DS books. I like this one more than Change Agent, but mainly as I knew the science better.

Hopefully there is a sequel. The story arc has a long way to go, I’m hoping DS does not leave us hanging...

Interesting rather than riveting

Headline says it all, a good story written well and performed well, scince was good to a non astro physicist any way and the background business was so clearly just a mirror of today's Titans that it was easy to buy into. Just the right level of jeopardy and a wee bit of romance.

All good you'd think but though I found it easy to commit time to listen it felt a little formulaic and lacking any story "craft" and our central character just didn't make a connection with me.

There is a very good story here, but I didn't feel as though I got it here.

This is better than most but it does not make me care, which it really should have.

A good book to fill the gap between books you really want to read, without being bubble gum.

Another realistic sci-fi from Suarez

Suarez keeps publishing quality material. Lot of drama, twists and humor, Captivating as few and perfectly balanced futuristic drama.

I love Suárez

Delta V sus not disappoint including a healthy dose of educational materials for nerds!

Brilliant - Asteroid Mining adventure

Great vision of the future of commercial space exploitation. Great characters, great technology, real world physics, brilliant narration. Daniel Suarez does it again. This time taking the story outside the gravity well. Recommended.

The new Martian!

We evolved intelligence. The next step on humanity's evolutionarily ladder is a decision!
Sci-fi gem!