Mindstar Rising, first in the post apocalyptic series starring futuristic private investigator Greg Mandel, rises to the occasion. During Gulf War II Mandel volunteered for a special government project called the Mindstar Battalion which resulted in him having a gland inserted in his brain to give him and similar volunteers specialized mental abilities. Mandel's gland was suppose to allow him to divine where enemy bases were located, but this sort tinkering with the human system was not an exact science and instead Mandel's gland only allows him to 'read' other people. Not their minds, but their emotions so that he knows if someone is lying, whether something is important to them and if they feel guilt over anything. Not a very useful ability for a soldier, but as a civilian private investigator Mandel finds it very helpful. In Mindstar Rising Mandel is hired to discover who is trying to sabotage a high tech company called Event Horizon. Only, as these things are wont to do in adventure novels, things are even more serious then they seem...and more dangerous.

Mindstar Rising is a very good novel in which Hamilton brings several science fiction conventions together in a tightly knit mesh. A post apocalypse setting, cyberpunk, ESP, military SF and workstations in space are all molded together with a deft and even touch. The strongest aspect of Mindstar Rising are its characters, both major and minor, who are very well defined and well written. There is also a good noir quality as Mandel traces down one lead after another, a la Phillip Marlowe or Sam Spade, with each tenuous clue bringing him a little closer to the villain pulling the strings from the shadows. My only complaint is that in places the post apocalyptic setting became a bit tedious, but in others, such as having England converted into a tropical hothouse as the result of global warming, was very imaginative. This is not only a well-written book it is one that begs to be made into a motion picture; something I imagine will not be long in the happening.

Hamilton has gone on since Mindstar Rising to become a highly respected science fiction writer both of the Greg Mandel series and other novels, but this is where his career started so put your mind to getting a copy of Mindstar Rising.

Grade: A

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