In the early 2020s, two young, genius computer hackers, Elizabeth Santiago and David Schwartz, meet at MIT, where Schwartz is sneaking into classes, and have a brief affair. David is amoral and out for himself, and soon disappears. Elizabeth dreams of technology and space travel and takes a military job after graduating. Nearly ten years later, David is setting himself to become a billionaire by working in the shadows under a multiplicity of names for international thieves, and Elizabeth works in intelligence preventing international space piracy. With robotic mining in space becoming a lucrative part of Earth's economy, shipments from space are dropped down the gravity well into the oceans. David and Elizabeth fight for dominance of the computer systems controlling ore drop placement in international waters. If David can nudge a shipment 500 miles off its target, his employers can get there first and claim it legally in the open sea. Each one intuits that the other is their real competition but can't prove it. And when Elizabeth loses a major shipment, she leaves government employ to work for a private space company to find a better way to protect shipments. But international piracy has very high stakes and some very evil players. And both Elizabeth and David end up in a world of trouble.
Space pirates and computer hackers . . . James L. Cambias's Corsair is a thrilling near-future adventure!
Industry Reviews
"James L. Cambias' second novel, Corsair, earns a fistful of hyphenations: a near-future techno-thriller heist-caper with a sizable dose of hard-engineering space-stuff and maybe just a dash of cyberpunk. It all fits together so smoothly, though, that one hardly notices the joins and overlaps." --Locus online
"A potboiler that fans of Cambias' previous excellent work will wish to investigate." --Kirkus Reviews
"Thoroughly engaging characters; credible and comprehensible science; action in spades; romance; and humor throughout." --Bookloon
"Corsair" is a quick, fun read." -The Recorder
"After his acclaimed debut A Darkling Sea, James L. Cambias is one of the hottest names in sci-fi. And he delivers on that promise with his follow-up, the techno-thriller Corsair." -The Nameless Zine
"If Neal Stephenson is an entire operating system for a desktop iMac, James Cambias is a sleek app for your iPhone." --Paul Di Filippo for Locus
"An engaging nail-biter that is exciting, fun and a satisfying read." -The Qwillery
"Corsair is an exciting thriller. Fans of Tom Clancy and early Neal Stephenson will feel right at home." --SF Revu
"An entertaining, near-future adventure story from the author of A Darkling Sea." --Library Journal James L. Cambias second novel, Corsair, earns a fistful of hyphenations: a near-future techno-thriller heist-caper with a sizable dose of hard-engineering space-stuff and maybe just a dash of cyberpunk. It all fits together so smoothly, though, that one hardly notices the joins and overlaps. Locus online
A potboiler that fans of Cambias previous excellent work will wish to investigate. Kirkus Reviews
Thoroughly engaging characters; credible and comprehensible science; action in spades; romance; and humor throughout. Bookloon
Corsair is a quick, fun read. The Recorder
After his acclaimed debut A Darkling Sea, James L. Cambias is one of the hottest names in sci-fi. And he delivers on that promise with his follow-up, the techno-thriller Corsair. The Nameless Zine
If Neal Stephenson is an entire operating system for a desktop iMac, James Cambias is a sleek app for your iPhone. Paul Di Filippo for Locus
An engaging nail-biter that is exciting, fun and a satisfying read. The Qwillery
Corsair is an exciting thriller. Fans of Tom Clancy and early Neal Stephenson will feel right at home. SF Revu
An entertaining, near-future adventure story from the author of A Darkling Sea. Library Journal
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