Orion Arm: The Rampart Worlds: Book 2

Fine storytelling by May as she weaves science and politics into her galactic backdrop. Helly is at it again pursuing his enemy to alien destinations with his ragtag group of allies. Wonderful characters and a fast pace keeps you wondering how our hero will ever get out of this mess. Yet human nature still shows us how greed, megalomania and corporate politics have not evolved along with future science.

As with most of Julian May's space operas or fantasies this is a well crafted story. The characters are well drawn and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep the pages turning.Julian May clearly maps out the overall story arcs, in advance, for all of her major series and this certainly shows as the clues are laid in earlier novels for fulfilment later in the series. Having said that Orion Arm is the best of the Rampart trilogy. Highly recommended.

This is an action filled page turner with a lovable hero. I can't pinpoint why I liked the first better.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series, but the second one seemed to wander off the path I thought it should be following. It's still a good read.

Interesting storyline. Not as interesting for me as her Jack the Bodiless Series. It is a quick read and easily to put down.

Orion Arm is the second book in the Rampart Worlds Trilogy, a fun, witty, colorful space opera detective adventure set 200 years in the future. It continues the story of a disenfranchised former cop framed by big business to keep him from uncovering their corruption.Orion Arm continues the Julian May tradition of creating worlds described with vibrant adjectives that make her worlds a feast for all five senses. Her prose is perhaps unmatched in science fiction, and it is a joy just to read her works to see how she puts together her sentences.Orion Arm continues in the vein of sort of goofy, tongue-in-cheek action adventure and humorous cynicism from rough-around-the-edges protagonist Asa Frost. The plot thickens, becomes at once more serious and complex than in the first book. The first one was definitely more fun than adventure-- this book adds just a bit of suspense, making it more enjoyable. Much of the new tension comes from the shifting of emphasis from evil megacorprorations to a xenophobic alien race with ulterior designs on our galaxies-- it sets up the action for book 3.All in all, I enjoyed this book a tad bit more than the first, but still rate this series slightly behind May's earlier works. Unlike Pliocene Exile Series, where I found myself admiring May for her ability to let us come to know even secondary and tertiary characters, this series' supporting characters were somewhat superficial. Oh, compared to most sci-fi, Ms. May's characters are all vivid and deep, but compared to her own unusually high standards-- this falls just a bit short. Still, entertaining, imaginative a good read.

May brings back unforgettable hero,Helmut Icicle aka... Asahel Frost riverboat skipper and corporate supercop.Helmut is thrust once again in a life or death struggle of against sinister alien menace and lethal corporate conspiracy threatening mankind.Helmut is enjoyable hero who is a reluctant James Bond who always find himself in deadly danger from his enemies when he only wants to be left alone!May's Rampant world series has all the trademarks her works: vivid world-building,memorable characters, lyrical prose and gripping action.I also love the witty toughguy dialogue and aliens species and worlds which she describes in detail.I look forward to Helmut's next adventure because this one like it's first one:Perseus Spur is a real corker!

This one seemingly got much heavier on the United States Cowboy stuff. It's kinda ridiculous. But I probably liked this one a bit better. I do worry that the main character is race-ist and perhaps a bit homophobic. I don't like the jesus cowboy in space thing very much but I'm 2/3 through, now.

Second book in the series - just as enjoyabe as the first, would recommend it if you enjoy Julian May's writing style.

All good here, thanks :)

Conocí la obra de Julian May hace muchos años a través de su colaboración con Marion Zimmer Bradley en la Saga del Trilium .Me ha encantado esta trilogía en todos los sentidos y como es muy frecuente en estas autoras no faltan las reflexiones social y tecnológica para problemas o cuestiones de nuestra sociedad actual.