Excelsior

Rating:
Summary: An original "near future" science fiction saga
Review: Michael Paul's gripping novel Excelsior is set in the year 2035. A deadly secret lurks aboard the space station Excelsior, and entrepreneur Miles Cash becomes entangled in a multifaceted conspiracy involving cloned suicide agents, a rogue intelligence agency's plot to destroy China, China's desperate and dangerous reaction to this threat, and much more. Miles' love of Leena Doda (a singularly beautiful bio-engineered woman) drives him to desperately defy far greater forces in this exhilarating, deftly written, and original "near future" science fiction saga.

Rating:
Summary: "Reality Bites" In a Futuristic Thriller!
Review: Not being much of a "sci-fi" buff, when I first brought Excelsior home- I let it rest on my desk a few days, only taking a glance at the intriguing cover now and then until I wondered what drew me to it. As soon as I read the first few pages I had my answer as the realistic possibilities of this futuristic story hit me. Even more intriguing was the style with which Michael Paul writes, allowing our minds to clearly conjure up compelling images of the proposed giant, enclosed, bubble-like habitat on Earth, the paparazzi frenzy and the intrigue of underhandedness about to unfold right from the beginning. The potential for the mass cloning, the profit to be made, the devious plan to wipe out an entire segment of human beings, the unusual love story, the perfect presentation on a political level and the incredible, luxurious hotel on a space station, dangling out there in the dark void, lit only by stars, had me captivated. The creation of the gorgeous, more than perfect, sexual cloned females is countered by the amazing intelligence and physical strength and agility that Paul endows these women with; an ability on his part to please both male and female readers. Paul's skill in writing allowed us to become involved not only emotionally, but impressed by the energy emitted in the story telling itself.

This is not a novel to just be categorized into a specific genre, but rather shared with others, talked about for great conversations and speculation about the reality of such possibilities that are created within these pages. I'm sure we'll see this on the screen some day. I can hardly wait to see what Michael Paul brings us next!

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful sex clones and bio-terrorism. A love story.
Review: Read this book and you may never look at a stunningly beautiful woman with the same eyes again. That's a good thing.
Ask Miles Cash, wealthy businessman, adventurist, and "owner" of Leena.
This is a fun science-fiction love story. It is, at the same time, a touching and thought-provoking exploration of political racism, bio-terrorism, and orbital space travel in the near future.
It is a wonderful novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters. Excelsior did for me what I need a book to do. It involved me. I forgot I was reading. And I can't wait for the sequel. Way to go Mr. Paul

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful sex clones and bio-terrorism. A love story.
Review: Read this book and you may never look at a stunningly beautiful woman with the same eyes again. That's a good thing.
Ask Miles Cash, wealthy businessman, adventurist, and "owner" of Leena.
This is a fun science-fiction love story. It is, at the same time, a touching and thought-provoking exploration of political racism, bio-terrorism, and orbital space travel in the near future.
It is a wonderful novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters. Excelsior did for me what I need a book to do. It involved me. I forgot I was reading. And I can't wait for the sequel. Way to go Mr. Paul

Rating:
Summary: Rich, complex, stunningly impressive science fiction
Review: The incredibly high quality of some self-published novels is really amazing - and Excelsior, Michael Paul's thrilling debut novel - is certainly a case in point. This novel is - in a word - brilliant, filled with intrigue, excitement, romance, science, politics, heroism, and so much more. It has enough plot material to fill several books, but Paul has wonderfully crafted everything together in one tight package that keeps the reader completely mesmerized at all times. Just look at everything going on in this futuristic thriller set in the year 2035: a bio-terrorist threat specifically targeting the population of China, the proposed building of domed habitats to protect society from future cataclysms, the black market cloning of women for lives as sex slaves, a potential catastrophe onboard a magnificent, luxurious space station, the sabotage of deep space vehicles, the increasing likelihood of war between the United States and China, and all of the diplomatic maneuvering that goes on behind the scenes to avoid a global nuclear conflict. Don't worry that Michael Paul is overextending himself in constructing such a complex plot, as he exerts an almost magical control over everything taking place - and he brings it all together for a real page-turner of an ending.

The protagonist of the novel is Miles Cash, a super-wealthy industrialist who is determined to finance and build a major domed city in the desert, the first of hopefully many such refuges that can protect humanity from worsening climactic conditions and the vagaries of evil men. He holds a big meeting with potential investors in the fancy Reston Heaven hotel on the space station Excelsior, but the trip also has a personal agenda. On former visits, Cash has become smitten with Custom Services employee Leena Dodd, a woman who happens to be a clone raised to be a highly-skilled call girl. She is in fact a product of an illicit sex slave cloning industry run out of Bangkok. Cash commits himself to "rescue" Leena and take her back to earth with him no matter what. While all of this is going on, the Secretary of State of the United States is presented with an accusation by the Chinese ambassador that the US is developing a biological weapon aimed at wiping out the Chinese people, setting off an urgent series of secret intelligence meetings. As it turns out, this farcical charge may have an element of truth to it, as a rogue element of rabidly anti-Chinese individuals may indeed have both the will and the capacity to make and unleash just such a weapon. Miles Cash himself supplies important information about the possibilities of such a weapon, putting his own life in danger, but his main concerns remain the building of his domed city (the importance of which is only reinforced by the budding threat of biological and nuclear war) and the rescue of Leena from Excelsior. The space station eventually finds itself at the crux of events, as the Chinese refuse to sit idly by and let themselves be attacked by a weapon of potentially mass destruction.

The above paragraph barely begins to describe the plot of this novel. While the time spent following the sex slave cloning magnate tends to drag a tiny bit at times, the rest of the novel moves ahead on full thrusters all the way. Each aspect of the plot is fascinating in and of itself, especially the political maneuvering that takes place inside the American government, but the culminating events onboard Excelsior are charged with pure, heart-pumping adrenaline. All of the main players themselves are wonderfully developed, with all sorts of memorable nuances to their characters that make them unforgettable and amazingly human. The whole society of 2035 is also richly developed, allowing the reader to immerse himself/herself in a full-scale futuristic universe. By the mid-point of this novel, I was thoroughly engrossed and just kept turning page after page in a relentless effort to find out how everything played out. Honestly, this is one of the most exciting and fast-paced science fiction novels I have ever read, and I may in fact be doing the book a disservice by referring to it as science fiction because the action actually touches upon a number of thrilling genres.

The prescience of the events chronicled in this novel are so poignant that the author felt compelled to add an afterword, fearing that some readers might have the impression that he was exploiting recent tragedies for his own gain - the fact is that several eerily similar events to those described here actually took place mere months after relevant sections of the novel had been written. These sorts of real-world coincidences only reinforce the very important truths and dangers given such careful, caring attention by Michael Paul and declare Excelsior not only an impressively thrilling read but an important one as well.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding SciFi
Review: This is a compelling tale that intertwines a futuristic love story between wealthy Miles Cash and a beautiful, intelligent clone named Leena with a fast paced Clancy style thriller. There's intrigue involving a potential pathogen that could wipe out China, a plot that involves a space station being the target of terrorism and many fascinating characters along the way.

I really enjoyed how the very detailed scientific stuff about bio-terrorism and space station technology flowed easily around more "human" stuff like the relationship issues between an odd threesome of reporters on the cloning story and the Miles' depth and passion as a human being.

Most interesting to me, though only a minor plot point, was Leena's participation in a "Goddess" oriented spiritual group of clones that was sweet and inspirational. This won't bog down male readers who may prefer the speedy pace of the narrative, but it will likely resonate with female readers because it's unexpected and gives the female lead another interesting dimension.

The afterward hints at a second novel which I greatly anticipate. This is a great read! Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Science Fiction
Review: Wealthy entrepreneur Miles Cash travels to space station Excelsior, a combination lab and luxury motel, to pitch investors on his domed-city project. He is also there to meet Leena Doda, a pleasure-clone.

But for Miles, nothing goes as planned. The woman he loves is held on Excelsior as property, and his project, the dream of a lifetime, is dangerously under-funded.

Meanwhile, a career U.S. Intelligence officer has put a plot in motion to destroy China, and the Chinese are willing to take drastic action to prevent the apocalypse. Miles Cash wants to "rescue" Leena, but he may not get the chance...

"Excelsior" is an odd hybrid of good old-fashioned suspense, philosophy, ethics, and politics, coupled with the very best in cutting-edge science. The author is a brilliant futurist. His cultural, political and technological projections are flawlessly integrated. The prose is clean and fast-moving. The plot is an absolute gem. This book deserves to be a classic. Simply put, it's the best science fiction novel I've read in a decade. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Science Fiction
Review: Wealthy entrepreneur Miles Cash travels to space station Excelsior, a combination lab and luxury motel, to pitch investors on his domed-city project. He is also there to meet Leena Doda, a pleasure-clone.

But for Miles, nothing goes as planned. The woman he loves is held on Excelsior as property, and his project, the dream of a lifetime, is dangerously under-funded.

Meanwhile, a career U.S. Intelligence officer has put a plot in motion to destroy China, and the Chinese are willing to take drastic action to prevent the apocalypse. Miles Cash wants to "rescue" Leena, but he may not get the chance...

"Excelsior" is an odd hybrid of good old-fashioned suspense, philosophy, ethics, and politics, coupled with the very best in cutting-edge science. The author is a brilliant futurist. His cultural, political and technological projections are flawlessly integrated. The prose is clean and fast-moving. The plot is an absolute gem. This book deserves to be a classic. Simply put, it's the best science fiction novel I've read in a decade. I can't recommend it highly enough.