Beamriders

by Martin Caidin

The A Giant Step Into The FutureIn the thirty years since lasers were invented, we have learned to use the fior jobs as diversa as eye surgery and missle defence, but the biggest advance is yet to one day soon we will be able to beam human beings from place to plance on Earth, and even into Space.The High Tech Adventrue as only Martin Caiden Can Write it!Beamriders chronicles the achievements of the men and women who brave death in the development of just such a laser-transport system. Assignments that no on else can accomplish await the The rescue of a U.S. scientist from a cell beneath the Kremlin; defusing atomic blackmail in Washington; and strangest of all, a mission to the Far Side of the Moon. On Earth and in Space, nothing can stop The Beamriders!

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Martin Caidin was a prolific and controversial writer. Most of his work centered around the adventures of pilots and astronauts. A number of his books were notable for their reasonable, realistic predictions of then-futuristic technology.

Caidin's body of work was prolific and varied, ranging from additional speculative/SF novels such as Marooned, which was made into an acclaimed film and considered a harbinger of the Apollo 13 accident, to a novel based upon the character Indiana Jones. He also wrote many non-fiction books about science, aviation and warfare.

Caidin began writing fiction in 1957. In his career he authored more than 50 fiction and nonfiction books as well as more than 1,000 magazine articles. His best-known novel is Cyborg, which was the basis for "The Six Million Dollar Man" franchise. He also wrote numerous works of military history, especially concerning aviation.

In addition to his writing Caidin was a pilot and active in the restoration and flying of older planes.

Reviews

[Troy · Rating 2 out of 5]

My one-line rundown: It's about people zipping around inside lasers and it's Martin Caidin; what did I expect?

I scored this silly adventure in a used book store and that's the proper place for such stories. It was dated in many ways and suffered from that. I have soft spot in my heart for the Bionic Man (derived from Caidin's Cyborg) but I have a hard time going back and watching those TV shows. His books are similarly difficult for me.

I think the worst part for me was Caidin's slow build, similar to Cyborg. He takes so long to get to the meat of the matter that I'm often borderline bored by the time things start happening. I can't even recall how many irrelevant characters and situations were introduced before the heroes started beamriding. The 'far side of the moon/floating castle' adventure doesn't even appear until the last few pages of the book.

Overall, it's slow to start, predictable (every man is a superman, every woman a beautiful spy/supersoldier/genuis), and the technological imaginings are often unsatisfying. Having said that, I don't have anything against cheese and I basically I enjoyed the last third of the book excluding the moon thing (the last chapter). A paperback mixing Venezuelan babes, dogs living outside time and electro-whips (!) is just asking to be enjoyed with critical disdain.

[Allen Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a tough book to review. It's some of the cheesiest, most ridiculous, and sometimes just plain stupid science fiction (much more fiction here than science), but if that's what you're looking for, there's nothing better than this.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't quite remember who or when at the moment, but there was a famous science fiction writer who said that nothing with an exclamation point in the title was worthwhile. That's kind of harsh, but Beamriders! isn't one of Caidin's best novels. It takes too long to get started and then drags a bit in the middle and then ends with an abrupt rush. (What other kind of rush is there?) It's about matter transmission via laser, and the handsome supermen and the beautiful women who implement the adventures. They zip about solving problems and rescuing political prisoners and then exploding into space to fight for truth, justice, and... you know. It's an entertaining read with a pulp flare; popcorn with a bit of silly cheese on the side. It's all wrapped in a colorful David Mattingly cover that looks like it came from Time Tunnel. (With whips!)