Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been reading science fiction for half a century. I read Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov in first edition. In all the years that have passed I have never before read a book that I would realistically compare with Heinlein. Now I have. When you pick up this book, physically or digitally, be prepared to be unwilling to put it down until you finish it! Swarm is just sufficiently full of true science and seasoned just enough with fiction to pass muster as something Heinlein would have written. Joe average is quite literally yanked out of his calm, pleasant life and forced into a life or death situation not only for himself but for all of humanity. In classic science fiction commonly the protagonist was an egg-head who was fully up to date on the newest radio technology, in this case a computer science professor has to shoulder the responsibility of saving the world. Heinlein was convinced that a well-educated American engineer or scientist could take on the most advanced tyrants in the universe. More, he was convinced that given a hint of whatever was behind the technology of that tyrant, American academics and engineers could reproduce and even better it. His optimistic view was overshadowed by the post-apocalyptic mood that seemed to grip scifi writers in the waning years of the 20th century. B.V. Larson has recaptured that indomitable spirit exemplified by Heinlein that sees the best of American scientific culture and the self sacrificing nature and courage of professional soldiers as a force that makes humanity far too much to chew for any alien invader. The highest complement I can give is due this book. I squirmed with the lead character as he faced the death of his family and again and again the horror of total war. In the end though Larson make me feel good to be an American and a human being. I ache to read the next in what I sincerely hope is a long series.