Benford is in many ways a typical hard science fiction writer in the manner of Larry Niven, Ben Bova, or Charles Sheffield. What sets him apart, however, what gives him a claim to being the best writer of hard science fiction working in America today, is his willingness to explore character development and style, two areas which science fiction writers too often undervalue. Benford's Nigel Walmsley is in some ways the archetypal science fiction hero, a brilliant and courageous scientist, "the man who knows how to do things," but he is much more than that. Walmsley comes across as a living human being, not necessarily a particularly nice man, but an interesting one; not the cool, steely- eyed cliche of pulp fiction, but a hothead who on occasion acts hastily and who is perfectly capable of making things worse by shooting off his mouth. When unobtrusive clarity is...