Perseus Spur (Rampart Worlds Series Volume 1)

Julian May is noted for her two long, complex, and interlinked science-fantasy sagas, the Pliocene Exile and the Galactic Milieu series. Perseus Spur opens the more light-hearted Rampart Worlds sequence, which is full of colorful planetary descriptions and slam-bang action. This future galaxy is dominated by Earth's megacorporations, which have carved up space between them. The hero, who was fighting corporate corruption, has been framed and discredited but not forgotten, as shown by bizarre murder attempts: a giant alien sea-toad gobbles up his house, and soon he's staked out to die on a lonely comet. With help from his eccentric friends and estranged family of entrepreneurs, he sets off James Bond-style to smash an ugly galactic conspiracy among companies that are treacherously selling human secrets--including our DNA--to hostile aliens. Like Bond, he's repeatedly captured by the same bad guy and barely survives awful fates. Negotiating exotic, deadly jungles, he must penetrate a fortified enemy cave complex and then escape before the inevitable time bomb blows everything to hell. Will he defeat the villain and get the girl? Need you ask? Fast-moving, tongue-in-cheek adventure, with sequels to come. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk