Book Review: Cosm

(This review contains no significant spoilers.)

I recently polished off Gegory Benford's Cosm.  Here's my review.

The Setup

The book follows  a particle physicist who has accidentally created a seemingly physics-defying macroscopic object during an accelerator experiment, as attempts to understand the object and maintain her possession of it.

What I Liked

• The book seems to have a very strong basis in real physics and astronomy,* as you would expect from Benford, since he is a professor or astrophysics at the University of California, Irvine.
• The depiction of scientific research and the lives of research scientists is quite realistic.
• The plot moves along quickly.  I found the book to be a real page-turner.

What I Disliked

• One or two plot developments were predictable.

Summary

Overall, I give this book 8.0 out of 10.  I recommend it to anyone to whom its premise sounds interesting.

* Amusingly, although the astrophysics in the book is very well researched, I did notice a factual error regarding the protagonist's Miata.  I think this observation says more about me that about the author.