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Book Review of RUSSIAN SPRING

RUSSIAN SPRING
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As the American dream of space explorations devolves into the nightmare of orbiting nuclear defense shields, aerospace engineer Jerry Reed casts his lot with the Europeans to preserve his own commitment to his country's abandoned ideals. Shifting international alliances, however, spell disaster for an increasingly isolationist United States, and the fortunes of Reed and his family (a Russian wife and two culture-torn children) fall prey to "politicians' politics." Spinrad's latest novel is a chronicle both of the 21st century and of one man's burning passion. As in Little Heroes ( LJ 6/15/87), the author focuses on his characters, who are compelling in their weaknesses as well as their strengths and admirable in their persistence in the face of undeserved tribulation. Inspirational without becoming didactic, wise without becoming arch, this novel stands in a class by itself.