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Title: Venus by Ben Bova, Harlan Ellison ISBN: 0-7871-2528-8 Publisher: Dove Books Audio Pub. Date: May, 2000 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 4 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (50 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Character driven story
Comment: Ben Bova's "Venus" is a fairly good story. I was a little turned off at first because it is written in first person, which I am not a big fan of and hadn't read a first person novel in a really long time. However, about halfway through the book, I realized the importance of the first person point of few when other strong characters were introduced.
This is less a science fiction story and more a character journey in a scientific world. If you are looking for hard core scientific observations and manipulations I recommend other stories, such as Kim Stanley Robinson's "Red Mars." However, there is a lot of speculative science fiction the Bova introduces on the interior of the Venusian world, which is interesting and facinating.
It does take a while for this book to really grasp you, but none-the-less it is worth the read if you are a Bova fan, or interested in our solar system. It is great the way Bova has researched the real world of venus, and then put in his own fantasy elements based on possibilities.
To sum up, this is a first person book that is driven by the characters. It is more the characters coming to realization of who and what they are and them trying to overcome their weaknesses while completing their objectives than hard core science. My favorite character is definately Fuchs.
Rating: 4
Summary: Quality Science Fiction, with a Strong Plot
Comment: This is the first time I've ever sat down to read anything by Ben Bova, a name that I had heard attributed to "hard" science fiction. As far as my science fiction reading goes, I normally prefer my science plausible, but not hard: my own science background was physics and chemistry to the end of highschool, and then a mild spattering of brain-centric biology for my psych/english lit degree.
Imagine my surprise when I found "Venus" to be a science fiction novel with a strong plot as well as hard science. The science in this fiction does not overwhelm, with the typical use of a character or two that aren't as accomplished in the realms of science as the others, forcing the more educated to explain to the others - and the reader.
The plot itself starts as a basic 'run for money.' A truly hateful man sets up a prize: 10 billion for the first person to return from Venus with the remains of his son, who died there on the first manned mission to the hellish planet. The other son, a weakling, a runt, and a bit of a dandy, rises unexpectedly to the challenge, and the race is on.
That said, this 'protagonist' is the least enjoyable part of the book. The main voice of the novel, he begins as a whiny, spoiled, soft and clueless man, and though he almost immediately begins to grow, there are points at which you'd gladly see him tossed out an airlock.
Woven into the story is a rich tableau of family secrets and hatreds, a political -vs- corporate battle, and of course, the hostile attempts to survive in the hellish world that is Venus herself.
For a fast-pace action science fiction novel, 'Venus' delivers in spades. The characterizations are often a little slow to growth (especially our 'hero'), but suffer through his views for the first quarter of the book and I promise you you'll be involved and interested in his welfare from there out.
'Nathan
Rating: 3
Summary: Very Ordinary
Comment: Van Humphries has problems. He's unambitious, has chronic anemia, and is something of a dilettante. His fabulously wealthy father despises him because his mother died after giving birth to him and because he percieves him as a weakling. Van's older brother, who he idolized, died on the surface of Venus after becoming the first human to reach it. When Van's father offers a ten billion dollar prize to the person who retrives his older son's remains (assuming there's anything left to retrieve after a long sojourn in the hostile Venusian environment), Van surprises himself and everyone around him by deciding to go for it. It's not really so surprising, though, because Dad simultaneously tells Van that he's going to cut off his allowance and Van has no other means of support. Is ol' Dad manipulating Van?
Ben Bova's VENUS has lots of interesting material about the planet Venus in it, Van is a somewhat appealing character, and there's some engaging action. But, beyond these elements, this is a very uninspired story. The plot is routine and predictable and, with the possible exception of Van, the characters are strictly one-dimensional. I can't say I was bored by this book. In fact, I found it mildly entertaining, but there is nothing here to really recommend it. It's a true mediocrity.
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Title: Jupiter : A Novel by Ben Bova ISBN: 0812579410 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 18 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Return to Mars by Ben Bova ISBN: 0380797259 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Moonrise by Ben Bova ISBN: 0380786974 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 March, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Precipice by Ben Bova ISBN: 0812579895 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 15 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Moonwar by Ben Bova ISBN: 0380786982 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 November, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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