Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Rock Rats (The Asteroid Wars, Book 2) by Ben Bova, Amanda Karr, Christian Noble, Savannah Brentnall, Ira Claffey, Gabrielle De Cuir ISBN: 1-57453-507-2 Publisher: Audio Literature Pub. Date: August, 2002 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 6 List Price(USD): $32.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.75 (12 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Space opera with bad science
Comment: This is pretty light reading, so despite myself, I've enjoyed reading it. The characters aren't very deep, and have one-dimensional motives. Humphries gets away with anything he wants to do, because, for some reason, nobody ever investigates the bad things he does, like burning up all of Lar's supplies.
Some of the science in the book is just blatantly wrong, though, especially where Bova (or a ghost writer?) talks about going into a high speed orbit around an asteroid (huh?) or picking an "orbit" around an asteroid to match its spin. There are some things he does in the book that JUST DON'T WORK. It's almost as bad as Armageddon in that respect. But, taking it as space opera; light fiction with not much depth, it's still fun to read.
Rating: 5
Summary: Classic tragedy set in outer space
Comment: This novel is excellent, period. Bova develops a future where the earth's resources have been depleted, and its only hope lies in the mineral rich asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The ores in the Belt are worth countless trillions of dollars, and struggle develops between an industrial tycoon, Martin Humphries, and the unofficial leader of independent asteroid prospectors, Lars Fuchs. Humphries is a cold-blooded, hyper-ambitious industrialist that amkes JR Ewing look like a saint. Fuchs is genuinely concerned about "the little man," but is a slave to his own volcanic temper and violent urges. The two men are the centers around which the war for control of the asteroid belt revolves.
Warning: this book does not end happy. Hence the word "tragedy" in the title of my review. Fuchs own moral and personal failings prove his undoing; yet Humphries does not truly win either. To say more would ruin the book. Just remember that this book is a tragedy, in the classic sense of the word. Think "Moby Dick" as an example of what I mean.
The charge that Bova does not develop the characters enough is superfluous; these same characters have appeared in other books by him and have been fully developed in those, so to do so again in this book would be repetitive and unfair to his loyal readers. It is number two in a trilogy, so the final ending may be happier than the one in this book. Nonetheless, for those who can stand its sober conclusion, this book by itself is an excellent read. It is fast paced, technically accurate, and emphasizes action strongly. All in all a great way to spend a few hours.
Rating: 3
Summary: Slightly better than The Precipice
Comment: The second book of The Asteroid Wars is slightly better than the first, primarily because there's more action, but it suffers from the same flaw as the first, namely characters that just aren't that interesting. I'd put Bova in the same general class as Tom Clancy: good when writing about hardware, but unable to write characters with any real depth. If you want to read a good book by Bova, start with Jupiter or Venus which focus much more on science and hardware than this book.
 |
Title: The Precipice by Ben Bova ISBN: 0812579895 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 15 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
 |
Title: Empire Builders by Ben Bova ISBN: 0812511654 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 15 March, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
 |
Title: Saturn by Ben Bova ISBN: 0312872186 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: Privateers by Ben Bova ISBN: 0380793164 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
 |
Title: Moonrise by Ben Bova ISBN: 0380786974 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 March, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
