Here are reviews/book cover descriptions of 15 of Bova's great books
that I have read so far. Last updated: 2/12/06
War is once again brewing, and the bold and ruthless Martin Humphries, owner of Humphries Space Systems, is determined to gain complete control of the Asteroid Belt, no matter what the cost. To do so, he must wipe out the competition—Astro Corp. and its CEO, Pancho Lane.
For nearly a decade, “Rock Rat” Lars Fuchs has been a pirate, an outcast who cruises through the vast, silent emptiness of the Belt preying on ships owned by Humphries Space Systems. Pancho knows that Lars Fuchs, and his renegade ways, may be the key to winning the war against HSS. But Lars is on a vendetta of his own. He is driven, night and day, to find a way to kill Martin Humphries. He seeks justice for Amanda, the woman he lost to Humphries, and for the rock rats that have been killed by his nemesis’ greed. He wants vengeance against the man who has destroyed his life.
But an impending massive solar flare, a shadowy competitor, & the development of a new —potentially dangerous— nanotechnology threatens to wreak havoc on all who inhabit the solar system. And in an electrifying conclusion, replete with all the action, technology, and intrigue Bova is famous for, the fate of humankind, and its race to control the resources of space, is determined.
I read this book several years ago, before what we now call 'e-books' were even heard of by the general public. I am not surprised at all that Bova's book predicted them. This story is about a computer genius / programmer extroardinairre / hardware designer, who has designed a device to take the place of old-fashioned, bulky, expensive, paper-based, labor-intensive books. He calls it a cyberbook and powerful businessmen want to steal his design. Here, we read about the world of high-level publishing; elderly people being murdered in New York-?; and the fullfillment of one man's dream to make books accessible and affordable to every person in this country.
Seven years after the Stavenger family made Moonbase a reality, aubstantial community lives, labors and flourishes under Doug Stavenger's leadership, thanks to the wonders of nanotechnology. But the science that sustains and supports the off-Earth colony has been declared illegal and immoral by the home planet's rulers. And one man is launching war across the heavens, determined to lay claim to Stavenger's peaceful city or obliterate it if necessary - forcing an isolated society with no arms or military to defend itself with nothing but ingenuity and the tools that built and maintain the settlement. Here you'll find sabotage, virtual reality communication, and life on a space station.
More irreverant misadventures of the irrespresible Sam Gunn - cosmic con man with a heart of gold - as he scams his way from one end of the Solar System to the other, giving bold new meaning to the term "venture capitalist." Sam Gunn's three favorite things are women, money, and justice. In this sequal to Sam Gunn, Unlimited, he sues the Pope, rescues voluptuous twin sisters in the 'virtual sex' trade, invests in space station honeymoon suites, oribital space planes for tourists, and so much more. As always, a lot of fun and surprises are in store for the readers.
The closest planet to our Sun, Mercury is a rocky, barren, heat-scorched world. But there are those who hope to find wealth in its desolation. Saito Yamagata thinks Mercury’s position will make it an ideal orbit point for satellites that could someday create enough power to propel starships into deep space. He hires Dante Alexios to bring his dreams to life. Astrobiologist Victor Molina thinks the water at Mercury’s poles may harbor evidence of life, and hopes to achieve fame and glory by proving it. Bishop Elliot Danvers has been sent by the powerful Earth-based “New Morality” to keep close tabs on Molina’s endeavors, which threaten to produce results contrary to fundamentalist teachings.
Three of these men are blissfully unaware of their shared history and how it ties into one of mankind’s greatest tragedies. Years before, visionary engineer Mance Bracknell made his own attempt to help man progress into space by building a ladder to the stars: a glistening tower stretching thousands of miles into the air, anchored by spans of steel to a satellite in geosynchronous orbit. But technological endeavor was no match for human passions, and greed and jealousy provoked terrorists to an act of sabotage that resulted in the death of millions. There’s no telling how many more will have to die before Mance has his revenge…
Second in size only to Jupiter, bigger than a thousand Earths but light enough to float in water, home of crushing gravity and delicate, seemingly impossible rings, it dazzles and attracts us.
Ten thousand men and women, exiled by the restrictive governments of Earth, are riding a man-made habitat to the planet Saturn. They form a volatile community. Some are innocents like Holly Lane, or Manuel Gaeta. Others are idealists like Edouard Urbain, or Kris Cardenas and Nadia Wunderly. And some have much more dangerous plans. Malcolm Eberly, has been placed aboard the Saturn-bound habitat to take over its government. As the mammoth spacecraft nears its destination Eberly maneuvers to take control of the habitat. His manipulations lead to murder and Holly becomes a hunted fugitive in the habitat’s maze of tunnels and underground passageways. Meanwhile, frustrated by Dr. Urbain’s intransigence, Gaeta prepares to fly solo through the rings, abetted by Wunderly and Cardenas. What he finds there challenges everyone living in the habitat.
Late in the 21st century, Van Humphries is the sickly, fearful second son of a tryannical corporate tycoon. His older brother perished years before in the first attempt to land a man on Venus, and his father has always hated Van for surviving when his brother died. Now his father is offering a ten-billion-dollar prize to the first person to land on Venus and return his son's remains. Van takes up the offer, lunching a second attempt to land on Venus's ghastly surface, putting his life at great risk. Meanwhile, another expedition sets forth to claim the prize; one organized in secret by the man Van's father fears most. What Van finds on Venus, will change our understanding of Venus, of global warming on Earth, and his knowledge of who he is. He learns courage, and what really happened to his brother years ago. A very exciting, and sitisfying story.
Grant Archer merely wanted to study astrophysics, to work quietly as an astronomer on the far side of the moon. But the forces of the New Morality, the coalition of censorious do-gooders who run twenty-first-century America, have other plans for him. To his distress, grant is torn from his young bride and sent to a research station in orbit around Jupiter, charged with the task of spying on the scientists who work there. Their work may lead to the discovery of higher life forms in the Jovian system--a discovery whose implications might destabilize the theocratic power structure back on earth. Grant's loyalty to science may be greater than his desire for a quiet life. But that loyalty will be tested in a mission as dangerous as any ever undertaken. Meanwhile, what lurks in the middle reaches of Jupiter's vast atmosphere is more than any faction has counted on...and stranger than anyone could possibly have imagines.
This book gave me a different look at science because the main character is religious - very unsettling at first. But what a great ending!
The Precipice focuses on Dan Randolph who was once one of the richest men on Earth. Now the planet is spiraling into environmental disaster, with floods and earthquakes destroying th elives of millions. Randolph knows the energy and natural resources of spece can save Earth's economy, but the price may be the loss of the only thing he has managed to hold on to - the company he founded, Astro Manufacturing.
Martin Humphries, fabulously wealthy heir of the Humphries Trust, also knows that space-based industry is the way of the future. But unlike Randolph, he doesn't care if Earth perishes in the process. And he knows that the perfect bait to ensnare Dan Randolph - and take control of Astro - is his revolutionary new fusion propulsion system.
As Randolph - accompanied by two fascinating women who are also brilliant astonauts - flies out to the Asteriod Belt abooard a fusion-propelled spacecraft, Humphries makes his move. The future of mankind lies in Randolph's hands.
The Asteroid Wars have begun.
Half-Navajo geologist Jamie Waterman is picked for the ground team for the first manned expedition to Mars, joining an international team of astronauts and scientist. He clashes with Earth's bureaucrats as the team searches for signs of life. Twenty-five astronauts of the international Mars mission set down on the harsh and unforgiving planet and soon face deadly meteor showers, subzero temperatures, and a mysterious virus. Flawlessly conveyed are the many nationalities and genders in this engrossing story which expertly deals with the social, political and human aspects of such a voyage and the subsequent two-month stay on the red planet. It is a well-told human story which also contains information pertinent to the adventure and planet.
Bova follows the mining of the Asteroid Belt by independent prospectors called “rock rats.” The chief protagonists of the last book, Martin Humphries and Lars Fuchs, are still battling to see who will control of the vast amount of mineral wealth in the belt. While Lars Fuchs champions the cause of the independent rock rats, Humphries, a fabulously wealthy industrialist, tries to crush all opposition to his company, HSS. Above all, Humphries wants to capture the love of beautiful Amanda Cunningham, the woman who spurned his money, and take revenge on Lars Fuchs, the space prospector who both defied Humphries and married Amanda. His weapons will be piracy, sabotage and murder.
The Asteroid Wars have entered a violent new era—an era in which Earth desperately needs the resources of the asteroids, and corporations are willing to cheat, steal, and kill anyone who gets in the way. Before it ends, many will die. . . and some will achieve more than they ever dreamed was possible.
The U.S. has abandoned its quest for the stars, and an old enemy has moved in to fill the void. The potential wealth of the universe is now in malevolent hands. Rebel billionaire Dan Randolph -- possessor of the largest privately owned company in space -- intends to weaken the stranglehold the new despotic masters of the solar system have on the lucrative ore industry. But when the mineral-rich asteroid he sets in orbit around the Earth is commandeered by the enemy, and his unarmed workers are slaughtered in cold blood, the course of Randolph's life is changed forever. Now cataclysm is aimed at the exposed heart of America -- a potential catastrophe that Randolph himself inadvertently set in motion. And the maverick entrepreneur must use his skills, cunning, and vast resources to strike out at his foes hard, fast and with ruthless precision -- and wear proudly the mantle that fate thrust upon him: space pirate!
The exciting beginning of Bova's "Orion" saga, this is the story of John O'Ryan, a man who awakens one day to discover that he is the leader of a race of beings so far beyond humanity that they are almost gods. And, like a god he is locked in an endless struggle with an enemy whose powers are so far beyond the merely human that they seem demonic. Their eternal battle spans time itself. Orion is a man of purt heart and simple motive - he only wants to be with his true love. But the Creator Ormazd refuses his wishes. Orion's final decision reflects his true being; to do the right think, and be damned with the consequences.
Six years have passed since Jamie Waterman led a foundering expedition's surviving members to Mars's Valles Marineris, and the discovery of lichenlike organisms growing just beneath the planet's rocky surface. Now a second Martian expedition has beenannounced, motivated byits profitable potential. As commander of the new team, he will have to contend with a bitter and destructive rivalry, a new emotional attraction - and with the deadly, incomprehensible 'accidents' that appear to be sabotage - all of which could doom the mission to failure. Waterman knows he must not fail, for there are great secrets to be uncovered on this world - not the least being something he glimpsed in the far distance during his first excursion; an improbable structure perched high in the planet's carmine cliffs; a dwelling that only an intelligent being could have built. This sequal combines high-frontier adventure, cutting-edge science, evocative otherworldly atmospere, and vividly drawn characterizations.
Dan Randolph never plays by the rules. A hell-raising maverick with no patience for fools, he is admired by his friends, feared by his enemies, and desired by the world's loveliest women. Acting as a twenty-first century privateer, Randolph broke the political stranglehold on space exploration, and became one of the world's richest men in the bargain. Now an ecological crisis threatens the Earth--and the same politicians that Randolph outwitted the first time want to impose a world dictatorship to deal with it. Dan Randolph knows that the answer lies in more human freedom, not less--and in the boundless resources of space. But can he stay free long enough to give the world a chance?