Saturn : A Novel of the Ringed Planet (The Grand Tour)

Rating:
Summary: Just not Bova's best. . .
Review: . . .but certainly not his worst either -- and far better than the 3rd and 4th entries in the Clarke's "Rama" series.

After tackling the Moon (two or three times), Mars (twice), Venus and Jupiter, I suppose that Saturn was the next logical adventure. However, unlike the previous books (even "Venus" which I disliked) there is very little about Saturn actually in the book!

The book deals largely with an artificial habitat sent from Earth to Saturn, and the interactions and machinations of the persons living on that habitat. Once again, as in "Jupiter", Bova takes whacks at religious fundamentalism -- but without the benefit (or relief) of any sympathetic religious character. Issues of sex, politics, manipulation, and violence are played out -- with varying amounts of success. The life-form? eventually discovered
in the rings of Saturn are certainly more believable than the silliness in "Venus", but really are a bit far-fetched.

Passable, but certainly not extraordinary.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not great.
Review: Ben Bova has, yet again, written a very readable and enjoyable tale. As with his other books in the Grand Tour series, Saturn could not be called a heavyweight of literature but nonetheless does provide the reader with enough detail and characterisation to keep up interest. The story centres around a space habitat on route to Saturn and populated by a mixed bag of dissidents, 'free thinkers', and general misfits.
The main characters are Malcolm Ebberly, a man placed here by one of the major ruling religious groups but with an agenda of his own that wouldn't balk at murder to achieve it and Holly Lane, who is naive and innocent but becomes a hunted fugitive in the labyrinth of passageways beneath the main habitat.
Although this book is one of a series, it is not necessary to have read the others to enjoy this one as each tale can stand-alone. An enjoyable story but I'm glad I bought it in paperback and didn't pay for the hardcover version.

Rating:
Summary: Seeding the future
Review: First- this isn't bovas' best work, but I still think it was a good read. It expands nicely into the grand tour idea. For me I saw it as a way for him to seed the future once he was done with the solar system. It wets the whistle for a chance to revisit the colony and the rings of saturn. For those who want to read Bova for the first time its not a good place to start I would suggest Mars or Jupiter.

Rating:
Summary: Not One of Bova's Best...
Review: This book truly baffles me. I've read a bit of Ben Bova lately, and I can't quite comprehend why he did what he did with this book. I think that what's the best about Bova's books is his attention to scientific detail and his exploration of the sites of our solar system. However, in Saturn, all this stuff takes a back seat to a character story that isn't all that great. In fact, the title "Saturn" is most definitely a misnomer, as this book has very little at all to do with Saturn. In fact, they don't get to Saturn until the latter stages of the books, and don't even really TALK about Saturn until maybe 100 pages into the book.

The real focus of the story is the giant spaceborne habitat "Goddard" which, for some reasons unknown to us, is being sent to Saturn to be a colony there. Why, I'm still not sure. The story mostly follows Susie (Holly) Lane, Pancho Lane's sister come back to life due to a miracle of cryogenics... or something. I wish this was explained a little better, especially after it was set up in detail in The Precipice. The other main character is a recently released convict named Malcolm Eberly who strives to gain political control of the habitat.

To be blunt, the story starts off really slow. I kept waiting for Bova to get to the good stuff (i.e. the science and exploration), but it really never happened. The science takes a back seat, and unfortunately, the character story that drives the book is second-rate, at best. Granted, it did get better towards the end, and there was a bit of suspense added to make me care more for the characters. However, this is not one of Bova's best. Stick to the science next time, Ben.