Rating: 
Summary: Great potential, so-so execution
Review: Ben Bova has been a big name in the world of science fiction for a long time. Although he has no truly classic stories, his body of work as both an author and editor has at least carved out a niche for him. In Orion, he takes a bit of a break from his usual hard science fiction to pen a tale of the title character, divinely appointed to fight against an evil entity.The premise to the book is intriguing enough, even if not completely original. Taking pages from various mythologies, but focusing primarily on Zoroastrianism, Bova puts Orion at war with Ahriman, a Satanic figure intent on destroying humanity. Ahriman has pinpointed certain key points in human history and tries to alter them to his benefit. Orion is out to stop him. The story is told episodically, with Orion being reborn in different eras but with memories of his past (actually his future, since he is moving back in time) and with the same exceptional physical abilities. In every era, he also encounters a woman who he is in love with but whose true origins are a mystery to him (though not the reader). While interesting enough in theory, this novel is only okay in execution. Bova's writing is not particularly good; while not bad either, it is rather flat and none of his characters are all that compelling. Although he has a decent enough plot twist towards the end, it is not that difficult to figure it out, and his epilogue is really bad, as it cheapens the sacrifices that the hero has made. This is not an awful book, but I know Bova is capable of better. He may never be in the top tier of science fiction writers, but this is not even second-tier material. It is mid-level quality, a basic three-star book.
Rating:
Summary: Great potential, so-so execution
Review: Ben Bova has been a big name in the world of science fiction for a long time. Although he has no truly classic stories, his body of work as both an author and editor has at least carved out a niche for him. In Orion, he takes a bit of a break from his usual hard science fiction to pen a tale of the title character, divinely appointed to fight against an evil entity. The premise to the book is intriguing enough, even if not completely original. Taking pages from various mythologies, but focusing primarily on Zoroastrianism, Bova puts Orion at war with Ahriman, a Satanic figure intent on destroying humanity. Ahriman has pinpointed certain key points in human history and tries to alter them to his benefit. Orion is out to stop him. The story is told episodically, with Orion being reborn in different eras but with memories of his past (actually his future, since he is moving back in time) and with the same exceptional physical abilities. In every era, he also encounters a woman who he is in love with but whose true origins are a mystery to him (though not the reader). While interesting enough in theory, this novel is only okay in execution. Bova's writing is not particularly good; while not bad either, it is rather flat and none of his characters are all that compelling. Although he has a decent enough plot twist towards the end, it is not that difficult to figure it out, and his epilogue is really bad, as it cheapens the sacrifices that the hero has made. This is not an awful book, but I know Bova is capable of better. He may never be in the top tier of science fiction writers, but this is not even second-tier material. It is mid-level quality, a basic three-star book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Read, But . . .
Review: Bova is, without a doubt, a talented writer. Every book of his that I have read has been engrossing, quickly drawing the reader in. Orion is no exception, transporting the reader from such extremes as Saturn's moons to a glacier-covered prehistoric Earth. If you simply sit back and let's Bova take you on his ride, Orion can be enjoyable, but, like an A&E Biography on cable, it regards itself as a more serious work than it is. Ostensibly, Bova is trying to talk about the nature of humanity itself, our origins and our development. With such a profound topic, one would expect grand insights. Instead, we end up with a pot-boiler plot with a somewhat hackneyed conclusion. Ultimately, Orion ends up being nothing more than mindless entertainment. Satisfactory for a Star Trek novel, but a let-down from Bova.
Rating: 
Summary: Ben Bova: From great to greatness...
Review: Even though Ben Bova is no stranger to the consept of incredible writing, in "Orion" he takes his near-perfect writing into the level of absolute perfection. John O'Ryan is no super-human, but he does, however, have abillities far greater than humans ever will be able to obtaine. One day O'Ryan/Orion sees a woman, a beautiful woman, and falls in love with her, but she is killed by the Dark one, Ahriman. Struck with greef Orion is sent after the Dark one by the Golden one. Orion and the Dark one is sent to diffrent places, and diffrent places in time to fight eachother. That is the start of the battle between Orion, the Dark one and the hidden third player in this twisted game of revenge, love, hate, life...and death.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: Exciting, educational, imaginative, thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome book that has movie written all over it!
Review: I absolutely love this series and I read a lot of this kind of stuff. If you like epic heroic tales like this with Gods playing with human lives, you must read Fred Saberhagen Swords series or his newest FACE OF APOLLO. You will never put these books down.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding, One of my all time favorites.
Review: I like the "superhero" type books. Orion is my kind of superhero. Although orion is sort of "god-like" in his abilities, he has his weak points. Ben bova does an incredible job balancing superhuman powers with average male weaknesses. When I grow up I want to be like Orion.
Rating:
Summary: It makes me want to read the others in the series.
Review: It was a great sci-fi adventure; the concepts were brilliant.Orion is one interesting book that targets your mind.I personally thought it was cool.
Rating:
Summary: interesting and disappointing.
Review: It's the second time I am reading this novel, and I got myself the next issues to read them too. There is something that I like about it, and yet I keep ranting about the weaknesses of writing, plot building, soundness of the treated issues etc. It feels like Ben Bova is 1/ cheaply educated, I mean full of prejudices and ignorance although they've probably been acquired in expensive schools anyway, 2/ trained by secret societies (indirectly) in conventional theology and history, 3/ not willing to dedicate much time and energy to build a story, yet willing to use as tricks all the good ideas that he grabbed elsewhere, that were basically told to him by others. The result is kind of annoying, there IS good stuff in there, but to dig it out one must put up with heaps of cheap tricks, and cheap writing. I'll dig them out, but I know this is no litterary masterpiece, just cheap writing with a few good ideas that are not his.
I just wish Mr Ben Bova did some real work with these ideas, or that i found another author who does it. In the end it doesn't matter that much. I'll use this messenger as I'd use another one who would be a real artist.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb editors aren't necess. good writers. Proof: Ben Bova.
Review: My initial foray into the writing of Ben Bova was the first novel of his Orion series, aptly titled "Orion." Perhaps I expected too much, yet in the end I still see this book and the entire Orion series in an ironic and frustrating light. Primarily, it is ironic that one of the best science fiction editors of the past few decades could get such a terribly edited book published. This is painfully apparent in the history, sociology, and geology content of the book. Was Mr. Bova unable to get a hold of the latest findings in these disciplines? It pains me to think that his it was precisely his literary clout which gave him the opportunity to put something of such low quality out. The bottom line: Outdated, Over-simplified, and at times absolutely incorrect. A story based on actual historical situations falls apart quickly when mistakes like these are made. It is of course made exponentially more ironic when these mistakes are made by an influential literary figure who has for so long preached on the prevalence of "bad" science in science fiction. Lastly, it is outright bewildering that he was allowed to publish more than one book on the premise first introduced in this novel. I would recommend these books for young readers in a second for all the books qualities except that the presentation of incorrect historical facts makes it really suitable for no one.
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