Privateers

Rating:
Summary: Trys to put 007 to shame.
Review: For somebody looking for realism in Science Fiction this book is not for you (despite the “Riveting Account of the Future” accolade claimed to be by the Wall Street Journal on the front cover). My main problem was the central character, who must have been a Ben Bova wannabe at the time this was written. Try this: He’s young. He’s already a billionaire. He has a “hard” well-toned body. His sexual success puts 007 to shame: He sleeps with a new secretary every other week (all are physical goddesses as it so happens), top Hollywood actresses (two at the same time even), and even the United States woman President who just so happened to be the wife of his now deceased best friend. He seduces a young, innocent and of course beautiful woman who so happens to be the daughter of the soon to be Venezuelan president. He’s a brilliant military tactician, and can somehow transform his corporations’ technical employees into becoming a spacefaring SWOT squad able to covertly rescue comrades from a heavily armed Russian prison facility. He’s also a tactful politician, influential and connected at the highest levels. He has time to run a huge business empire by himself, as well as frolic with women and attend lavish cocktail parties. Achievement to say the least, but lets get a bit real Ben.

There is a common theme in his other books (again the Moon, Mars and Venus sagas); all seem to have a central character with loads of money and incredible sexual success. This seems to be the main vehicle by which the author can get the things done he wants to use in his plots, and it gets a bit boring after a while.

Rating:
Summary: Dirk Pitt in Space
Review: Having just finished Mars, Return to Mars, Moonrise, and Moonwar, I was really looking forward to another excellent Bova tale. Unfortunately, this book left me very unsatisfied.

I would like to say reading Privateers was like diving into a Clive Cussler novel, with Dan Randolph as Dirk Pitt, but that would not be entirely fair to Mr. Cussler. The action was nowhere near as intense, and the story was unbelievably predictable. This book was a VERY quick read.

The only thing that preventing my giving it a 1-star rating was the fact that out of 5 books I've read or Mr. Bova's, this was the only dud.

Rating:
Summary: Expected More from Ben Bova
Review: I wish I could give this book a good review. I can't. The dialogue is from out of the dark ages. As hard as I tried; I couldn't finish it. With dialogue like "he just might go crackers".....it's a 50's version of the future that should have stayed in the vault of unpublished Ben Bova works.

Rating:
Summary: My first Bova book - A great read!
Review: It's not romping, wide-flung space battles or huge space-going battle ships. It takes place in the near future, on the Earth, Moon and inbetween. Sure there's politics. The `hero` is a playboy self-made millionaire. The nasty is a Russian meglomaniac. Toss in the hero's affair with the first lady, piracy in near space, and a great plot, and we have a pretty good book!

Rating:
Summary: My first Bova book - A great read!
Review: It's not romping, wide-flung space battles or huge space-going battle ships. It takes place in the near future, on the Earth, Moon and inbetween. Sure there's politics. The `hero` is a playboy self-made millionaire. The nasty is a Russian meglomaniac. Toss in the hero's affair with the first lady, piracy in near space, and a great plot, and we have a pretty good book!

Rating:
Summary: Although a little dated in its politics this is still a good
Review: OK, the story itself is now a little dated (among other things, the Soviet Union is still around), but aside from that this is a nice little brain-dead novel. Don't expect the kind of hard-SF extrapolation you'll find in most of Bova's other novels; rather, this one is more or less a James Bond movie in space, complete with over-the-top villians, femme fatales, and enough plot holes to fit an asteroid or two in. It's popcorn of the printed variety, not meant to make you think but just to have a good time. Read it on the beach.

Rating:
Summary: A fun, quick read
Review: OK, the story itself is now a little dated (among other things, the Soviet Union is still around), but aside from that this is a nice little brain-dead novel. Don't expect the kind of hard-SF extrapolation you'll find in most of Bova's other novels; rather, this one is more or less a James Bond movie in space, complete with over-the-top villians, femme fatales, and enough plot holes to fit an asteroid or two in. It's popcorn of the printed variety, not meant to make you think but just to have a good time. Read it on the beach.

Rating:
Summary: Although a little dated in its politics this is still a good
Review: The story works with technology that is nearly possible today and may be reality in the not so distant future, it not a far fetched space opera nor a silly fantasy story. The story also deals with private enterprise challenging governments for domination of space which is a theme I enjoy. There is enough tech. adventure and intrigue to make for a good Ben Bova story.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth reading.
Review: This is one of the most misogynistic pieces of tripe I've read in a good long while. Mediocre plot, very fun premise, but it's woven together like an afghan somebody let the dog chew on.

Rating:
Summary: EOS had no business sense publishing this.
Review: To put it bluntly, I was totally unable to "suspend my disbelief" in order to get past the first 3 chapters. This is a 15 year old SF book that just got published, in which the Soviet Empire has taken over. This book will only appeal to people that can tolerate alternate universe stories. The writing is so terribly formula that you can see the writers checklist, i.e. violence for attention grab, wet dream scene backup, dull filler, etc. I've read hundreds of SF novels good and bad. This is the first one I've quit reading and actually tossed in the trash. It's not good enough for the Walmart discount bin. It's no wonder it took 15 years to publish. EOS must have just wanted a big name.