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Voyagers #1
Voyagers
Keith Stoner, ex-astronaut turned physicist, knows the signal that his research station is receiving from space is not random. Whatever it is, itâ s real.
And itâ s headed straight for Earth.
Heâ ll do anything to be the first man to go out to confrint this enigma. Even lose the only woman heâ s ever really loved.
And maybe start a world war.
And itâ s headed straight for Earth.
Heâ ll do anything to be the first man to go out to confrint this enigma. Even lose the only woman heâ s ever really loved.
And maybe start a world war.
383 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1981
51 people are currently reading
593 people want to read
About the author
Ben Bova
715 books1,039 followersBen Bova was born on November 8, 1932 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1953, while attending Temple University, he married Rosa Cucinotta, they had a son and a daughter. He would later divorce Rosa in 1974. In that same year he married Barbara Berson Rose.
Bova was an avid fencer and organized Avco Everett's fencing club. He was an environmentalist, but rejected Luddism.
Bova was a technical writer for Project Vanguard and later for Avco Everett in the 1960s when they did research in lasers and fluid dynamics. It was there that he met Arthur R. Kantrowitz later of the Foresight Institute.
In 1971 he became editor of Analog Science Fiction after John W. Campbell's death. After leaving Analog, he went on to edit Omni during 1978-1982.
In 1974 he wrote the screenplay for an episode of the children's science fiction television series Land of the Lost entitled "The Search".
Bova was the science advisor for the failed television series The Starlost, leaving in disgust after the airing of the first episode. His novel The Starcrossed was loosely based on his experiences and featured a thinly veiled characterization of his friend and colleague Harlan Ellison. He dedicated the novel to "Cordwainer Bird", the pen name Harlan Ellison uses when he does not want to be associated with a television or film project.
Bova was the President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past President of Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
Bova went back to school in the 1980s, earning an M.A. in communications in 1987 and a Ph.D. in 1996.
Bova has drawn on these meetings and experiences to create fact and fiction writings rich with references to spaceflight, lasers, artificial hearts, nanotechnology, environmentalism, fencing and martial arts, photography and artists.
Bova was the author of over a hundred and fifteen books, non-fiction as well as science fiction. In 2000, he was the Author Guest of Honor at the 58th World Science Fiction Convention (Chicon 2000).
Hollywood has started to take an interest in Bova's works once again, in addition to his wealth of knowledge about science and what the future may look like. In 2007, he was hired as a consultant by both Stuber/Parent Productions to provide insight into what the world is to look like in the near future for their upcoming film "Repossession Mambo" (released as "Repo Men") starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker and by Silver Pictures in which he provided consulting services on the feature adaptation of Richard Morgan's "Altered Carbon".
http://us.macmillan.com/author/benbova
Bova was an avid fencer and organized Avco Everett's fencing club. He was an environmentalist, but rejected Luddism.
Bova was a technical writer for Project Vanguard and later for Avco Everett in the 1960s when they did research in lasers and fluid dynamics. It was there that he met Arthur R. Kantrowitz later of the Foresight Institute.
In 1971 he became editor of Analog Science Fiction after John W. Campbell's death. After leaving Analog, he went on to edit Omni during 1978-1982.
In 1974 he wrote the screenplay for an episode of the children's science fiction television series Land of the Lost entitled "The Search".
Bova was the science advisor for the failed television series The Starlost, leaving in disgust after the airing of the first episode. His novel The Starcrossed was loosely based on his experiences and featured a thinly veiled characterization of his friend and colleague Harlan Ellison. He dedicated the novel to "Cordwainer Bird", the pen name Harlan Ellison uses when he does not want to be associated with a television or film project.
Bova was the President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past President of Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
Bova went back to school in the 1980s, earning an M.A. in communications in 1987 and a Ph.D. in 1996.
Bova has drawn on these meetings and experiences to create fact and fiction writings rich with references to spaceflight, lasers, artificial hearts, nanotechnology, environmentalism, fencing and martial arts, photography and artists.
Bova was the author of over a hundred and fifteen books, non-fiction as well as science fiction. In 2000, he was the Author Guest of Honor at the 58th World Science Fiction Convention (Chicon 2000).
Hollywood has started to take an interest in Bova's works once again, in addition to his wealth of knowledge about science and what the future may look like. In 2007, he was hired as a consultant by both Stuber/Parent Productions to provide insight into what the world is to look like in the near future for their upcoming film "Repossession Mambo" (released as "Repo Men") starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker and by Silver Pictures in which he provided consulting services on the feature adaptation of Richard Morgan's "Altered Carbon".
http://us.macmillan.com/author/benbova
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April 6, 2024
We are not alone!
In the 1980s the world is still under threat of nuclear annihilation, memories of the Bay of Pigs nightmare are still fresh and the Cold War is still very much a fact in the world's political life. Carl Sagan is at the height of his popularity. UFO sightings still occur with astonishing regularity. SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence) is making headlines in the popular scientific press. The right wing fundamentalist Christian movement in the USA is gathering a full head of steam and preachers with the oratorical skill of Billy Graham can pack a stadium to the rafters. Radio astronomy is a relatively new science. The Roman Catholic Church is sensing that it is a diminishing influence in the first world so it is looking to increase its flock by ensuring its power base in the third world is strong. A woman in a position of influence or power is a rare phenomenon. The "publish or perish" culture in scientific circles outside of the Soviet Union is in full bloom.
This is the world in which Ben Bova has a team of radio astronomers detect a signal in orbit around Jupiter that is clearly the work of an intelligent extraterrestrial species. No space opera, hard-boiled action or fantastic imagined scientific technology here, I'm afraid! Bova simply asks us to contemplate how a real 1980s world with 1980s technology would react if it knew that an intelligent space-faring alien creature was headed in a craft towards earth.
What a simple but effective premise for an engaging story!
On the down side, Bova has taken a purely melodramatic, almost laughably soap opera approach to the development of the relationships between his characters in the story. The men in the story are either heroes or wimps and the chauvinism that they exhibit toward the single strong female character in the tale is beyond outrageous. That said, Bova has created a provoking tale of the possible effects of a close encounter of the third kind on world politics, religion, relationships, science, culture and mainstream life in the USA.
Despite the fact that virtually everything about the story is now seriously dated, it is simple (and I would suggest useful) for the reader to examine today's world and ask themselves the very same question. What would my world become if I suddenly KNEW that we were not alone, that we were about to be visited by an ambassador of an intelligent species that was clearly possessed of technology well beyond anything we could produce and whose motives, culture and language were completely unknown to us?
I thank Ben Bova for providing me with a basis to contemplating that most provocative question.
Recommended.
Paul Weiss
In the 1980s the world is still under threat of nuclear annihilation, memories of the Bay of Pigs nightmare are still fresh and the Cold War is still very much a fact in the world's political life. Carl Sagan is at the height of his popularity. UFO sightings still occur with astonishing regularity. SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence) is making headlines in the popular scientific press. The right wing fundamentalist Christian movement in the USA is gathering a full head of steam and preachers with the oratorical skill of Billy Graham can pack a stadium to the rafters. Radio astronomy is a relatively new science. The Roman Catholic Church is sensing that it is a diminishing influence in the first world so it is looking to increase its flock by ensuring its power base in the third world is strong. A woman in a position of influence or power is a rare phenomenon. The "publish or perish" culture in scientific circles outside of the Soviet Union is in full bloom.
This is the world in which Ben Bova has a team of radio astronomers detect a signal in orbit around Jupiter that is clearly the work of an intelligent extraterrestrial species. No space opera, hard-boiled action or fantastic imagined scientific technology here, I'm afraid! Bova simply asks us to contemplate how a real 1980s world with 1980s technology would react if it knew that an intelligent space-faring alien creature was headed in a craft towards earth.
What a simple but effective premise for an engaging story!
On the down side, Bova has taken a purely melodramatic, almost laughably soap opera approach to the development of the relationships between his characters in the story. The men in the story are either heroes or wimps and the chauvinism that they exhibit toward the single strong female character in the tale is beyond outrageous. That said, Bova has created a provoking tale of the possible effects of a close encounter of the third kind on world politics, religion, relationships, science, culture and mainstream life in the USA.
Despite the fact that virtually everything about the story is now seriously dated, it is simple (and I would suggest useful) for the reader to examine today's world and ask themselves the very same question. What would my world become if I suddenly KNEW that we were not alone, that we were about to be visited by an ambassador of an intelligent species that was clearly possessed of technology well beyond anything we could produce and whose motives, culture and language were completely unknown to us?
I thank Ben Bova for providing me with a basis to contemplating that most provocative question.
Recommended.
Paul Weiss
September 8, 2011
Minor spoilers below, but not enough to hide the entire review.
***********
When I first read this in high school, I enjoyed it immensely. I love hard sci-fi, the characters are complex, and there was a woman astronomy student who was making it to the top.
Then I grew up to actually become a woman astronomer. Rereading this novel where I am in my life now, I find it disgusting it was that Bova's only woman character sleeps her way to the top - that is the only way she thinks of getting there, and it's the only way that others think she could get there.
Read this if you are entirely ignorant of feminism (as I was when younger), or if you are a feminist who wants a look into the horrible past that could still be true (and sometimes is) if a few good women and men stopped fighting.
***********
When I first read this in high school, I enjoyed it immensely. I love hard sci-fi, the characters are complex, and there was a woman astronomy student who was making it to the top.
Then I grew up to actually become a woman astronomer. Rereading this novel where I am in my life now, I find it disgusting it was that Bova's only woman character sleeps her way to the top - that is the only way she thinks of getting there, and it's the only way that others think she could get there.
Read this if you are entirely ignorant of feminism (as I was when younger), or if you are a feminist who wants a look into the horrible past that could still be true (and sometimes is) if a few good women and men stopped fighting.
April 30, 2024
Deep in that infinite sky, he knew, new stars were being born and old ones torn apart by titanic explosions. Galaxies whirled out there in the darkness and quasars burned with a fierceness that no human mind could comprehend.
“How long,” he whispered to himself, “will you keep your secrets? If God set you in place, when did He do the job? And how?”
It did not occur to him to ask why. That was the province of the theologians. He was a cosmologist.
I purchased The Return as part of a second hand book haul, and the premise of it appealed to me. However, it is book 4 in the Voyagers sequence, so I decided to bite the bullet and start the series from the beginning (as opposed to reading the fourth entry in isolation).
Therefore: here we are.
He gazed at the Earth, huge and glowing and heart-achingly beautiful. Turning, he looked out into the depths of starry space. He knew what Odysseus heard when the sirens sang their beckoning call to him.
This first Voyagers book must, at this point in time, probably be treated as Alternate History. It was published in the 1980s and it takes place in the 1980s, but it is also a novel of first contact (of sorts). Most of the book doesn’t really read like Science Fiction at all, more like a cold war thriller with some scientific trappings.
I like Bova. In fact, Jupiter was one of the novels that really turned me on to Hard Science Fiction. Voyagers, however, isn’t as good as anything I’ve read in the Grand Tour of the Solar System series. It boils down to expectation, I suppose.
It hovered against the stars, tantalizingly near, its golden energy screen glowing, pulsating slowly, like the deep eternal breath of God.
The novel gets a welcome shot-of-wonder in the arm in the closing chapters. Which, while it may arguably be a bit late in the game, almost certainly makes up for a lot of the trek to get there.
All in all, I can’t really give this more than three stars, although it does attempt to raise some interesting philosophical questions that would accompany actual first contact with any ETI (as this type of book often will).
The reviews for this series are all over the place, but onwards to Voyagers II: The Alien Within.
“We must go. Or die here.”
“How long,” he whispered to himself, “will you keep your secrets? If God set you in place, when did He do the job? And how?”
It did not occur to him to ask why. That was the province of the theologians. He was a cosmologist.
I purchased The Return as part of a second hand book haul, and the premise of it appealed to me. However, it is book 4 in the Voyagers sequence, so I decided to bite the bullet and start the series from the beginning (as opposed to reading the fourth entry in isolation).
Therefore: here we are.
He gazed at the Earth, huge and glowing and heart-achingly beautiful. Turning, he looked out into the depths of starry space. He knew what Odysseus heard when the sirens sang their beckoning call to him.
This first Voyagers book must, at this point in time, probably be treated as Alternate History. It was published in the 1980s and it takes place in the 1980s, but it is also a novel of first contact (of sorts). Most of the book doesn’t really read like Science Fiction at all, more like a cold war thriller with some scientific trappings.
I like Bova. In fact, Jupiter was one of the novels that really turned me on to Hard Science Fiction. Voyagers, however, isn’t as good as anything I’ve read in the Grand Tour of the Solar System series. It boils down to expectation, I suppose.
It hovered against the stars, tantalizingly near, its golden energy screen glowing, pulsating slowly, like the deep eternal breath of God.
The novel gets a welcome shot-of-wonder in the arm in the closing chapters. Which, while it may arguably be a bit late in the game, almost certainly makes up for a lot of the trek to get there.
All in all, I can’t really give this more than three stars, although it does attempt to raise some interesting philosophical questions that would accompany actual first contact with any ETI (as this type of book often will).
The reviews for this series are all over the place, but onwards to Voyagers II: The Alien Within.
“We must go. Or die here.”
February 16, 2014
This book is sexist, boring, and boorish.
There is a big plot hole in the climax. The hero "sacrifices" himself in order to convince the people of earth to work together. In order to do this he ignores everybody else's advice and better judgment. In other words, in order to convince people to work together, he refuses to work with anyone. Epic fail.
Also, sexism is rampant in this novel. For example, if you fantasize about being a professor and convincing (coercing?) a pretty, young graduate student to sleep with you on your first meeting, this is the book for you. If you are a decent human being, you'll be put off.
There is a big plot hole in the climax. The hero "sacrifices" himself in order to convince the people of earth to work together. In order to do this he ignores everybody else's advice and better judgment. In other words, in order to convince people to work together, he refuses to work with anyone. Epic fail.
Also, sexism is rampant in this novel. For example, if you fantasize about being a professor and convincing (coercing?) a pretty, young graduate student to sleep with you on your first meeting, this is the book for you. If you are a decent human being, you'll be put off.
May 12, 2009
I would actually give this 2 1/2 stars. I found much of it boring. But it was well written and the characters were fairly interesting. it just seemed to spend too much time developing this small elements of the plot line.
And maybe the characters were just too predictable and straightforward.
also here is a science fiction book about alein contact and it is not until the last 2 chapters that there is any alien contact.
I would want more before reading the next in the series.
Also, I guess it was a very male book. In the 60's this might have been more interesting because you didn't have all these great writers.
And the politics seemed rather simplistic, but at least there was intrigue and complications, they just never really reeled me in at all.
And maybe the characters were just too predictable and straightforward.
also here is a science fiction book about alein contact and it is not until the last 2 chapters that there is any alien contact.
I would want more before reading the next in the series.
Also, I guess it was a very male book. In the 60's this might have been more interesting because you didn't have all these great writers.
And the politics seemed rather simplistic, but at least there was intrigue and complications, they just never really reeled me in at all.
May 11, 2018
no plot and v sexist
May 9, 2019
A pretty good first contact story.
Originally published in 1981 the story brings back memories of Cold War tensions between the USSR and USA. Sometimes these seem quaint, sometimes they seem surprisingly current. Part of a trilogy, but good enough on its own. Many of the themes are repeated even in more modern books like John Sandford and Ctein's 2015 Saturn Run.
One of the overall minuses is a certain period-ness of the characters that can be grating. And the fact people keep begging astronauts to NOT go into space gets tedious.
Originally published in 1981 the story brings back memories of Cold War tensions between the USSR and USA. Sometimes these seem quaint, sometimes they seem surprisingly current. Part of a trilogy, but good enough on its own. Many of the themes are repeated even in more modern books like John Sandford and Ctein's 2015 Saturn Run.
One of the overall minuses is a certain period-ness of the characters that can be grating. And the fact people keep begging astronauts to NOT go into space gets tedious.
October 18, 2012
Voyagers by Ben Bova is an alien contact book that serves as both volume one in the Voyagers series, and as a stand-alone(ish) novel. Set in the 1980's, and somewhat dated by its politics and technology, it is a first contact novel that focuses on the personal and political wrangling that occurs when an alien object is detected heading towards Earth. Though it had great potential, the somewhat two dimensional aspects of the characters, and the blatantly sexist depiction of one in particular, diminished my enjoyment of what otherwise could have been a superb book.
Perhaps I am a bit hard on it because Bova can and has done better, perhaps it is because it had so much potential and came so close, maybe it is due to the degrading way women are portrayed, or perhaps because the even more blatant sexism in the sequel made me ill. No matter how you stack it, however, the book had great potential and turned out to be not very enjoyable.
For a full review see http://wp.me/pWa2h-qM
Perhaps I am a bit hard on it because Bova can and has done better, perhaps it is because it had so much potential and came so close, maybe it is due to the degrading way women are portrayed, or perhaps because the even more blatant sexism in the sequel made me ill. No matter how you stack it, however, the book had great potential and turned out to be not very enjoyable.
For a full review see http://wp.me/pWa2h-qM
April 30, 2015
My Rating Scale:
1 Star - Horrible book, It was so bad I stopped reading it. I have not read the whole book and wont
2 Star - Bad book, I forced myself to finish it and do NOT recommend. I can't believe I read it once
3 Star - Average book, Was entertaining but nothing special. No plans to ever re-read
4 Star - Good Book, Was a really good book and I would recommend. I am Likely to re-read this book
5 Star - GREAT book, A great story and well written. I can't wait for the next book. I Will Re-Read this one or more times.
Number of times read: 1
This was so boring.
Characters - The characters were unimaginative. Very 2 dimensional and uninteresting.
Story - One word describes this story. BORING
Overall - I fell asleep so many times during this. One time, I woke up in the morning and figured I would read for a few minutes, three hours later I woke up again. It would be great for insomniacs.
1 Star - Horrible book, It was so bad I stopped reading it. I have not read the whole book and wont
2 Star - Bad book, I forced myself to finish it and do NOT recommend. I can't believe I read it once
3 Star - Average book, Was entertaining but nothing special. No plans to ever re-read
4 Star - Good Book, Was a really good book and I would recommend. I am Likely to re-read this book
5 Star - GREAT book, A great story and well written. I can't wait for the next book. I Will Re-Read this one or more times.
Number of times read: 1
This was so boring.
Characters - The characters were unimaginative. Very 2 dimensional and uninteresting.
Story - One word describes this story. BORING
Overall - I fell asleep so many times during this. One time, I woke up in the morning and figured I would read for a few minutes, three hours later I woke up again. It would be great for insomniacs.
July 20, 2011
I read this as a light read after finishing something heavier. I wanted a romp with action and adventure, maybe a little light romance. This book had all that and still managed to suck. It's a bit like a Bond movie with Roger Moore, full of great ideas, lacking a bit in execution. It was an easy read and if you want actiony guys with names like Keith Stone and really whorish ladies.... this is the book for you. If you want anything else, like believable and likable characters, you might look elsewhere.
Overall I'd give it an.... eh.
Overall I'd give it an.... eh.
April 18, 2015
I do rather enjoy some of Bova's later stuff, but this one is wildly sexist, and pretty dull to boot. I kept hoping the cliché revivalist preacher character would do something interesting, but... nope.
October 14, 2011
This was ok. Carl Sagan's "Contact" did it better.
July 31, 2025
We must not confuse this story and possibly the whole Voyagers series as sci fi. Basically this is an adult and soft porn fiction with precise sci fi themes (40 adult vs 60 sci fi- or even 50-50). Adult fiction has its own fans and readers.
This book which actually is much better from science and tech details but still soft pornish like outer planets from his Grand Tour.
Theme is cold war Alien mystery. Aliens are better subjects than CCCP vs USA confrontation of that era which was a trend in cinema (80s and 90s). His data on astronomy and physics are enjoyable to read till porn cliche comes and ruins everything to some degree unless reader is from the adult fiction category. Considering this fact still my vote is 3.4/5 (~6.5/10)
Too much cliche from dialogue to soft porn but Science and Tech infos are exhilarating since they are reachable from sci tech sources for general non-experts and also university students.
This book which actually is much better from science and tech details but still soft pornish like outer planets from his Grand Tour.
Theme is cold war Alien mystery. Aliens are better subjects than CCCP vs USA confrontation of that era which was a trend in cinema (80s and 90s). His data on astronomy and physics are enjoyable to read till porn cliche comes and ruins everything to some degree unless reader is from the adult fiction category. Considering this fact still my vote is 3.4/5 (~6.5/10)
Too much cliche from dialogue to soft porn but Science and Tech infos are exhilarating since they are reachable from sci tech sources for general non-experts and also university students.
September 7, 2020
This is the first book in the author's Voyager series. It is about a sort of first contact. The book was written 40 years ago and some parts will not resonate with most individuals today due to the sexist tone of the book, but it was popular at the time.
February 9, 2018
Disappointed. But not because of the Story Line. That was actually thought provoking at least on Books 1 and 2.
Disappointed with the Author. I read many of Ben Bova's books. Some are classics.
Voyager Series is not a classic. Well, maybe if you are one of those people who love books that perpetuate stereotypes.
Consider:
* Religion is bad. Holds scientific and human progress down. Except for Christianity which even on its worst form is benevolent. Others Religions are evil even in their best form.
* Only America is enlightened. All other countries and cultures are backwards. Ben Bova calls asians "Orientals" and considers them little more than greedy cavemen.
* Ben Bova thinks the root of all human problems is over population - and makes it a point to explain that only non-whites are breeding like Rabbits.
* All the evil characters in his book are either Fat slobs, Black or non American.
* Latin America is just a swamp/jungle full of drug dealers and women having children uncontrollably.
* Women are cold, calculating and only interested in vain things.
In Summary, these series is a good read if you are a Nazi, KKK member or grew up in the 1800's.
Disappointed with the Author. I read many of Ben Bova's books. Some are classics.
Voyager Series is not a classic. Well, maybe if you are one of those people who love books that perpetuate stereotypes.
Consider:
* Religion is bad. Holds scientific and human progress down. Except for Christianity which even on its worst form is benevolent. Others Religions are evil even in their best form.
* Only America is enlightened. All other countries and cultures are backwards. Ben Bova calls asians "Orientals" and considers them little more than greedy cavemen.
* Ben Bova thinks the root of all human problems is over population - and makes it a point to explain that only non-whites are breeding like Rabbits.
* All the evil characters in his book are either Fat slobs, Black or non American.
* Latin America is just a swamp/jungle full of drug dealers and women having children uncontrollably.
* Women are cold, calculating and only interested in vain things.
In Summary, these series is a good read if you are a Nazi, KKK member or grew up in the 1800's.
February 1, 2021
I wanted to like this, and it does have bits I found interesting, but it has some serious flaws. Among them:
- Blatant sexism. There are essentially only two female characters in the book. One of them is the type of character who clothes "cling to," and seems to be there primarily to fulfill some creepy professor fantasies about younger female students. The other is a stubborn KGB agent who is literally described as having the "face of a potato." So...yeah.
- One entire plot thread, the "urban evangelist" one, goes nowhere and is essentially pointless. I guess the idea was to highlight how religion can obstruct progress (which I agree with), but it is not well done at all. You can completely skip these chapters, they have no impact on anything else whatsoever.
- It takes forever to get to the actual point of contact with the alien. I do really like some of the ideas there, and some of the imagery, but I'm not sure it's worth going through the rest of the book for, and it wasn't fascinating enough that I have much interest in reading the next book in this series.
- Blatant sexism. There are essentially only two female characters in the book. One of them is the type of character who clothes "cling to," and seems to be there primarily to fulfill some creepy professor fantasies about younger female students. The other is a stubborn KGB agent who is literally described as having the "face of a potato." So...yeah.
- One entire plot thread, the "urban evangelist" one, goes nowhere and is essentially pointless. I guess the idea was to highlight how religion can obstruct progress (which I agree with), but it is not well done at all. You can completely skip these chapters, they have no impact on anything else whatsoever.
- It takes forever to get to the actual point of contact with the alien. I do really like some of the ideas there, and some of the imagery, but I'm not sure it's worth going through the rest of the book for, and it wasn't fascinating enough that I have much interest in reading the next book in this series.
February 28, 2014
Ben Bova seems to have a dark view of human kind since almost every one in the book was driven by less then honorable reasons and quite a few of them where lying, scheming and bordering on antisocial behavior. The book actually was a bit depressing in the way there was no one to really cheer for. I hope the other books in the series is better in this regard so I'll give number two a shot at least.
August 24, 2014
ok, I've listened to about 1 hour of the book (out of 9) so far, and felt compelled to give a review before I finish it.
I find the character depth to be quite shallow , and the plot too boring as well.
And in the audiobook version, there is a bible thumping preacher that is read so loud that it hurt my ears.
I put the book aside while I thought about continuing it later, but have decided that there's nothing drawing me to this book, so this will serve as my final review.
I find the character depth to be quite shallow , and the plot too boring as well.
And in the audiobook version, there is a bible thumping preacher that is read so loud that it hurt my ears.
I put the book aside while I thought about continuing it later, but have decided that there's nothing drawing me to this book, so this will serve as my final review.
July 20, 2021
I love first contact stories, but this just wasn’t that good. It focuses almost entirely on administrative people. There is very little actual science in the book. The characters seem much more concerned about who’s sleeping with who than this world altering event.
Also, I usually think claims of sexism in novels is overblown but I could not help but feel like the author has some real problems with women, at least in this novel
Also, I usually think claims of sexism in novels is overblown but I could not help but feel like the author has some real problems with women, at least in this novel
June 14, 2022
I found this while going through some books which were stored in the attic and decided to read it. I didn't get quite all the way through it, as it really is crassly sexist. A university lecturer's first reflections on a student he meets are how he might seduce her; a woman's path to progress and success appears to depend on her desirability.
March 21, 2023
Ewww.
Any professor that says prove you're sorry by sleeping with me to a student is just eww.
I was not impressed with all the ogling every old man was doing to every female. But the prove your sorry scene took the cake.
The only reason I'm continuing this book is because I have no other audiobooks downloaded.
Any professor that says prove you're sorry by sleeping with me to a student is just eww.
I was not impressed with all the ogling every old man was doing to every female. But the prove your sorry scene took the cake.
The only reason I'm continuing this book is because I have no other audiobooks downloaded.
July 31, 2018
Interesting enough but horribly dated and it feels like even for its time kind of misogynistic.
Read
March 26, 2025* i review with words, not stars*
I had to stop reading and find out when this book was written. Holy FUCK it was anti woman! Not just pro dude... because we all know that the GOOD astronauts, and GOOD scientists, and GOOD teachers are men. It was anti woman.
Here are the female roles in this book: the hussy. There are several different varieties of hussy. Mostly they are college students looking to get ahead in the male dominated world. Next: the nag. Oh you know what I'm talking about. The wife that probably has a set of teeth where her vagina is and she's mad about that. She rides her husband's back, reminding him that he's a poor specimen. The college student that actually likes the professor and is willing to strip while he watches, then let's him treat her like she was a tissue. She ends up sleeping with someone else because that guy can help her career more.
Now I was alive in the 80s and the world wasn't like that. Oh yea, there were some. But not as much. What this is.... it's an imagined future world from someone still living in the 50s. The wife, the nag, actually has a prestigious position in the Russian government. She's more powerful than her husband. But she's also a jealous vindictive bitch. The main character who got his toy college student taken away by someone more powerful, yeah he learns that she loved him best. Barf.
I had to stop reading and find out when this book was written. Holy FUCK it was anti woman! Not just pro dude... because we all know that the GOOD astronauts, and GOOD scientists, and GOOD teachers are men. It was anti woman.
Here are the female roles in this book: the hussy. There are several different varieties of hussy. Mostly they are college students looking to get ahead in the male dominated world. Next: the nag. Oh you know what I'm talking about. The wife that probably has a set of teeth where her vagina is and she's mad about that. She rides her husband's back, reminding him that he's a poor specimen. The college student that actually likes the professor and is willing to strip while he watches, then let's him treat her like she was a tissue. She ends up sleeping with someone else because that guy can help her career more.
Now I was alive in the 80s and the world wasn't like that. Oh yea, there were some. But not as much. What this is.... it's an imagined future world from someone still living in the 50s. The wife, the nag, actually has a prestigious position in the Russian government. She's more powerful than her husband. But she's also a jealous vindictive bitch. The main character who got his toy college student taken away by someone more powerful, yeah he learns that she loved him best. Barf.
May 9, 2024
Giove chiama Terra con segnali radio misteriosi e un’umanità divisa dalla Guerra Fredda si arrabatta per cercare di trovare una risposta comune alla presunta minaccia. La premessa di questo romanzo corale è carina così come la trama che, pur senza raggiungere vette altissime (troppi capitoli secondari che nulla aggiungono), risulta abbastanza credibile ed è impreziosita da un finale molto convincente e non scontato. Con questa premessa, come mai il voto finale risulta così basso? Semplicemente perché Bova ha scritto i peggiori personaggi che mi sia capitato di leggere da molto tempo. Non so se sia misoginia dell’autore o qualche trauma infantile represso, ma le donne del libro sono (letteralmente) oscene: automi mossi solo dal bieco interesse pronte a tutto per il minimo guadagno personale, salvo poi farsi travolgere dai sentimenti la pagina successiva. Anche agli uomini non va meglio: poco più che animali con l’intelligenza emotiva di un bambino in età prescolare (e parliamo di un romanzo ambientato prettamente nella comunità scientifica, non in una favela). Certi passaggi sono da brividi, specialmente se consideriamo un libro scritto agli inizi degli anni ’80, non certo a inizio secolo scorso.
August 13, 2024
My Public Library had a book sale and I bought this book along with “Jupiter” and “Mercury.”
“Voyagers” is a 2.5* but I gave it a 2* overall, meh.
*edit 2: My Community Center has a Book Shelf where you put books for public use. I could not, in good conscience, put this book on the shelf and threw it in the trash instead. It was hard cover, too.
Review
The story starts out with the protagonists, Keith Stoner, raping a female graduate student (Jo Camerata) who had a crush on him. Jo goes on to get blackmailed and raped by the leader of the scientist (“Big Mac”) working on the alien spaceship. Jo continues to be forced into sexual slavery until “Big Mac” is written off. There are only four females in the entire book with a name. Two of these females have about two paragraphs each and are only sex toys for the secondary main character. The second female character with any character development is a Russian KGB officer who is a torturer and sexless NPC.
I thought “Ben. Show me on the doll where the bad woman touched you.”
Aside
I am not a feminist or feminist ally. Ben was born in 1932 so his views of women may be shaped by World War 2 and the resulting baby-boom. I don’t know. His characterization, at least in 1981 when this book was written, of women are dismissive, repulsive, and shallow. At least in this book. I will NOT read the other two books in this series. I barely finished this one.
One of My problems with the story (besides the rape and poor female character development) is that the protagonist wasn’t developed sufficiently to justify his being deferred to. I kept thinking “I must be missing something; why is he indispensable again?”
I do not recommend this book. There are much better books out there.
I will read the other two books I got by him: “Jupiter” and “Mercury” but I’m not enthusiastic about it.
*Edit: What a difference 20 years makes. Jupiter is sooooo much better than this book. Written in 2001 vs 1981. Nova’s writing has greatly improved.
“Voyagers” is a 2.5* but I gave it a 2* overall, meh.
*edit 2: My Community Center has a Book Shelf where you put books for public use. I could not, in good conscience, put this book on the shelf and threw it in the trash instead. It was hard cover, too.
Review
The story starts out with the protagonists, Keith Stoner, raping a female graduate student (Jo Camerata) who had a crush on him. Jo goes on to get blackmailed and raped by the leader of the scientist (“Big Mac”) working on the alien spaceship. Jo continues to be forced into sexual slavery until “Big Mac” is written off. There are only four females in the entire book with a name. Two of these females have about two paragraphs each and are only sex toys for the secondary main character. The second female character with any character development is a Russian KGB officer who is a torturer and sexless NPC.
I thought “Ben. Show me on the doll where the bad woman touched you.”
Aside
I am not a feminist or feminist ally. Ben was born in 1932 so his views of women may be shaped by World War 2 and the resulting baby-boom. I don’t know. His characterization, at least in 1981 when this book was written, of women are dismissive, repulsive, and shallow. At least in this book. I will NOT read the other two books in this series. I barely finished this one.
One of My problems with the story (besides the rape and poor female character development) is that the protagonist wasn’t developed sufficiently to justify his being deferred to. I kept thinking “I must be missing something; why is he indispensable again?”
I do not recommend this book. There are much better books out there.
I will read the other two books I got by him: “Jupiter” and “Mercury” but I’m not enthusiastic about it.
*Edit: What a difference 20 years makes. Jupiter is sooooo much better than this book. Written in 2001 vs 1981. Nova’s writing has greatly improved.
October 4, 2021
If you're looking for a story of space, aliens, space travel, this is not your series. The review addresses Voyagers, Voyagers II, III, and The Return.
Plot. A spacecraft is approaching earth — no response to earth signals. A mission from earth determines that the craft is a sarcophagus - the sole passenger is a dead alien. A ship message tells us to study the alien and his ship and send him on his way to other worlds. A USA astronaut decides to stay on the alien ship, goes into stasis for 18 years, and returns to earth. He has changed - and so has the earth.
Liked: Stuck with it, well, because it IS a Bova series. Narration and production are fine. No sex, no objectionable language, clean reads.
Not so hot: This is NOT a typical SciFi, rather a platform for the author to voice concerns regarding world politics, religious zealots, climate change, nuclear war...the earth will perish if humans do not change. There have been other books and movies with the same basic theme - The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Abyss, more. So, it's been done before - and better, IMO.
Disappointed.
Plot. A spacecraft is approaching earth — no response to earth signals. A mission from earth determines that the craft is a sarcophagus - the sole passenger is a dead alien. A ship message tells us to study the alien and his ship and send him on his way to other worlds. A USA astronaut decides to stay on the alien ship, goes into stasis for 18 years, and returns to earth. He has changed - and so has the earth.
Liked: Stuck with it, well, because it IS a Bova series. Narration and production are fine. No sex, no objectionable language, clean reads.
Not so hot: This is NOT a typical SciFi, rather a platform for the author to voice concerns regarding world politics, religious zealots, climate change, nuclear war...the earth will perish if humans do not change. There have been other books and movies with the same basic theme - The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Abyss, more. So, it's been done before - and better, IMO.
Disappointed.
November 2, 2025
*Very much
*Of its time/era (Cold War/West vs East), &
*Yes, sexist to
*A degree, this 80s First Contact/political thriller nevertheless
*Gave me
*Exactly what I was craving for. I wanted to
*Read an
*Sf book that had as its main theme the detection & discovery of a strange interstellar object entering the solar system (coinciding with the whole 3i/Atlas phenomena currently in vogue as I'm writing this review). Of course the most famous Sf to have dealt with this was Clarke's RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA. Whereas (from what I've heard) RWR is hard Sci-fi with little human drama, this one is hard on the human drama and soft with the Sci-fi, which I personally prefer. Ben Bova is new to me so I can't compare the quality of this book to other books of his. All I can say is that it kept my interest invested from page one. There was a real-world grittiness to the writing, mixed in with a fluid, upbeat, enticing & entertaining narrative. Although it concludes with an open-ending & there are sequels, it's able to be read as a standalone if you so wish (nonetheless I am going to give VOYAGERS II a little peek to satisfy my intrigued curiosity).
*Of its time/era (Cold War/West vs East), &
*Yes, sexist to
*A degree, this 80s First Contact/political thriller nevertheless
*Gave me
*Exactly what I was craving for. I wanted to
*Read an
*Sf book that had as its main theme the detection & discovery of a strange interstellar object entering the solar system (coinciding with the whole 3i/Atlas phenomena currently in vogue as I'm writing this review). Of course the most famous Sf to have dealt with this was Clarke's RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA. Whereas (from what I've heard) RWR is hard Sci-fi with little human drama, this one is hard on the human drama and soft with the Sci-fi, which I personally prefer. Ben Bova is new to me so I can't compare the quality of this book to other books of his. All I can say is that it kept my interest invested from page one. There was a real-world grittiness to the writing, mixed in with a fluid, upbeat, enticing & entertaining narrative. Although it concludes with an open-ending & there are sequels, it's able to be read as a standalone if you so wish (nonetheless I am going to give VOYAGERS II a little peek to satisfy my intrigued curiosity).
February 24, 2020
Long story short: this is one of the first books I could not bring myself to finish.
I wanted to push through, because I was captivated by Bova's portrayal of Cold War-era politics intermingling with space exploration. But then there was the use of women characters. I use the term "characters" loosely, because none of them (at least in the first 10ish chapters) were real people. You know the Bechdel Test, which to pass a story must contain two women characters must talk to each other about something other than a man? "Voyagers" doesn't even approach that. No female characters interact, and each and every one is either a sex object or only notable because of her sexlessness.
The Russian and American leads are equally misogynistic towards one-dimensional women who are only in the story as sex objects, so at least there's equal opportunity misogyny, I guess.
I wish women were more honestly portrayed in "Voyagers," but how they were written actively turned me off. There's plenty of other great sci-fi/politics stories out there, so this one can be passed up.
I wanted to push through, because I was captivated by Bova's portrayal of Cold War-era politics intermingling with space exploration. But then there was the use of women characters. I use the term "characters" loosely, because none of them (at least in the first 10ish chapters) were real people. You know the Bechdel Test, which to pass a story must contain two women characters must talk to each other about something other than a man? "Voyagers" doesn't even approach that. No female characters interact, and each and every one is either a sex object or only notable because of her sexlessness.
The Russian and American leads are equally misogynistic towards one-dimensional women who are only in the story as sex objects, so at least there's equal opportunity misogyny, I guess.
I wish women were more honestly portrayed in "Voyagers," but how they were written actively turned me off. There's plenty of other great sci-fi/politics stories out there, so this one can be passed up.
June 21, 2021
Okay first of all I now know that all astronomers and physicists are sex addicts. Second cheating on your partner is the norm. Third using sex to get what you want is easy and commonplace. Also I am going to revise the first point, everyone is a sex addict.
This book has achieved something great, having 50+ % of the book be sex scenes when each sex scene goes, we go to place, maybe someone takes of their clothes and then poof they had sex, then cut.
So you can see how hard it would be to have 50% of the book be sex scenes if those scenes are ca 5 sentences each.
Moving away from the sex and weird sex acts this book is absolutely amazing at making you attached to the characters, it seems to just follow events with a style that gives the reader some heads up as to actions in the future. Then in the last few chapters it goes mega speed and it is hard too keep up, in this case that is very realistic. And wow the last chapters were the rollercoaster of a lifetime.
This is all together one of the best books I have ever put my eyes on.
500 sex scenes out of 400 arguements.
This book has achieved something great, having 50+ % of the book be sex scenes when each sex scene goes, we go to place, maybe someone takes of their clothes and then poof they had sex, then cut.
So you can see how hard it would be to have 50% of the book be sex scenes if those scenes are ca 5 sentences each.
Moving away from the sex and weird sex acts this book is absolutely amazing at making you attached to the characters, it seems to just follow events with a style that gives the reader some heads up as to actions in the future. Then in the last few chapters it goes mega speed and it is hard too keep up, in this case that is very realistic. And wow the last chapters were the rollercoaster of a lifetime.
This is all together one of the best books I have ever put my eyes on.
500 sex scenes out of 400 arguements.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2025
By 2020s standards, this book is hardly worth reading. I kept waiting for it to get better, and it didn’t. Way too much time spent in anticipation of the reason for the story to accomplish much. I’ve encountered stories like this before, where the reader knows the end point but we expect there’s both an interesting way to get there and something worthwhile once we arrive. Not so much with this one.
I’d give it 1 star, but considering the book is from the 1980s, I did enjoy seeing the caricatures and machinations of the Cold War era… to a point. The female lead character is painted so cliched that I kept waiting for it to change significantly — but this was the ‘80s, so I guess this was the author’s way of bringing something titillating into the book. Disappointing. I expected more from someone with such name recognition as Bova.
I’d give it 1 star, but considering the book is from the 1980s, I did enjoy seeing the caricatures and machinations of the Cold War era… to a point. The female lead character is painted so cliched that I kept waiting for it to change significantly — but this was the ‘80s, so I guess this was the author’s way of bringing something titillating into the book. Disappointing. I expected more from someone with such name recognition as Bova.
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