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Voyagers #3
Voyagers III: Star Brothers
Keith Stoner lay frozen in an alien spacecraft for fifteen long years; during that time he came to be something more than just an astronaut, just a man. Stoner became partly alien hismelf--merged with an alien intelligence embodied in the nanotechnology that lived inside Stoner's body.
The alien whose tomb that spacecraft was, brought humanity both a blessing and a deadly peril. The technology now the control of Vanguard Industries has changed the face of the earth. The technology that lives in Stoner's bloodstream will change mankind forever.
There are powerful leaders, both corporate and political, who are becoming aware of Keith Stoner and the power he seems to control. They want that power for themselves, and will do anything to gain it. Nothing Stoner can say or do will convince these ruthless men and women that the power they seek may destroy them utterly.
The alien whose tomb that spacecraft was, brought humanity both a blessing and a deadly peril. The technology now the control of Vanguard Industries has changed the face of the earth. The technology that lives in Stoner's bloodstream will change mankind forever.
There are powerful leaders, both corporate and political, who are becoming aware of Keith Stoner and the power he seems to control. They want that power for themselves, and will do anything to gain it. Nothing Stoner can say or do will convince these ruthless men and women that the power they seek may destroy them utterly.
341 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
13 people are currently reading
339 people want to read
About the author
Ben Bova
714 books1,036 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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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
September 29, 2020
This is the third and final book in the Voyagers series. It involves first contact and the how it changes lives of individuals and nations. Due to the time period in which it is written some of the content may not resonate with some individuals today.
November 27, 2021
Working on a classroom library. Started first chapter and instantly has racist and damaging depictions of indigenous people. Read one more chapter to see if there would be some kind of character realization that they weren’t “savages.” When there wasn’t, I quit.
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.
April 8, 2015
Voyagers III Star Brothers (1990) 340 pages by Ben Bova
Keith Stoner is turning leaders into Great Souls preparing the world for inevitable changes. His wife, Jo Camareta, is doing her part as leader of Vanguard to help him in his cause. Li-Po Hsen notes the political changes and sees this hurting the bottom line of his company. At the same time there is a plague, "The horror," becoming an epidemic.
Voyagers III picks up 15 years after book II left off. Keith Stoner was cryogenically frozen and revived, and awoke with a star brother. An alien presence in his head that allows him to use mental powers, and nano-machines in his bloodstream that keep him from apparent aging.
I enjoyed the book a lot. It's a good followup to the first two books. Doesn't leave the ending as a cliffhanger, though there is a fourth book in the series.
Keith Stoner is turning leaders into Great Souls preparing the world for inevitable changes. His wife, Jo Camareta, is doing her part as leader of Vanguard to help him in his cause. Li-Po Hsen notes the political changes and sees this hurting the bottom line of his company. At the same time there is a plague, "The horror," becoming an epidemic.
Voyagers III picks up 15 years after book II left off. Keith Stoner was cryogenically frozen and revived, and awoke with a star brother. An alien presence in his head that allows him to use mental powers, and nano-machines in his bloodstream that keep him from apparent aging.
I enjoyed the book a lot. It's a good followup to the first two books. Doesn't leave the ending as a cliffhanger, though there is a fourth book in the series.
July 12, 2013
I read this book without reading the first two in the series. Not knowing the early history of Keith Stoner didn't matter too much with this volume. I don't really have a desire to read space sci-fi but the story in this volume wasn't too bad. Keith who has been out of the scene for several years due to being frozen in an alien space abduction is rescued, thawed, and back with the power to regenerate damaged parts and stay forever young. There are political enemies who want to rule the planet and other galaxies and will do anything to take Keith's power. They murder his daughter, then kidnap and torture him in attempt to gain access to his powers. In the end, Stoner's family is reunited in a miraculous way due to his wife's bravery and quick thinking.
July 12, 2012
Continues right along with the first two in a very enjoyable way. I admit this book seems a bit rushed compared to the first two, but I do like the way it ended with Stoner, Jo, and the kids zooming out into space in the ship they built. Great fun, and will soon tackle the recent fourth book Bova penned for this saga.
April 6, 2021
The protagonist is too powerful, and he has no kryptonite. Bova has ideas about sexual politics that make any attempts at romance in the book odd. Again, Bova is better over the course of a series than in the individual novel.
July 3, 2015
one more to go good series
May 14, 2017
Read it many years ago, still remember a lot of the story; I plan on rereading it for sure when I have a little less new stuff on my plate.
December 5, 2020
Ben Bova is a writing genius. He was ahead of his time. This has been a great series.
September 8, 2021
I am enjoying this series.
September 30, 2018
Bova, Ben. Voyagers III: Star Brothers. Voyagers 3. Tor, 1991.
Keith Stoner is back. He has been rescued from an alien spacecraft in which he had been frozen for decades. Now mind-melded with the alien consciousness from the ship, he is out to save the world from corporate greed and the other vagaries of human nature. The plot has a lot of twisty action involving corporate intrigue and diverse bad guys bent on revenge for various wrongs real and imagined. In the end, the novel is Ben Bova’s version of Stranger in a Strange Land, perhaps thirty years too late.
Keith Stoner is back. He has been rescued from an alien spacecraft in which he had been frozen for decades. Now mind-melded with the alien consciousness from the ship, he is out to save the world from corporate greed and the other vagaries of human nature. The plot has a lot of twisty action involving corporate intrigue and diverse bad guys bent on revenge for various wrongs real and imagined. In the end, the novel is Ben Bova’s version of Stranger in a Strange Land, perhaps thirty years too late.
December 23, 2025
3.8/5
Main Scientific topic, especially, in volume 3 is Nano-Machine. Here they serve as life saver to extend humans life. Nano-Machines are Ben Bova's to go in near future science fiction (Someone can claim it is his heritage in the post 50s science fiction).
One of his best is The Silent Wars, almost a perfect novel on his long idea on CEO's and private companies for high tech and space race in the governmental scale which actually has happened. In that novel Nano-machines play as slayers in the service of companies. The topic actually is serious in medical science and technology.
Main Scientific topic, especially, in volume 3 is Nano-Machine. Here they serve as life saver to extend humans life. Nano-Machines are Ben Bova's to go in near future science fiction (Someone can claim it is his heritage in the post 50s science fiction).
One of his best is The Silent Wars, almost a perfect novel on his long idea on CEO's and private companies for high tech and space race in the governmental scale which actually has happened. In that novel Nano-machines play as slayers in the service of companies. The topic actually is serious in medical science and technology.
June 25, 2025
A good recovery after the let down of the previous book. Following on with the same characters as the previous 2 books but with much more SF against the same world shaping political backdrop.
Started off well and maintained a good pace right up until the end. The last 150 pages were very tense and I had to keep reading to finish off the book in one day.
Looking forward to the fourth and final book in this sub series.
Started off well and maintained a good pace right up until the end. The last 150 pages were very tense and I had to keep reading to finish off the book in one day.
Looking forward to the fourth and final book in this sub series.
December 13, 2017
I have loved this ride. At first I thought it was connected to the Grand Tour Series, but it is definitely a different universe. Still, Stoner is an amazing character. Ben does an amazing job at mixing really indepth characters and then less fleshed out ones. Truly well done. I hate to see the series end.
June 9, 2017
Our hero continues to save the world by combating super-villains that control the world...corny.
June 25, 2017
So well written and easy to listen to - loved it. Read by Stefan Rudnicki - brilliant narration.
February 9, 2018
Read my comments posted for the first book
September 26, 2020
DNF Too boring
December 2, 2020
The only way to bring world peace is with aliens and a plague
May 27, 2023
Duration: 11:45:17
December 13, 2015
This is the third book in a series of four. It's a continuing story. It's just an average story--well written and easy to read. There are multiple threads intertwined. In the details, I kept wondering why Bova explained what people are wearing? Yes, Bova's stores always involve some human threads. So, the plot: Stoner comes to earth with a new capability and is pursued by every bad guy in the universe trying to get it. Gets a bit boring: "Here comes another bad guy." I kept wondering when Lex Luthor would appear. In the end, Bova sets up #4 in the series.
August 4, 2013
This is the third book in a series of four. While it is a continuing story, each is quite different from the last. Bova brings a new twist to evolution and what it means to be human. There are several ancillary stories in this novel that seem to be completely disconnected, but in the end prove fundamental to the story. I cannot say much more without ruining the novel for the future reader. An enjoyable read.
April 24, 2016
Finally the series starts to improve a little, although it's still average at best. Although I thought the story and the writing were the best in the series to this point, the formulaic "look, here's a bad guy who wants the same thing all the other bad guys want" storyline has definitely worn out its welcome.
July 24, 2019
Wonderful stuff!
April 2, 2014
Good series, we'll more like ok series
September 25, 2016
Another 3.5. I want to like these books more. I really do. But I just can't.
Read
October 18, 2016Not a whole lot of progression...with such a spin off I'm interested to see how exactly he's going to integrate this into the Grand Tour series...it'd be like rewriting his books entire history.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews