Exiled from Earth

Exiles #1

by Ben Bova

E. P. Dutton, 1973. Trade paperback. This 1971 novel is the first book in "The Exiles" series, which also includes "Flight of Exiles" (1972) and "End of Exile" (1975). The three novels were later collected as "The Exiles Trilogy."

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Dystopia, Young Adult, 20th Century

202 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Ben 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

Reviews

[Adam Collings · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a lot of ways, this felt like a prequel to the story. A bit of a side-quest. The majority of the book was not set in space, but on earth.

It wasn't a bad story, it just wasn't the story I thought I signed up to read.

That said, it ends with the promise of the realm story taking place in book 2, so I'm still keen to read on in this trilogy.

Enjoy this book for what it is, but go into it with realistic expectations. The true sci-fi begins in the next book.

[Devin Milliron · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book as short as this, it was better than I expected. I just wanted something short, fun, and spacey, but instead got the beginning of an exciting expedition to space. The writing is great, and the events cover quite a bit of time considering its length. In it, a group of scientists are exiled to a space station in order to preserve the stability of the world. It may sound strange at first, but considering the world is incredibly overpopulated at this time and the scientists are about to perfect genetic engineering, it starts make a lot of sense. Not that it would be my solution, but it makes sense, since it is all they can do to keep the savage culture of the cities from taking over the world. The acton comes in when one of the scientists tries to escape his fate and ends up in several unexpected situations. It's great fun and a little scary to see what Mr. Bova has thought about the future of the planet. The only disappointment is that most of the book takes place on earth when the book cover and synopsis promises a grand adventure in space, but that's why there are three books to this series instead of one. And since they're all the same length, it won't be a chore at all to finish them. In fact, the end of the book was so exciting I had to start the second book immediately, even though it was incredibly late and I knew I would only get in a few pages. Some would suggest that this is a YA series, but with detailed discussions on genetic engineering, future politics and city-wide gang wars, I would say that although it's short enough for young people to read easily, it's still not young adult writing. Just because it's short doesn't mean it's written for young people--just short people. If you can find it, I would suggest reading it for a quick, fun ride, although the new omnibus cover is terrible. That's really the only reason I didn't wait to add it until the end. If you find it, don't let it fool you.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

It does not age well... at all. I am ignoring the incorrect scientific and technological predictions. That stuff happens. (Where's my flying car?) Nope, it's the blatant racism and misogyny that hasn't done that genre any services.

The brave, white man, computer nerd is fighting to save us from the evil world government and the creepy mind control faction with a Pacific island secret base. The major female character is the hero's accessory and prize. The fall of human civilization is blamed on non-white people figuring out that they could be free of colonialism and European dominance. Even more jarring, the open and unironic use of racial slurs and stereotypes to describe non-white people.

[Frank Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I set out with expectations that were too high and have finished up duly disappointed.

For some reason I had associated and confused the author with Denis E. Taylor and was expecting something as well written as the 'Bobiverse' books. This book probably doesn't deserve to be compared with that much newer series but it didn't take long to notice that it was not that well writtenat all.

The language is dated. I thought the characters weren't all that bad but the dialogue could be rather plain at times. And although many of the ideas were fun, few were plausible.

The bulk of the content of this first story feels like a barely significant side quest. Right at the start we find out about the World Government's decision to exile around 2,000 scientists whose work is predicted to destabilise society. Right at the end we learn how the scientists will respond. The middle bit seems to be about faking the reader into uncertainty regarding the sentence of exile.

That end though. The last 30 or so minutes of the audiobook turned up the dial for excitement and certainly gives one high hopes for book two.

(I should probably add a reminder for future Frank - this was your 1000th story read, according to the count on GR)

[Alien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Der Computerspezialist Lou arbeitet in einem Genetiklabor. Die Wissenschaftler stehen kurz davor, den genetischen Code zu knacken. Dann können sie Menschen nach Maß bauen. Supermenschen aber auch Untermenschen. Da taucht plötzlich ein Marshall auf, nimmt Lou fest und will ihn ohne Begründung in die Welthauptstadt bringen. Doch Lou spielt da nicht so einfach mit.

Bei Ben Bova schätze ich einen gewissen Realismus und seinen leicht lesbaren No-Nonsense-Stil.

Dies ist Teil 1 einer Triologie. Es ist kein übler Roman, aber auch nichts Weltbewegendes.
Wenn man will, bietet der Roman auch Stoff zum Nachdenken.

[Jessica Eskew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Listened to this book because it was free on audible, it is obviously very dated from the beginning- scientists and engineers are only men, kinda pervy dialogue about the scientists daughters in swimsuits, offensive racist stuff to Chinese for no reason, little to no character development, very stupid/naïve main character, lack of detailed world building…
Maybe I am just spoiled with the amazing books we have in the 21st century, but this book made me really glad to not be alive in 1970.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book while attending middle school back in Oregon. This was my introduction to science-fiction and led to the years of devotion to the genre.

[Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d of gave it another star , but they killed the talking gorilla 🦍. Pretty mean of the author if you ask me.

[Jaime · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't need to read the author's profile to know he's a white heterosexual man from the US and this was written in the 70's. I swear if this wasn't a 3 hours audiobook I would have DNF it

[Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely dated, and is mostly set in familiar locations on earth in a retro futuristic world where the cities have decayed and there’s a one world government.

The characters are also a bit one dimensional and there’s of course some 70’s sleaze going on.

After reading all 3 books in the trilogy, this is definitely my least favorite one. Theres a lot of setup and delay to build up to the central plot of the novels. I think it’s worth reading if you are planning to finish the trilogy but as a standalone novel it isn’t satisfying.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a good sci-fi from 1971. It does have the casual sexism and racism expected from sci-fi of that time period, but it's not nearly as bad as some other authors (Heinlein, I'm looking at you).

The narrator (Stefan Rudnicki) has a fantastic voice, too. I'd never heard of him before, but he kind of sounds like Michael Dorn (Worf). However, some of his accents – especially the Asian ones – are cringeworthy.

[Elise Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is showing its age. Written in the seventies, Bova's interpolation of how technology will develop misses the mark in several areas. It's classic pulp fiction and was worth it for the walk down memory lane.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good solid SiFi story by one of the modern masters. Easy and quick read. Recommended

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is almost classic science fiction in its style back when men were men and women couldn't make up their minds. I wanted to give this book 2 1/2 stars because it was better than OK, but it was not my cup of tea.

Note: I am also reviewing the audiobook Stephen Rudniki was the narrator and he has that deep sonorous voice that makes anything sound profound no matter how ridiculous it might be. As it turns out, this book is not ridiculous... just dated.

The story: The world is choking from overpopulation and the destruction of the planet's resources. It seems likely that the people will overrun the government and kill all the scientists who keep innovating and changing the world. People don't want change. They want stability, so the government decides to gather up all the scientists, mathematicians and even computer tech geniuses in order to exile them to a space station. That will keep them isolated, stop them innovating, and relieve the government from having to kill them all. But one scientist escapes and heads back home to save his girlfriend.

Any problems with this story? It caused me to fall into a testosterone-induced coma. The way women are portrayed is not exactly misogyny, but it is not flattering to women either. In fact, there is only one woman and she gets tossed around from situation to situation, and seems never to understand her own mind. As I recall there was a racial reference somewhere in there. At the time this book was written (early 1970s) it would have seemed normal. Now, no one would casually put it down in writing. I didn't go screaming into the night while pulling my hair. It was simply odd to see it.

Any modesty issues? None that I recall. Our hero does spend the night at his girlfriend's apartment, but it was obvious he was simply there to rest.

The ending wraps up this dystopian novel and leaves an obvious opening for the next book, "Flight of Exiles."

I doubt I would read this book again. I am reading the sequel though.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lou Christopher is a computer technician working for a biotechnology company when he is arrested without warning by police from the World Government and incarcerated. He finds that all the top geneticists and biotechs in the world have been similarly rounded up and that they are to be exiled to an orbiting space station to prevent their breakthrough gene technology from being used. They fear eugenics will create unrest among the billions of normal humans and they are attempting to put the genie back in the bottle. There’s some derring-do when Lou escapes into the feral City but he is recaptured. One of the elite however spirits Lou and a few others away to an island where they are allowed to continue their work but it’s also too good to be true. Their leader is a cartoonish supervillain who intends to dumb down the population and make slaves of them while he becomes part of a ruling elite. Lou’s girlfriend Bonnie has also been dragged into this despite having no scientific background and together with a nuclear physicist they rough out a plan to escape by detonating a nuclear weapon. Lou finally comes up with an extraordinary plan to thwart orbital exile. Ben Bova has penned a fairly standard tale of super-evil and good guys. First of a trilogy.

[Cr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read some of the reviews. . . A few young children
think that it's misogynistic and racist.
That is an untrue and slanted assessment. . .
Possibly based on projection, and a naive world viewpoint.
Sure, it's not the best book in the world, but it's solidly written.
Simplistic, short and fairly innocuous. Although, it is not a great story, it is a least very short. . . you can chew it up in a couple of hours.

Here, Bova has produced a classic old school Sci-Fi pulp. . .
He can do some good stuff, although I've thrown a couple of his books down
in disgust. . . Rock Rats, for instance, too violent and directionless for my taste. . .
and his character development is not always great. . . His characters make
the same mistakes too many times, the slack-jawed and dumb thing doesn't thrill me. . .

If you don't want old school, then don't read the old school
sci-fi masters. . .
Sure, people like Heinlein might have some
cheap dime-store philosophies that "don't quite cut the mustard",
passe ideology that might pass for toilet paper, cardboard cutout women,
but he can write pretty well, and has come up with a number of "classics".


-K

[Laz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Bova so it pains me to give less than 5 stars. One reason, in 2017 when he must have written the book, a couple things he is obsessed with were already pretty clearly not happening. Population on Earth will likely peak under 10 billion, here he is envisioning 20 billion. World government is not happening any time soon, in fact the few multilateral organizations like NATO and EU are drifting apart. So him harping about those feels like listening to your granddad. The story is pretty light, with some extremely unlikely elements. His worries -or at least ambivalence - about genetic engineering also feels out of character for a writer who has been a champion for science. Another thing, his characterization of scientists as some sort of group of obsessive crusaders doesn’t really ring true. I am going to listen to the next book in the Exile series but this one was a letdown. It does set up the next book quite nicely, and it has a good chance of putting the series on track, so I’m hopeful it was just a weak moment.

[Nelson Minar · Rating 1 out of 5]

A rare one star review for a book I actually finished and enjoyed. Cringingly though, it's not a well written book. And really dated. The deep sexism and casual racism in the book is tough to read past. I was prepared to say "well things were like that in the 50s" but this book was published in 1971! No excuse for that.

But even overlooking the problematic writing the deeper issue is the story is just not very good. It's barely sci-fi, this first novel, mostly it's an action adventure of Our Hero committing various unlikely stunts of survival and sabotage. And there's nothing at all in this book about what becomes the interesting story in the rest of the trilogy, the colony ship. It's setup for all that but honestly entirely skippable.

(I'm reading these books because I have a strong memory of reading the third book when I was about 12, and loving it. Thought it'd be fun to revisit it but boy are my standards higher now.)

[Katherine Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really has not aged well with regard to sex and race. The use of stereotypes, racialized language, and even slurs is jarring and abrasive for a modern reader. Even more subtle things like the note that the cities have become “savage” and “barbarian” feels racialized. And the only women exist in relation to the men without agency or plot (wives and love interests).

But generally an interesting premise and a short read. But it’s hard to really root for any of these racist, sexist, and naive characters (“oh no, who could have guessed that our eugenics project could be weaponized???”)

Additionally, my impression is rather that the trilogy is really more like 1 long book rather than 3 short ones. This felt like the set up to the actual story. I don’t have super high hopes for the rest of the series; but as a free audiobook on Audible, it was worth 2.5 hrs while I did other things (5hrs on 2x speed) and I’ll go ahead and read the next book.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nostalgic read of Ben Bova’s Exiles Trilogy.

This first book is still good. A bit dated with an slimy character being casually racist and not being called out on it. It was written 70s and some of the tropes of the era are in the book. But, Bova is an excellent writer. It was a bit disconcerting as I didn't remember that aspect of the book.

The world government is focused on stability. Wars have been eliminated but maintaining the status quo is a delicate balance. The innovated science of genetic engineering could upset that balance. The government takes action and for our computer programing protagonist, adventure ensues.

[Bernard Convert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lecture en hommage de l'auteur récemment disparu dont j'aimais beaucoup les récits du Grand Tour (Mars, Jupiter, Mercury...). Là, c'est raté. Des ambiances très évocatrices au début : les rues de Manhattan aux mains de gangs de très jeunes garçons, un gros labo de génétique à Albuquerque, comme Ben Bova aimait les décrire, où l'on prend son repas à la cantine avec un gorille augmenté d'allure farouche mais très sympa quand on le connait, une IA avant l'heure qui trahit son "patron" humain... Ca commençait bien mais au final le scénario est complètement simpliste. Je ne lirai pas la suite de la trilogie.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't recommend this book.

It's terribly outdated and the story reads now as the "good guys" being evil potential eugenecists who are hunted down by the totalitarian government, who are worse in more immediate ways.

The persistent racism is just awful.

The constant descriptions of the skin tones of everyone (especially the bad guys).

The persistent usage of racial slurs and harmful stereotypes.

The fact that it seems like the "good guys" in the end are a bunch of white geniuses is just disgusting.

This book was probably ok for its time and had a lot to say, but most of it has aged terribly.

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Available English translation read

Lou Christopher tries to outrun the federal agents after him, but he cannot hide from the truth - on an overpopulated Earth, some of the greatest minds face exile in space for the sake of peace, and his knowledge marks him as an important target...to both the government and its potential enemies. Bova offers science fiction readers a promising premise and compelling tensions, though occasionally dips into timely racial profiling and lacks much invention or personality. Is planetary expulsion truly the fate of those who hold mankind's next step of evolution in their hands?

[TJ Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book caught me off guard. It was short, sweet and to the point. It was interesting to see how the major cities fared in this dystopia while the world government was thriving above it all. This was just a fun read taking place on a ruined Earth, with all signs pointing to more beyond the stars!

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough to read through; I was just a bit disappointed because I expected a space adventure and this was more about action on Earth, only going into space at the end. The premise was a little unconvincing too, but still intriguing.

[Stephanie Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent read--nothing great, nothing bad. Overall it wasn't quite long & detailed enough to build a world and characters you invested in and not quite short enough to justify it. The idea is pretty interesting so it made it enjoyable, but I wouldn't read it again.

[Kelley Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sexist, racist, it doesn't hold up well for me. It was written in the 70's and it shows.

[Josephine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well a racist, misogynistic view, but what do you expect from a book written in the 70s to get readers to buy it. He is an accomplished writer and I am reading this book because I am bored.

[TheThirdLie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yikes! This is scifi of a bygone era, skip it.

[Whizilliam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good old-school sci-fi.