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Star Quest #3
Apes and Angels
10 hrs 9 mins
Six-time Hugo Award winner Ben Bova chronicles the saga of humankind's expansion beyond the solar system. Humankind headed out to the stars not for conquest, nor exploration, nor even for curiosity. Humans went to the stars in a desperate crusade to save intelligent life wherever they found it.
A wave of death is spreading through the Milky Way galaxy, an expanding sphere of lethal gamma radiation that erupted from the galaxy's core twenty-eight thousand years ago and now is approaching Earth's vicinity at the speed of light. Every world it touched was wiped clean of all life. But it’s possible to protect a planet from gamma radiation. Earth is safe.
Now, guided by the ancient intelligent machines called the Predecessors, men and women from Earth seek out those precious, rare worlds that harbor intelligent species, determined to save them from the doom that is hurtling toward them.
The crew of the Odysseus has arrived at Mithra Gamma, the third planet of the star Mithra, to protect the stone-age inhabitants from the Death Wave. But they’ll also have to protect themselves.
Six-time Hugo Award winner Ben Bova chronicles the saga of humankind's expansion beyond the solar system. Humankind headed out to the stars not for conquest, nor exploration, nor even for curiosity. Humans went to the stars in a desperate crusade to save intelligent life wherever they found it.
A wave of death is spreading through the Milky Way galaxy, an expanding sphere of lethal gamma radiation that erupted from the galaxy's core twenty-eight thousand years ago and now is approaching Earth's vicinity at the speed of light. Every world it touched was wiped clean of all life. But it’s possible to protect a planet from gamma radiation. Earth is safe.
Now, guided by the ancient intelligent machines called the Predecessors, men and women from Earth seek out those precious, rare worlds that harbor intelligent species, determined to save them from the doom that is hurtling toward them.
The crew of the Odysseus has arrived at Mithra Gamma, the third planet of the star Mithra, to protect the stone-age inhabitants from the Death Wave. But they’ll also have to protect themselves.
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First published November 22, 2016
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About the author
Ben Bova
690 books1,042 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 - 30 of 104 reviews
February 6, 2017
If you're reading Apes and Angels, you've probably read other books by Ben Bova.
Maybe you're a longtime reader of the Grand Tour series. Perhaps you were impressed by Farside, the prequel to the Star Quest Trilogy. You might have been underwhelmed by New Earth (and rightfully so) but found Death Wave, despite its idiotic title, to be a bit better--enough so that you think you'll read the final book in the trilogy. You likely hope for a satisfying conclusion.
You probably think Apes and Angels will have something to do with the first two books in the trilogy. You probably expect to read more about the people of New Earth, the Predecessors, and the plans being made to rescue other worlds and civilizations from the Death Wave. After all, the previous book was all about convincing the governments of Earth to stop thinking solely of themselves and save the universe!
If this is what you're looking for, you will find yourself greatly disappointed. This book has very little to do with the first two in the series. If it weren't touted as the conclusion to the trilogy (SPOILER: it is not), you would never know that it had any connection to them whatsoever.
This is not Bova's worst book; that doesn't mean, however, that it's good.
Maybe you're a longtime reader of the Grand Tour series. Perhaps you were impressed by Farside, the prequel to the Star Quest Trilogy. You might have been underwhelmed by New Earth (and rightfully so) but found Death Wave, despite its idiotic title, to be a bit better--enough so that you think you'll read the final book in the trilogy. You likely hope for a satisfying conclusion.
You probably think Apes and Angels will have something to do with the first two books in the trilogy. You probably expect to read more about the people of New Earth, the Predecessors, and the plans being made to rescue other worlds and civilizations from the Death Wave. After all, the previous book was all about convincing the governments of Earth to stop thinking solely of themselves and save the universe!
If this is what you're looking for, you will find yourself greatly disappointed. This book has very little to do with the first two in the series. If it weren't touted as the conclusion to the trilogy (SPOILER: it is not), you would never know that it had any connection to them whatsoever.
This is not Bova's worst book; that doesn't mean, however, that it's good.
May 25, 2017
If this book had been written in the fifties, I wouldn't have minded so much. But to be written in modern times and still have "the women are all either beautiful and good or beautiful and bad, the Asian woman being a dragon lady, most of the plot revolving around the supervisor taking revenge on one of his employees for stealing the pretty girl"...ugh. There could have been so much cool stuff written about the alien cultures they were exploring, but instead it was all about the plucky couple fighting off injustice because the woman chose a different guy.
February 4, 2017
I love this book. This, to me, is the perfect sci-fi story. Scientists arrive in a distant solar system to study alien life and ecosystems. The interactions between the researchers is extremely believable and suspenseful. Bova is a master of this type of story.
I can't say enough good things about this book. You can read it without reading the rest of the series...just know that there some sort of super-nova type explosion in the center of the galaxy and a wave of deadly radiation is spreading out from the galactic core at the speed of light. Humans have been given the technology to save intelligent life by a race of ancient sentient machines called "The Predecessors." That's it...the rest of it is a standalone story.
The starship bearing the scientist arrives in an alien solar system and they discover three life bearing worlds and proceed to explore them. Their findings are always interesting and sometimes fascinating. What follows is a mostly character driven story filled with twists and turns and suspense and awesomeness.
One thing that Bova does better than anyone else...the science seems completely real but you're never bogged down with overly technical terms or unnecessary descriptions. It's perfect.
Why aren't there more exploration stories like this one in the genre? Why?!? This is the best kind of sci-fi story. Ben Bova, if you happen to read this, please write more books like this one!
I can't say enough good things about this book. You can read it without reading the rest of the series...just know that there some sort of super-nova type explosion in the center of the galaxy and a wave of deadly radiation is spreading out from the galactic core at the speed of light. Humans have been given the technology to save intelligent life by a race of ancient sentient machines called "The Predecessors." That's it...the rest of it is a standalone story.
The starship bearing the scientist arrives in an alien solar system and they discover three life bearing worlds and proceed to explore them. Their findings are always interesting and sometimes fascinating. What follows is a mostly character driven story filled with twists and turns and suspense and awesomeness.
One thing that Bova does better than anyone else...the science seems completely real but you're never bogged down with overly technical terms or unnecessary descriptions. It's perfect.
Why aren't there more exploration stories like this one in the genre? Why?!? This is the best kind of sci-fi story. Ben Bova, if you happen to read this, please write more books like this one!
December 31, 2016
I know this author has won several Hugo awards, but I'm pretty sure that none of them were for this book.
The pros: Interesting first contact story. Characters well, if not deeply, drawn and easy to remember. A fast read that is easy to put down, read another book, and then pick right back up again without having to look back at all.
The cons: The characters are easy to remember because for the first half of the book, everytime someone is mentioned, they are also described in detail. Yes, I got that Brad's boss in the anthropology department, Dr Littlejohn, is short, dark and rotund since he is of Indigenous Australian heritage; it is not necessary to repeat the description every time he comes on scene!
Also, any real-life anthropologist who reads this must go insane at the description of the expedition's Worst Possible Practices regarding first and subsequent contact with the aliens and the manipulation of their cultural beliefs and traditions. Apparently the human's philosophy consisted of PRIME DIRECTIVE, SCHMRIME DIRECTIVE!
Finally, the ending is such a letdown. I kept hoping that there would be serious repercussions over what the humans did to the aliens, or that there would be some sort of a Big Reveal at the end regarding the oft-mentioned mysterious third party Sky Masters, but no such luck. No spoilers here: it has an ending, just not a very satisfying one.
The pros: Interesting first contact story. Characters well, if not deeply, drawn and easy to remember. A fast read that is easy to put down, read another book, and then pick right back up again without having to look back at all.
The cons: The characters are easy to remember because for the first half of the book, everytime someone is mentioned, they are also described in detail. Yes, I got that Brad's boss in the anthropology department, Dr Littlejohn, is short, dark and rotund since he is of Indigenous Australian heritage; it is not necessary to repeat the description every time he comes on scene!
Also, any real-life anthropologist who reads this must go insane at the description of the expedition's Worst Possible Practices regarding first and subsequent contact with the aliens and the manipulation of their cultural beliefs and traditions. Apparently the human's philosophy consisted of PRIME DIRECTIVE, SCHMRIME DIRECTIVE!
Finally, the ending is such a letdown. I kept hoping that there would be serious repercussions over what the humans did to the aliens, or that there would be some sort of a Big Reveal at the end regarding the oft-mentioned mysterious third party Sky Masters, but no such luck. No spoilers here: it has an ending, just not a very satisfying one.
October 14, 2018
Man I never thought I would get so sick of a character. Brad won the day.
June 27, 2025
Oof. At about 40% of the way through this book, it hit me why it felt so antiquated. I mean, sure, there are stereotypes galore and the women are just objects for men to achieve their aims. And, sure, there's odd accents and barely veiled racism. But that was the more in-your-face old school sci-fi.
What I noticed was that the lead character, Brad, is exactly how a teenage boy would imagine his role on a spaceship that encounters aliens on planets in a faraway solar system. He somehow manages to win the cute girl whom his boss's boss likes, he gets missions where using only his pluck he makes major discoveries, he gets to rebel against any directive, he's tall, and blonde.... well, you get the idea.
There's a couple of interesting ideas nestled in there, but overall I'd suggest giving this a pass.
What I noticed was that the lead character, Brad, is exactly how a teenage boy would imagine his role on a spaceship that encounters aliens on planets in a faraway solar system. He somehow manages to win the cute girl whom his boss's boss likes, he gets missions where using only his pluck he makes major discoveries, he gets to rebel against any directive, he's tall, and blonde.... well, you get the idea.
There's a couple of interesting ideas nestled in there, but overall I'd suggest giving this a pass.
June 25, 2021
3.5 Stars - this is a slightly better book than the previous book in this series (Death Wave). I enjoyed them both, but they both have flaws. I gave it 3.5 Stars, with a 3 Star Goodreads rating.
This is NOT a direct sequel to the previous book, though it happens shortly (narrative wise) afterwards. This book has a completely different cast of characters.
This is a Science Fiction book with a Space Opera specific genre...which deals with a lot of moral and ethical issues throughout the book. The previous novel, Death Wave was a Science Fiction book with a Thriller narrative.
Throughout this book, I kept thinking about the Prime Directive, from Star Trek. Not even in Star Trek are they able to follow this as thoroughly as they should. Most all the captains and others have broken the Prime Directive to save a civilization. They always had their reasons, but it is a VERY high bar.
WIthin this book, the main protagonist is fighting for the civilization that he has found. He is a "lone wolf", not really involved in the day to day discoveries upon the planets that they have been sent to. Their mission is to find a way to place protective machines in place on the the planets that inhabit intellegint lives (to protect them from the Gamma Rays that are going to destroy all life on these planets in the next 200-400 years.
These scientists have a noble mission, but on each planet, our main protagonist (who is incredibly brilliant) is able to descover "something" new...and in doing so, becomes more cavalier and starts to take more risks.
He starts to do things that are not moral or ethical under the directive that he's been given, but it is all for the greater good of the species...but since they are a pre-Warp society, they know NOTHING about anything outside their town or area that they live.
It was frustrating to follow this story. I kept saying, "don't do that", but things just kept getting worse and worse, so that he'd HAVE to step in and do the thing that he wasn't suppose to do.
Don't ask permission, but ask forgiveness. Ugh.
By the end of the book, I was not sure that what they eventually did was actually good. I feel that they may have upset the "natural" balance that had been put into place. It will be interesting to see what the next book, Survival will have to say about this.
This is NOT a direct sequel to the previous book, though it happens shortly (narrative wise) afterwards. This book has a completely different cast of characters.
This is a Science Fiction book with a Space Opera specific genre...which deals with a lot of moral and ethical issues throughout the book. The previous novel, Death Wave was a Science Fiction book with a Thriller narrative.
Throughout this book, I kept thinking about the Prime Directive, from Star Trek. Not even in Star Trek are they able to follow this as thoroughly as they should. Most all the captains and others have broken the Prime Directive to save a civilization. They always had their reasons, but it is a VERY high bar.
WIthin this book, the main protagonist is fighting for the civilization that he has found. He is a "lone wolf", not really involved in the day to day discoveries upon the planets that they have been sent to. Their mission is to find a way to place protective machines in place on the the planets that inhabit intellegint lives (to protect them from the Gamma Rays that are going to destroy all life on these planets in the next 200-400 years.
These scientists have a noble mission, but on each planet, our main protagonist (who is incredibly brilliant) is able to descover "something" new...and in doing so, becomes more cavalier and starts to take more risks.
He starts to do things that are not moral or ethical under the directive that he's been given, but it is all for the greater good of the species...but since they are a pre-Warp society, they know NOTHING about anything outside their town or area that they live.
It was frustrating to follow this story. I kept saying, "don't do that", but things just kept getting worse and worse, so that he'd HAVE to step in and do the thing that he wasn't suppose to do.
Don't ask permission, but ask forgiveness. Ugh.
By the end of the book, I was not sure that what they eventually did was actually good. I feel that they may have upset the "natural" balance that had been put into place. It will be interesting to see what the next book, Survival will have to say about this.
April 7, 2021
Follows the story line setup by Death Wave but does not include any previous characters from the series. This is solely about the flight crew that travels to setup the energy shields to protect against the death wave
August 15, 2021
Like the first two, this one was terrible.
January 14, 2025
Besides some strange individual character choices, it's really just a good, enjoyable, entertaining sci-fi novel.
July 13, 2019
Gamma radiation expanding in the Galaxy at light speed and will wipe out civilizations. Somehow, relativistic speed aliens find out, and relativistic speed humans travel around near space saving other civilizations. What?
I've read a few of his books now and can come to only one conclusion: He should have stayed an editor.
I've read a few of his books now and can come to only one conclusion: He should have stayed an editor.
June 18, 2018
This took forever to read because it was so slow and boring. Literally nothing worth reading before page 200, just silly academic infighting between disciples and anachronistic male attitudes about being alpha male and owning this or that woman. He skips years of interactions on the planet between books four and five, and all the actions to resolve the crises are essentially done in between the “ellipses” in the last few chapters (as Bova jumps forward in time in the narrative multiple times, he often just introduces a possible solution then jumps to when it’s miraculously worked already). I would like to see the first half of the book cut and spend that time developing the Gammans as a culture, describing how they resolve the issues and explore the archaeological site, and ultimately having Brad and Kosoff be their own characters instead of a watered-down reboot of the Jordan and Harmon Meek characters and their struggles in New Earth. It really just felt like filler and recycling character prototypes...and frankly, a little like Jurassic Park translated to space. I was only able to finish this because I thought something *might* eventually matter for the larger trilogy, but we are left waiting to see how it all relates.
December 21, 2016
Apes and Angels is first contact story, a study in the intricacies of the academic hierarchy and a love story.
I liked the premise of the book. It asks questions. What do you do when the prime directive says don't it interfere with a primitive culture yet your personal morality says you must. How do you know when a species is truly intelligent? How you determine when a series of sounds is a true language? Bova invites the reader to explore these questions while telling one of his best stories.
This novel although part of a larger story arch, the reader does not have to read the prior two books to know what's going on. There are no villains in this story. What Bova manages to do is give the reader insight into the competitive nature of academics. Each character has an agenda that at times come to cross purposes with each other and at times insurers cooperation.
Apes and angels is the 3rd book of Star Quest series. It's advertised as a trilogy but think there will be more books in the future. This book definitely lives room for stories in this universe.
I liked the premise of the book. It asks questions. What do you do when the prime directive says don't it interfere with a primitive culture yet your personal morality says you must. How do you know when a species is truly intelligent? How you determine when a series of sounds is a true language? Bova invites the reader to explore these questions while telling one of his best stories.
This novel although part of a larger story arch, the reader does not have to read the prior two books to know what's going on. There are no villains in this story. What Bova manages to do is give the reader insight into the competitive nature of academics. Each character has an agenda that at times come to cross purposes with each other and at times insurers cooperation.
Apes and angels is the 3rd book of Star Quest series. It's advertised as a trilogy but think there will be more books in the future. This book definitely lives room for stories in this universe.
February 14, 2019
Sorry, but when one of the characters asks a logical question about the mission (specifically, why are we even messing with the natives of this new planet when we have this great technology and can fulfill our mission without them even knowing it?), and promptly gets shut down/dismissed/ignored because they *might* find out about it many years later, and besides we want to do this other thing (investigate them) that has nothing to do with the actual mission and can be done at any time after the so-called deadly peril passes, then I'm done reading. I had wondered about this particular question in the last volume and wondered if it would ever get addressed. Well, it did and it was completely unsatisfactory. In fact, this has put me off the rest of the series, too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2018
As a general rule, I stay away from books that have an average rating below 3.60. I have broken that rule a handful of times and I have always regretted it. I broke the rule with this book because I have read other Bova books and enjoyed them. Particularly the Moonbase series. However,once again I highly regret breaking the 3.60 rule! Roughly 80 to 90% of the book was enjoyable but the last section was so terribly God-awful that, had it not been a library book, I would have rended it from it's current physical existence into an ash heap so that it could not steal several hours of some other poor soul's existence.
February 4, 2017
I was not aware that this book was part of a series when I began reading it. Luckily it was not necessary to have read any of the others to understand the scenario being presented here. Unluckily, the book was not very interesting. The writing was very simplistic, the characters were barely developed and the conflicts were too easily resolved. The most interesting part of the book was the three alien species, particularly the relationship between the Gammans and the monsters on Beta created by the mythical(?) Sky Masters.
January 10, 2017
Picked this up at the library as it had been years since I read a story by Ben Bova. Sorry to say, I was very disappointed, and this made me sad for Mr. Bova. The story and particularly the dialogue is written in a style more appropriate for a juvenile or young adult novel than the average adult. I was not aware that this was part of a series, but except for the weak ending, it can stand alone. It is unlikely that I will read the other stories in the series, Death Wave or New Earth.
December 15, 2016
I really like reading Ben Bova's work. This novel was interesting in that though it was part of series it could have been a stand alone. I saw from other comments that some were disappointed, but Bova didn't waste his time telling us how things built up from the last novel to this point...would have just been filler. A good read, quick read.
Read
February 14, 2017Earth sends a shipload of cutthroat academics 200 light years to find intelligent life and save it from deadly radiation wave. Fortunately, the crew includes a off planet anthropologist with self esteem issues.
March 28, 2017
It's an interesting story but the plot lacks any sort of conclusion to the events and ignores the big mysteries it set up.
May 20, 2018
DNF - waste of time.
February 11, 2019
+ Page turner
+ Light reading material
+ Aliens
- MAJOR plot holes
- two dimensional characters
- Disappointing ending
- no dragons
+ Light reading material
+ Aliens
- MAJOR plot holes
- two dimensional characters
- Disappointing ending
- no dragons
August 22, 2021
In this novel we have a protagonist who has a massive dose of survivor guilt (something that seems to be a common theme in this series): born and raised on Mars, he stormed out the settlement's habitat after an adolescent argument with his family only to watch helplessly as the settlement was crushed beneath a landslide. Now he's trying to redeem himself by participating in a mission to save the inhabitants of a distant world from the Death Wave that is rushing out from the galactic core.
The system is very odd, with a gas giant near the star and two Earthlike planets in highly eccentric orbits that almost cross at one point. One planet, named Gamma, is inhabited by people living in scattered farming villages, barely above the Paleolithic.
Our protagonist discovers a species of octopus-like sophonts living in the liquid layers of the gas giant, and argues that they too deserve protection against the Death Wave. Then he goes to Gamma and ends up not only contacting, but also befriending the inhabitants of one village. He learns of their peculiar life cycle, in which each generation dies when monsters come from the other eccentric planet, Beta, during the storms that accompany their new approach. Only one person, the Rememberer, survives the long winter to teach the new generation, which hatches from the ground the following spring, as Gamma once again approaches its primary (with the extreme eccentricity of its orbit, distance from the primary is more important than axial tilt in determining the seasons).
When he presses the issue, he is told that the Gammans once built great villages all over the world, with very tall buildings. Then the Sky Masters came and crushed them, and ordained this way of life for them. At first glance this would seem to be mere superstition, a supernatural explanation for the brutal realities of their system's astrophysics and its effects upon their lives. But as the novel progresses and the monsters turn out to be quite real, it becomes clear that these creatures were the handiwork of a very sophisticated technological species. Furthermore, there is no star or micro black hole anywhere in the right position to have provided a natural explanation for the disrupted dynamics of the system. The only possible explanation is a long-ago interstellar war.
The novel ends on a hopeful note, but I for one would really like to know more about the Sky Masters. A species that powerful, with technology beyond even what the Predecessors have provided humanity, probably would've spread beyond a few systems, so there should have been evidence of them on other worlds in the stellar neighborhood, even if they have been destroyed or have self-destructed. Unfortunately, now that Mr. Bova is deceased, it seems unlikely that we will ever learn more of this mysterious people, of how far they fared and whether they had an effect on any other species' development, let alone whether they are still out there somewhere.
The system is very odd, with a gas giant near the star and two Earthlike planets in highly eccentric orbits that almost cross at one point. One planet, named Gamma, is inhabited by people living in scattered farming villages, barely above the Paleolithic.
Our protagonist discovers a species of octopus-like sophonts living in the liquid layers of the gas giant, and argues that they too deserve protection against the Death Wave. Then he goes to Gamma and ends up not only contacting, but also befriending the inhabitants of one village. He learns of their peculiar life cycle, in which each generation dies when monsters come from the other eccentric planet, Beta, during the storms that accompany their new approach. Only one person, the Rememberer, survives the long winter to teach the new generation, which hatches from the ground the following spring, as Gamma once again approaches its primary (with the extreme eccentricity of its orbit, distance from the primary is more important than axial tilt in determining the seasons).
When he presses the issue, he is told that the Gammans once built great villages all over the world, with very tall buildings. Then the Sky Masters came and crushed them, and ordained this way of life for them. At first glance this would seem to be mere superstition, a supernatural explanation for the brutal realities of their system's astrophysics and its effects upon their lives. But as the novel progresses and the monsters turn out to be quite real, it becomes clear that these creatures were the handiwork of a very sophisticated technological species. Furthermore, there is no star or micro black hole anywhere in the right position to have provided a natural explanation for the disrupted dynamics of the system. The only possible explanation is a long-ago interstellar war.
The novel ends on a hopeful note, but I for one would really like to know more about the Sky Masters. A species that powerful, with technology beyond even what the Predecessors have provided humanity, probably would've spread beyond a few systems, so there should have been evidence of them on other worlds in the stellar neighborhood, even if they have been destroyed or have self-destructed. Unfortunately, now that Mr. Bova is deceased, it seems unlikely that we will ever learn more of this mysterious people, of how far they fared and whether they had an effect on any other species' development, let alone whether they are still out there somewhere.
November 17, 2017
Caution: spoilers ahead! Ben Bova is a brilliant writer, but his endings leave a lot to be desired. Bova leaves several plot points unresolved at the end of this book, which will probably lead to another book in this series (which I will, undoubtedly, read.) The problem with this approach is: Bova doesn't do a great job of picking up where he left off in the previous installment.
"Apes and Angels" is a very loose continuation of the death wave plot started in "New Earth" and expanded on in (the aptly titled) "Death Wave." Here we have a group of scientists traveling to a very distant star system that includes three planets: Alpha, Beta & Gamma. A Stone Age civilization of humanoids inhabits Gamma, and it is the job of our heroes to save them from the approaching radiation death wave.
We soon find out that a cataclysmic event happened several thousand years ago that caused the three planets to shift orbits. This event does not seem to be of natural origin, and the mythology of the inhabitants of Gamma attribute it to the all-powerful "Sky Masters."
The characters of the book do a great deal of speculation in who or what these Sky Masters could be, but no conclusion is ever reached. The events that lead to the destruction of the ancient civilization on Gamma remain shrouded in mystery. There is no pay off to this storyline at all, and we're left wondering if this storyline will be picked up at a later date.
Similarly frustrating is the amount of time spent on the aquatic inhabitants of the planet Alpha. A great deal of time is spent describing the effort involved with deciphering their language and making first contact, but this entire plot line is dropped mid-novel, never to be mentioned again. I don't understand why the author would go to such great lengths to set up a very intricate storyline, and then abandon it without even the slightest connection to the larger narrative.
These frustrating lapses are made up for by the genius of Ben Bova's writing. Each book in this series was headed for a five star review... until the disappointing anti-climax of an ending came along. Bova creates great characters that the reader grows to truly care about. His story, despite being science fiction, is largely based on human emotions and interactions. The background may be alien, but the conflicts are all very human.
I can only hope that Bova picks up this narrative in a subsequent book, because I do want to know what becomes of the citizens of planet Gamma. You will too if you read this book.
"Apes and Angels" is a very loose continuation of the death wave plot started in "New Earth" and expanded on in (the aptly titled) "Death Wave." Here we have a group of scientists traveling to a very distant star system that includes three planets: Alpha, Beta & Gamma. A Stone Age civilization of humanoids inhabits Gamma, and it is the job of our heroes to save them from the approaching radiation death wave.
We soon find out that a cataclysmic event happened several thousand years ago that caused the three planets to shift orbits. This event does not seem to be of natural origin, and the mythology of the inhabitants of Gamma attribute it to the all-powerful "Sky Masters."
The characters of the book do a great deal of speculation in who or what these Sky Masters could be, but no conclusion is ever reached. The events that lead to the destruction of the ancient civilization on Gamma remain shrouded in mystery. There is no pay off to this storyline at all, and we're left wondering if this storyline will be picked up at a later date.
Similarly frustrating is the amount of time spent on the aquatic inhabitants of the planet Alpha. A great deal of time is spent describing the effort involved with deciphering their language and making first contact, but this entire plot line is dropped mid-novel, never to be mentioned again. I don't understand why the author would go to such great lengths to set up a very intricate storyline, and then abandon it without even the slightest connection to the larger narrative.
These frustrating lapses are made up for by the genius of Ben Bova's writing. Each book in this series was headed for a five star review... until the disappointing anti-climax of an ending came along. Bova creates great characters that the reader grows to truly care about. His story, despite being science fiction, is largely based on human emotions and interactions. The background may be alien, but the conflicts are all very human.
I can only hope that Bova picks up this narrative in a subsequent book, because I do want to know what becomes of the citizens of planet Gamma. You will too if you read this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2020
I have read more books in the past year than my profile here suggests. I read some and didn't bother to mark them on Goodreads. But I haven't read many this year. This is only the second one. I started many but didn't get far in them.
So it is very strange that I completed this one. Ben Bova is an established writer with great skill and some notable awards behind him. And every page of this book is well written, plot clear, the characters likable and in total it was a big bag of nothing!
As I read, I found one cool idea after another. The start of the book is that computers and robots built by an advanced alien civilization that then died off are working to protect all intelligent life from a deadly burst of gamma radiation coming from the centre of the galaxy. It is traveling at light speed and the robots have field generators that can protect planets and the life on them from it.
So the voyagers from Earth are traveling for the most noble of reasons. These voyagers are scientists who will travel at basically light speed to distant stars, study those stars and planets for five years while installing the field generators then return to Earth hoping that in their absence the people on Earth will welcome them back.
So that is the cover material and introduced quickly. Spoiler (for a book that I don't recommend you read) ahead.
The ideas are great! Two planets in their orbits pass so close together that they briefly share atmospheres and giant eggs carrying lethal predators are carried by cyclones from one planet to the other. The intelligent aliens on one of these planets are well described and realistically written. And the researchers appear to have a power struggle going on with hints that... well, go nowhere!
We learn that the motion of the two planets was manipulated and the predators and their interplanetary eggs were designed. And we learn ... well, nothing else.
So many great ideas that lead nowhere.
I am told this is part of a series but of the sort that shares a world not a continuing story arc. I must admit that if the threads in this book were resolved in another book I would probably read it and give a better vote here. But that doesn't seem to be the case.
Next problem: Why did I decide to finish this book? I can't answer this one. It was an easy read but I could see that the plot wouldn't really be resolved and I kept going.
I sure hope I finish a good book soon!
So it is very strange that I completed this one. Ben Bova is an established writer with great skill and some notable awards behind him. And every page of this book is well written, plot clear, the characters likable and in total it was a big bag of nothing!
As I read, I found one cool idea after another. The start of the book is that computers and robots built by an advanced alien civilization that then died off are working to protect all intelligent life from a deadly burst of gamma radiation coming from the centre of the galaxy. It is traveling at light speed and the robots have field generators that can protect planets and the life on them from it.
So the voyagers from Earth are traveling for the most noble of reasons. These voyagers are scientists who will travel at basically light speed to distant stars, study those stars and planets for five years while installing the field generators then return to Earth hoping that in their absence the people on Earth will welcome them back.
So that is the cover material and introduced quickly. Spoiler (for a book that I don't recommend you read) ahead.
The ideas are great! Two planets in their orbits pass so close together that they briefly share atmospheres and giant eggs carrying lethal predators are carried by cyclones from one planet to the other. The intelligent aliens on one of these planets are well described and realistically written. And the researchers appear to have a power struggle going on with hints that... well, go nowhere!
We learn that the motion of the two planets was manipulated and the predators and their interplanetary eggs were designed. And we learn ... well, nothing else.
So many great ideas that lead nowhere.
I am told this is part of a series but of the sort that shares a world not a continuing story arc. I must admit that if the threads in this book were resolved in another book I would probably read it and give a better vote here. But that doesn't seem to be the case.
Next problem: Why did I decide to finish this book? I can't answer this one. It was an easy read but I could see that the plot wouldn't really be resolved and I kept going.
I sure hope I finish a good book soon!
April 28, 2023
This was just . . . bad.
It seems like every book by Bova has to start off with a character who is pissed off at life and constantly griping/whining (there was a sample of another Bova book at the end of this one and yep, That Guy was there from the start). Unfortunately, it actually goes downhill from there. (Note: this author seems inordinately fond of using the word "click" to stand in for a variety of modern day words in their plots - in this book "clicks" appear to pertain to some measure of time and/or distance. In the previous book by this author that I read, "I click" was a stand in for "oh, I get it!" All the various "clicking" usage gets annoying really quickly.)
Nobody involved in this story is the least bit interesting; all of the characters have a petty/nasty side and do and say things that get my hackles up (if I were on this ship and had to interact with any of these characters, I'd be certifiable in a NY minute). There's a lot of latent "isms" in how people (women, non-white characters) are portrayed, which is really pretty shocking for an author who appears to have earned a lot of accolades.
The writing style is tons of tiny chapters (shades of James Patterson), which makes the read really choppy and oddly synced. The portrayal of non-human beings/alien fauna was so old-school it felt like it was a plot from My Favorite Martian. To add insult to injury, there was no ending - the story just kind of stopped. I wouldn't call it a cliff-hanger, it was more like plotus interruptus.
Lastly, many of the characters are portrayed as professionals in their field - biology, anthro, etc. - and yet they all make statements that would get them an F on any grade school essay in their area of expertise. They are quite . . . incompetent, to put it politely. If they are supposed to be faculty, I'd surely hate to see the institution they were teaching in.
Oh, one final thing - the author should stay away - far, far away - from any future attempts at portraying a sexual/emotional relationship. The aliens are portrayed as being literally sexless/non-sexual (apparently they propagate in some sort of lower plant like way - ???) and I think they have better moves and get more action than the married couple.
Extremely bad read. Cannot recommend.
It seems like every book by Bova has to start off with a character who is pissed off at life and constantly griping/whining (there was a sample of another Bova book at the end of this one and yep, That Guy was there from the start). Unfortunately, it actually goes downhill from there. (Note: this author seems inordinately fond of using the word "click" to stand in for a variety of modern day words in their plots - in this book "clicks" appear to pertain to some measure of time and/or distance. In the previous book by this author that I read, "I click" was a stand in for "oh, I get it!" All the various "clicking" usage gets annoying really quickly.)
Nobody involved in this story is the least bit interesting; all of the characters have a petty/nasty side and do and say things that get my hackles up (if I were on this ship and had to interact with any of these characters, I'd be certifiable in a NY minute). There's a lot of latent "isms" in how people (women, non-white characters) are portrayed, which is really pretty shocking for an author who appears to have earned a lot of accolades.
The writing style is tons of tiny chapters (shades of James Patterson), which makes the read really choppy and oddly synced. The portrayal of non-human beings/alien fauna was so old-school it felt like it was a plot from My Favorite Martian. To add insult to injury, there was no ending - the story just kind of stopped. I wouldn't call it a cliff-hanger, it was more like plotus interruptus.
Lastly, many of the characters are portrayed as professionals in their field - biology, anthro, etc. - and yet they all make statements that would get them an F on any grade school essay in their area of expertise. They are quite . . . incompetent, to put it politely. If they are supposed to be faculty, I'd surely hate to see the institution they were teaching in.
Oh, one final thing - the author should stay away - far, far away - from any future attempts at portraying a sexual/emotional relationship. The aliens are portrayed as being literally sexless/non-sexual (apparently they propagate in some sort of lower plant like way - ???) and I think they have better moves and get more action than the married couple.
Extremely bad read. Cannot recommend.
October 7, 2018
Apes and Angels is the third book in the Star Quest Trilogy. The plot continues where book two left off - the Earth sending ships out to planets light years from Earth to save less developed civilizations from a killer Death Wave of radiation sweeping through the universe.
All of the characters are new and, once again, Bova creates great individuals that you will gravitate toward. Bova's characters are the main thing that endear me to his writing. Despite living years in the future and on ships far from earth, they all seem be just like people you know (or even remind you of yourself). They are full of hopes and fears, strengths and weaknesses, and must deal with the difficulties of bureaucrats and red tape that strangle their ambition.
In Apes and Angels Bova weaves a tale full of such characters and gives us a story with many twists and turns. Bova gives us clear heroes and villains yet their hidden strengths and weaknesses tend to keep us guessing as to how they will actually behave when push comes to shove.
I've already stressed my complaints, in earlier reviews, that Bova's male and female characters stick to outdated and stereotypical heterosexual scripts so I'm not going to repeat myself here. I think the actual science in this book is a bit better but I would still hesitate to put the Star Quest Series into the hard science, Science Fiction category.
If you have enjoyed any of Ben Bova's other books, you will love this one!
All of the characters are new and, once again, Bova creates great individuals that you will gravitate toward. Bova's characters are the main thing that endear me to his writing. Despite living years in the future and on ships far from earth, they all seem be just like people you know (or even remind you of yourself). They are full of hopes and fears, strengths and weaknesses, and must deal with the difficulties of bureaucrats and red tape that strangle their ambition.
In Apes and Angels Bova weaves a tale full of such characters and gives us a story with many twists and turns. Bova gives us clear heroes and villains yet their hidden strengths and weaknesses tend to keep us guessing as to how they will actually behave when push comes to shove.
I've already stressed my complaints, in earlier reviews, that Bova's male and female characters stick to outdated and stereotypical heterosexual scripts so I'm not going to repeat myself here. I think the actual science in this book is a bit better but I would still hesitate to put the Star Quest Series into the hard science, Science Fiction category.
If you have enjoyed any of Ben Bova's other books, you will love this one!
May 9, 2023
I liked this second book in the series better than the first volume, but it is also plagued by flat characters who repeat themselves. This book felt much more like science fiction than the first volume because we are actually taken to different planets with different life forms. Unfortunately, there are several implausible plot points and holes. For example, there are large, fierce, six-legged cats that are catapulted between planets when the planets' orbits are close every 50 years. The cats completely wipe out the non-resisting humanoid population on the planet they have jumped to. Fortunately, the humanoids have created seeds they bury in the fields to produce a completely new population of humanoids after the cats rapidly die off. This method of population control was set up by some extremely intelligent space beings who destroyed the humanoids'' advanced civilization and prevent its rising again by this cruel 50-year life and death cycle. The Earth astronauts teach the humanoids to fight back, but we learn very little about the humanoids' advanced past or the aliens who convinced them they had to accept a 50-year life span.
A completely dropped plot point is the language and interactions between humans and the octopus population on a different planet. The first half of the novel sets this up and then abandons it.
A completely dropped plot point is the language and interactions between humans and the octopus population on a different planet. The first half of the novel sets this up and then abandons it.
April 3, 2018
Third in the four-part "trilogy", The Star Quest. These novels are (in order) New Earth, Death Wave, this book, and Survival.
Note: minor spoilers.
Our Hero, mid-level academician Brad MacDaniels, thinks outside the box and outwits his nemesis, the head of the science team, in order to make key discoveries about the intelligent life-forms that inhabit two of the Mithra star system's three worlds.
The humans suspect that a horrific war once engulfed the system, smashing orbits and unleashing terror on the inhabitants. This discovery is a good set-up for a subsequent series novel that returns to Mithra's denizens after the galactic Death Wave has passed.
With New Earth it's one of the better books of the series. As a stand-alone novel Apes and Angels works well and feels complete.
Comments about the series stock characterizations and conflicts are covered in general comments under the reviews for the other titles: New Earth (2013), Death Wave (2014), and Survival (2017).
Note: minor spoilers.
Our Hero, mid-level academician Brad MacDaniels, thinks outside the box and outwits his nemesis, the head of the science team, in order to make key discoveries about the intelligent life-forms that inhabit two of the Mithra star system's three worlds.
The humans suspect that a horrific war once engulfed the system, smashing orbits and unleashing terror on the inhabitants. This discovery is a good set-up for a subsequent series novel that returns to Mithra's denizens after the galactic Death Wave has passed.
With New Earth it's one of the better books of the series. As a stand-alone novel Apes and Angels works well and feels complete.
Comments about the series stock characterizations and conflicts are covered in general comments under the reviews for the other titles: New Earth (2013), Death Wave (2014), and Survival (2017).
July 26, 2022
What a letdown.
What makes this book so frustrating is that there are (or rather, we are given the appearance of) several incredibly interesting themes and plot points that ultimately not being resolved whatsoever. These include:
This is my introduction to Bova’s novels and I was mostly with the novel until the last 5% of the book that doesn’t conclude, but rather simply and sloppily ends.
Additionally, I was shocked and even more soured on the book to discover the publication date. The unfortunate depictions of female and non-white characters is much more at home in works several decades old.
Overall, the promise of the good ideas kept me reading despite the outmoded attitudes and clunky dialogue, only to leave me in the cold vacuum of space. Read at your own disappointment.
What makes this book so frustrating is that there are (or rather, we are given the appearance of) several incredibly interesting themes and plot points that ultimately not being resolved whatsoever. These include:
This is my introduction to Bova’s novels and I was mostly with the novel until the last 5% of the book that doesn’t conclude, but rather simply and sloppily ends.
Additionally, I was shocked and even more soured on the book to discover the publication date. The unfortunate depictions of female and non-white characters is much more at home in works several decades old.
Overall, the promise of the good ideas kept me reading despite the outmoded attitudes and clunky dialogue, only to leave me in the cold vacuum of space. Read at your own disappointment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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