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Ben Bova, author of Earth, continues his exploration of the future of a human-settled Solar System with the science fiction action adventure Uranus, the first of his Outer Planets trilogy.
On a privately financed orbital habitat above the planet Uranus, political idealism conflicts with pragmatic, and illegal, methods of financing. Add a scientist who has funding to launch a probe deep into Uranus's ocean depths to search for signs of life, and you have a three-way struggle for control.
Humans can't live on the gas giants, making instead a life in orbit. Kyle Umber, a religious idealist, has built Haven, a sanctuary above the distant planet Uranus. He invites "the tired, the sick, the poor" of Earth to his orbital retreat where men and women can find spiritual peace and refuge from the world.
The billionaire who financed Haven, however, has his own designs: beyond the reach of the laws of the inner planets Haven could become the center for an interplanetary web of narcotics, prostitution, even hunting human prey.
Meanwhile a scientist has gotten funding from the Inner Planets to drop remote probes into the "oceans" of Uranus, in search of life. He brings money and prestige, but he also brings journalists and government oversight to Haven. And they can't have that.
On a privately financed orbital habitat above the planet Uranus, political idealism conflicts with pragmatic, and illegal, methods of financing. Add a scientist who has funding to launch a probe deep into Uranus's ocean depths to search for signs of life, and you have a three-way struggle for control.
Humans can't live on the gas giants, making instead a life in orbit. Kyle Umber, a religious idealist, has built Haven, a sanctuary above the distant planet Uranus. He invites "the tired, the sick, the poor" of Earth to his orbital retreat where men and women can find spiritual peace and refuge from the world.
The billionaire who financed Haven, however, has his own designs: beyond the reach of the laws of the inner planets Haven could become the center for an interplanetary web of narcotics, prostitution, even hunting human prey.
Meanwhile a scientist has gotten funding from the Inner Planets to drop remote probes into the "oceans" of Uranus, in search of life. He brings money and prestige, but he also brings journalists and government oversight to Haven. And they can't have that.
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Published September 28, 2021
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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 - 30 of 72 reviews
April 19, 2020
I've been reading SF for a long time and I've seen Ben Bova's name on the bookshelves all the time... or at least I used to... and yet I never once picked up a copy. So strange.
So when I saw that Bova had a new book on Netgalley, I jumped at the chance.
I've had this impression of his novels as a series of colonization pieces set across the solar system, and Uranus certainly fits that description.
But honestly? I expected more along the lines of keeping the habitat functional and the personal heroism of a few or a group... just not this.
It was notably light on science. And the story had this prostitute with a heart of gold thing going on, not to mention... get this... an honestly good preacher-man gathering up a number of the despondent, taking them away from their bad old lives... to Uranus. Hmm. It's almost like I read a novel version of a Saturday afternoon made-for-TV B-Movie. It wasn't bad, but it was definitely average. Not meh, but we have a colony funded on nefarious deeds and then it fights its own corruption and... it's... revolution-lite.
All the elements are there, including some I really do like, but the storytelling is definitely formula.
That's not to say it's all average, however. Two parts were actually rather cool, but the coolness comes from the ideas behind them rather than the way they're brought into the full story.
Want to know why Uranus is so messed up, compared to the rest of the Solar System? (Good stuff.)
How about seeing a Satyagraha treatment on the page? (Also good stuff.)
However... while the last bit suffers a bit in execution, it's still MOSTLY pretty good. At least in spirit.
I won't say this is a great novel or anything more than an average one, but it has sparked my interest in finding some of the author's very best works and trying them out as a comparison.
So when I saw that Bova had a new book on Netgalley, I jumped at the chance.
I've had this impression of his novels as a series of colonization pieces set across the solar system, and Uranus certainly fits that description.
But honestly? I expected more along the lines of keeping the habitat functional and the personal heroism of a few or a group... just not this.
It was notably light on science. And the story had this prostitute with a heart of gold thing going on, not to mention... get this... an honestly good preacher-man gathering up a number of the despondent, taking them away from their bad old lives... to Uranus. Hmm. It's almost like I read a novel version of a Saturday afternoon made-for-TV B-Movie. It wasn't bad, but it was definitely average. Not meh, but we have a colony funded on nefarious deeds and then it fights its own corruption and... it's... revolution-lite.
All the elements are there, including some I really do like, but the storytelling is definitely formula.
That's not to say it's all average, however. Two parts were actually rather cool, but the coolness comes from the ideas behind them rather than the way they're brought into the full story.
Want to know why Uranus is so messed up, compared to the rest of the Solar System? (Good stuff.)
How about seeing a Satyagraha treatment on the page? (Also good stuff.)
However... while the last bit suffers a bit in execution, it's still MOSTLY pretty good. At least in spirit.
I won't say this is a great novel or anything more than an average one, but it has sparked my interest in finding some of the author's very best works and trying them out as a comparison.
March 26, 2020
Bova, a voice from the science fiction golden age many decades ago, continues his series exploiting the planets and moons of our solar system. This time we visit Uranus, or more properly, Haven, which orbits Uranus. Haven is to be peopled by the outcasts and dregs of society as a great cosmic do-over. But, it's filled with cardboard characters and not much else. Rather disappointing.
July 31, 2020
2 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary
Financed by billionaire Evan Waxman, Reverend Kyle Umber has set out to create a haven for Earth's huddled masses - in an orbital around Uranus. But Waxman isn't quite the philanthropist he seems, and when newcomer Raven Marchesi gets on the wrong side of him, the haven isn't as safe as she'd hoped. When she offers to help astronomer Tómas Gomez search for life on Uranus, his discoveries complicate everything.
Review
I was never a huge fan of Ben Bova. As the editor of Omni, I had my doubts about him – the magazine was slick, but none of the stories stuck in my mind. As a writer, I mostly passed him by. But at some point, the first books of what became the Grand Tour series came to my attention. They were, in typical Bova style, dry and technical, but gripping in their own way, and I started buying them as they came out. The series is so convoluted that I’ve lost track over time, but I have at least 15 of the books in it.
Uranus – apparently the start of a new sub-trilogy – is unfortunately not one of the best parts of the Grand Tour. There’s just too much that’s not credible and glossed over, and the characters (never Bova’s best suit) are generally cardboard thin. Worse, they play pretty heavily into outdated stereotypes (e.g., men are ever ready to rape a woman, and woman are the only ones interested in fashion), and some of the moments of biggest potential emotional impact fall by the wayside pretty readily. It’s clear that Bova is interested here primarily in the hard SF side of the story, and making only minimal effort to provide a supporting cast for it. That SF element is interesting, and promises to play out on a grand scale in the next books of the trilogy, but the character side of the story is composed almost entirely of stock characters never taken out of their original wrapping.
Oddly, Bova also muddles the character perspectives, hopping from one head to another at random without much signaling, and not in the way of an omniscient or partially omniscient observer. It’s confusing at times. Equally confusing is the socio-politics. A major problem is solved through non-violent resistance, but aside from a token mention of Gandhi, I didn’t come away with any confidence that Bova understands how this works; his use of it in the story certainly didn’t convince me that the application was even credible. Equally odd, he seems to muddle some of the science – suggesting, for example, that an EVA suit radio could reasonably call Earth from Uranus.
All in all, an interesting scientific theme, but a disappointingly thin and dated-feeling entry from an author who can do much better.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
Summary
Financed by billionaire Evan Waxman, Reverend Kyle Umber has set out to create a haven for Earth's huddled masses - in an orbital around Uranus. But Waxman isn't quite the philanthropist he seems, and when newcomer Raven Marchesi gets on the wrong side of him, the haven isn't as safe as she'd hoped. When she offers to help astronomer Tómas Gomez search for life on Uranus, his discoveries complicate everything.
Review
I was never a huge fan of Ben Bova. As the editor of Omni, I had my doubts about him – the magazine was slick, but none of the stories stuck in my mind. As a writer, I mostly passed him by. But at some point, the first books of what became the Grand Tour series came to my attention. They were, in typical Bova style, dry and technical, but gripping in their own way, and I started buying them as they came out. The series is so convoluted that I’ve lost track over time, but I have at least 15 of the books in it.
Uranus – apparently the start of a new sub-trilogy – is unfortunately not one of the best parts of the Grand Tour. There’s just too much that’s not credible and glossed over, and the characters (never Bova’s best suit) are generally cardboard thin. Worse, they play pretty heavily into outdated stereotypes (e.g., men are ever ready to rape a woman, and woman are the only ones interested in fashion), and some of the moments of biggest potential emotional impact fall by the wayside pretty readily. It’s clear that Bova is interested here primarily in the hard SF side of the story, and making only minimal effort to provide a supporting cast for it. That SF element is interesting, and promises to play out on a grand scale in the next books of the trilogy, but the character side of the story is composed almost entirely of stock characters never taken out of their original wrapping.
Oddly, Bova also muddles the character perspectives, hopping from one head to another at random without much signaling, and not in the way of an omniscient or partially omniscient observer. It’s confusing at times. Equally confusing is the socio-politics. A major problem is solved through non-violent resistance, but aside from a token mention of Gandhi, I didn’t come away with any confidence that Bova understands how this works; his use of it in the story certainly didn’t convince me that the application was even credible. Equally odd, he seems to muddle some of the science – suggesting, for example, that an EVA suit radio could reasonably call Earth from Uranus.
All in all, an interesting scientific theme, but a disappointingly thin and dated-feeling entry from an author who can do much better.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
January 12, 2025
I have some fond memories of early books in the Grand Tour, notably the Mars and Moon books, but after consuming this one, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't enjoy revisiting them based on the overt sexism in this book. I do remember that some other books in this series have a weird relationship with religion, and this one definitely continues that theme. The religion in this one is supposed to be non-denominational, but it feels awfully Christian.
Other than that, the characters are, at best, one-dimensional, the science fictional elements are not very well explored, and very little about this constructed society makes sense.
Other than that, the characters are, at best, one-dimensional, the science fictional elements are not very well explored, and very little about this constructed society makes sense.
December 27, 2020
Ben Bova's new book Uranus, the first of his Outer Planets trilogy, is a book I was eager to read. There is plenty of sci-fi about the inner planets, and there is plenty about other systems. Even Jupiter and Saturn and their moons get a fair amount of attention, but there really is comparatively little interest in the outer planets. That's a shame, because they're fascinating and full of sci-fi potential. This book promised to tap into that potential, and on top of that to foreground religion—a gutsy, rare move.
Uranus explores the interesting question of why the planet's axis is so tilted that it is more rolling around the sun than a spinning top like the rest of the planets. From the vantage point of the ring station Haven orbiting Uranus, scientist Tomas Gomez looks to find signs of life in the planet's ocean and ends up finding clues about the planet's past.
This could hardly be said to be the main plot of the book, however. The main character is instead a whore who was rescued from her life of poverty on Earth and brought out to Haven for a chance at a new life seeking God under the watchful eye of the station's founder, Kyle Umber, a man of the cloth who just wants to give people a chance to find God and lead a good life in whatever way they see fit. Unfortunately, he's financed by a business tycoon who's footing the bill via the sale of narcotics.
I found the book to be pretty disappointing, though: the characters are unimaginative and two-dimensional. The religion is an uninspiring farce. The plot proceeds largely through third person omniscient, painfully obvious thought dialogue ("He doesn’t think the data are conclusive, Abbott almost growled to himself"). Sex is used in the book presumably to give it an edgy tone, but it mostly feels like the way middle schoolers would furtively talk in a back hallway ("Raven smiled back at her, but she thought, Is fellatio one of the talents you’re looking for?")
The question of why Uranus is so tilted is fascinating but it mostly gets shunted onto a secondary plot thread, backgrounded behind a rather cliché storyline of a powerless whore who gets her life together and takes down a drug kingpin.
There's so much material here that could be made into a truly fantastic hard sci-fi space adventure. Alas.
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of a fair, unbiased review.
Uranus explores the interesting question of why the planet's axis is so tilted that it is more rolling around the sun than a spinning top like the rest of the planets. From the vantage point of the ring station Haven orbiting Uranus, scientist Tomas Gomez looks to find signs of life in the planet's ocean and ends up finding clues about the planet's past.
This could hardly be said to be the main plot of the book, however. The main character is instead a whore who was rescued from her life of poverty on Earth and brought out to Haven for a chance at a new life seeking God under the watchful eye of the station's founder, Kyle Umber, a man of the cloth who just wants to give people a chance to find God and lead a good life in whatever way they see fit. Unfortunately, he's financed by a business tycoon who's footing the bill via the sale of narcotics.
I found the book to be pretty disappointing, though: the characters are unimaginative and two-dimensional. The religion is an uninspiring farce. The plot proceeds largely through third person omniscient, painfully obvious thought dialogue ("He doesn’t think the data are conclusive, Abbott almost growled to himself"). Sex is used in the book presumably to give it an edgy tone, but it mostly feels like the way middle schoolers would furtively talk in a back hallway ("Raven smiled back at her, but she thought, Is fellatio one of the talents you’re looking for?")
The question of why Uranus is so tilted is fascinating but it mostly gets shunted onto a secondary plot thread, backgrounded behind a rather cliché storyline of a powerless whore who gets her life together and takes down a drug kingpin.
There's so much material here that could be made into a truly fantastic hard sci-fi space adventure. Alas.
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of a fair, unbiased review.
August 17, 2020
Keeping some old patterns and changing some others, Bova gives us a human story in an exotic setting.
We follow Raven, who, as we keep getting reminded, was a sex worker on Earth (you'd think that by the time we have space stations around Uranus, that wouldn't be such a taboo). Raven confronts toxic masculinity personified in station admin Evan. Evan has lots of different kinds of bad guys inside him. He's got a drug empire, massive wealth that he uses to oppress people, a predatory nature with women and he's a bit of a mustache-twirler to boot. I'm not sure what's above over-the-top, but ask Evan and he'll give you an idea.
Raven and Alicia have to deal with Evan and spend a lot of time opining about how before teaming up with the local Reverend, who puts together a plan, implements it and sees its success in about half the time that Raven spends fretting. Not quite Deus ex machina, but if you're going to have your main character get saved from one man by the plans of another, are you sure that's your main character?
What was more interesting (and really the only bit of science in the fiction) was the subplot about the exploration of Uranus and the interesting findings that are discovered. In classic Bova style, the answers inspire much bigger questions which are left for another day (and another book, let's face it).
Most of Uranus could have been set in a small town in America, or in a time before widespread communications (there's very little sci-fi in this sci-fi). What's left is more entertaining, but there's some chaff to be sorted from the wheat.
I think I read about Alicia and Raven planning to murder Evan twice without a plan ever forming. After a while, it leads to a bit of finger-drumming.
And Evan's final end is so unsatisfying relative to his sinister nature that it borders on the infuriating.
For all of that, I like Bova and his works enough that I look past the flaws to the joys of the prose. If you like the Grand Tour, then carry on. If you're unfamiliar, don't start here.
We follow Raven, who, as we keep getting reminded, was a sex worker on Earth (you'd think that by the time we have space stations around Uranus, that wouldn't be such a taboo). Raven confronts toxic masculinity personified in station admin Evan. Evan has lots of different kinds of bad guys inside him. He's got a drug empire, massive wealth that he uses to oppress people, a predatory nature with women and he's a bit of a mustache-twirler to boot. I'm not sure what's above over-the-top, but ask Evan and he'll give you an idea.
Raven and Alicia have to deal with Evan and spend a lot of time opining about how before teaming up with the local Reverend, who puts together a plan, implements it and sees its success in about half the time that Raven spends fretting. Not quite Deus ex machina, but if you're going to have your main character get saved from one man by the plans of another, are you sure that's your main character?
What was more interesting (and really the only bit of science in the fiction) was the subplot about the exploration of Uranus and the interesting findings that are discovered. In classic Bova style, the answers inspire much bigger questions which are left for another day (and another book, let's face it).
Most of Uranus could have been set in a small town in America, or in a time before widespread communications (there's very little sci-fi in this sci-fi). What's left is more entertaining, but there's some chaff to be sorted from the wheat.
I think I read about Alicia and Raven planning to murder Evan twice without a plan ever forming. After a while, it leads to a bit of finger-drumming.
And Evan's final end is so unsatisfying relative to his sinister nature that it borders on the infuriating.
For all of that, I like Bova and his works enough that I look past the flaws to the joys of the prose. If you like the Grand Tour, then carry on. If you're unfamiliar, don't start here.
March 20, 2023
URANUS by Ben Bova is Book 2 of his OUTER PLANETS Series, which commences with NEPTUNE. It didn't quite meet my admittedly high expectations: I wanted more Astronomy, more Science Fiction; less I guess human nature, human villainy. I had hoped for more why's of this anomalous planet. Now Dr. Bova does design an intensely puzzling mystery, I admit. I also grant full kudos for his ability to delineate a Villain in extreme detail, so that I spent most of the novel in fury at the depredations and machinations of the human evil plotter [in this, not much different than real life].
I also would have liked more detail, development, and background on the spiritual leader of the Habitat, who conceived the idea of implementing a refuge orbiting Uranus to house the poor and downtrodden of Earth and to provide new lives. He exemplifies the intent of the Statue of Liberty, and expansion on that would be intriguing.
I also would have liked more detail, development, and background on the spiritual leader of the Habitat, who conceived the idea of implementing a refuge orbiting Uranus to house the poor and downtrodden of Earth and to provide new lives. He exemplifies the intent of the Statue of Liberty, and expansion on that would be intriguing.
July 31, 2021
This.Is.Terrible.
It's not really SF, but it is sexist, racist, and just plain bad.
The whore gone good that gets drugged, the broad-shouldered tall african rapist, the generic latino scientist that translates from spanish to english in his head, the bad drug dealer controlling the space church... yeah, it's got it all the silly over-used cliches from the 1950s.
This should be a -1 star. I feel dumber after reading it.
It's not really SF, but it is sexist, racist, and just plain bad.
The whore gone good that gets drugged, the broad-shouldered tall african rapist, the generic latino scientist that translates from spanish to english in his head, the bad drug dealer controlling the space church... yeah, it's got it all the silly over-used cliches from the 1950s.
This should be a -1 star. I feel dumber after reading it.
December 20, 2020
This is not a bad book -- but it's not a great book either. On the positive side, it's a true-dyed-in-the-wool SciFi story by the insuperable Ben Bova.
On the negative side the characters are kinda flat, and the story is kinda predictable -- except for a nice twist from the middle-to-end.
That twist in itself could give rise to a whole new series of books... Too bad the author died earlier this month (from the COVID-19 pandemia), so it's not going to happen.
The worst part of the book for me was when two characters sustained an interactive conversation (one says something, waits for the other to reply, then replies to that, and so on) one of them being in Uranus, and the other being on Earth. Despite acknowledging at the beginning that light took "more than 2 hours" to travel between Uranus and Earth (meaning each interaction would take at least more than 4 hours -- after all, the person at the other end has to wait more than 2h for your words to reach him/her, then reply, and finally his/her words would take more than 2h to reach you), Bova describes a conversation with 3 such exchanges, with the people sitting at their desks (!). Would you sit at your desk for well over 12h straight, instead of sending a single message with all your thoughts in the morning, then go about your business while the other person receives it, answer all your points in one go, then sends it over to reach you in the afternoon or the next day? I definitely wouldn't....
Worse, at one point the author writes, between two such interchanges, "nearly two hours later, Millard was nodding agreeably as he said[...]". So, is it "more than two hours" or "nearly [meaning, slightly less than] two hours"? The story contradicts itself :-( I love Bova, but he really dropped the ball on this one (to say nothing of his editors which presumably failed to warn him about it).
Anyway, I think the book is worth 2.5/5 stars -- which I found to 3 stars in my rating.
On the negative side the characters are kinda flat, and the story is kinda predictable -- except for a nice twist from the middle-to-end.
That twist in itself could give rise to a whole new series of books... Too bad the author died earlier this month (from the COVID-19 pandemia), so it's not going to happen.
The worst part of the book for me was when two characters sustained an interactive conversation (one says something, waits for the other to reply, then replies to that, and so on) one of them being in Uranus, and the other being on Earth. Despite acknowledging at the beginning that light took "more than 2 hours" to travel between Uranus and Earth (meaning each interaction would take at least more than 4 hours -- after all, the person at the other end has to wait more than 2h for your words to reach him/her, then reply, and finally his/her words would take more than 2h to reach you), Bova describes a conversation with 3 such exchanges, with the people sitting at their desks (!). Would you sit at your desk for well over 12h straight, instead of sending a single message with all your thoughts in the morning, then go about your business while the other person receives it, answer all your points in one go, then sends it over to reach you in the afternoon or the next day? I definitely wouldn't....
Worse, at one point the author writes, between two such interchanges, "nearly two hours later, Millard was nodding agreeably as he said[...]". So, is it "more than two hours" or "nearly [meaning, slightly less than] two hours"? The story contradicts itself :-( I love Bova, but he really dropped the ball on this one (to say nothing of his editors which presumably failed to warn him about it).
Anyway, I think the book is worth 2.5/5 stars -- which I found to 3 stars in my rating.
May 19, 2020
To be published 21st July 2020. Orbiting Uranus is Haven, a privately financed habitat which aims to take in Earth's rejects. It's run by religious idealist Kyle Umber, but he's allowed himself to become nothing more than a figurehead while Waxman takes over the running while manufacturing drugs on the side. Raven Marchesi is a newcomer to Haven, an ex prostitute with a good brain that she's never had the opportunity to use. She thinks Waxman is her meal ticket, but soon realises he's bad news. In the meantime, enter a scientist from Earth, Tomas Gomez, intent to exploring Uranus' oceans, looking for evidence of life, or a reason for the lack of it. This is a book of two halves, the personal and the scientific. It's competent, but neither story really grabs. It's emotionally level all the way through with nothing to really lift either the story or the characters into the realm of exceptional, even when the scientist makes an incredible discovery. I know Ben Bova has a long and illustrious history in SF, but I confess this is only my second Ben Bova book, which I read as an e-ARC from Netgally. I didn't particularly enjoy the first. On this showing I probably won't search out any more.
April 24, 2021
Poor Ben Bova passed away from COVID in November. The copyright date for Uranus is 2020, so it is possibly the last book he ever wrote. I have enjoyed his planet series of books, including Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn (Mars is hard to find, so I have not read that one).
I was disappointed in that no character actually landed on Uranus. It's possible that Uranus contains nothing but gas and so would be impossible to inhabit, but I would not have minded if Ben Bova had created some continent for the story. There is an ocean in the book, but Bova only immerses a probe in it; no people.
Instead the story is about a space station that orbits around the planet Uranus. An idealistic minister created the space station as a place for people with unfortunate situations on earth to start over in life. The other main characters are an evil tycoon, a former prostitute- and her fiance, a scientist who is banking his career on finding groundbreaking information about Uranus. Of course there is conflict between the good minister and the bad tycoon; the former prostitute gets caught in the middle, and there is a showdown in the end. Not a bad story, but certainly not one of Bova's best, hence my rating is an average three stars.
I was disappointed in that no character actually landed on Uranus. It's possible that Uranus contains nothing but gas and so would be impossible to inhabit, but I would not have minded if Ben Bova had created some continent for the story. There is an ocean in the book, but Bova only immerses a probe in it; no people.
Instead the story is about a space station that orbits around the planet Uranus. An idealistic minister created the space station as a place for people with unfortunate situations on earth to start over in life. The other main characters are an evil tycoon, a former prostitute- and her fiance, a scientist who is banking his career on finding groundbreaking information about Uranus. Of course there is conflict between the good minister and the bad tycoon; the former prostitute gets caught in the middle, and there is a showdown in the end. Not a bad story, but certainly not one of Bova's best, hence my rating is an average three stars.
October 11, 2020
It's a very easy read & a very fast read, but while all the elements of first-rate-Bova are present, the half of the story that concentrates on the science (by far the superior half) feels pushed to the side in favour of a soap opera plot that might have worked if it wasn't for the formulaic, under-developed characters. Far more background detail, emotional depth, and bleakness are required to truly sell what's going on here with the refugees from Earth. But I'm afraid this ends up being a great story composed of rather two dimensional characters. Overall, it reads like a bog-standard YA sci-fi novel with characters that rarely feel 3-dimensional.
August 7, 2021
Another great one by a superb story teller. This one involves a habitat circleing Uranus that has been set up as a sanctuary for the oppressed masses. At least a little ta a time. Rub by a Priest but funded by a business man there are soon conflicts between them as to the source of money which is drugs.
Violence soon starts on the habitat as scientists discovered something under the water on Uranus that may be of a previous civilization somehow totally wiped out millions of years ago.
One of our GREATEST Authors creates another masterpiece
Violence soon starts on the habitat as scientists discovered something under the water on Uranus that may be of a previous civilization somehow totally wiped out millions of years ago.
One of our GREATEST Authors creates another masterpiece
July 22, 2025
Probably the weakest of Bova’s planet series. It doesn’t necessarily bode well when nearly every man wants to assault the handful of women given a name.
April 26, 2020
Another excellent, character-driven work by Ben Bova
I enjoyed this book very much. It has everything I expect from a Ben Bova book. The story is well-told. The characters are fascinating and well developed. The pacing is great. There is a certain gritty reality to the book that I like. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys science fiction.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.
I enjoyed this book very much. It has everything I expect from a Ben Bova book. The story is well-told. The characters are fascinating and well developed. The pacing is great. There is a certain gritty reality to the book that I like. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys science fiction.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.
August 21, 2021
This was a fairly lousy Grand Tour entry. The science was especially bad (sandy sea floors on Uranus?), the setting was thin, the plot, drama and characters were as irritating, nonsensical and unpleasant as any Bova's written before (Bova really seemed to have a thing for portraying scientists as hyperdramatic, manic-depressive obsessives who make irrational leaps of logic, and fall to pieces over the slightest hint of difficulty), and the portrayal of women is as deeply problematic as I've come to expect. If it has anything going for it, it's that the New Morality was nowhere in sight, and the Big Sci Fi Idea was interesting, though neglected and undeveloped (as I've also come to expect).
October 24, 2021
I fully understand why people didn't like this book. Honestly, I agree with a lot of the negative reviews. The character development and motives and all that were so twisted and weird. The dynamics of the characters really threw me for a loop.
However, I was craving scifi and this was such a fun one to read. The setting was excellent, the writing was easy to read, and the characters were easy to become invested in. I am looking forward to the second book of this new trilogy. There are some high stakes now, so I want to see what happens with them.
However, I was craving scifi and this was such a fun one to read. The setting was excellent, the writing was easy to read, and the characters were easy to become invested in. I am looking forward to the second book of this new trilogy. There are some high stakes now, so I want to see what happens with them.
June 25, 2022
Very light on the science but what little there was I think was fairly well developed. Others have characterized this tale as "character-driven" and I can see why, but for me the characters were not as well-developed as they could (should?) have been with some (much) of the dialogue and behaviors seeming just a bit "off". If not for the tertiary science thread and brief environmental descriptions, this could have taken place anywhere, even on Earth. Even the science thread could have been handled from an Earth-based locale for that matter, without much tweaking.
August 3, 2022
started out absolutely wonderful, but the end came and went way too fast, losing the plot all together. surprisingly religious despite having no mention outside of Kyle Umber’s description. eventually leads to aliens?-adding and removing nothing to/from the plot, just extra words with no real meaning. not worth the read despite the wonderful writing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 5, 2021
First Bova book I’ve read and was kind of dumbfounded by his chauvinism. While inhabiting a Uranian habitat and nearing once in a lifetime discovery, Bova’s vision for the female protagonist’s arc is: Prostitute -> boutique owner -> administrative assistant
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2021
I’ve been a Ben Bova fan for years. Have read and enjoyed most of the Grand Tour. This was a major disappointment. Feels like Ben had a deadline and had to slap something together. Almost couldn’t finish it. Not well developed at all. Do better Ben.
July 4, 2024
Nothing related to the Grand Tour main plots and characters. This plot could happened on Earth. Just a relationship cliche (an old one, despite of the publication date) with least elements of sci fi and the title. My vote is 3.5/5 at most.
February 11, 2024
I enjoyed the exploring part of this novel but I thought the characters were very poorly defined and annoying. A lot of the social political issues made no sense. I'd recommend it if the story was more about the discovery made about Uranus.
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January 15, 2021I never get tired of his stories.
September 5, 2021
Classic SF Written with a STRONG male gaze. Reads more like it was written in the 60s or 70s.
December 6, 2021
NGL, feeling a little let down...not nearly enough true sci-fi, and the interpersonal relationships/conversations felt way too forced and stilted.
July 27, 2023
This was an okay story, but not as strong as others in the Grand Tour. Too little focus on Uranus, too much focus on other topics. It could have happened pretty much anywhere.
August 2, 2024
This is as close to 1 star as any book I've given two stars. Ben Bova likely wrote this when he was 87 years old. It was published just before he died at 88. Look, Bova was never a great writer. He was never wowing anyone with prose. And frankly, he was never wowing anyone with characters either. But he did come up with some decent hard-science based yarns in his day and could mostly get by with his adverb heavy indulgent writing and wooden two-dimensional characters. Not so here. The characters are worse than any I've read. They make the cast of 90210 look like intellectual giants. Even the primary scientist characters seem like morons barely able to come to (and repeat over and over again) their own misguided, hyperbolic, and absurdly false conclusions. This is a science be damned book, unfortunately.
While the setting had potential for a typical Bova sf-tangential human drama, he epically fails via wandering around like he's lost the thread and doesn't have time to go back and reread. There's an aimless quality here that retrospectively points to his age, I'm afraid. But the writing to: how many characters in this book need 'beefy' hands or other 'beefy' body parts? I'm over fifty and I don't think I've met a single human being with a feature I would describe as 'beefy' or 'ham sized', yet they are all over Haven station. Even worse, there's so much focus on minutia. The main character at one point opens of a women's clothing boutique that comes totally out of left field with all sorts of details about customers 'pawing' through items and multiple observations about how they'll need to restock soon. It's so ludicrous it's funny. Characters are constantly asking each other out to dinner, discussing what time to meet, and then meeting. Much of this reads like an audio version of a popular octogenarian's outlook calendar. It's hilarious in a super tedious but also kind of sad way.
The plot really isn't all that great either. I won't recap the jacket copy, but that's all there is. This felt more like a setup to a longer series (that I absolutely wouldn't continue with) than a stand alone book... but in fact Neptune, the second book in the trilogy, has nothing to do with this one, at least from what I can glean from the GR description.
I hope this is Bova's worst book. It isn't worth reading. I give it two versus the one star only because it isn't a total disaster. I didn't hate it or anything. Nor did I struggle to finish it. Bova reads quickly and I'd already learned to forgive him for his cardboard cutout characters and pointless adjectives and clothing details. What the fuck is buttercup yellow and why do I care? Okay, bad example. In a different book I might be all about buttercup yellow. Here, I rolled my eyes. But I'll take buttercup over beefy any day.
While the setting had potential for a typical Bova sf-tangential human drama, he epically fails via wandering around like he's lost the thread and doesn't have time to go back and reread. There's an aimless quality here that retrospectively points to his age, I'm afraid. But the writing to: how many characters in this book need 'beefy' hands or other 'beefy' body parts? I'm over fifty and I don't think I've met a single human being with a feature I would describe as 'beefy' or 'ham sized', yet they are all over Haven station. Even worse, there's so much focus on minutia. The main character at one point opens of a women's clothing boutique that comes totally out of left field with all sorts of details about customers 'pawing' through items and multiple observations about how they'll need to restock soon. It's so ludicrous it's funny. Characters are constantly asking each other out to dinner, discussing what time to meet, and then meeting. Much of this reads like an audio version of a popular octogenarian's outlook calendar. It's hilarious in a super tedious but also kind of sad way.
The plot really isn't all that great either. I won't recap the jacket copy, but that's all there is. This felt more like a setup to a longer series (that I absolutely wouldn't continue with) than a stand alone book... but in fact Neptune, the second book in the trilogy, has nothing to do with this one, at least from what I can glean from the GR description.
I hope this is Bova's worst book. It isn't worth reading. I give it two versus the one star only because it isn't a total disaster. I didn't hate it or anything. Nor did I struggle to finish it. Bova reads quickly and I'd already learned to forgive him for his cardboard cutout characters and pointless adjectives and clothing details. What the fuck is buttercup yellow and why do I care? Okay, bad example. In a different book I might be all about buttercup yellow. Here, I rolled my eyes. But I'll take buttercup over beefy any day.
March 31, 2025
Financed by billionaire Evan Waxman, Reverend Kyle Umber has set out to create a haven for Earth's huddled masses - in an orbital station around Uranus. But Waxman isn't quite the philanthropist he seems, and when newcomer Raven Marchesi gets on the wrong side of him, the haven isn't as safe as she'd hoped. When she offers to help astronomer Tómas Gomez search for life on Uranus, his discoveries complicate everything.
I was never a huge fan of Ben Bova. As the editor of Omni, I had my doubts about him – the magazine was slick, but none of the stories stuck in my mind. As a writer, I mostly passed him by. But at some point, the first books of what became the Grand Tour series came to my attention. They were, in typical Bova style, dry and technical, but gripping in their own way, and I started buying them as they came out. The series is so convoluted that I’ve lost track over time, but I have at least 15 of the books in it.
Uranus – apparently the start of a new sub-trilogy – is unfortunately not one of the best parts of the Grand Tour. There’s just too much that’s not credible and glossed over, and the characters (never Bova’s best suit) are generally cardboard thin. Worse, they play pretty heavily into outdated stereotypes (e.g., men are ever ready to rape a woman, and woman are the only ones interested in fashion), and some of the moments of biggest potential emotional impact fall by the wayside pretty readily. It’s clear that Bova is interested here primarily in the hard SF side of the story, and making only minimal effort to provide a supporting cast for it. That SF element is interesting, and promises to play out on a grand scale in the next books of the trilogy, but the character side of the story is composed almost entirely of stock characters never taken out of their original wrapping.
Oddly, Bova also muddles the character perspectives, hopping from one head to another at random without much signaling, and not in the way of an omniscient or partially omniscient observer. It’s confusing at times. Equally confusing is the socio-politics. A major problem is solved through non-violent resistance, but aside from a token mention of Gandhi, I didn’t come away with any confidence that Bova understands how this works; his use of it in the story certainly didn’t convince me that the application was even credible. Equally odd, he seems to muddle some of the science – suggesting, for example, that an EVA suit radio could reasonably call Earth from Uranus.
All in all, an interesting scientific theme, but a disappointingly thin and dated-feeling entry from an author who can do much better.
I was never a huge fan of Ben Bova. As the editor of Omni, I had my doubts about him – the magazine was slick, but none of the stories stuck in my mind. As a writer, I mostly passed him by. But at some point, the first books of what became the Grand Tour series came to my attention. They were, in typical Bova style, dry and technical, but gripping in their own way, and I started buying them as they came out. The series is so convoluted that I’ve lost track over time, but I have at least 15 of the books in it.
Uranus – apparently the start of a new sub-trilogy – is unfortunately not one of the best parts of the Grand Tour. There’s just too much that’s not credible and glossed over, and the characters (never Bova’s best suit) are generally cardboard thin. Worse, they play pretty heavily into outdated stereotypes (e.g., men are ever ready to rape a woman, and woman are the only ones interested in fashion), and some of the moments of biggest potential emotional impact fall by the wayside pretty readily. It’s clear that Bova is interested here primarily in the hard SF side of the story, and making only minimal effort to provide a supporting cast for it. That SF element is interesting, and promises to play out on a grand scale in the next books of the trilogy, but the character side of the story is composed almost entirely of stock characters never taken out of their original wrapping.
Oddly, Bova also muddles the character perspectives, hopping from one head to another at random without much signaling, and not in the way of an omniscient or partially omniscient observer. It’s confusing at times. Equally confusing is the socio-politics. A major problem is solved through non-violent resistance, but aside from a token mention of Gandhi, I didn’t come away with any confidence that Bova understands how this works; his use of it in the story certainly didn’t convince me that the application was even credible. Equally odd, he seems to muddle some of the science – suggesting, for example, that an EVA suit radio could reasonably call Earth from Uranus.
All in all, an interesting scientific theme, but a disappointingly thin and dated-feeling entry from an author who can do much better.
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