IN
Born in Philadelphia, Ben Bova worked as a newspaper reporter, a
technical editor for Project Vanguard (the first American satellite
program), and a science writer and marketing manager for Avco
Everett Research Laboratory, before being appointed editor of
"Analog," one of the leading science fiction magazines, in 1971.
After leaving "Analog" in 1978, he continued his editorial work in
science fiction, serving as fiction editor of" Omni" for several
years and editing a number of anthologies and lines of books,
including the "Ben Bova Presents" series for Tor. He has won
science fiction's Hugo Award for Best Editor six times.
A published SF author from the late 1950s onward, Bova is one of
the field's leading writers of "hard SF," science fiction based on
plausible science and engineering. Among his dozens of novels are
"Millennium, The Kinsman Saga, Colony, Orion, Peacekeepers,
Privateers, " and the" Voyagers" series. Much of his recent work,
including "Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, The Precipice, "and" The
Rock Rats," falls into the continuity he calls "The Grand Tour," a
large-scale saga of the near-future exploration and development of
our solar system.
A President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past
president of Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, in
2001 Dr. Bova was elected a Fellow of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He lives in Naples, Florida,
with his wife, the well-known literary agent Barbara Bova.
"Solid action/adventure/politking/consciousness-raising from a
veteran pro."--"Kirkus Reviews"
"A rollicking good read!"--"Starlog"
"I believe that by far the science fiction author who will have the
greatest effect on the science fiction world, and the world as a
whole, is Ben Bova."--Ray Bradbury
"Solid action/adventure/politking/consciousness-raising from a
veteran pro."--"Kirkus Reviews"
"A rollicking good read!"--"Starlog"
"I believe that by far the science fiction author who will have the
greatest effect on the science fiction world, and the world as a
whole, is Ben Bova."--Ray Bradbury
Ten years after breaking the Russian Federation's monopoly on space travel, 21st-century swashbuckler Dan Randolph returns in this third-rate sequel to Privateers . Now an industrialist, Randolph is suddenly arrested and his billion-dollar lunar mining corporation confiscated by the corrupt and bureaucratic Global Economic Council--which happens to be headed by his archnemesis, Vasily Malik. Randolph escapes, and learns that his misfortune is linked to an impending global environmental disaster which the G.E.C. is using as an excuse to seize control of the world's economy--starting with his company. He also learns that organized crime has infiltrated the G.E.C. and is looking forward to a handsome profit from the seizure. With enemies chasing him between Earth and the moon, Randolph works to stop these schemes and save the earth without compromising its people's freedom. In a hackneyed, predictable plot and bad B-movie dialogue, Bova combines familiar environmental doomsaying with dewy-eyed capitalist optimism. Presumably a lovable rake, the totally unsympathetic Randolph acts more like an insensitive lecher; although Bova makes many careful gestures toward gender egalitarianism in his casting, the major female characters are inevitably sexually harassed, manipulated and victimized. Bova can do better than this childishly macho, feeble and unoriginal attempt at space adventure. (Sept.)
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