To Fear the Light (sequel to To Save the Sun) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ben Bova (Author), A. J. Austin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1996

Two hundred years ago, Adela de Montgarde, the brilliant astrophysicist, conceived the centuries-long plan to forestall the death of Earth's sun, thus preserving the original genetic material of the Empire of the Hundred Worlds-and of the Emperors who enabled her visionary plan.

Now Adela emerges from cold sleep to oversee the final stages of her great work. She awakens to an Empire transformed: her son Eric is Emporer, faster-than-light travel has finally been achieved, and humanity has spilled out to innumerable new planets, far beyond the Empire's Hundred Worlds.

In the twilight of the Empire, human and alien factions vie for advantage, while Adela's awesome feat of stellar engineering approaches its final fruition: the preservation and re-invigoration of the fearsome light at the heart of humanity's first solar system...the saving of Earth's Sun.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This weak sequel to the authors' To Save the Sun tries to invoke the look and feel of old-time science fiction. Adela de Montgarde, creator of the prequel's eponymous project, is revived after 200 years of "cryosleep" to find that her son Eric is emperor of an intergalactic empire that has been rendered obsolete by "instantaneous communication" (which is a recurrent mantra of today's hard SF). Meanwhile, a man calling himself "Jephthah" disseminates hateful, chauvinistic propaganda through the increasingly balkanized human colonies. He targets first the alien Sarpans (who assisted on the project to save the dying Sun) and then another, apparently more primitive, alien race. There is a curious subplot about Aborigines and the need of their allegedly homogeneous society to maintain old ways. Billy Woorunmarra's attempt at an ethereal form of multiculturalism is, however, undermined by being presented with the same presumptuous narrative voice as the rest of the novel. There is little doubt where the authors' politically correct sympathies lie-the characters are more mouthpieces than beings-and the renderings, especially of Jephthah, make pedestrian several scenes that should have been interesting. It must be granted that the two authors have melded their voices well: the narrative has a single, strident tone.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Emerging from two centuries of cold sleep to oversee the culmination of her life's work-the revitalization of Earth's dying sun-Dr. Adela de Montgarde discovers that the Empire of the Hundred Worlds now hovers on the brink of dissolution. Combining hard science and political intrigue in the tradition of classic sf, this collaborative effort by Bova (Death Dream, LJ 5/15/94) and Austin features dependable writing and sympathetic characters. A good choice for most sf collections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Tor Science Fiction (February 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812523822
• ISBN-13: 978-0812523829
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,697,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars To Save the Sun so that you can Fear the Light (or reading the second book), June 11, 2008

By 

Wildness (Colorado Plateau) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: To Fear the Light (sequel to To Save the Sun) (Mass Market Paperback)

(This review is for both To Save the Sun and To Fear the Light as they are, together, one story)

Science Fiction veteran Ben Bova and rookie A. J. Austin have crafted a very attractive story idea with To Save the Sun and To Fear the Light: Humanity has spread out among 100 planets and are loosely collected in the Empire of a Hundred Worlds. When the empire's scientists determine that Sol, the sun of mankind's origin and genetic seed planet Earth is likely to start dying with a few centuries, it is a young scientist, Adela de Montgarde, from a frontier world that boldly proclaims that she can save the sun and thus the foundation of the species.

The scientists are all skeptical as their centuries of life have stifled all inquisitiveness and creativity from them. Many a bureaucrat believes the idea to be folly - including the Princess Rihana, wife of the Emperor's son Prince Javas. But Dr. Montgarde wins the support of the Emperor who initiates the grand scheme. In the process, Dr. Montgarde wins the heart of Prince Javas who discards Rihana like excess baggage when the Emperor moves the seat of power from Corinth to Earth's Moon.

This generation spanning tale starts with much promise, the storytelling delivers with a sweeping grand scope of style that sees the progress of the effort to save the sun first from the political standpoint and necessity and then from the scientific viewpoint. But as the first book, To Save the Sun, progresses, the story starts to loose focus; by the end of the first volume, it is apparent that nothing significant will come to pass before the second book.

Unfortunately, another aspect of the plot starts to become very obvious by the end of To Save the Sun: the 700+ pages of these two books is really just about the power struggle - and not a very interesting one at that - between two women, Adela de Montgarde and Rihana, and the the sons that both women have "with" the Prince (I put with in quotations because there is little normal or natural about how any of this plays out). So, by To Fear the Light, this once promising story looses all focus and becomes a book about the struggle between these two women and basically humanity's seemingly unrealistic fear of an alien race.

What does the second half of this story have to do with saving the sun? Only as much as that idea can interfere with the authors' determined attempts to loose all focus. And that is the sad part, because there is real promise buried inside of this story, which could have been one very good book of hard science fiction.

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A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling novel about power and discrimination, July 6, 2002

By 

"im_thatoneguy" (Walla Walla, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Fear the Light (sequel to To Save the Sun) (Mass Market Paperback)

Ben Bova wrote an amazing novel in To Fear the Light, although I have not read the first book (To save the sun) the book can stand on it's own right. It starts seeming as your standard run of the mill secret enemy wanting to destroy the empire sci-fi novel; however it ends in a compelling thoughtful story about the power of using our mistrust of each other to destroy somthing greater.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my Favs, February 17, 2008

By 

Nate Dizzle "tech guru" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Fear the Light (sequel to To Save the Sun) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the sequel to "To Save the Sun". They are absolutely an awesome pair. I have read both many times, and remember fondly reading them when they came out over 10 years ago now. Hard to find sometimes, but very worth it.