Moonwar [Mass Market Paperback]

Ben Bova (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1998

Ben Bova's extraordinary Moonbase Saga continues with a breathtaking near-future adventure rich in character and incident. The action begins seven years after the indomitable Stavenger family has realized its cherished dream of establishing a colony on the inhospitable lunar surface. Moonbase is now a thriving community under the leadership of Doug Stavenger, a marvel of scientific ahievement created and supported by nanotechnology: virus-size machines that can build, cure, and destroy. But nanotechnology has been declared illegal by the home planet's leaders. And a powerful despot is determined to lay claim to Stavenger's peaceful city...or obliterate it, if necessary. The people of Moonbase--a colony with no arms or military--must now defend themselves from earth-born aggression with the only weapon at their disposal: the astonishing technology that sustains their endangered home.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ben Bova can really turn out the space sagas. Moonwar, the sequel to Bova's popular 1996 Moonrise, continues the story of Douglas Stavenger, the Kennedy-esque scion of Moonbase's founding dynasty. Moonbase is flourishing under Stavenger's management, but its existence--and Stavenger's very life--depends on nanotechnology, outlawed on Earth in response to a wave of Luddite fear and violence. United Nations peacekeepers arrive on the moon to enforce the anti-nanotech laws, accompanied by intrepid network news reporter Edith Elgin, who promptly falls for Doug. In the meantime, Doug's mother Joanna chooses to return to Earth, but once there she's held hostage by the secretary-general of the UN, who wants Doug to surrender to his forces (and be killed). Smarmy politicians, beautiful TV babes, calculating corporate barons--it's like Washington in the space age, with nonstop action and cool technology. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Though riddled with SF cliches and stock characters, Bova's sequel to Moonrise is nonetheless an exciting high-tech adventure that puts the fledgling lunar colony known as Moonbase in dire jeopardy as political forces seek either to wrest control of it or to destroy it. Nanotechnology has been outlawed on Earth, but it is essential to Moonbase's functioning. The colony's leader, Douglas Stavenger, whose body is full of benevolent nanotech, must find a nonviolent way to foil the United Nations' Peacekeeper forces long enough for the base to be declared an independent nation and thus one that can legally continue to work with the outlawed technology. Georges Faure, Secretary-General of the U.N., has his own greedy plans for Moonbase, but he succumbs to the sexual charms of Edith Elgin, a gorgeous reporter who wheedles her way onto the U.N.'s troopship and then into the base itself. Her dispatches blow open the truth about what is occurring on the besieged colony, even as her presence creates a romantic dilemma for Doug. Spies, fanatics, sexy women and broad expanses abound as technology and good planning overcome brute force and canny capitalists. Readers who don't mind female reporters who "give some head to get ahead" and U.N. directors who proclaim that "resistance is futile" should find Bova's latest romp on the moon exciting and fun.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Harper Voyager (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380786982
• ISBN-13: 978-0380786985
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #851,342 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars GREAT STORIES; AVERAGE STORYTELLING, March 11, 2005

By 

Lance C. Panzer (the Great Lakes) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Moonwar (Mass Market Paperback)

I shall write of both "Moonrise" and "Moonwar."

These are the stories of Moonbase, a permanent lunar settlement built by an American corporation in the mid-21st century. These tales chronicle the political and societal tension wrought by unpopular scientific endeavors, and the unforeseen consequences thereof. The books portray a future wherein a new fascism creeps across the entire globe, embraced by a superstitious public, and at dire odds with the free-thinking scientists living on the Moon--men and women who journeyed there to escape the shackles of Earthside ignorance and fear. You will find intrigue, betrayal, villainy, sexual bartering, rugged individualism, and even love within these books' pages.

But Ben Bova's vocabulary is disappointing. His dialog is often uninspired and even predictable. His narrative, his pacing, his exposition, his character development, and even his plot development are all very Saturday matinee. Even worse, his understanding of relationships is shallow.

But what gets these books off the ground and keeps the reader till their last pages is Ben Bova's love of space exploration. The man fervently believes that space exploration will benefit all of mankind, and not just the bureaucrats or big business. When Ben Bova describes an exclusively astronomical scene, his passion is undeniable. In the first book, there's a scene wherein an 18-year-old walks upon the lunar surface for the first time, and it borders on epiphanous. Ben Bova brings the Moon's unique beauty into sharp focus; sometimes, you can actually feel the regolith beneath your boots. It's this passion, I believe, that makes these books worth reading--in spite of their shortfalls.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Murder and War between the scientists and the fanatics, February 5, 2004

By 

Rachel Watkins "Rachel Watkins" (Joshua, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Moonwar (Mass Market Paperback)

Moonbase has expanded, and now is host to over two thousand employees and researchers. Doug Stavenger lives on Moonbase as Earth is too dangerous for him because the Luddite extreemist factions are out to kill anyone who uses nanotechnology.

The UN is determined to stamp out use of Nanotechnology on the surface, but thier ulterior motives are to gain controll of Nanotechnology for use as they see fit.

Moonwar is a bit predictable, and the 'bad guys' are just way too disfunctional as people to have attained the positions of power in government they have achieved. The 'New Morality' which is quickly gripping the world in a theocracy, opposes nanotechnology, and will use Murder and terrorism to attain thier goals.

Soon, forces culminate into a battle at Moonbase, those in Moonbase thwarting two different attacks and flushing out suicide bombers. It's a bit too easy for them though.

Overall, a nice book if you've read the first one, but not as realistic as it could be, and not very beliveable.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good comic book stuff, January 10, 2000

By 

Doug Vaughn - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Moonwar (Mass Market Paperback)

While Ben Bova's premise and plot is interesting enough in its own right that I actually finished this book (Moonwar), it was not a satisfying reading experience. The characters were very flat and predictable good guy/bad guy stock characters from the movie seriel and melodrama traditions. The only almost complex character was Bam, the good hearted assassin, and even here the plot falters trying to make sense of his place in the story. When Doug tells him, in essence, 'sure you cut my thoat and tried to kill me, but I sense that we could be friends', the reader wants to say 'WHAT?'. It makes one wonder about the hero's grip on things. And the dialoge generally is laughable. One could imagine these lines in an old Flash Gordon film. Over the top with a straight face. I found it hard to take.