8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Slightly better than The Precipice, October 18, 2003
The second book of The Asteroid Wars is slightly better than the first, primarily because there's more action, but it suffers from the same flaw as the first, namely characters that just aren't that interesting. I'd put Bova in the same general class as Tom Clancy: good when writing about hardware, but unable to write characters with any real depth. If you want to read a good book by Bova, start with Jupiter or Venus which focus much more on science and hardware than this book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rabble In Arms, August 27, 2006
The Rock Rats (2002) is the second SF novel in the Asteroid Wars series, following The Precipice. In the previous volume, Kris Cardenas almost commits suicide over her sabotage of the Starpower 1, but decides to stay alive to ensure that Martin Humphries is convicted for his crimes.
On the Starpower 1, the crew abandon ship temporarily to burrow into the surface of Asteroid 32-114, a porous body like a huge sand pile, but Dan Randolph still receives a fatal dose of radiation. Before he dies, Randolph leaves all his possessions to Pancho Lane, including a huge block of Astro Manufacturing. After returning to Selene, Pancho is voted onto the board of directors of Astro, despite Humphries's opposition.
In this novel, Humphries's lawyers tie up Selene's courts on the exile order, but the courts still divest him of all his shares in Astro Manufacturing and Starpower. He crashes the wedding reception for Amanda Cunningham and Lar Fuchs and presents them with a wedding present: the refurbished Starpower 1. While he hopes that Lars will go to the Belt and leave Amanda behind, the couple foil Humphries by leaving together.
The more Amanda avoids Humphries's attempts to get her into bed, the more he is infatuated with her. His latest ploy is a trading and maintenance center on Ceres, the largest asteroid. Amanda convinces Lars and Pancho to open another trading company, Helvetia Inc., in competition with Humphries Space Systems, with Astro providing the goods at low cost. They now have a larger clientele than HSS.
Humphries's aide suggests a carrot and stick approach to the problem. After consulting with his security chief, Humphries agrees to applying violence to Helvetia customers. A month later, rock rats start dying.
First three ships disappear and later the HSS files claim on asteroids that they have discovered. Then there is a fire in the Helvetia warehouse. When HSS men murder the chief engineer on the habitat project, the body is taken to Kris Cardenas, who determines the cause of death and even the name of the murderer.
Lars tracks down the murderer, goads him into attacking him with the murder weapon, and then kills him thoroughly. Under Lars's insistence, a court is formed to try him for murder. Of course, the court finds him innocent, but a precedence is set for the formation of a government in the Belt.
This novel relates the beginning moves in the Asteroid Wars. HSS has attacked first and the rock rats are far behind. Yet this anarchy of individuals is finally starting to think of the social implications of an HSS monopoly and is appalled at the idea.
Recommended for Bova fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of corporate battles, social conflict and personal frustrations.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic tragedy set in outer space, June 30, 2003
By A Customer
This novel is excellent, period. Bova develops a future where the earth's resources have been depleted, and its only hope lies in the mineral rich asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The ores in the Belt are worth countless trillions of dollars, and struggle develops between an industrial tycoon, Martin Humphries, and the unofficial leader of independent asteroid prospectors, Lars Fuchs. Humphries is a cold-blooded, hyper-ambitious industrialist that amkes JR Ewing look like a saint. Fuchs is genuinely concerned about "the little man," but is a slave to his own volcanic temper and violent urges. The two men are the centers around which the war for control of the asteroid belt revolves.
Warning: this book does not end happy. Hence the word "tragedy" in the title of my review. Fuchs own moral and personal failings prove his undoing; yet Humphries does not truly win either. To say more would ruin the book. Just remember that this book is a tragedy, in the classic sense of the word. Think "Moby Dick" as an example of what I mean.
The charge that Bova does not develop the characters enough is superfluous; these same characters have appeared in other books by him and have been fully developed in those, so to do so again in this book would be repetitive and unfair to his loyal readers. It is number two in a trilogy, so the final ending may be happier than the one in this book. Nonetheless, for those who can stand its sober conclusion, this book by itself is an excellent read. It is fast paced, technically accurate, and emphasizes action strongly. All in all a great way to spend a few hours.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
