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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Say It Ain't So, Ben!, July 7, 2003
This book is a disappointment. I don't know if Bova is running out of good plots, he was hurried, or it was just a fluke, but this book doesn't deliver. Part of Bova's planetary series, it continues a background situation of an Earth under the rule of fundamentalist regimes that have little use for scientific study and even less for individual freedoms. He also brings back a couple of characters, albeit he focuses his story on new ones. The basic premise is that a huge spacecraft the size of a large asteroid containing a self-sustaining, essentially closed-loop ecosystem along with 10,000 people "serving a cadre of scientists" journeys to Saturn for extended study. The habitat is named Goddard. The principal experiment is kept from the inhabitants though. It is "to test the ability of a self-contained community to survive and develop a viable social system of its own." During the 25-month voyage a villainous set of ringers planted by a fundamentalist group back on Earth plot to seize political control of the habitat. This group is sophomorically patterned after Hitler and his closest henchmen in the budding Nazi Party. Bova has never been strong on character development, but this group is more shallow than usual. Bova's strength has always been the science he tantalizingly weaves into his stories. Unlike his previous books, there really is precious little science in this one, fiction or otherwise. It is more a study in seizing political power via subterfuge than it is about science. Even the life form in the Saturnian system is undeveloped and seemingly included merely as a sop to his sci fi fans. In this book his strength is the continuation of several themes that together form the core of this series: outcasts beginning a new life on new worlds, the ubiquity of life within our Solar System, and the benefits of nano-technology if used properly. Another theme from the last few books carried over into this one is that religious fundamentalism can be oppressive and regressive. The overarching message from this series is that there is plenty to do and see, to explore and colonize, within the Solar System while we figure out how to get to the stars. Also, the Solar System may provide a safety valve for overpopulation and the adventurous spirit. While the messages are positive, the book overall is flat and uninspired. If you're a real Bova fan, like me, then you'll want to go through it anyway in anticipation that it will set the stage for later books in the series. If you're not yet a Bova fan, read his other books first.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Politics Within a Miniworld, August 9, 2006
This review is from: Saturn: A Novel of the Ringed Planet- And the Humans Who Explore It (The Grand Tour) (Mass Market Paperback)
Saturn (2003) is the third SF novel in the Planet Novel series, following Jupiter. In this novel, the Goddard habitat is leaving its lunar orbit and traveling to an orbit around Saturn. The largest minority group aboard the habitat is the scientists sent to study the Saturn system, especially the moon Titan. Although the sponsors are happy to see the last of this ungodly crew, the hidden purpose of the mission is really not to gather planetary data, but as an experiment in human society. The anthropologist James Wilmot is the project chief for this experiment and reports back to New Morality headquarters in Atlanta.
Malcolm Eberly was recruited by the Holy Disciples to accompany the ten thousand persons on the habitat. He is a former swindler who has been released from prison for the trip. He and others of the fundamentalist cadre are supposed to take over the administration and impose an authoritarian government. His primary assistants are Ruth Morgenthau, Sammi Vyborg and Leo Kananga.
Susan Lane, Pancho Lane's sister, decides to leave Selene and travel to Saturn orbit on the Goddard habitat. She is enamored with Eberly. With encouragement from Eberly, she changes her name to Holly Lane.
Two other members of the Saturn mission have been sent by Pancho Lane to keep an eye on Holly. Manuel Gaeta is a stuntman who hopes to the first man on Titan. Kris Cardenas is a Nobel Prize laureate for her work on nanotechnology; she was instrumental in the death of Dan Randolph and has been in self-exile in the Belt. Both are accepted by Eberly, but are having problems with Edouard Urbain, the chief scientist.
Eberly was appointed as Director of the Human Resources Department of the Goddard habitat, with Holly as his assistant. They screened all ten thousand of the inhabitants from volunteers selected by the project sponsors: the New Morality, the Holy Disciples and the Sword of Islam. For the most part, these volunteers have been released from prisons where they were sentenced for political crimes: secularism, political agitation, and free thinking.
While Holly is the main protaganist in this novel, Eberly is the chief character. With his vices and virtues, he is the primary driving force in the storyline. All the other characters are fanatics or show little personal development; for example, Holly is an adolescent fixated on Eberly as a form of rebellion against her sister. Like Hamlet, Eberly never really does anything decisive, yet his feeble attempts at personal freedom set the stage for what little action occurs within the plotline.
This novel continues the tale of an Earth devastated by Global Warming and ruled by a coalition of religious fundamentalists. The natives are revolting and the fundamentalists are finding pure force to be less effective. Now they are trying subtle force and planning far ahead. The Goddard habitat is only one aspect of this plan.
Recommended for Bova fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of personal liberties, political manipulation, and social development.
-Arthur W. Jordin
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not One of Bova's Best..., January 16, 2004
This book truly baffles me. I've read a bit of Ben Bova lately, and I can't quite comprehend why he did what he did with this book. I think that what's the best about Bova's books is his attention to scientific detail and his exploration of the sites of our solar system. However, in Saturn, all this stuff takes a back seat to a character story that isn't all that great. In fact, the title "Saturn" is most definitely a misnomer, as this book has very little at all to do with Saturn. In fact, they don't get to Saturn until the latter stages of the books, and don't even really TALK about Saturn until maybe 100 pages into the book. The real focus of the story is the giant spaceborne habitat "Goddard" which, for some reasons unknown to us, is being sent to Saturn to be a colony there. Why, I'm still not sure. The story mostly follows Susie (Holly) Lane, Pancho Lane's sister come back to life due to a miracle of cryogenics... or something. I wish this was explained a little better, especially after it was set up in detail in The Precipice. The other main character is a recently released convict named Malcolm Eberly who strives to gain political control of the habitat. To be blunt, the story starts off really slow. I kept waiting for Bova to get to the good stuff (i.e. the science and exploration), but it really never happened. The science takes a back seat, and unfortunately, the character story that drives the book is second-rate, at best. Granted, it did get better towards the end, and there was a bit of suspense added to make me care more for the characters. However, this is not one of Bova's best. Stick to the science next time, Ben.
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