Customer Reviews

Saturn: A Novel of the Ringed Planet- And the Humans Who Explore It (The Grand Tour)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

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.

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

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.

Before writing this review, I should probably confess that the only other book in Bova's Solar System meta-series that I've read is "Jupiter", and I started "Saturn" immediately after finishing it. I understand that "Jupiter" is one of the best books in the series, so my review might therefore be a little biased...

Anyhow, "Saturn" tells the story of a giant habitat full of scientists, 'liberals' and other free thinkers sent out to permanently study Saturn by the fundamentalist governments of Earth - with, of course, a few spies thrown in for good measure. The trip takes two years and, in fact, also takes up three quarters of the book. Along the way, Malcolm Eberly, the head of Human Resources on the ship, plots to take over the running of the station in a behind-the-scenes coup of social engineering.

Much of the story is told from his perspective and from that of his assistant Holly who very much highlight the evil, scheming fundamentalist/naive, good scientist dichotomy in the book. It's not a dichotomy I have a problem with in theory, but much of the book reads like a great experiment in pseudoanthropology with Saturn used mainly as a backdrop. Even the actual meat of character interaction comes off a little forced between many of the characters. He does a convincing enough job having people with very large egos interact with each other, but once any human interaction gets past that, the book seems a little two-dimensional.

Once the action does switch to the planet itself (and I won't give away any of the major surprises), the payoff is surprisingly trite given the way "Jupiter" ended. "Saturn"'s ending is also awfully abrupt by comparison - not that "Jupiter" took that long to wrap up. Presumably Bova means for a sequel to follow this. I hope so as there were major plot points left unfinished.

In all, it's an okay piece of science fiction, but it does stumble into a few potholes along the way - as well as making nearly pointless the title of the book. If you're a huge fan of the series no doubt you'll go out and get this one, too. If you're not, you're probably better off waiting for the paperback.

I have -finally- finished plodding through Ben Bova's "Saturn". This latest installment in his Grand Tour story cycle is pretty predictible as it follows the ideas and tropes laid down by Heinlein (Orphans of the sky), Clarke (the Rama novels), Zebrowski (Brute Orbits), Benford (Heart of the Comet) and many others dealing with closed world environments.

I found none of the characters particularly engaging as they were either two dimentional (Vyborg and Urbain are classic examples) or paper thin, totally lacking in the complexities that define real people. The plot is one-dimensional - no complexity, no background, no color. The story arc was so predictable I was tempted to fast forward to the end. The inter-chapter science lessons were annoying and a very pale imitation of Pohl's Gateway.

Even the science was low-cal. There is some mention of nanotech, which might be Bova's latest interest - particularly as it pertains to human longevity, and that's about it. Passing references to orbital mechanics, life in Jupiter's atmosphere and on Titan do not add much as its so fleeting the reader might miss it rather than be snapped up short to wonder - Now what was that?

Finally, I find hard to believe that a future society that is exploiting Jupiter's atmosphere for rocket fuel, and can build a sturcture in space large enough to house 10,000 people and propel it to Saturn on a 2-3 year trajectory had not sent anybody to Saturn prior to the voyage of Goddard? That they would be the first ones to see the rings and Titan up close? Get real.

Saturn tells the story of a scientific expedition bound for the planet Saturn for the purpose of scientific exploration and colonization. Along the journey, various political factions emerge among the crew, and a group of outlaws attempts to democratically take over the colony and to establish a dictatorship.

Saturn is the first novel by Ben Bova that I have read. It is readable, but it is certainly not great. For one thing, the characters are generic, boring and underdeveloped. For another, some elements of the plot are just not credible. For example, Bova would have us believe that the colonists get so worked up about naming various buildings in their habitat that they hold colony-wide democratic elections to resolve this "grave" issue.

Nonetheless, the book is surprisingly readable. Saturn is written in flowing style and the plot is constantly moving forward. I never found myself bored, but was never really engaged either.

I read a lot of sci-fi and this book is not one of the better pieces in the genre. Bottom line, I don't recommend this book, but if you happen to get it and have nothing better to do, it's an ok way to pass a few hours.

After reading "Saturn", I debated whether I was going to give it two or three stars; I debated whether I was even going to read more of the series (Grand Tour books: "Venus" (best so far), "Jupiter" (3 stars), "Saturn", "Mercury", "Titan" (same characters as "Saturn"), The Rock Wars books. Are the two Mars books part of this series? The two Moonbase books?). I will most likely at last read one more; and I gave "Saturn" two stars - but I want to believe that Titan will redeem this set of characters in Bova's Grand Tour solar system.

As with the other books in this series (at least the ones I have read), Earth is in the grip of governments controlled by fundamentalist regimes. The Space Habitat Goddard is launching on a one-way trip to Saturn orbit; it is full of scientists and technicians and support personnel with the purpose of studying Saturn and its moon Titan (which appears to have some simple life living on it), most of which are against the Earth's current rulers. But, is this habitat also a bigger social experiment being conducted by The New Morality, one of Earth's ruling regimes?

The Holy Disciples, another of Earth's ruling theocracies, recruits Malcolm Eberly, a believer and a successful conman, from a prison in Vienna to be the head of the Human Resources department and the mission of taking control of the habitat and ensuring a path of righteousness for its population. Of course, the habitat is full of spies - some Eberly is aware of and some he is not - and his failure would mean a return to Earth and prison.

Okay...so what? Too many characters, not enough depth, and the tiring of the theocratic government angle make this book mostly a disappointment. You can't even figure out who to root for...Eberly isn't really a believer, but his seeming megalomania and desire to be loved make him pretty flawed...Holly, his assistant, is pretty much vacuous...the other characters are obviously evil, small minded (or both), or not that interested in the larger picture. Not even the science, which you can usually rely on Bova making interesting and hold his books together, is minimal until the end.

At face value, I would say pass on this book, but the reviews for "Titan" imply that the science is good and more featured in the direct sequel (but the reviews also dismiss the characters and their storylines as pontless). And, the reviews are pretty favorable for "Mercury" the book published in between "Saturn" and "Titan". In the end, read the Ben Bova Grand Tour books for the science...characters are not his strong suit and they are usually shallow and stereotypical and must be endured for the interesting science.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

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.

Bova's book Saturn describes the numerous plots and internal shenanigans of a crew headed for the ringed planet. We have the religious fundamentalists, the cynical politicians who try to manipulate everyone to their will, the spacy academics who focus on hard science and little else, and the anti-establishment folks who are trying to escape a cloying religious fanatic-led environment on earth. Needless to say, nearly every one of these characters has a very predictable role to play. There aren't any surprises on the USS Goddard, the giant exploration ship that takes this motley crew to Saturn. Its an easy read with fairly decent character development. More like a John Grisham novel than sophisticated science fiction. Buy it (better yet, borrow it!) for the beach.

This is a HUGE departure for Bova's 'planetary grand tour'. The featured planet is merely a backdrop - actually only a destination. It IS consistent in that the characters are extremely significant but this time the SCIENCE is the real loser. The huge space ark habitat Goddard is never explained thoroughly, leaving the reader to have to take it for granted that his setting is viable scientifically. But even then the reader gets the impression that it is not really important - in other words the story could have taken place anywhere else just as well.
Bova has a female main character in Holly whose identity he carelessly treats and never really explores. Then, he has her TORTURED?! I found this horrifying and completely unnecessary. Bova got so caught up with the 'extreme political experiment' of his plot that he perhaps found himself writing this sequence out of necessity but in so doing he utterly obliterates any sci-fi relevance or connection to his planetary series whatsoever. I felt totally cheated out of a 'cool Saturn experience' - except very marginally for its rings - because Saturn really didn't FIT IN. But I suppose I shouldn't rant. The reader must decide these things for him/herself.

A more accurate rating would be 3 1/2 stars, but until Am-land allows fractional star ratings it looks like my review won't affect the avg too much.

One line plot summary = Dissedents and "rabble-rousers" are shipped from a Fundamentalist governed earth aboard a Habitat destined for Saturn.

That is really the bare bones of Bova's plotting, but really all that is essential for anyone no matter how light their interest is to know before reading the novel. There are obvious paralells behind this premise and the historic shipping of England's criminals to Australia and New Zealand to establish penal colonies there. Bova isn't as extreme with the exiles characters, although there are some very complex and ambitious people populating the habitat and the book.

Bova in fact seems to have expanded his own ambitions from writing an excellent hard science fiction novel with descriptive passages on the galaxy, and elaborate vocabulary to explain the physics and other relevent science scenes into a tome stretching to be a character based story that happens to be based on a habitat heading to the further corners of the galaxy into unexplored space. In this efort I credit Bova as being partially successful. It was interesting to see a real story driven plot behind his sci-fi. However the flip side of that is I got the impression reading through that Bova was trying to accomplish too much, in writing an exciting sci-fi yarn and a character study. For a character driven novel he didn't explore nearly deeply enough his principals, while they were not stereotypes they could have been even further fleshed out and perhaps provided a more enjoyable story or at least higher acclaim from Amazon armchair critics.

I have been a fan of Bova for some time now, not quite elevating him in my mental sci-fi hierarchy with Asimov, Clarke, or Herbert, but defintely as a second tier talent. His attempts to write a novel that expands his usual talents is both admired by me and a sign of optimism in that in his next novel he may have artisticully combined everything this novel lacked (and that wasn't much despite the starring and content of this review).

Saturn while underplayed as the title of this entry into Bova's series is still a very entertaining read that should appeal to the casual science fiction reader as much if not more than the hard-core science fiction fan.