Titan (Sci Fi Essential Books) [Hardcover]

Ben Bova (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sci Fi Essential Books | Publication Date: February 21, 2006

Hugo Award-winning editor, author, scientist, and journalist, Ben Bova is a modern master of near-future science fiction and a passionate advocate of manned space exploration. For more than a decade, Bova has been chronicling humanity's struggles to colonize our solar system in a series of interconnected novels known as "The Grand Tour."

Now, with Titan, Ben Bova takes readers to one of the most intriguing destinations in near space: the extraordinary moon of Saturn which made international headlines last year when the Huygens probe sent back remarkable images of its strange landscapes.

2095. After long months of travel, the gigantic colony ship Goddard has at last made orbit around Saturn, carrying a population of more than of 10,000 dissidents, rebels, extremists, and visionaries seeking a new life. Among Goddard's missions is the study of Titan, which offers the tantalizing possibility that life may exist amid its windswept islands and chill black seas.

When the exploration vessel Titan Alpha mysteriously fails after reaching the moon's surface, long buried tensions surface among the colonists. Eduoard Urbain, the mission's chief scientist, is wracked with anxiety and despair as he sees his life's work unravel. Malcolm Eberly, Goddard's chief administrator, takes ruthless measures to hold onto power as a rash of suspicious incidents threaten to undermine his authority. Holly Lane, the colony's human-resources director, must confront the station's powerful leaders to protect the lives of its people. And retired astronaut Manuel Gaeta is forced to risk his life in a last, desperate attempt to salvage the lost probe.

Torn by intrigue, sabotage, and an awesome discovery that could threaten human space exploration, a handful of courageous men and women must fight for the survival of their colony, and for the destiny of the human race.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the latest planetary saga from Hugo-winner Bova (Mercury, etc.), the solidly hypothesized science enthralls, especially down on the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. On Christmas Eve 2095, the exploring vehicle Titan Alpha lumbers around that mysterious minus-183-degree Celsius world of black snow, seeking traces of life. Meanwhile, the human story—chiefly centered on the space habitat Goddard, in orbit above Saturn—lurches along as laboriously as Alpha, the tensions among the various stereotypical characters simmering fitfully but rarely coming to a savory boil. Chief scientist Edouard Urbain makes predictable compromises to save his brainchild, Alpha. Retired CEO and gee-whiz astronaut Pancho Lane takes off on a hairy deep-space jaunt to save Saturn's rings from exploitation from "slimy SOB" Malcolm Eberly, Goddard's power-hungry leader, once lover to Pancho's reborn sister, Holly. The novel resolves the many personal conflicts in a flurry of silly political maneuvers as old as Aristophanes'Lysistrata—bring 'em to heel by denying 'em sex—but the result is not half as entertaining or so thought provoking. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In 2095, the colony ship Goddard approaches Saturn's largest satellite, Titan, a prime candidate for settlement because of its -methane-rich atmosphere, a rich source of fuel for further exploration. Aboard are some 10,000 dissidents fleeing the theocratic rulers of Earth. Unfortunately, the first probe to Titan's surface drops out of communication, and the ship personnel's willingness to argue surfaces all over again. The arguments enmesh a large cast of characters, and hard-science champion Bovaaewhile dealing competently with all factions and opinionsaeshows a not-unexpected bias in favor of the scientists and astronauts among them. He also maintains a brisk pace as the narrative rises to a thunderous and even triumphant climax, which is appropriate inasmuch as Titan may be the last in Bova's stream of novels of solar system exploration that, beginning with Mars (1992) and continuing in Return to Mars (1999), Venus (2000), Jupiter (2001), Saturn (2003), and Mercury (2005), employs the latest scientific findings in forging a major work of both hard-science sf and space advocacy. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (February 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765304139
• ISBN-13: 978-0765304131
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,346,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining read, but disappointing., March 1, 2006

By 

B. Karsh (Seattle, WA. USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Titan (Sci Fi Essential Books) (Hardcover)

I've read all of the Planet Novels, and I was really excited to pick up Titan. However, I found the book a let-down. There are definitely some cool ideas in the book, and I like the hard science aspects, but the character development is so bad, it's laughable.

Every character in the story is a stereotype. You've got the stuntman who *must* go on that one last trip. You've got the slimy politician who does everything he can to control/manipulate others. The Head Scientist is nervous and on the verge of a nervous breakdown when his pet project goes awry. And let's not forget the slighted russian who will destroy everything just because he's a tool.

I like the occasional romance in a book, -- but I just couldn't get into the ones in Titan. The romances are a joke -- "Oh, do I stay with the woman I love, or go back to earth? Oh the humanity!" Or how about "How can I let the man I love go on one more mission?" Blech. And of course you have the stereotypical lovers not communicating well, and therefore so sad..

And don't get me started on the futuristic slang used in the book, which just consists of "talkin', thinkin' wonderin' etc" -- I didn't want to read "Yokel soap-opera in Space."

So why did I give the book a generous 2? Despite my dislike of the characters, the book was a fast, entertaining read, and the science aspect was cool.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars May the Best Person Win, September 23, 2006

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Titan (Sci Fi Essential Books) (Hardcover)

Titan (2006) is the fifth SF novel in the Planet Novel Series, following Mercury, but is actually a direct sequel to Saturn, the third work in this series. In the prequel, Manuel Gaeta executes Leo Kananga for murder, attempted murder and torture. Malcolm Eberly, the newly elected chief administrator, then exiles Ruth Morgenthau and Sammi Vyborg as accessories to these crimes and as agents of fundamentalist groups plotting to take over the Goddard habitat.

In this novel, Pancho Lane comes to Goddard to reassure herself about her sister's health; Holly had been the subject of Kananga's torture and virtually every bone in her body had been broken. Luckily, Kris Cardenas had pumped her full of medical nanobots and she is healing nicely. Since she was already taking a torch ship to Saturn, Pancho invited a selection of VIPs from the news media and the International Consortium of Universities to accompany her.

The planetary scientists in the Goddard habitat send their first probe, Titan Alpha, to land on the largest moon of Saturn. All is well at first, but then the probe stops uplinking data to the habitat. Since the highest powers in the ICU are present within Goddard at the time, the chief scientist, Edouard Urbain, goes a little crazy at the failure.

Urbain puts his full staff on duty to search for the cause of the failure. The engineers confirm that the probe is still functional and that the uplink hardware is working well. Almost everybody on the team, including computer programmers, thinks the problem is software related. So many on the science staff are trying to diagnose the trouble that the planetary science operation center has to be covered by volunteers from other departments. Then the probe stops sending telemetry or anything else to the habitat and disappears from their screens.

Nadia Wunderly wishes to confirm her discovery that the rings are inhabited by living organisms, but all the resources are being used in the search for the probe. She asks Manny to travel once more through the rings in his special suit, but this time with sampling equipment; Manny refuses to go. Then she decides that the problem is really hers and she starts training with Manny's equipment. Unluckily, she hasn't the right talents and reflexes for the job and is unlikely to acquire enough experience in the available timeframe. So Pancho volunteers and is much better than Nadia, but she still needs a lot of time in the simulator.

Malcolm Eberly is having conniption fits over Pancho being in the habitat. He is sure that the former CEO of Astro Manufacturing is certain to run against him in the upcoming election for the Chief Administrator. He puts out feelers to determine Pancho's itinerary and receives ambiguous answers. Unfortunately, he also starts people thinking about the election and considering whether to run against Eberly, the incumbent.

Holly is visited by Hideki and Tamiko Mishima about decanting their frozen embryo and implanting it within Tamiko. Holly points out that the Zero Population Growth rule is still in effect, but the Mishimas wonder when the ZPG will be lifted. The more she considers the issue, the more Holly herself wonders why ZPG is still in effect. She asks Eberly and receives a null answer. So Holly decides to run against Eberly on the repeal ZPG platform. The women in the habitat are overwhelmingly on her side.

This story is typical of the author: some scientific speculations and lots of politics. The author is a master at extrapolating the effects of new inventions and concepts on human society and individual lives. The author also excels at portraying the motivations of politicians and this work is no exception. The ending even suggests the motivations of media commentators.

The author does seem to think that most scientists (and programmers) are wed more to their work than to their wives. Scientists and technologists do tend to be workaholics, but no more than the average executive. Of course, the chance for a Nobel Prize can focus anyone's attention.

Needless to say, Eberly catches the interest of the habitat residents with his plan to mine Saturn's rings. Manny takes up his venture suit to help Nadia, but Kris builds up a strong head of steam over her lover's reckless behavior. Raoul Tavalera refuses to pilot the transfer vessel and then believes that Holly thinks he is a coward; the resulting romantic squabble is classic adolescent behavior. Pancho and Jake Wanamaker -- former admiral, head of the Astro space navy, and Pancho's current bodyguard and lover -- decide to stay together at Goddard for a while, but then Pancho has a surprise relevation for Jake.

Highly recommended for Bova fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of adventure, political shenanigans and interpersonal relations.

-Arthur W. Jordin

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Better than Saturn (but not by much), October 6, 2006

By 

S. Crouch (Tuggeranong, A.C.T. Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Titan (Sci Fi Essential Books) (Hardcover)

Titan is certainly better than its prequel "Saturn" in which we were treated to the political maneuvering aboard a space colony of 10000 people on its way out to Saturn. This one was more like an extremely tedious soap opera than a science fiction novel.

Titan is a bit but not a lot better. The space colony has now reached Saturn and the scientists on board send a sophisticated probe to explore Titan which immediately falls silent. In the meantime one of the scientists wants to go out to the rings of Saturn to confirm the discovery of life in the ring particles but this is extremely dangerous. Why you wouldn't just send an unmanned probe out there I don't know as we are after all talking about the year 2095! Eberly, the administrator of the colony, wants to mine ice from the rings to act as a source of income for the colony but this wouldn't be allowed on environmental grounds if there was life. It therefore becomes a race to verify the life finding while Holly, the main heroine, runs against Eberly in an election for the administrator position on a platform of removing the zero population growth restriction in the colony.

The main reason that this novel is an improvement on Saturn is that there is a bit of tension introduced as we try and understand what's happened to the probe and there is also some reasonable science. It's mainly typical Bova stuff though with the usual unbelievable characters having their teenage romantic interactions and the resolution of the dangling threads in the story at the end is pretty lame(hey if we can't mine the rings why don't we just mine passing comets?). I don't know if Mr Bova has ever met any scientists but the scientists I know do not behave the way they do in this book.

Not bad as a comic book story but it doesn't meet my standards as a good science fiction novel. Writers like Alastair Reynolds and Peter Hamilton do this sort of thing much better.