Ben Bova (1932–2020)

I almost wrote "it's hard for me to review this," since this was a treasured volume when I was an sf-devouring teenager, but it really isn't.

In a way, I wish it was. Hard, that is.

The SFWA-generated "Hall of Fame" volumes are good introductions to the whole "Golden Age" (it should really be "Golden Age Plus" since many of the stories post-date the typically-demarcated "Golden Age" of science fiction -- and one, the Wells, significantly pre-dates it) canon of science fiction -- as long as show more you don't think about it too much.

At this distance, even granting cultural this and historical that, it's hard for me to escape the feeling that the level of writing simply isn't very high. I know, I know: sacrilege! But reading through "Who Goes There?", though it proves anew how much more faithful to the source material John Carpenter was than Hawks, et al, really demonstrates that Campbell was a pretty bad writer. It's often difficult to tell exactly what's happening in "Who Goes There?" and although some of this is due to the attempt on the author's part to replicate a certain slangy way of speaking (as far as I can tell he fails miserably at this), most of it is due to the lumpiness of the prose. Cripes, is "tensity" even a word? Don't you mean "tension," Mr. Campbell? And it doesn't help that the author is predictably mired in a "Big Bronzed Men Doing Man Things in a Manly Way" place: boy does this kind of thing become tiresome after a while. It's not hard to see, reading this, where the obnoxious-ness of later Heinlein came from ... it's all here.

More to come. show less

Ye gods, where do I begin with this one...

Mars is a hard sci-fi piece about the first exploration/trip to, well, Mars with humans. To be honest, I thought this thing was written in the 80s, it felt so utterly dated (attitudes, more than science itself), and I was surprised to see that it was written in 1992. Even more, I don't understand how it's not a "typical sci fi" because it doesn't have robots and other "stereotypical" sci fi elements. It's Sci Fi to the core, but I guess that's a show more discussion for a different day.

It takes place about now (or rather, about 2020 which isn't so far away), and the technology is both behind and ahead of where we are. We're still using floppy disks and smoking up a storm, but we've, apparently made great advances with some of our space tech. Also, (quibble) the space suits in the future suck (seriously, they are inferior to today's if our fearless leader/hero can feel the Martian cold, when there are people space walking now in colder temps without issue.

Most of the science seems pretty strong, though, and I'll give it to Bova for clearly doing his research and getting a lot of things pretty right (as far as this biologist could tell) with the planetary and physics stuff. Good job there.

But his characterizations go from weak to downright awful. Everyone is a cardboard cut out, and the women are treated worst of all. Most of the non-mission women (politicians, media) are career driven "do whatever it takes" harpies depicted as "dragon lady[ies]" with "claws" and are "fierce." Mission women are sex-kittens or maternal gardeners, except for the one near-virginal good girl. The men are a little more diversified, but are still very caricature-like most of the time. There is a mustache twirling (ok, he doesn't have a mustache, but he does have a British accent! Our hero is... spiritual and heroic. It's all a little ludicrous and incredibly clunky.

I had some serious issues with the "scientists." I'm not saying that scientists are unfeeling, don't play pranks, or are asexual, so I expect normal to extreme interactions when a group of 25 people are trapped together for nearly 2 years, but some of the stuff they do is absolutely ludicrous. No scientist I know would act in some of the ways they do in the novel, and they certainly wouldn't take some of the lines of reasoning that are given. It just doesn't make sense at all, and I refuse to believe that the "best of the best" of this multinational conglomeration of scientists include so many boobs. At best, you could make me agree with driven, maybe less sociable stereotypes, but not downright ignorance and stupidity.

The novel promises that the team finds something at the bottom of the "Grand Canyon" of Mars. And I can't decide if the author gave it to us, and then just downplayed it with the "Martian Virus" mystery or if it was hinted at and left. Either way, there was a lot of build up, a lot of expectation and no pay off at the end.

And I still can't figure out where Bova was going with the race relations stuff. Whatever he was going for either didn't make sense to me, or just wasn't written well enough, because I tried to figure it out, and instead just kept sighing at the "red man" comments (yes, the lead geologist was Navajo, sure there could have been interesting race relations/prejudice studies going on, but it didn't work if that was a goal). It was probably just a case of finding a way to manufacture drama for the political parts of the book, but if so, it was weak and cheap.

Bad pacing.
Clunky writing.
No pay off.
Terrible characters.

At least the actual science was good(ish). But I don't feel the need to go any further with the series (Grand Tour).

I should mention that I give this book 2 bonus cookies.
1. Mentioning vinho verde wine.
2. The use of the Russians' patronymics. I'm still coming down from my [b:Anna Karenina|15823480|Anna Karenina|Leo Tolstoy|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1352422904s/15823480.jpg|2507928] high so it made me happy. show less

A B-grade medical thriller, with a biology professor teaming up with an attractive younger doctor to try an unproven experimental treatment on his sick grandaughter, against the wishes of her parents, the hospital, the NIH, and the university, while being hunted by the FBI, silenced by the White House, and abetted by his shadowy corporate sponsor. While the ingredients are there for an entertaining and cautionary tale surrounding the interplay of a risk-averse healthcare industry, academic show more snobbery, corporate greed, and government conspiracy, a lot of the plot and most of the characters are painfully unrealistic, the pacing is sluggish, and the larger issues barely examined.

Despite the title, there is almost no discussion at all about transhumanism until the last couple of pages, and even then it's confined to a single moderate life extension therapy. The science/medicine is quite vague, aside from some hand waving about encouraging/inhibiting telomeres. I was expecting a lot more from someone with the author's credentials, but the treatment was superficial at best.

To make things worse, the book is oddly sexist - although the president is a woman, as are many of the doctors and senior administrators, the female characters are rated on their looks and objectified with chauvinistic adjectives such as chubby and dumpy. There's also an attempted rape that seems bizarrely unmotivated and completely unnecessary. show less

Yes it's a silly mash-up of James Bond and Harlequin Romance featuring an unabashed capitalist who somehow manages to avoid getting killed while bringing every woman he meets to a shuddering orgasm. But there's something to Bova's easygoing writing style that just makes him fun to read, like a sci-fi summer beach novel. Although in this particular addition to his "Grand Tour" series the political landscape hits uncomfortably close to home with an aggressive Soviet Union lording it over the show more world while an ineffectual America cowers behind a wall of isolationism.....rather like an alternate history in which Russia wins the Cold War. Still, it's nice to read the occasional book with clearly delineated heroes and villains, and Bova takes care not to make either side look ridiculously obnoxious. show less