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Grant Archer only wanted to study astrophysics. But the forces of the "New Morality," the coalition of censorious do-gooders who run 21st-century America, have other plans for him. To his distress, Grant is torn from his young bride and sent to a research station in orbit around Jupiter, to spy on the scientists who work there. Their work may lead to the discovery of higher life forms in the Jovian system-with implications the New Morality doesn't like at all. What Grant's would-be show more controllers don't know is that his loyalty to science may be greater than his desire for a quiet life. But that loyalty will be tested in a mission as dangerous as any ever undertaken-a mission to the middle reaches of Jupiter's endless atmosphere, a place where hydrogen flows as a liquid, and cyclones larger than planets rage for centuries at a time. What lurks there is more than anyone has counted on...and stranger than anyone could possibly have imagined. show lessTags
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jseger9000 Both books imagine a journey through the atmospheres of Jupiter
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Member Reviews
Grant Archer has graduated as an astrophysicist and hopes to be assigned a post on the Farside of the Moon. However, the New Morality government of the USA has decided to send him to Jupiter as a spy in n the scientists there. But Grant becomes deeply involved with a team to the chagrin of those that placed him there. This team is on the verge of making a discovery that could change science, religion, and politics forever.
It’s interesting that the New Morality has analogues in today’s politics in Tony Abbott and his fellow far-right conservatives in Australia and in Trump’s Republicans in America. Let’s hope that the events of this story don’t eventuate in real life.
I found this book to be an engrossing read - good hard show more science, good characters, and a good story. Although it is part of Bova’s Grand Tour series, it stands alone as a story. I gave it 4.5 stars out of 5. show less
It’s interesting that the New Morality has analogues in today’s politics in Tony Abbott and his fellow far-right conservatives in Australia and in Trump’s Republicans in America. Let’s hope that the events of this story don’t eventuate in real life.
I found this book to be an engrossing read - good hard show more science, good characters, and a good story. Although it is part of Bova’s Grand Tour series, it stands alone as a story. I gave it 4.5 stars out of 5. show less
So Underwhelming
Where to begin? I was bored. The characters were unengaging, the science mediocre, the psychology unrealistic, and the plot didn't move forward. I kept waiting for something to happen- and I had to wait for most of the book. This is the first Bova I've read, and I am now unlikely to read anything else of his.
The sad thing is that it could have been so much better. Alien intelligent life on Jupiter is a great premise. But when you write well, you build up to it, creating mystery. The answer of intelligent life is given in the first section of the book- so I give nothing away other than what Bova gave away when I say that, yes, there is intelligent life on Jupiter. That is what the characters are searching the entire book show more for, hoping against hope to find, sacrificing life and limb to discover.
But perhaps the book is about character development after all, and not the plot? Not so. For the second great premise of the book is a future world controlled by fundamentalists of all stripes, and, in the US, by the Religious Right. Great idea. I'm intrigued. But it quickly becomes apparent that Bova just hates religious types. There is not a round character in the bunch. He appears to only be aware of conservative Christians as caricatures, and even Grant, the main character with religious doubts and a commitment to science, does not come across as believable. I am a science teacher, and also a Christian. And I have *never* heard in real life the kind of things coming out of the mouths of Bova's religious characters. They speak exactly like what Hollywood thinks Christians talk like, without actually an awareness of the Bible that they supposedly follow.
I am personally very much against fundamentalist agendas, of any sort. I would love a novel that actually dealt with a future world where they had taken over, with them as real people, and not robotic automatons. I would love a book that dealt with their ruling, rather than leaving it only as a plot device to get us to Jupiter. And I would love a book that explored intelligent life on Jupiter. Sadly, that is not this book. But for the latter desire, see the excellent Wheelers, published only a year before Bova's Jupiter, which displays some excellent imagination as it considers alien civilizations. show less
Where to begin? I was bored. The characters were unengaging, the science mediocre, the psychology unrealistic, and the plot didn't move forward. I kept waiting for something to happen- and I had to wait for most of the book. This is the first Bova I've read, and I am now unlikely to read anything else of his.
The sad thing is that it could have been so much better. Alien intelligent life on Jupiter is a great premise. But when you write well, you build up to it, creating mystery. The answer of intelligent life is given in the first section of the book- so I give nothing away other than what Bova gave away when I say that, yes, there is intelligent life on Jupiter. That is what the characters are searching the entire book show more for, hoping against hope to find, sacrificing life and limb to discover.
But perhaps the book is about character development after all, and not the plot? Not so. For the second great premise of the book is a future world controlled by fundamentalists of all stripes, and, in the US, by the Religious Right. Great idea. I'm intrigued. But it quickly becomes apparent that Bova just hates religious types. There is not a round character in the bunch. He appears to only be aware of conservative Christians as caricatures, and even Grant, the main character with religious doubts and a commitment to science, does not come across as believable. I am a science teacher, and also a Christian. And I have *never* heard in real life the kind of things coming out of the mouths of Bova's religious characters. They speak exactly like what Hollywood thinks Christians talk like, without actually an awareness of the Bible that they supposedly follow.
I am personally very much against fundamentalist agendas, of any sort. I would love a novel that actually dealt with a future world where they had taken over, with them as real people, and not robotic automatons. I would love a book that dealt with their ruling, rather than leaving it only as a plot device to get us to Jupiter. And I would love a book that explored intelligent life on Jupiter. Sadly, that is not this book. But for the latter desire, see the excellent Wheelers, published only a year before Bova's Jupiter, which displays some excellent imagination as it considers alien civilizations. show less
After the first 8 books in The Grand Tour ([b:Mars|267282|Mars (The Grand Tour, #4)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1173282407i/267282._SY75_.jpg|1932635] in particular), [b:Jupiter|267334|Jupiter (The Grand Tour, #9)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442052818i/267334._SY75_.jpg|293541] feels a bit odd at the start. We're not building up to the eventual discovery of life--the fact that there's life on Jupiter is presented fait accompli in the first chapters. And not only life... intelligent life (or so is claimed). Jupiter isn't really about the discovery of life or even really about the idea of life on a research station around Jupiter.
What show more Jupiter is really about the conflict between religion and science as humanity continues to expand outwards into the solar system. The New Morality controls the politics of the Earth and is doing everything it can to control the solar system. In doing so, they send Grant Archer--a believer and an astrophysicist--to spy on what in the world is going on far out in the dark reaches of the solar system. There's conflict between science and religion, both on the large scale with the New Morality and the small scale within Grant himself, especially as he begins to settle in and befriend those living on Jupiter station.
The other core of the book is a mission into the oceans of Jupiter itself. It's a strange but plausible feeling bit of technology, wherein the explorers are immersed in perfluorocarbon (an oxygen-rich liquid they can breath while allowing for much higher pressures) with implanted electrodes that allow them to connect directly to their ship and feel what it 'feels'. We're getting further into the future and from the science of today, but everything still feels reasonable enough (even life in the clouds of Jupiter...) to put Jupiter square into the realm of near future hard sci fi. Overall, very cool.
The weakest parts of the story are a combination of side plots that don't really go anywhere and characters that seem to have no ability to say no. For the former, this could very well be the beginnings of what might bring uplifted gorillas or dolphins to the Grand Tour universe and I full expected them to be used on the mission at the very least... but nothing. In the case of the latter, there are several replacements to the very dangerous Jupiter atmospheric missions (which have already claimed lives) and... it doesn't seem like anyone chosen can say no. I don't really get it. It's just not even mentioned.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. I do like the less political, more sciency stories of the Grand Tour (although none of them--this included--avoid politics entirely). I'm curious to see what will happen a handful of books from now when we get to [b:Leviathans of Jupiter|8730311|Leviathans of Jupiter (The Grand Tour, #14)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316130496i/8730311._SY75_.jpg|13574702]. show less
What show more Jupiter is really about the conflict between religion and science as humanity continues to expand outwards into the solar system. The New Morality controls the politics of the Earth and is doing everything it can to control the solar system. In doing so, they send Grant Archer--a believer and an astrophysicist--to spy on what in the world is going on far out in the dark reaches of the solar system. There's conflict between science and religion, both on the large scale with the New Morality and the small scale within Grant himself, especially as he begins to settle in and befriend those living on Jupiter station.
The other core of the book is a mission into the oceans of Jupiter itself. It's a strange but plausible feeling bit of technology, wherein the explorers are immersed in perfluorocarbon (an oxygen-rich liquid they can breath while allowing for much higher pressures) with implanted electrodes that allow them to connect directly to their ship and feel what it 'feels'. We're getting further into the future and from the science of today, but everything still feels reasonable enough (even life in the clouds of Jupiter...) to put Jupiter square into the realm of near future hard sci fi. Overall, very cool.
The weakest parts of the story are a combination of side plots that don't really go anywhere and characters that seem to have no ability to say no. For the former, this could very well be the beginnings of what might bring uplifted gorillas or dolphins to the Grand Tour universe and I full expected them to be used on the mission at the very least... but nothing. In the case of the latter, there are several replacements to the very dangerous Jupiter atmospheric missions (which have already claimed lives) and... it doesn't seem like anyone chosen can say no. I don't really get it. It's just not even mentioned.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. I do like the less political, more sciency stories of the Grand Tour (although none of them--this included--avoid politics entirely). I'm curious to see what will happen a handful of books from now when we get to [b:Leviathans of Jupiter|8730311|Leviathans of Jupiter (The Grand Tour, #14)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316130496i/8730311._SY75_.jpg|13574702]. show less
I've never read anything by Ben Bova before. This was good -- entertaining, and thought-provoking at least in regards to how we might someday go about exploring strange, inhospitable environments and what we could find there. I liked the book enough that I bought another, "Venus", in the same "Grand Tour of the Solar System" series of books by Bova.
The story concerns a young astrophysicist (Grant Archer) sent to perform a public service obligation at a station orbiting Jupiter. It's not an ideal assignment, in that his research interests and degree ambitions have nothing to do with the activities underway at the station. He's sent there in part to serve the interests of the influential "New Morality", to spy on the activities of show more scientists threatening to find advanced life in Jupiter's deep atmosphere.
Bova is probably better than most science fiction writers at drawing and developing characters, but that's not really what this is about. To a large degree, I lost interest in the story of the "New Morality" and the conflict within Archer between the role he has been given by the New Morality and his conscience as a scientist. Nor did I find any of the relationships between Archer and his co-workers especially engaging. Actually, the most engaging relationship thread running through the novel, to me, was between Archer and Sheena, a gorilla undergoing experiments in the development of intelligence.
What I did find engaging was the story of exploring Jupiter. How do you explore a planet whose surface you cannot reach, whose unimaginably deep atmosphere is full of storms and winds of equally unimaginable strength? The explorers are fitted with bio-implants and prepared for breathing in a liquid-filled exploration vehicle. And they are just as squeamish about it as you would be. Bova tops it off with some interesting ideas about what kind of life might actually exist in that inhospitable, alien environment, and even how we might interact with that life. That's fun. show less
The story concerns a young astrophysicist (Grant Archer) sent to perform a public service obligation at a station orbiting Jupiter. It's not an ideal assignment, in that his research interests and degree ambitions have nothing to do with the activities underway at the station. He's sent there in part to serve the interests of the influential "New Morality", to spy on the activities of show more scientists threatening to find advanced life in Jupiter's deep atmosphere.
Bova is probably better than most science fiction writers at drawing and developing characters, but that's not really what this is about. To a large degree, I lost interest in the story of the "New Morality" and the conflict within Archer between the role he has been given by the New Morality and his conscience as a scientist. Nor did I find any of the relationships between Archer and his co-workers especially engaging. Actually, the most engaging relationship thread running through the novel, to me, was between Archer and Sheena, a gorilla undergoing experiments in the development of intelligence.
What I did find engaging was the story of exploring Jupiter. How do you explore a planet whose surface you cannot reach, whose unimaginably deep atmosphere is full of storms and winds of equally unimaginable strength? The explorers are fitted with bio-implants and prepared for breathing in a liquid-filled exploration vehicle. And they are just as squeamish about it as you would be. Bova tops it off with some interesting ideas about what kind of life might actually exist in that inhospitable, alien environment, and even how we might interact with that life. That's fun. show less
As a rule, I am not an avid reader of science fiction, but every now and again I' run across a writer or work that tweaks my interest and I' start reading or listening to it. Jupiter is a great read. Astrophysicist Grant Archer has just married but has been assigned to the Jupiter space station for his obligatory two years of community service. The New Morality, a rigid religious coalition, runs earth, and they want Grant, son of a minister and a believer, to spend four years spying on the scientists at the station.
The New Morality believes they are up to something. Their greatest fear is that something might be discovered that might cast doubt upon the religious beliefs by creating questions in the minds of the believers, so there is show more a struggle between science and religion. Grant represents a meld of the two, having little difficulty with their reconciliation. He' not happy with the assignment, because it means being away from his new wife for a long period of time, and the New Morality has ruled that the trip to Jupiter on a slow freighter, which takes a year is leisure time, and thus does not count toward his total service, meaning he' be gone six years instead of the already burdensome four years. He' even more perplexed because he won' be able to work on his doctorate at the station, since most of the research being done there relates to biology, nothing having to do with astrophysics. The director of the station, Dr. Wo, is suspicious of him, and Grant finds himself doing menial lab assistant work in the aquarium. He is puzzled by the presence of dolphins and an enormous gorilla that are being used, he later learns, to study communication between humans and other species. He' therefore shocked to learn that a crew is being prepared for another mission deep into the Jovian oceans, several thousands of miles deep, preparation that requires the implantation of biochips into the crew, and working in the spaceship/submarine, which requires the crew to breathe a liquid material that contains enough oxygen to sustain life at the tremendous pressures of the Jovian sea. There is also life deep in the seas, and that' why Dr. Wo has been studying communication between species. If you have a weak gag reflex, you must skip over the description of Grant' first experience being prepared for the trip into the Jovian oceans. He is plunged headfirst into this cold liquid. Every nerve in his body tells him not to breath, even though he knows he' survive the experience, but the description is guaranteed to get your bile moving.
I won' reveal anything about the life forms of the deep. It' enough to say that Bova has quite an imagination. I have no idea how much of the science about Jupiter is accurate, but the little I checked seems accurate (related to size, content of the oceans, the moons and their periodicity, etc.). The machinations of the political and religious groups is believable. It' got mystery, drama and great adventure. Bova has written other planet-based books (Mars, Venus) that, according to reviews, pit the New Morality against science. show less
The New Morality believes they are up to something. Their greatest fear is that something might be discovered that might cast doubt upon the religious beliefs by creating questions in the minds of the believers, so there is show more a struggle between science and religion. Grant represents a meld of the two, having little difficulty with their reconciliation. He' not happy with the assignment, because it means being away from his new wife for a long period of time, and the New Morality has ruled that the trip to Jupiter on a slow freighter, which takes a year is leisure time, and thus does not count toward his total service, meaning he' be gone six years instead of the already burdensome four years. He' even more perplexed because he won' be able to work on his doctorate at the station, since most of the research being done there relates to biology, nothing having to do with astrophysics. The director of the station, Dr. Wo, is suspicious of him, and Grant finds himself doing menial lab assistant work in the aquarium. He is puzzled by the presence of dolphins and an enormous gorilla that are being used, he later learns, to study communication between humans and other species. He' therefore shocked to learn that a crew is being prepared for another mission deep into the Jovian oceans, several thousands of miles deep, preparation that requires the implantation of biochips into the crew, and working in the spaceship/submarine, which requires the crew to breathe a liquid material that contains enough oxygen to sustain life at the tremendous pressures of the Jovian sea. There is also life deep in the seas, and that' why Dr. Wo has been studying communication between species. If you have a weak gag reflex, you must skip over the description of Grant' first experience being prepared for the trip into the Jovian oceans. He is plunged headfirst into this cold liquid. Every nerve in his body tells him not to breath, even though he knows he' survive the experience, but the description is guaranteed to get your bile moving.
I won' reveal anything about the life forms of the deep. It' enough to say that Bova has quite an imagination. I have no idea how much of the science about Jupiter is accurate, but the little I checked seems accurate (related to size, content of the oceans, the moons and their periodicity, etc.). The machinations of the political and religious groups is believable. It' got mystery, drama and great adventure. Bova has written other planet-based books (Mars, Venus) that, according to reviews, pit the New Morality against science. show less
Bova, Ben. Jupiter. Tor, 2000. Grand Tour 9.
Jupiter is the first of two books in Ben Bova’s Grand Tour series that are set in the Jovian system. The Americas are dominated by a fundamentalist sect called the New Morality that dominates the International Astronomical Agency which funds interplanetary exploration. Our protagonist, Grant Archer, is a graduate student in astrophysics doing his year of public service for the church on a station orbiting Jupiter, where none of the scientists are working in his field. Instead, they are working in secret to develop a shuttle to explore the oceans of Jupiter. The station is rife with intrigue. Grant has been ordered to spy on his fellow scientists. As usual in this series, Bova does well at show more integrating scientific speculation into a thriller plot. His prose style and character descriptions are competent, but they are not as original as the other elements of the story. 4 stars. show less
Jupiter is the first of two books in Ben Bova’s Grand Tour series that are set in the Jovian system. The Americas are dominated by a fundamentalist sect called the New Morality that dominates the International Astronomical Agency which funds interplanetary exploration. Our protagonist, Grant Archer, is a graduate student in astrophysics doing his year of public service for the church on a station orbiting Jupiter, where none of the scientists are working in his field. Instead, they are working in secret to develop a shuttle to explore the oceans of Jupiter. The station is rife with intrigue. Grant has been ordered to spy on his fellow scientists. As usual in this series, Bova does well at show more integrating scientific speculation into a thriller plot. His prose style and character descriptions are competent, but they are not as original as the other elements of the story. 4 stars. show less
This is the first book of Ben Bova's that I've read. Before that I've only read "The Nonmetallic Isaac or It's a Wonderful Life" in Foundation's Friends. I bought this book randomly because I had run out of things to read on a business trip, and I don't regret it. The book is well paced, interesting and fun to read. It also explores alien life in a way which is particularly believable (unlike many other SF books I encounter). This book reminds me of Dragon's Egg without being so hard-SFy. A very good book.
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Ben Bova, Ben Bova was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began writing fiction in the late 1940's and continued to pursue his careers in journalism, aerospace, education and publishing. Bova received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Temple University, 1954, a master of arts degree in communications from the State University of New York, show more 1987, and a doctorate in education from California Coast University, 1996. Dr. Bova worked as a newspaper reporter for several years and then joined Project Vanguard, the first American satellite program, as a technical editor. He was manager of marketing for Avco Everett Research Laboratory and worked with scientists in the fields of high-power lasers, artificial hearts and advanced electrical power generators. Dr. Bova has taught science fiction at Harvard University and at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, where he also directed film courses. He has written scripts for teaching films with the Physical Sciences Study Committee in association with Nobel Laureates from many universities. Dr. Bova has served on the advisory board of Post College and the Editorial Boards of the World Future Society. He is President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. He is also a charter member of the Planetary Society and a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Nature Conservancy, the New York Academy of Sciences and the National Space Club. He is a former President and a charter member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He was honored by Temple University as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1981 and in 1982 was made an Alumni Fellow. In 1994, his short story "Inspiration" was nominated for the Nebula Award. "The Beauty of Light" was voted one of the best science books of the year in 1988 by the American Librarians' Association and they hailed "Moonrise" as best science fiction novel in 1996. Other titles include "Moonwar," "Mars," and "Brothers," which all combine romance and adventure with the scientific aspect of exploring the future of technology and its effect on individuals and society. "Immortality" and "Assured Survival" deal with technology being used to solve economic, social and political problems. "Immortality" goes further in examining biomedical breakthroughs that could extend a person's life by hundreds of years while being able to always remain physically young. His works include The Aftermath, Mars Life, and Leviathans of Jupiter. Ben Bova was a prolific science fiction author. He wrote over a hundred books and short stories. He also was an editor who worked on some of science fiction's best-known publications. He died on November 29, 2020 at the age of 88. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2000-11
- People/Characters
- Grant Archer; Ellis Beech
- Important places
- Jupiter
- Epigraph
- The rash assertion that "God made man in His own image" is ticking like a time bomb at the foundation of many faiths.
-Arthur C. Clarke - Dedication
- To Danny and T.J., my favorite "Jovians."
To Thomas Gold, who would rather be wrong than dull.
And to Barbara, always and forever. - First words
- It took six of them to drown him.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Grant laughed aloud, then turned and left the observation lounge, heading for his new tasks, his new responsibilities, ready to do God's work.
- Blurbers
- Di Filippo, Paul
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- 32,349
- Reviews
- 15
- Rating
- (3.56)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 12
- ASINs
- 9
