Privateers

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 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 show more care not to make either side look ridiculously obnoxious. show less

Ben Bova is one of my favorite authors. Most of his books have gotten a 4 or 5 star rating from me. That being said, this book was just average. The plot wasn't very exciting, and didn't really "grab" me until the last 100 pages or so. It was very political, and outdated (It was written during th...

Reading [b:Powersat|267291|Powersat (The Grand Tour, #1)|Ben Bova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385225039s/267291.jpg|259144] and then [b:Privateers|267332|Privateers (The Grand Tour, #2; Privateers, #1)|Ben Bova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1299514897s/267332.jpg|893485] (the suggested chronological order given for [series:The Grand Tour|51185]) is a bit strange, given the former was first published in 2005 and the latter back in 1985.

In Powersat, the 'big bads' are informed by the political tensions of the early 2000s, with terrorism (especially Middle Eastern) driving the conflict. When Privateers was written, the Soviet Union had not yet fallen and the Cold War was still going, so it's unsurprising to find that the show more 'what if' this time around sees the Soviets taking a position of political power and the United States fading to isolationism.

From the perspective of someone who grew up with basically no memories of the Cold War, it feels almost like alternative history, which is fascinating in its own right, even if it wasn't intended. I really do recommend reading this book with that thought in mind: this isn't our world, it's a close cousin that diverged sometime in the late 80s. It does make the timeline a bit weird and inconsistent when combined with Powersat, but so it goes.

Characterwise, Dan Randolph is only slightly better than in Powersat and that's only because everyone else by comparison is worse, fitting more into a more 1980s mindset. He's still selfish, immoral, and does his best to sleep with ever (hot) woman he sees. There's even a comment that his secretaries only last as long The Russians are overly Russian and the Japanese characters hiss (for some reason, is that a thing). Dan and Jane's relationship is even weirder for what we saw in Powersat.

Overall... it's fine? I don't really recommend it other than as an exploration of a 'what if' science fiction where the Soviets won the Cold War and as a sort of completionism for the Grand Tour series. I remember really liking some of the later books in the series years ago (I read them out of order and I'm not sure I ever got to Privateers), so I look forward to getting to those? show less

Going back more to the roots of The Grand Tour, Bova describes how Dan Randolph wrestles control of mining for certain ores in space out from the dominant Soviet empire. This is kind of the forbearance of Randolph setting up his Astro Manufacturing company where he will begin to help explore and colonize the solar system in future novels. Bova's earlier works in this series tend to be better written, so this one falls into the very good category...fun to read.

In later work, Ben Bova proved himself in the sci-fi thriller arena, however early on Bova was the equivalent of a sci-fi Cussler. Privateers is a hokum sci-fi actioner with plenty of hijinx on terra firma, the Moon and in-between. It's a wildly speculative alternate future, with the central character from PowerSat (no previous reading required) in a James Bond style role - women, confidence and a large does of heroic courage. Privateers is an entertaining read, not Bova's later style, however a page turner none-the-less.

An interesting book in Bova's Grand Tour. Written in 40 years ago, during the cold war, depicts a world in which the Soviet Union won the Cold War forcing the nations of earth to abandon their space faring aspirations. On that assumption, the characters...familiar in the Grand Tour, interact like so many spies. The end, predictable, involves a fight to the death by the two main characters.

Just about he best of Bova's work. the USA has crumbled to the USSRs doominece in space but the third world nations resist and eventually rally around the american hero's daring action to regain control of the advantages of industry in space.