Venus

One of the great things a science fiction book can do is give an imaginative but realistic experience of what it would be like to go to a place that has never been visited before, like the planet Venus. Bova goes to some lengths to make his story feel realistic, taking what we know of Venus -- its crushing, corrosive atmosphere and furnace-like heat -- and creating the mix of technology and courage needed to explore it.

There are a lot of elements to Bova's story, maybe too many -- a main character (Van Humphries) with a need to prove himself against a lifetime of abuse and belittling from his father and a need to honor the death of his brother, that same character's awkward attempts at romance with a shipmate with issues of her own, a show more driven and grim ship's captain with the combined personalities of Captains Nemo and Ahab, a green movement hoping to use the specter of conditions on Venus to provide a lesson for Earth's politicians, not to mention the challenge of exploring Venus itself. The green movement in particular gets little play in the face of the other, more dominant elements.

That said, it's still a very entertaining story. I would have enjoyed it just for the pure "hard science fiction" story of exploring Venus. The searing heat and corrosive atmosphere are themselves characters in the story -- antagonists to be overcome. Van Humphries' relationship with his father and his devotion to his lost brother provide additional framing motivation for the expedition. show less

18 books in and [b:Venus|768918|Venus (The Grand Tour, #18)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316129566l/768918._SY75_.jpg|1922277] is the only body this side of [b:Saturn|64703|Saturn (The Grand Tour, #13)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316130751l/64703._SY75_.jpg|2566821] that the Grand Tour hasn't explored, so it seems a perfectly fitting place to end (I'll get back to that). There's something of a continuation of the The Asteroid Wars, with Martin Humphries and his sons as the focus of the books. One (Alex, his clone) attempted to be the first to reach the surface of Venus and died in the attempt. The other (Van, actually not his show more biological son at all, but rather the son of his longtime enemy from the Asteroid Wars: Lars Fuchs (I know, right?)) decides to take on the task of recovering his remains--a pot sweetened by ten billion dollars of his father's money.

All that actually makes Venus somewhat interesting and unique among the Grand Tour novels. It's not really one of the corporate war books, such as the early Moonbase books or the Asteroid Wars, but it's also not a purely scientific exploration of Venus--although there's plenty of that. It's really more an an adventure novel with a sci-fi setting and backing in the hellscape that is Venus. That actually makes it a surprisingly solid book.

I'm glad that Martin Humphries wasn't in more of the book--I really can't stand him and I'm glad his plotline didn't really go much of anywhere in the foreground after the Asteroid Wars--and Van's whining feels real enough, even if he's rather whiny for an adventure protagonist. We get a good chunk more Lars Fuchs, who has fallen far--albeit for a good reason. Always good to see.

One thing that's always a star in Bova's books is the idea of finding life absolutely everywhere. He's fond of implying that whereever there's water, there will be life... And now even that doesn't seem to be a limiting factor. The life on Venus is pretty crazy, both in the clouds and on the surface and I wish we had a bit more time to explore that. But so it goes.

Overall, one of the better books of the Grand Tour. Which works out, since I think that I'm done with the Grand Tour for now. The remaining books leave the solar system and get even further away from the near future hard sci-fi of the rest of the Grand Tour. There were hints that we are not alone, particularly in [b:The Aftermath|768917|The Aftermath (The Grand Tour, #12; The Asteroid Wars, #4)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442426245l/768917._SY75_.jpg|754977] and to some extent the [b:Mars|267282|Mars (The Grand Tour, #4)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1173282407l/267282._SY75_.jpg|1932635] trilogy, but nothing quite so blatent.

Not something I'm looking for just yet. Perhaps one day.

Six months and 18 books later, I think it's time to listen to something else. show less

(June 2004) I can't believe I actually finished this. It was horribly written, and I barely cared about the hysterical characters--particularly the snivelling protagonist--to bother to turn the pages. Still, the science (fiction) kept me reading til the lurid and quite predictable, comic book ending.

One of the books in the “Grand Tour” series by Hugo award winner Ben Bova, Venus is a novel about space travel and exploring new worlds. It is also a classic “underdog” tale with a bit of the “coming-of-age” genre mixed in. The book itself is set sometime in the future where the moon has been colonized, rejuvenation treatments are common so no one really grows old anymore, and man has tried to explore other worlds in search of life and life-sustainable living environments.

Venus has a harsh climate – that much is known. The first attempt to actually explore the planet fails and results in the death of the explorer, Alex Humphries, the elder son of billionaire tycoon, Martin Humphries. Humphries, a cold, hard, domineering show more man has one son remaining - Van. Unlike the now dead Alex, Van is frail and resented by his father for surviving. Van also has a potentially fatal condition – pernicious anemia, in which the red cells in his blood are unable to replicate. To keep alive Van must inject himself at regular intervals with a life-giving enzyme. Not quite the able, confident son Martin wanted, Van is loathed and mocked by his unloving father as “Runt”.

I pulled in a deep breath, then stood as straight as I could manage. “And it’s lovely to see you too, Father.”
“Aren’t you enjoying my party?”
“You know better.”
“Then what’d you come for, Runt?”
“Your lawyer said that you’d cut off my stipend if I didn’t attend your party.”
“Your allowance,” he sneered.
“I earn that money.”
“By playing at being a scientist. Now your brother, there was a real scientist.”

Van lives a rich socialite’s life, dabbling in science, on the allowance his wealthy father scornfully gives him. The only two people who actually ever loved him, his mother and his elder brother Alex, are now dead, and Van is surrounded by fair-weather friends. When on his 100th birthday, Martin announces that he is cutting off Van’s allowance, Van finds himself almost penniless. When Martin also announces an award of ten billion dollars to any explorer who brings him back Alex’s remains from Venus, Van, tempted by the award money and the desire to explore the inhospitable planet in Alex’s name, decides to launch a mission to Venus.

“I’m going to take your prize money,” I said.
That popped his eyes open. “What ?”
“I’ll go to Venus, I’ll find Alex’s body.”
“You?” he laughed.
“He was my brother!” I said. “I loved him.”
“I had to twist your arm to get you to come up here to the Moon, and now you think you’re going to Venus?” He seemed enormously amused by the idea.
“You don’t think I can do it?”
“I know you can’t do it, Runt. You won’t even try, despite your brave talk.”
“I’ll show you!” I snapped. “I’ll take your damned prize money!”
Smirking, he answered, “Of course you will. And elephants can fly.”

Van, however noble his intentions, has stiff competition, because there is one other man angling for the award He is Lars Fuchs, Martin’s sworn enemy, a ruthless renegade out to wreak the worst kind of revenge on Martin and his family. . .

This is true-blue science fiction, but it is also a “human” story, with lots of drama, emotion and unexpected twists thrown in. Quite a satisfying combination. Told in first person, we see the story unfold from Van’s point of view. Bova fleshes out Van’s character nicely, and really Van is quite the underdog. He has fainting spells (when there is a delay in taking the enzyme), is incapable of exertion, is frightened of new adventures, and mostly takes the easy way out. When faced with true scientists who revel in investigation, he realizes that he has just “been playing” at it.

Van is regarded by others, as a wishy-washy character, incapable of accomplishing anything of value. With his impulsive decision to go to Venus, Van surprises others (and himself), but hellish Venus is going to test him as he has never been tested before. As the main protagonist, Van was a bit on the weak side, never quite able to energize me into rooting for him wholeheartedly. Since he is the narrator, we are privy to all his fears, which takes away from his character, because really, don’t most of us want our heroes to stand tall, feeling not even the smallest twinge of fear in the face of grievous danger ?

This is the first book by Bova that I have read, and even though a part of a series, stands alone quite well. Bova is good at description, develops arresting characters, and keeps the events in the book moving pretty quickly. This book was an excellent read, un-put-down-able after about a 100 pages. Each book in the Grand tour series is focused on a planet in our solar system. If they’re anything like “Venus” and I’ve heard they all are at least as good, if not better, they go straight on my to-read list. show less

I love the Golden Age stories, back when men were writing science-y adventure for boys. I can forgive the weak characters for the strong What Ifs, in those. But Bova is modern enough he could have done better characterizations. I almost dnf'd, but I suspected he was trying to go somewhere with them, and he was... the prot. did grow up and become a hero.... But everything emotional was contrived & implausible.

The adventure was certainly dramatic. The tech acceptable. The science interesting, and, I assume, as accurate as reasonable to what was known at the time. The What If barely adequate. And so, I'm not particularly glad I read it, except to say now I've read a Bova and now I know I won't need to again.

No New Morality make an appearance in this book, which makes a nice change. I am still quite unconvinced of Bova's treatment of women, but it seems in this instance the author intentionally makes the main character behave in a sexist manner, to be redeemed later on.

That aside, the science (the reason I'm still reading Bova), is entertaining, particularly biologically. The climate change storyline is very heavy handed. I suspect climate science progressed somewhat since the book was written, but unfortunately in the present realm of knowledge, wanting to use Venus to scare people into believing in climate change seems ridiculous.

This is a fun tale involving some old side-characters stemming from the Dan Randolph books, now given more prominent roles, and some completely new characters, such as the protagonist Van Humphries. In this story, Alex Humphries, first-born and heir of industrial space tycoon, Martin Humphries, died on a mission to Venus two years ago. Martin Humphries offers a ten-billion dollar reward to any space-faring crew that can recover Alex’s body. Alex’s brother and strained son of Martin, Van Humphries, sets out to collect on the reward, designing a ship meant for Venusian landing and recruiting a crew. His mission of recovery, however, is thwarted when his ship runs into an unexpected problem and Van is at the mercy of one of his show more competitors for rescue, Lars Fuchs. Together, they’ll have to survive the Venusian elements and make some startling discoveries. show less