The Rock Rats
by Ben Bova
The Asteroid Wars (2), Grand Tour (11), The Grand Tour Series--Reader's Order (10)
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Book Two in the Asteroid Wars--continuing the saga of the struggle for the wealth of the Solar SystemVisionary space industrialist Dan Randolph is dead--but his protege, pilot Pancho Barnes, now sits on the board of his conglomerate. She has her work cut out for her--for Randolph's rival, Martin Humphries, still wants to control Astro and still wants to drive independent asteroid miners like Lars Fuchs out of business. Humphries wants revenge against Pancho--and, most of all, he wants his show more old flame, Amanda, who has become Lars Fuchs's wife. Before it ends, many will die--and many will achieve more than they ever dreamed was possible. show lessTags
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[b:The Rock Rats|267349|The Rock Rats (The Grand Tour, #10; The Asteroid Wars, #2)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1392075594i/267349._SY75_.jpg|1856770] continues the story of [b:The Precipice|267302|The Precipice (The Grand Tour, #8; The Asteroid Wars, #1)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386919746i/267302._SY75_.jpg|293551], following the story of humanity's expansion into the Asteroid Belt and all the atrocities that entails.
Characterwise, this book is all over the place. Pancho is great fun, but we don't see nearly enough of her. Lars is ... kind of crazy and revenge driven, a long descent from liking him well enough in The Precipice. show more Amanda is pretty great, but only when she's away from either Lars or Humpries. Of all the marriages in the series thus far, why does this have to be the one to stick beyond a single book? They really don't make much sense together... Trite as the saying may be, she could do better.
And then there's Martin Humphries. Man I dislike Humphries. I get that's entirely the point of the series, but he's so cartoonishly evil. His entire raison d'etre is to control the solar system and for the most part he's laughably bad at it. The only reason he is as powerful as he is is he's ridiculously and nothing he does seems to have any lasting consequences. There's enough of that going around in the real world, I don't really want to deal with it in a book--unless he some day finally gets what's coming to him I guess.
I can't believe I'm saying it, but I miss Dan Randolph...
Plotwise, it's mostly corporate infighting, with the first bits of actual ship to ship combat. That at least is interesting enough, since the science is a lot more grounded than many series you'd read. Lasers are adapted from mining lasers. They don't pew pew so much as invisible heat beam of death.
Overall, I fully intend to read the entire Grand Tour. And if you like the more corporate politics books, this might be what you're looking for. I'd personally rather go back to the more sciencey exploration novels with the corporate/political stuff as a secondary plot (like [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] and [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]). So it goes.
Speaking of which, the chronological ordering of these books is strange. There are hints in this book that the station around Jupiter hasn't been built yet. It doesn't overly matter to the plot of either book, but it does still feel strange. show less
Characterwise, this book is all over the place. Pancho is great fun, but we don't see nearly enough of her. Lars is ... kind of crazy and revenge driven, a long descent from liking him well enough in The Precipice. show more Amanda is pretty great, but only when she's away from either Lars or Humpries. Of all the marriages in the series thus far, why does this have to be the one to stick beyond a single book? They really don't make much sense together... Trite as the saying may be, she could do better.
And then there's Martin Humphries. Man I dislike Humphries. I get that's entirely the point of the series, but he's so cartoonishly evil. His entire raison d'etre is to control the solar system and for the most part he's laughably bad at it. The only reason he is as powerful as he is is he's ridiculously and nothing he does seems to have any lasting consequences. There's enough of that going around in the real world, I don't really want to deal with it in a book--unless he some day finally gets what's coming to him I guess.
I can't believe I'm saying it, but I miss Dan Randolph...
Plotwise, it's mostly corporate infighting, with the first bits of actual ship to ship combat. That at least is interesting enough, since the science is a lot more grounded than many series you'd read. Lasers are adapted from mining lasers. They don't pew pew so much as invisible heat beam of death.
Overall, I fully intend to read the entire Grand Tour. And if you like the more corporate politics books, this might be what you're looking for. I'd personally rather go back to the more sciencey exploration novels with the corporate/political stuff as a secondary plot (like [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] and [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]). So it goes.
Speaking of which, the chronological ordering of these books is strange. There are hints in this book that the station around Jupiter hasn't been built yet. It doesn't overly matter to the plot of either book, but it does still feel strange. show less
Follow up to The Precipice, this one picks up after Dan Randolph's death as many are racing to the asteroid belt to claim the riches that it entails. Many familiar characters from the previous novel return as Martin Humphries continues his evil ways to prevent anyone but him from gathering the resources everyone so covets. It is debatable what Humphries wants more, the money or the woman he clearly cannot have, Amanda, who happens to be married to one of the ones Humphries is trying to knock off. Bova manages once again to mix politics, science fiction, and human emotion in ways that he is so well known for. Of note also is Bova's treatment of Pancho, who was tapped to succeed Randolph after his untimely death. Pancho pretty much show more inserts herself into the line of fire as the leader of those who oppose Humphries, much to her peril. Bova has another winner here. show less
Another Sci-fi mixed with political intrigue. Don't want to give away the ending, but all the bad guys prospered and the good guys stayed neutral and (mostly) alive. C'mon! Oh, now I get it. There's a sequel.
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467+ Works 34,151 Members
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
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Series
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Rock Rats
- Original publication date
- 2002-02
- People/Characters
- Lars Fuchs; Martin Humphries; Amanda Fuchs; Doug Stavenger
- Important places
- The Moon; Celes; Asteroid Belt
- Epigraph
- Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!
Some kill their l... (show all)ove when they are young,
And some when they are old;
Some strangle with the hands of Lust,
Some with the hands of Gold:
The kindest use a knife, because
The dead so soon grow cold.
Oscar Wilde
The Ballad of Reading Gaol - Dedication
- To Charles N. Brown and the Locus team
- First words
- Amanda clutched at her husband's arm when Martin Humphries strode into the wedding reception, unannounced and uninvited.
- Publisher's editor
- Nielsen Hayden, Patrick
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 483
- Popularity
- 62,410
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.42)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 13
- ASINs
- 5
