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Ed's Reviews > The Precipice
The Precipice (The Grand Tour, #8; The Asteroid Wars, #1)
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Six word review: Industrialist's struggle to save dying Earth
This is the first book in the Asteroid Wars Trilogy which is part of The Grand Tour Series all authored by the revered Ben Bova.
Earth is dying, mostly from global warming and the consequences of the Greenhouse Effect, flooding, earthquakes, tornados, starvation, etc. Earth has reached the precipice and there seems to be no solutions that will save the planet. Two men are concerned and want to do something about the problem but for different reasons. Dan Randolph wants to save the planet. Martin Humphries wants to make huge profits and own the solar system regardless of what happens to Earth.
They both realize that exploiting the asteroid belt could give them what they want except it's not economically feasible because of distance. They form a partnership to utilize a new invention, a portable fusion drive which would cut the round trip down to a month. They are stymied by The New Morality a political group that rules the earth and fights all progress because they believe that's how the Earth got in trouble in the first place. Randolph decides to defy the establishment and launch from the moon without approval from the space agency that controls exploration.
Humphries has a scheme that will not only give him control of Randolph's company, Astro Inc., but also sabotage the fusion drive ship. All culminates in Randolph's attempt accompanied by two strong women, Pancho and Amanda plus an intern Lars Fuchs.
The technology described in the book is not pie in the sky but may be under development right now. As Randolph and Humphries struggle, Bova raises some interesting issues about the technology he describes. He also writes of the human race's ability to refuse to embrace new technology even when it promises success to say nothing of the human frailties of greed, jealousy, suspicion, etc.
As in so many science fiction novels, the emphasis is on the technology and the plot rather than the characters. The good people are really, really good and the evil folks are really, really evil. Nevertheless, as in a lot of fiction, one must suspend a certain amount of disbelief to enjoy the story.
I certainly enjoyed this one.
This is the first book in the Asteroid Wars Trilogy which is part of The Grand Tour Series all authored by the revered Ben Bova.
Earth is dying, mostly from global warming and the consequences of the Greenhouse Effect, flooding, earthquakes, tornados, starvation, etc. Earth has reached the precipice and there seems to be no solutions that will save the planet. Two men are concerned and want to do something about the problem but for different reasons. Dan Randolph wants to save the planet. Martin Humphries wants to make huge profits and own the solar system regardless of what happens to Earth.
They both realize that exploiting the asteroid belt could give them what they want except it's not economically feasible because of distance. They form a partnership to utilize a new invention, a portable fusion drive which would cut the round trip down to a month. They are stymied by The New Morality a political group that rules the earth and fights all progress because they believe that's how the Earth got in trouble in the first place. Randolph decides to defy the establishment and launch from the moon without approval from the space agency that controls exploration.
Humphries has a scheme that will not only give him control of Randolph's company, Astro Inc., but also sabotage the fusion drive ship. All culminates in Randolph's attempt accompanied by two strong women, Pancho and Amanda plus an intern Lars Fuchs.
The technology described in the book is not pie in the sky but may be under development right now. As Randolph and Humphries struggle, Bova raises some interesting issues about the technology he describes. He also writes of the human race's ability to refuse to embrace new technology even when it promises success to say nothing of the human frailties of greed, jealousy, suspicion, etc.
As in so many science fiction novels, the emphasis is on the technology and the plot rather than the characters. The good people are really, really good and the evil folks are really, really evil. Nevertheless, as in a lot of fiction, one must suspend a certain amount of disbelief to enjoy the story.
I certainly enjoyed this one.
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Reading Progress
April 7, 2015
– Shelved
Started Reading
February 14, 2019
–
Finished Reading
