weaselweader's review against another edition
5.0
Mankind on the brink!
With the mindless inevitability and unstoppable madness of a great mass of migratory lemmings, mankind is hurtling over a metaphorical precipice. Global warming and climatic change has driven humanity to the brink of extinction. The greenhouse effect has taken hold, icecaps are melting, damage from superstorms is beyond calculation, ocean levels are rising, coastlines are flooding and famine and pestilence are endemic. The ultra-right wing self-serving religious group, "The New Morality", has stepped into the political void ruling earth with a vicious, dictatorial stranglehold insisting upon blind obedience to its dictums which include, among other things, a prohibition against new science such as nanotechnology that might be crucial to saving the earth.
Dan Randolph is the CEO of Astro Manufacturing, a business behemoth which, unlike so many of its other corporate competitors, realistically pursues its profits but does so with a healthy dose of optimistic compassion and altruism. Recent financial difficulties, caused by the restrictions imposed on Astro by The New Morality, have forced Randolph to seek a business partnership to finance the development of a practical fusion rocket- a rocket built with the most up to date innovations in nanotechnology that will allow mankind to reach the Asteroid belt, a virtually limitless supply of industrial resource minerals and, perhaps even more important, an unimaginably vast source of fresh water in the form of ice.
The only pockets deep enough to contemplate bankrolling such a venture belong to Martin Humphries, a corporate baron who easily admits his only motives are wealth and power. While he also recognizes the likelihood that the fusion rocket is mankind's potential saviour, his only interest in the project is what it can do for his pocketbook. In the bargain, he positively lusts after the possibility of absorbing Astro Inc into his own corporate empire and putting Dan Randolph out onto the streets.
Randolph and Humphries recruit the crew for the ship, Starpower I - Pancho Lane, a wily, strong-willed and often outspoken but very feminine woman who is nevertheless comfortable with her skills and top-notch abilities as a pilot; Amanda Cunningham, on the other hand, is an equally feminine but rather more shy soft-spoken woman who is most uncomfortable with her innate ability to suck the oxygen from a room merely by virtue of her outrageous beauty; Lars Fuchs is a dedicated scientist, an intense man who quietly focuses on whatever engineering or science problem has been placed in front of him that day. Against the direct orders of The New Morality and under Humphries' very nose, Randolph and his crew take off on Starpower I and begin their long voyage to the Asteroid Belt.
Ben Bova has found a brilliant recipe that works and he certainly hasn't changed it in The Precipice - one part hard-core sci-fi; one part corporate potboiler; one part political intrigue; and one part primetime soap opera. His characters are wonderfully deep and realistic. Although that deeply entrenched sexism still seems to come through, it seems to manifest itself primarily in his male characters. The female protagonists are strong, talented, well-spoken and are pushovers to no man's whim. Humphries is the ultimate bad guy that every reader will love to hate and there won't be a single reader that isn't cheering Randolph on as he battles against Humphries and The New Morality.
Ben Bova's science is wonderful, well-explained without being simplistic and used to great advantage in the development of the story - nanotechnology; fusion rockets; invisibility cloaks (for those that think this is unrealistic drivel, I would recommend you take a look at Machio Kiku's Physics of the Impossible; solar flares and gamma radiation; interplanetary space travel and its inherent dangers; the realities of permanent space bases on the moon and beyond; the structure of asteroids; the climatic effects of global warming; and much more.
I have yet to meet the Ben Bova novel that I didn't enjoy and, for what it's worth, this is one of the best. The Precipice is part of the Grand Tour of the Universe series and the first in a sub-series trilogy entitled The Asteroid Wars. I'm certainly looking forward to the second and third novels in the series, The Rock Rats and The Silent War. Count me as a continuing fan, Mr Bova.
Paul Weiss
With the mindless inevitability and unstoppable madness of a great mass of migratory lemmings, mankind is hurtling over a metaphorical precipice. Global warming and climatic change has driven humanity to the brink of extinction. The greenhouse effect has taken hold, icecaps are melting, damage from superstorms is beyond calculation, ocean levels are rising, coastlines are flooding and famine and pestilence are endemic. The ultra-right wing self-serving religious group, "The New Morality", has stepped into the political void ruling earth with a vicious, dictatorial stranglehold insisting upon blind obedience to its dictums which include, among other things, a prohibition against new science such as nanotechnology that might be crucial to saving the earth.
Dan Randolph is the CEO of Astro Manufacturing, a business behemoth which, unlike so many of its other corporate competitors, realistically pursues its profits but does so with a healthy dose of optimistic compassion and altruism. Recent financial difficulties, caused by the restrictions imposed on Astro by The New Morality, have forced Randolph to seek a business partnership to finance the development of a practical fusion rocket- a rocket built with the most up to date innovations in nanotechnology that will allow mankind to reach the Asteroid belt, a virtually limitless supply of industrial resource minerals and, perhaps even more important, an unimaginably vast source of fresh water in the form of ice.
The only pockets deep enough to contemplate bankrolling such a venture belong to Martin Humphries, a corporate baron who easily admits his only motives are wealth and power. While he also recognizes the likelihood that the fusion rocket is mankind's potential saviour, his only interest in the project is what it can do for his pocketbook. In the bargain, he positively lusts after the possibility of absorbing Astro Inc into his own corporate empire and putting Dan Randolph out onto the streets.
Randolph and Humphries recruit the crew for the ship, Starpower I - Pancho Lane, a wily, strong-willed and often outspoken but very feminine woman who is nevertheless comfortable with her skills and top-notch abilities as a pilot; Amanda Cunningham, on the other hand, is an equally feminine but rather more shy soft-spoken woman who is most uncomfortable with her innate ability to suck the oxygen from a room merely by virtue of her outrageous beauty; Lars Fuchs is a dedicated scientist, an intense man who quietly focuses on whatever engineering or science problem has been placed in front of him that day. Against the direct orders of The New Morality and under Humphries' very nose, Randolph and his crew take off on Starpower I and begin their long voyage to the Asteroid Belt.
Ben Bova has found a brilliant recipe that works and he certainly hasn't changed it in The Precipice - one part hard-core sci-fi; one part corporate potboiler; one part political intrigue; and one part primetime soap opera. His characters are wonderfully deep and realistic. Although that deeply entrenched sexism still seems to come through, it seems to manifest itself primarily in his male characters. The female protagonists are strong, talented, well-spoken and are pushovers to no man's whim. Humphries is the ultimate bad guy that every reader will love to hate and there won't be a single reader that isn't cheering Randolph on as he battles against Humphries and The New Morality.
Ben Bova's science is wonderful, well-explained without being simplistic and used to great advantage in the development of the story - nanotechnology; fusion rockets; invisibility cloaks (for those that think this is unrealistic drivel, I would recommend you take a look at Machio Kiku's Physics of the Impossible; solar flares and gamma radiation; interplanetary space travel and its inherent dangers; the realities of permanent space bases on the moon and beyond; the structure of asteroids; the climatic effects of global warming; and much more.
I have yet to meet the Ben Bova novel that I didn't enjoy and, for what it's worth, this is one of the best. The Precipice is part of the Grand Tour of the Universe series and the first in a sub-series trilogy entitled The Asteroid Wars. I'm certainly looking forward to the second and third novels in the series, The Rock Rats and The Silent War. Count me as a continuing fan, Mr Bova.
Paul Weiss
epersonae's review against another edition
3.0
Thoroughly entertaining adventure story. (He tries to tackle gender & beauty issues in the interplay between a female viewpoint character and the other main female character, and it sorta works, although jeez, can the descriptions of OMG TEH HOTNESS of the secondary character. Passes the Bechtel test too, IIRC.) Looking forward to reading #2, which I suppose says something.
rosiesaidit's review against another edition
3.0
This is the very first Ben Bova book I ever read, and I only ended up reading it because I found the second book of The Asteroid Wars at the dollar store without knowing it was the second book. (In my defense, it had a funny title, The Rock Rats). I was glad to find that I actually liked it, which makes me excited to get to read the next one.
A few details were new to me because some of these characters were already written about in the previous series, but it didn't leave me totally confused. The scientific details of this book were incredibly interesting and I was too captivated to search up if any of it is possible, cause who am I to doubt an author's knowledge of space travel and whatnot?
While I did like the characters, this book suffers from the writing of women from a man's point of view. One of the characters is talked about as being incredibly attractive, naive, and airheaded and how no guy leaves her alone (Justice for Amanda), and at one point the main protagonist says he would've dated her if he were any younger or less heartbroken about his last girlfriend.
With all that being said, if I ignored the parts I didn't like, the story was pretty good and not as boring as I thought it would be. If this author learned how to write women properly without making them look like objects, I'd give it four stars.
3/5
A few details were new to me because some of these characters were already written about in the previous series, but it didn't leave me totally confused. The scientific details of this book were incredibly interesting and I was too captivated to search up if any of it is possible, cause who am I to doubt an author's knowledge of space travel and whatnot?
While I did like the characters, this book suffers from the writing of women from a man's point of view. One of the characters is talked about as being incredibly attractive, naive, and airheaded and how no guy leaves her alone (Justice for Amanda), and at one point the main protagonist says he would've dated her if he were any younger or less heartbroken about his last girlfriend.
With all that being said, if I ignored the parts I didn't like, the story was pretty good and not as boring as I thought it would be. If this author learned how to write women properly without making them look like objects, I'd give it four stars.
3/5
thomcat's review against another edition
3.0
Jumped in to the middle of this series, which seems to be written to handle this. Not sure if I want to continue the trilogy of Asteroids books or jump back and read the first books.
kstep1805's review against another edition
3.0
Precipice seemed much lighter than his other writing, more like a novella but I greatly enjoyed it anyway. His message resonated with my libertarian sensibilities, trust no one with power, private or public. The story was predictable, especially having read Moon Wars previously but it was nice to see familiar characters.
utbw42's review against another edition
4.0
I love the Grand Tour books by Bova, and this one fits right in with the entire saga he has created. The earth has reached greenhouse hell, and Dan Randolph knows that going out into the solar system to harvest minerals for industry is the way to save the earth's economy, and perhaps the earth itself, as well as make Randolph extremely rich. Martin Humphries agrees, but is only interested in the money potential, earth status be damned. Thus begins the race to the Asteroid Belt to claim this treasure, Randolph breaking every rule he can to get there and Humphries doing everything he can to sabotage the mission out of sheer jealousy. Bova manages to write a well-paced, tense journey for these characters, and it sets up well for future volumes in the Asteroid Wars series.
curtispaulostler's review against another edition
3.0
I am not interested in continuing the series. Though I enjoyed and appreciated the "hard science fiction" aspects of the book (space travel takes time, there are no transporters nor phaser weapons), I found the characters to be prescriptive and cliched, and the dialogue sounded like it was written by a teenager imagining how adults speak. I gave it three stars instead of two because I am giving the author the benefit of the doubt - the audio version I listened to was addled by too many readers (in a failed attempt to convey the shifting third person limited perspective), and really bad accents. Hearing at least three people trying to do an Australian accent was unnerving at best; one reader apparently thought Big George was from the Brooklyn borough of Australia. I am not ready to give up on Mr. Bova - I might go back to read some of his earlier work, as he is highly regarded in the genre - but I was not engaged enough by this story to see how it ends.
jpv0's review
4.0
[b:The Precipice|267302|The Precipice (The Grand Tour, #8; The Asteroid Wars, #1)|Ben Bova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386919746s/267302.jpg|293551] does two things rather well: it introduces technology that will change the Grand Tour universe and it makes me actually ... kind of like Dan Randolph.
For the former, we finally have one possible solution to the fundamental problem of near future science fiction:
In this case, if you want to have stories even on Mars, it takes months to get there. If you want to go to the Asteroids? Jupiter? It becomes impractical. There are a couple reasonable ways to solve the problem, in this case: fusion drives, small enough to drive a starship. A large chunk of The Precipice deals with building and testing this new technology which, as mentioned, has the potential to change the Grand Tour universe.
The other half of the plot is mostly corporate, with new baddie Martin Humphries trying to edge in and take over all the powerful corporations of Earth for... reasons? He's a bit one dimensional, but that's not terribly surprising. He makes a decent enough counterpoint to Randolph.
Speaking of which, you may recall that from the very beginning ([b:Powersat|267291|Powersat (The Grand Tour, #1)|Ben Bova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385225039s/267291.jpg|259144] / [b:Privateers|267332|Privateers (The Grand Tour, #2; Privateers, #1)|Ben Bova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1299514897s/267332.jpg|893485]), I have not cared overmuch for Dan Randolph. His heart is often in the right place and I'll admit that even before the Precipice, he was growing on me. But this time around... I actually find myself rooting for the man. Well done Bova. Well done. And then he has to go and. Oy.
Once again, sexism abounds. In particular, just about every single description of Pancho and Amanda includes their description, especially to contrast them against one another. And Amanda ends up
It's a driving read though and I look forward to seeing where the Asteroid Wars go from here. Need to take a quick side trip to [b:Jupiter|267334|Jupiter (The Grand Tour, #9)|Ben Bova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442052818s/267334.jpg|293541] first for some reason?
For the former, we finally have one possible solution to the fundamental problem of near future science fiction:
Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space. -- Douglas Adams
In this case, if you want to have stories even on Mars, it takes months to get there. If you want to go to the Asteroids? Jupiter? It becomes impractical. There are a couple reasonable ways to solve the problem, in this case: fusion drives, small enough to drive a starship. A large chunk of The Precipice deals with building and testing this new technology which, as mentioned, has the potential to change the Grand Tour universe.
The other half of the plot is mostly corporate, with new baddie Martin Humphries trying to edge in and take over all the powerful corporations of Earth for... reasons? He's a bit one dimensional, but that's not terribly surprising. He makes a decent enough counterpoint to Randolph.
Speaking of which, you may recall that from the very beginning ([b:Powersat|267291|Powersat (The Grand Tour, #1)|Ben Bova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385225039s/267291.jpg|259144] / [b:Privateers|267332|Privateers (The Grand Tour, #2; Privateers, #1)|Ben Bova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1299514897s/267332.jpg|893485]), I have not cared overmuch for Dan Randolph. His heart is often in the right place and I'll admit that even before the Precipice, he was growing on me. But this time around... I actually find myself rooting for the man. Well done Bova. Well done. And then he has to go and
Spoiler
dieOnce again, sexism abounds. In particular, just about every single description of Pancho and Amanda includes their description, especially to contrast them against one another. And Amanda ends up
Spoiler
marrying a man she's never kissed in order to save herself from another man?Spoiler
. Eesh. Par for the course at this point.It's a driving read though and I look forward to seeing where the Asteroid Wars go from here. Need to take a quick side trip to [b:Jupiter|267334|Jupiter (The Grand Tour, #9)|Ben Bova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442052818s/267334.jpg|293541] first for some reason?
worldsinink's review
4.0
This is very thought provoking science fiction. The science is spot-on and the concepts depicted are things that are just beyond our reach at the moment, but could very well be reality within the foreseeable future.
It's well written and aside from a few niggles, a very good read.
It's well written and aside from a few niggles, a very good read.
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