Posted on 02/18/2006 7:05:38 AM PST by KevinDavis
Multiple award-winning SF author and editor Ben Bova told SCI FI Wire that his new novel, Titan (a SCI FI Essential Book), is the most complex novel he's written since his 1978 novel Colony. "[Titan] has four intertwined storylines, all dealing with the 10,000 inhabitants of the space habitat Goddard, [which is] in orbit around the planet Saturn," Bova said in an interview. "Scientists aboard the habitat want to study Saturn's giant moon, Titan, and the planet's mysterious rings of ice. Ruthless politicians want to control the population for their own benefit."
Titan is the most recent entry in Bova's Grand Tour series, which takes a realistic look at near-future space exploration. "Titan is a fascinating world, much larger than our own moon, with an atmosphere thicker than Earth's," Bova said. "In my novel, Titan is inhabited by native life forms." Previous entries in the series include Mars, Jupiter and Moonrise, among others.
Although the Grand Tour novels are near-future speculation, that future might not be so far off, Bova said. "We are already exploring the solar system with robotic spacecraft," he said. "Human exploration will resume in less than 10 years, with a return to the moon and, later, human exploration of Mars."
After the death of legendary editor John W. Campbell in 1971, Bova took over the editorial reins of Analog Science Fiction and Fact; during his tenure he has received six Hugo Awards for best professional editor. Considering Analog's focus, it's no surprise that Bova is a stickler for the science in his science fiction. "In the science fiction that I write, I try to make the scientific background as accurate and up to date as possible," he said. "We have fascinating worlds waiting for us; I'm trying to show what we might find when we get there."
In October of last year, Bova received the Arthur C. Clarke Lifetime Achievement Award, which is given to individuals, groups or entities who "[fuel] mankind's imagination regarding the wonders of outer space," according to the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation's Web site. "I've known Arthur since 1956 and have admired him as a person, as a writer and as a thinker who has consistently pointed the way to a better future for the entire human race," Bova said. "To receive an award in his name is an absolute thrill."
Tor will publish Titan this month. Meanwhile, Bova is working on a fourth Asteroid Wars novel. "After that I intend to do another novel about Jamie Waterman on Mars," he said.
Sounds like it might be good.
I just finished The Dark Wing by Hunt. Best SF novel I've read in decades.
The thing about Ben Bova novels is that private industry is the one doing the exploring in the solar system. Not the Government.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Ben Bova one of the early advocates of the space elevator concept?
Never really cared for mixing political issues in with science fiction. Did anyone even care about the political crap in Star Wars?
"Never really cared for mixing political issues in with science fiction."
I found that science fiction was best when mixed with political, emotional, or theologic issues.
Zardoz, A Boy and his Dog, Star Wars, AI, Soylent Green, you name it. Just depends on how you define political, I guess.
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