Power Challenges

by Ben Bova

Overview

"Far-thinking ideas and the characters’ determination to grab the last hope are characteristic. Fans won’t want to miss this coda to Bova’s prolific literary life."—Publishers Weekly

It is time to start the colonizing the solar system. Ex-astronaut, current space advisor, and all-out trouble shooter for the President, Jake Ross, is determined to make it happen.

And what better way to return to America’s glory than by returning to the moon and setting up a permanent moon-base which can then serve as the launching pad for Mars and beyond.

But as usual, political intrigue and conflicting priorities are threatening the whole program. Add to that a President who is about to die, a strong contingent in the legislative body which thinks that money spent on a moon-base is money wasted and the general apathy of the public, and you have an almost impossible task.

Even NASA, natural enthusiasts of a project like this, are dragging their feet because they have lost control of the top spot in the project.

However, none of those opposing forces have contended with the resolve and the skill of Jake Ross. He will create the base on the moon. He will send humans out to many worlds.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647100186
Publisher:	CAEZIK
Publication date:	06/15/2021
Series:	Power , #5
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ben Bova sadly passed away on November 29, 2020, soon after completing this, his last novel. 

He was a true giant of the field having authored more than 125 works of science fact and fiction. Ben Bova was a six-time winner of the Hugo Award, a former editor of Analog Magazine, a former editorial director of Omni as well as the president of both the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America. 

Some of his other accomplishments include: Involved in science and high technology since the 1950’s; President Emeritus of the National Space Society; Past president of Science Fiction Writers of America; Recipient, Lifetime Achievement Award, Arthur C. Clarke Foundation; Frequent radio and television commentator, widely-popular lecturer; Award-winning editor and executive in the aerospace industry; Guest of Honor, World Science Fiction Convention 2000 in Chicago; Winner of the John W. Campbell Award for TITAN in 2006. 

Much of his writing has been predictive, and his fiction anticipated developments like the space wars of the 1960s, virtual reality, human cloning, and electronic book publishing. He was given the Robert A. Heinlein Award for “for his outstanding body of work in the field of literature” in 2008. 

Editorial Reviews

03/08/2021

The fourth Power novel (after Power Failure) from the late Bova (1932–2020) feels like two stories tied loosely together: a thoughtful, slow-burning narrative about the political fight to put man back on the moon, followed by an action-packed, military-centric story about a strategy to keep the world safe from nuclear war. Returning hero Jake Ross, the science advisor to the U.S. president, is the father of the Artemis program, which aims to bring humanity to the moon—and eventually beyond. Though the program faces many obstacles, Jake has the guts and cleverness to outmaneuver all of them. Though thought-provoking, the stakes to Jake’s story feel mild as there’s little doubt that he’ll succeed, and the climax is underplayed as the novel switches its focus to Capt. J.W. Hazard, the head of a military space station within a globally cooperative satellite network, first conceived by Jake, to prevent a nuclear war. Now those who oppose the network have a plan to spark the nuclear apocalypse—and Hazard must play long-shot odds to stop them. While the execution is somewhat flatter than Bova’s typical work, the far-thinking ideas and the characters’ determination to grab the last hope are characteristic. Fans won’t want to miss this coda to Bova’s prolific literary life. Agent: Eleanor Wood, Spectrum Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Bova took readers to Mars and himself onto bestseller lists. Last year's A Return to Mars also sold well. So a narrative about manned exploration of Venus seems an obvious step for this popular author, and Bova's new novel will indeed please his fans, as it offers his usual mix of solid science, serviceable (if sketchy) characterizations and lickety-split plotting with plenty of cliff-hangers. It's late in the 21st century. Three years ago, the first human to visit Venus, Alex Humphries, son of decadent multibillionaire Martin, never returned. Now Martin is offering $10 billion to whoever will retrieve Alex's remains from that planet's hellish surface. Racing against one another for the prize are Alex's aimless younger brother, Van (the story's narrator, who's just been disowned by Martin), and legendary asteroid-miner Lars Fuchs, who detests Martin as much as Martin detests Van. Van's expedition goes bad early on; high above Venus, colonies of alien "bugs" eat through his ship's hull, forcing him and his crew—several of whom die—to seek refuge on Fuchs's stronger craft. Personality conflicts rampage there, particularly between domineering Fuchs and mild-mannered Van, and there's romantic tension between a young female biologist and Van. The real drama, however, arises from revelations that explain the roots of the hatreds among Van, Fuchs and Martin, and during Van's dangerous descent in a small ship to the surface of Venus, which Bova depicts with strong visual imagery as a deadly inferno—albeit one inhabited by an unexpected life form. This novel clicks along only predictably as Van's coming of age tale, but as a voyage to an unknown world, it excels. (

From the Publisher