Word: bovas
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...year-old, Gino Bova, has just been convicted of assault, riot, violation of civil rights and manslaughter; the jury opted for just about everything except the most serious initial charge: murder. Bova will be sentenced to two weeks, and of his five indicated friends, one is still at large...
...Bova, a science fiction writer for more than 20 years and the field's most respected magazine editor, got tired of preaching to the converted. continuing a trend shown in his last few books and by his switch last year from Analog, which appeals to a limited science fiction readership, to Omni, one of Bob Guiccione's glossy publications. Bova is aiming for the mass market with Kinsman. It's science fiction, yes, the reliable Bova blend of advanced science and backward bureaucrats, but science fiction intended primarily for the uninitiated--those sad souls who do not see the value...
...Bova conveys his message entertainingly. His writing is competent, if not spectacular, and while the "futuristic technology" involved--killer satellites (gasp!) and moon bases--is old hat to science fiction fans, the interplay between science and politics and the bitter metamorphosis of Chester Arthur Kinsman should keep readers interested...
Chester Arthur Kinsman is one of Bova's ideal astronauts. These are not the sterile, blandly patriotic robots projected by NASA flacks, but intensely human and necessarily flawed men--and women--who believe in what they are doing and possess enough independence to reject or exploit bureaucratic maneuvering that surrounds them. As Bova portrays it, the path into space--whether it be military, industrial or political--will be strewn with the carcasses of careers and programs that, regardless of merit, lose behind-the-scenes struggles of power and influence...
Barring our premature destruction, we're going out into space, says Bova. It may take a while--politicians have these tar pits they call committees--but industry will want raw materials and the military nice spots to place their nuclear weapons. Power and the profits will be their motivations, not scientific curiosity or the thrill and the strangeness of space. They won't "come in peace for all mankind." But a few--like Kinsman--may. The game will be played; we might as well start rooting for the good guys