Powersat [Mass Market Paperback]

Powersat (2005) is the first SF novel in the Asteroid Wars series by internal chronology, although the latest published. The author has revisited this series to fill in the back story of Daniel Hamilton Randolph. This is one of the clearest portrayals of the differences between politicians and engineers to date.

In this novel, Dan Randolph goes to work for Yamagata Industries Corporation, helping to build a prototype Solar Power Satellite delivering twelve megawatts from low earth orbit. Once this prototype is operating, Dan returns to the US and founds Astro Manufacturing Corporation. Using the Japanese success to convince a consortium of American and Western European investors of the potential of this technology, Dan starts building a full-sized SPS in Geostationary Orbit.

While the SPS is nearing completion, the reusable spaceplane project suffers a major setback: the prototype breaks up during reentry from orbit, killing the pilot. Dan's company has already spent billions on the SPS, but this disaster reduces public confidence in Astro Manufacturing. Saito Yamagata offers to buy him out, but Dan refuses this proposition.

Unknown to Randolph and Yamagata, the spaceplane crash was not an accident. A secret group of Near Eastern terrorists has sabotaged the craft. They consider sabotaging the SPS as well, but Asim al-Bashir, a Tunisian oil magnate, suggests another use for the satellite.

Meanwhile, Jane Thornton is working for the presidential campaign of Morgan Scanwell, presently governor of Texas. First she interests Denny O'Brien, her campaign manager, in the man. Then she tries to recruit Dan to the campaign team under the cause of energy independence, but he needs immediate help rather than long term fixes.

Dan finally contacts the FBI office in Houston, telling of the recent deaths of Joe Tenney and Peter Larsen and his suspicions that they were murdered. After hearing his story, the SAC asks why he didn't report everything at the beginning. Dan points out that the FBI didn't seem to be doing anything about investigating the crash. Besides, everything is still speculation without a shred of proof.

In this story, the FBI start digging deeper, but don't find anything definite. Dan's executive assistant, April Simmonds, becomes involved at the request of FBI agent Kelly Eamons and finds herself threatened by a Latino ex-con who, unknown to her, has already killed two other Astro employees.

The author is probably the most politically orientated SF writer of the current crop. His previous works are heavily oriented toward the political aspects of future technology. In this work, he clearly underscores the limitations of political power.

On the Day of the Bridges -- a terrorist incident even larger than 9/11 -- Dan and his US Senator ladyfriend cannot agree on a common course of action. He wants to build the SPS, thereby liberating the US from energy dependence on the Near East, but she wants to be reelected to work toward energy independence. She just cannot see that politicians are incapable to creating new technology; their only function is to remove *political* obstacles to such technology. Moreover, she just doesn't understand why Dan cannot just wait a year for the politicians to support his efforts.

Technology cannot be created in a vacuum; it requires the right people working as a team with the right tools to produce an effective product. Politicians are much like managers when it comes to technological progress; managers are useless without the workers and politicians are useless without technological innovators. Congress can provide incentives to build railroads, but they do not design the locomotives nor do they lay the tracks.

Recommended for Bova fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of technological progress, political intrigue and more than a touch of conflicted love.

-Arthur W. Jordin

My review, enclosed below, was recently published in the Huntsville (AL) Times.

Now in his early 70s, Ben Bova has been writing classic science fiction for over 40 years. His novels are usually set in the 21st century, chronicling adventures in humanity's early expansion into the solar system. Now, of course, the 21st century has arrived. Rather than becoming depressed that we're still stuck here on Earth, Bova seems to be energized, particularly by events of the last few years.

In his latest novel, "Powersat," Bova gives us a "prequel" for Dan Randolph, the idealistic businessman hero of Bova's Asteroid Wars and other stories - and Randolph looks a lot like a younger version of SpaceShipOne's Burt Rutan. In an almost-believable near future, Randolph's struggling company has sunk billions into something he believes will revolutionize the energy industry: a solar power satellite. But completing it and maintaining it affordably depend on a reusable space plane project, grounded at the last minute.

Those who extract wealth from oil, including a group of Arab terrorists, feel threatened by Randolph's project. Putative supporters come from all directions - but which ones can he trust? Through a surprisingly complex mix of characters, including some major ones who die along the way, Bova builds a predictable but intriguing plot to a suspenseful climax.

"Power" here means more than energy: The power of politics is explored, and the conflict between a man and a woman, sacrificing happiness together in the pursuit of independent ambitions. The ending is well done, but bittersweet.

This novel sometimes feels like a throwback - I suspect at least partly in self-parody - but the conflicts in love, lust and power are eternal, and Bova devotes much more space to them than to the technology the story is nominally about. A memorable page-turner, "Powersat" also provides a powerful message of hope for the future.

Ben Bova is such a great near future sci-fi writer. He never disappoints. His books are totally credible, both the people and the circumstances. They are also alive with relevant details that make me believe I am in the environment he has created. POWERSAT is a little different. It is not about space exploration or building off world communities. It is about the dream of one man, Dan, to build a satellite to collect solar power and microwave it to Earth reducing the world's dependency on fossil fuels. It is also about another man, Asim, who works just as hard to sabotage the power satellite and terrorize the USA. POWERSAT spends little time in space, Bova jumps right into the story and offers few flashbacks. Dan needs funding now to keep the project alive. He knows there are serious strings attached to whichever funding source he chooses. He tries to make the best choice, but he is so blinded by his commitment to the project that he just messes up. He is our hero and he is doing what is right, but he bribes government officials and makes deals with shady characters to get the job done. This is not a book where everything comes out fine in the end. After everything wraps up there is a need for an epilogue to check on the consequences of some of the choices Dan made. I was left with the feeling that with the success of the power satellite Dan would become as wealthy and selfish as Asim. Dan was living too close to the line that separates good and bad. And he was left with no personal ties to keep him grounded. The romantic subplot did not work.

If you liked this book and want to read something similar but better (but more R-rated) try RED SKY by Mike Mullane.