Jupiter (Hardcover)

Jupiter's central character is Grant Archer, a rather naive young scientist, who, due to the fact that his Father is a church minister and his own religious beliefs, is influenced by the New Morality, an insidious and all too powerful fundamentalist religious organisation, and pressured by them into taking up a post on Gold, a research station in orbit arount Jupiter, with a view to spying on the scientists there and reporting back on their activities and findings.

Archer's ambition is to become an Astrophysicist, so he is initially frustrated by the mundane work he has to do on Gold, particularly as it bears no relation to his chosen field. However, as his colleagues and the Station Director Dr Wo's trust in him grows he becomes more interested in Gold's work, choosing not to file any reports with the New Morality and eventually being included in the daring second mission to Jupiter's planet-girdling ocean to search for intelligent life.

The science in Jupiter is very well researched and highly plausible, and Dr Bova has clearly put a lot of thought into creating the Jovian envoronment and the sentient creatures that may inhabit it. It is also worth mentioning that whilst Dr Bova has previously been criticised for poor characterisation, the characters in Jupiter are sufficiently well drawn for what is essentially an out and out adventure story.

All in all, a very enjoyable book that moves at a cracking pace, but not to the detriment of characterisation or description. Highly recommended if you are looking for a satisfying and not-too-demanding read.

In the 20th century most adventure novels were either set during the wars, which we did know a lot about - after all it was a human event. Some were also set rediculously far in the future, in what was effectively unlikely fantasy environments with little respect to science (e.g. Starship Troopers, Robert Heinlein).

Now, at the end of the 20th century, and the beginning of the 21st we have returned to the 19th century style of adventure novel. Only now, we set them on the other planets in our solar system - the new fronteer of exploration.

As before we know little about these planets (probably less than Haggard knew of the rainforests !) - and these are very different environments - and so stories are based on the little we do know, and other info is extrapolated from the 'facts'.

Ben Bova creates such adventures with his novels about the Moon, Mars, Venus, and now Jupiter.

As with the 19th century novels, the characters are often very unrealistic, with odd motivations, and little development. Conversations seem almost childish at points. Infact, the only change in characters nowadays is that the adveturers and explorers have become the scientists.

But you can't argue with the great adventure !

Jupiter is by far one of the best I've read. You can imagine yourself in this alien environment, the exitement of discovery in this terrible, inhospitable world of gas, immense gravity, titanic storms ... an alien world larger than anything we can even imagine !

And, of course, driving the characters is the hope that they may find life in the thin layer of liquid, formed by the incredible pressure exerted by the giant's gravitational field, thousands of kilometers below the cloud surface. But, how do you send people into such forces ?

The political groups and their motivations, unlike the characters themselves, do come across as likely, and add to the suspense and sense of urgency as the story progresses. And you find yourself holding your breath when the characters are actually in Jupiter.

And, the alien lifeforms discussed to live in Jupiter and its moons are admiral attempts at creating organisms unlike anything on Earth.

All in all, this is a marvelously crafted adventure to equal those written so long ago. Ben Bova proves we've finally found our sense of adventure and desire to understand the unknown that seemed to vanish early last century.