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Mercury (Paperback)

by Ben Bova (Author)
2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Paperbacks; New edition edition (15 Aug 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 034082395X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340823958
  • Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 10.8 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 464,811 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #44 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > B > Bova, Ben

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Product Description

Review

'The science fiction author who will have the greatest effect on the world.' Ray Bradbury 'A masterful storyteller.' Vector 'A splendid book.' Arthur C. Clarke 'Fun, thought-provoking, pacy and stylish ... Gives a good read while turning your eyes to what might be in the not so distant future, just like Clarke and Asimov used to do so well.' SFX on VENUS 'Vivid, poetic and wonder- provoking.' Foundation on JUPITER


Product Description

The closest planet to the Sun, Mercury is an airless, heat-scorched world where temperatures rise to four times higher than the boiling point of water. But this vision of hell is also a planet with unlimited solar power - worth a fortune to the space tycoon Saito Yamagata if he can find a way to harness it. He has hired the enigmatic Dante Alexios to establish a research station on the surface of the planet and find a way to turn that solar energy into portable power satellites. But Yamagata is secretly also preparing the way to a very different dream: he wants to travel to the stars themselves. And Alexios has his own obsession, a plot to lure an old enemy to this hellhole of a world and take his revenge for one of the worst disasters in human history.
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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
2.4 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Patchy and disappointing, 18 Mar 2005
This review is from: Mercury (Ben Bova's Grand Tour of the Solar System) (Hardcover)
Mercury is the latest in Ben Bova's 'Grand Tour of the Solar System' series. Set in the near future it describes a world divided into an authoritarian mix of new religious fundamentalist governments, massive multinationals and heroic scientists and pioneers picking their way through the solar system planet by planet (including the Asteroid belt, setting for the last three books). Mercury is a tale of revenge and Bova is at his best when describing the interplay of human relations and betrayals that forge his characters. Unfortunately the rest of the book is poorly realised and feels unfinished. Admittedly Mercury is perhaps the least interesting of the planets, being a big baked rock, and Bova tries to expand the story with an extended flashback describing the first space elevator and, later, one of the characters' exile to the Asteroid belt. There's nothing here that hasn't been done before and I got the feeling that Bova was retreading old ground, or plagiarising others (I won't spoil the plot but the catastrophe half-way through the book is lifted wholesale from Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series). His peripheral characters are weak. The arrogant Japanese corporate boss has stepped straight from the pages of Michael Crichton's Rising Sun and trots out the old cliched mistakes about Japanese businessmen being closet samurai. Grammatical errors and poor proof-reading ('despondent' repeated twice in the same paragraph) suggests this book was trotted on out autopilot for the sake of completeness. If you're into the series it's worth reading, if not, I'd either turn to the brilliant Moon series, Jupiter or wait and hope Bova gets back on form with the next planet.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Mercury, 24 April 2006
By J. Otto (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
A tough planet to write about. How is he going to do it? I wondered. But gifted storyteller that he is, Bova tackled it bravely. Wherever humans go, be it frosty Pluto in lonely orbit around its distant sun, or scorched Mercury huddled close to Sol, they take their frailties and darkness right along with them. And so it is with Bova's characters in "Mercury." I enjoyed it.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Read, 6 Sep 2008
By G. Thomson (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book is easy to read, its story line is straightforward and once started you will want to finish it. The image of mercury is hot, hot, hot, so no surprises there then, but it's well done. Yes we have seen space elevator's before done by Kim Stanley Robinson and Arthur C. Clarke but I had no problem with that and rather enjoyed the technical realisation of the structure. Overall I enjoyed the book and will continue to pick up more of this author's work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars A miserable attempt by Ben Bova
Ben Bova has written some excellent books, but sadly this one disappoints. The plot is weak, with characters and ideas from earlier books now over-used. Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2006 by Adrian Ince

2.0 out of 5 stars Hmmm....
I want to love Sci-fi, really do, and the genre has spawned some excellent books. But this was a struggle. Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2005 by Andrew J Chamberlain

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