Earth by Ben Bova (book review)

Ben Bova should not need much introduction to SF fans. Bova has won the Hugo Awards no less than six times and has been editor of ‘Analog’ and as well editorial editor of ‘Omni’. Add onto this his past presidentship of both the National Space Society and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and we can easily see Bova was one of the leading lights of the current SF scene. Despite Bova having authored more than one hundred works of science fact and fiction this is only the second of Bova’s works that this reviewer has read. The first was ‘The Weather Makers’ which is one of his earlier works. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed that book and so I approach this more recent volume with some relish. He died at the age of 88 in 2020.

It might be a coincidence but both ‘The Weather Makers’ and ‘Earth’ read very much like space opera. In both, the talented protagonist struggles against a vastly more powerful establishment. The former book is set entirely on Earth but, ironically, the novel ‘Earth’ is set throughout the Solar System. As I understand things, ‘Earth’ is part of Bova’s ‘Grand Tour’ series which deals with humanity’s colonisation of the Solar System, as told over many books. It is not necessary to have read other books in this cycle to enjoy ‘Earth’ as the novel does a good job of naturally recapping without pages of what has come before.

Humanity has been previously visited by a benevolent race of intelligent machines known as the Predecessors. These Predecessors announce the existence of a massive wave of radiation travelling from the centre of our galaxy to the rim, destroying all life on any planet it flows across. Therefore, the Predecessors are visiting races and giving them the technology to survive this Death Wave, which they provided to humans to save the Solar System. All they ask is that such races now disseminate this to other less advanced races so all can survive.  As such, humanity has been sending out interstellar craft, using suspended animation, to other inhabited star systems to help them survive the Death Wave. Humanity managed to visit quite a lot before the Death Wave swept across our sector of the galaxy.

The hero of ‘Earth’ is Trayvon Williamson. At the beginning of this novel, we learn that Trayvon is the sole survivor of a disaster. He was a mapper of meteors and asteroids and assigned to the starship Saviour, sent to contact the inhabitants of the Raman system and save them from the Death Wave. Unfortunately, a seemingly trivial disagreement with the captain saw Trayvon banished to a scout-ship, mapping asteroids on the far side of the system to the Saviour. As such, he was not present on the ship to spot the meteor shower that instantaneously destroyed it. Several hundred years later, he wakes up on Earth, having been awoken from the scout-ship’s automated suspended animation suite. Now Trayvon has to deal with the loss of the entire crew, including his beloved fiancé, and not to mention the inhabits of the Ramen system who were not saved and all perished when the Death Wave hit them.

Now a small council of distinguished and very authorised psychologists wants to heal his guilt and depressive tendencies by removing the memories of his fiancé. This is not something Travyon is willing to undergo but he may have no choice. Maybe his notoriety and celebrity status might be leveraged to help? It seems that Trayvon the saviour is quite well-known and he starts to get invited to parties and to meet highly placed acquaintances. Soon, he is embroiled in a nefarious plot involving space heroes, ambitious politicians and a startlingly glamorous socialite who might just take his mind off things.

I like this book a lot and find myself with great enthusiasm to read more of Bova’s novels. As noted earlier, he was a very experienced writer and that comes across in the vibrant characters, snappy dialogue, erudite exposition and the way that the social attitudes naturally reflect the grandiose setting. A good example as the character of Para, an android. This is not uncommon and we meet one or two more as the plot develops. But Para is with Trayvon right from the first chapter as it has been allocated to Trayvon by the psychologists to observe and help Trayvon with his misplaced feelings of guilt. Throughout the novel, Trayvon comes to believe more and more that Para is more than just a machine. Bova does a great job of making Para feel real with some surprisingly human mannerisms, but also setting specific boundaries the android’s ability to feel or understand emotions. This makes for some great philosophical conversations between Trayvon and Para and, after a while, the reader might decide that Para is gradually developing into a more feeling being even though you can never actually point to an example of this happening. Maybe the reader wants it to happen and projects upon the character?

All of Bova’s characters are subtly portrayed and this enhances the reader’s experience. It also gives the reader a greater emotional attachment and makes the story that much more dramatic. Trayvon is a well-realised and sympathetic character who also happens to be quite brilliant in his own way. Bova knows how to attach the reader to characters but the nature of the story means that not all of them are going to survive. The twists of the plot will certainly motivate the reader to cheer for Trayvon and not stop reading. By the time the reader hits the last page, it may well feel quite bittersweet as the attachment to the characters means you won’t want to let go.

Taking into account that this book only forms part of a larger cycle, I can only assume the cumulative effect is breathtaking. This is SF writ on a big stage. Bova’s vision of the future feels solidly built on realistic feeling scientific extrapolation. Combining this with a truly beguiling talent for characterisation forms a dynamite combination. If you enjoy SF at all then I can thoroughly recommend this. If you are already familiar with Bova’s work and have not yet read this then I am surprised! If you like fantasy or horror and would like to dip your toe into SF this is a great place to start. To all other readers, well, this is just a darn good book. Why not try it, you might like it?

Dave Corby

August 2024

(pub: TOR/Forge, 2019. 350 page small hardback. Price: $29.99 (US), $39.99 (CAN). ISBN: 978-0-7653-9719-5)

check out websites: www.tor-forge.com and www.benbova.net