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A review by michaeljohnhalseartistry
Saturn by Ben Bova
1.0
You know, mistakes do happen. Sometimes you pick up a book with a promising premise and it makes you want to die, and this was one of those books. I probably should have expected it though, because I bought it at a dollar store… I paid a dollar for this book, and after reading it, I’d say that’s a fair price point.
Saturn is a part of a huge anthology of books spanning Bova’s Grand Tour series. The books in the series are stand alone, but there are overlapping settlings, themes and characters throughout the series. Apparently Bova is a well known and respected sic-fi author, but I did not get that impression from this book. The characterization was incredibly poor and stereotypical and the plot hardly held it together. The only thing that intrigued be about this story was the ship they travelled in… that was it. And all it was, was a giant cylinder that was made to look like rolling hills, farmland and greek villages.
Bova is an atheist and proud to be one and has been outspoken about religion throughout his entire career. I was raised in a traditional Baptist house, and I do consider myself a spiritual Christian, even though I wouldn’t necessarily say I agree with traditional Baptist interpretations, but I’ve never had a problem with understanding and accepting different beliefs. But Bova displays that he doesn’t understand religion at all. In this book and the whole series he’s moulded religious bodies into the antagonist – which I don’t have a problem with, there’s corruption in every form of government and religion. The problem I had with it, was that any character who had any sort of faith beside an atheistic world view, was a selfish, corrupt villain with really no moral merit that would tie them to their beliefs. And apparently this is recurrent throughout his entire series and his works. But to me, it really showed that he knows so little about what he’s writing about. I’ve written religious characters who are fanatics, sure, but I’ve also written religious characters who are accepting and loving…
But I mean, that was just ONE of the many problems I had with it. The premise didn’t make any sense… these religious bodies were sending all the radicals from earth to Saturn to study it, but then wanted to make sure a religious government was formed… then why would you send all your radicals and atheists out together? The main protagonist talked like a valley girl, with slang that included words like “cosmic” and “ftl” (faster than light), but no one else spoke like that… and I don’t understand why she did… the politics of the whole thing was shaky at best, another main character who was supposed to be this charming individual who was exceptional at speeches and capturing the attention of the people had literally the worst speeches ever written. I mean, all these radical thinkers from earth must be complete idiots. Like, he was all about making a government for the people and laws for the people so they could be free, but he installed a dress code early on in the book… that’d not what freedom looks like.
Basically, Bova wrote a garbage book, and I regret not leaving it in the dollar store.
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FOR MORE BOOK REVIEWS, PHOTOS, AND MY OWN NOVEL SERIES, CHECK OUT MY BLOG:
www.michaeljohnhalse.wix.com/michaeljohnhalse
Saturn is a part of a huge anthology of books spanning Bova’s Grand Tour series. The books in the series are stand alone, but there are overlapping settlings, themes and characters throughout the series. Apparently Bova is a well known and respected sic-fi author, but I did not get that impression from this book. The characterization was incredibly poor and stereotypical and the plot hardly held it together. The only thing that intrigued be about this story was the ship they travelled in… that was it. And all it was, was a giant cylinder that was made to look like rolling hills, farmland and greek villages.
Bova is an atheist and proud to be one and has been outspoken about religion throughout his entire career. I was raised in a traditional Baptist house, and I do consider myself a spiritual Christian, even though I wouldn’t necessarily say I agree with traditional Baptist interpretations, but I’ve never had a problem with understanding and accepting different beliefs. But Bova displays that he doesn’t understand religion at all. In this book and the whole series he’s moulded religious bodies into the antagonist – which I don’t have a problem with, there’s corruption in every form of government and religion. The problem I had with it, was that any character who had any sort of faith beside an atheistic world view, was a selfish, corrupt villain with really no moral merit that would tie them to their beliefs. And apparently this is recurrent throughout his entire series and his works. But to me, it really showed that he knows so little about what he’s writing about. I’ve written religious characters who are fanatics, sure, but I’ve also written religious characters who are accepting and loving…
But I mean, that was just ONE of the many problems I had with it. The premise didn’t make any sense… these religious bodies were sending all the radicals from earth to Saturn to study it, but then wanted to make sure a religious government was formed… then why would you send all your radicals and atheists out together? The main protagonist talked like a valley girl, with slang that included words like “cosmic” and “ftl” (faster than light), but no one else spoke like that… and I don’t understand why she did… the politics of the whole thing was shaky at best, another main character who was supposed to be this charming individual who was exceptional at speeches and capturing the attention of the people had literally the worst speeches ever written. I mean, all these radical thinkers from earth must be complete idiots. Like, he was all about making a government for the people and laws for the people so they could be free, but he installed a dress code early on in the book… that’d not what freedom looks like.
Basically, Bova wrote a garbage book, and I regret not leaving it in the dollar store.
---
FOR MORE BOOK REVIEWS, PHOTOS, AND MY OWN NOVEL SERIES, CHECK OUT MY BLOG:
www.michaeljohnhalse.wix.com/michaeljohnhalse