Sunday, October 9, 2011

Leviathans of Jupiter by Ben Bova


Science Fiction/Space Opera

As a six-time winner of the Hugo Award just saying Ben Bova may be enough to recommend Leviathans of Jupiter but I will add more.  If you are a Science Fiction fan and have never read anything by Ben Bova you are in for a treat.  If you have read his books in the past you will not be disappointed.

Leviathans of Jupiter is part of the Grand Tour continuing series but if you have not read any of the series do not let that stop you.  While the background and some of the characters reappear in some of the stories each book in the series stands alone.  Grant Archer led an expedition to explore the depths of Jupiter in the book of the same name.  That expedition barely escaped death when their vessel malfunctioned.  They were saved when one of the city sized leviathans helped.  Grant is convinced that the leviathans are intelligent and 20 years later he is trying to launch a new mission to study the leviathans.  Not everyone wants the mission to succeed and therein lies the story.

Ben Bova knows how to tell a good story and with the knowledge from his PHD in physics he adds science in just the right amounts.  He uses dialog and action mixed with small amounts of description to keep the story moving.  I had trouble putting the story down and finished the 400-page book in record time.

I miss good old fashion Science Fiction and it was a real joy to find and read Leviathans of Jupiter.  I hope Ben Bova continues writing in this series.

TOR published Leviathans of Jupiter by Ben Bova in 2011.

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