Colony

I loved this book. The characters and story are great, but what really made me like this book is the incredible background and locales Ben Bova creates. The intricacies of world government and corporate power are ultimately the main focus of this book. He unfolds things with good timing. The locales we see are awesome. A huge paradise inside a cylinder in outer space to a decrepit New York run by gangs and avoided by the military, dangerous streets of the middle east, a South American jungle. It was a fun journey, and I'm glad I decided to pick this book up.

I was desparate for something to read, and this was the best looking thing that I could find lying around at the time, so I really didn't expect much. However, this book pleasantly surprised me, it was very well written with a lot of interesting characters and events.I was surprised about a hundred pages into the book when I read something that didn't fit very well historically, to find out that this book is actually about twenty-five years old. I should have realized it sooner because the dates in the story are very close to the present, but I just didn't notice that until I checked the copyright date. Despite the abundance of picture phones, I thought the author did a really good job of writing a future world that doesn't seem to far fetched even after all this time. I was somewhat disappointed in the ending, not that it was bad, but just a little abrupt and anticlimactic. There was also a plot point that I thought was silly and unnecessary, it took one of the best parts of the book, a part that really made you see the protaganist's growth and just made it look like a really poor job of parenting by his gaurdian.I wasn't expecting much from this book when I picked it up, but I will be looking to read more of Bova in the future.

The story is a little out of date now (it was originally written in 1978), but it is still good.The beginning of the book is a little slow. Probably the first 100 pages or so. Bova takes quite a bit of time introducing the characters and the environment. But, once through that, it move along.It not an exciting book, rather an interesting book.The main character, David, is very interesting. His life and how he perceives his future and destiny.Worth reading.

Good story. It takes a little while to get going. The first 100 pages were slow, but there are quite a few characters thet need to be developed. The first part of the book is actually three seperate stories. They come together later on as the plot unfolds. It's definitely not a "page turner", but it keeps you interested.Bova is a great author. I enjoy his work. He pays attention to detail and accuracy. The plots are always original and well thought out. This book in particular was very good. Even though it's an older book, it still reads very well.Definitely worth reading.

I first read Colony when it came out in 1978. I have since replaced my copy many times. As I read it recently, I was reminded of why I loved it. It is an epic that contains many different storylines that converge in a dramatic climax. I also enjoyed the many references to Ben Bova's Millenium. This is a book that even non sci-fi readers will enjoy