The Billion Dollar Boy

Shelby Cheever is the kind of kid that everyone, at one point or another, has run into and wished they hadn't. Adapted from a story by Rudyard Kipling and now reprinted for a juvenile crowd by Starscape Books, "Billion-Dollar Boy" is solid if unamazing SF journey.It's the future, when Earth is impoverished except for a tiny number of corporate big-shots. And Cheever heir Shelby has everything a boy could want and more: insane amounts of money, a staff to wait hand and foot on him, and a dimbulb mother who lacks the brains to tell him "no" sometimes. In short, he's spoiled rotten. And when he wants to take a space cruise, his mum says yes. Unfortunately, Shelby gets drunk on the voyage, and decides to take a small jaunt OUTSIDE the spaceship -- where he gets literally lost in space.Fortunately, he's picked up by a mining vessel. Unfortunately (depending on your viewpoint) the family on board has never heard of the Cheevers, and they certainly don't believe that he's wealthier than all the miners put together. So for the first time, Shelby is forced to use his brain and his body, and pitch in on actual work. That would be fine -- until someone recognizes him, and plans a ransom demand to his father.Like "Putting Up Roots," this book is not an amazing, groundbreaking piece of SF, but it's readable for both adults and kids. It has a pretty simple, straightforward plot: Go from A to B, where C will happen. And Sheffield does a good job of shifting Shelby from a bratty, overweight, obnoxious teenage boy to someone resourceful, skilled, and if not smart, then at least trying to be. The writing is fairly ordinary, with some good descriptions of life on a gritty mining ship.This novel is far from flawless, though. One of the biggest problems is the technobabble that the characters launch into, or the idea that Shelby's smart "salt of the earth" dad would marry an idiot socialite and let his son run wild. Or, for that matter, how there could be a mere few hundred rich elite on Earth; why this is so is never explained, since that sort of scenario wouldn't last long.Shelby is a pleasant oasis in a sea of kid characters who either know it all, or are just plain annoying. He's meant to be annoying, and the means by which he STOPS being annoying is what makes him interesting. Grace is a pretty good character, although I had trouble figuring out if she was a love interest or not. Most of the supporting characters are okay, not stellar, except for the dryly amusing Logan (a robot).Despite the odd implausible points, "Billion-Dollar Boy" is a solid enough read, with a very flawed lead and a solid, action-filled story. Nice job.

Where "Higher Education" failed, this book succeeded! "Higher Education" had a great story line, some great observations about society and our education system, and it had some great science. However, it failed in providing a good role model for the teens it was trying to reach. The characters were profane and sexually crude throughout "Higher Education". This book provided a good role model and included all of the good things "Higher Education" had to offer. A great read for all ages!

***High adventures, fast paced, and thoroughly enjoyable! Perfect for young readers, as well as, for adults. I highly recommend this one.***

I liked "Higher Education", and I liked this one more. The plot of the story is rock solid, the science is impeccable, as usual for Mr. Sheffield, but what really makes the trip worthwhile is the characters. Fresh, intelligent, and unique, Sheffield rarely wastes a word creating characters so rich and vibrant that they stand from the page like a lion's roar. There's no falseness to what they do, no contrivances to what happens, (and what *has* happened)to them, and there's no fakery to how they react to it when it does. Even though they're 27 light years from Earth, the characters of this book are admirable, interesting, and utterly believable.

One of the reasons I loved reading science fiction as a kid was the spirit of adventure and exploration that sci-fi offered. This book, with its fast-moving and clean plot (G rated, but more enjoyable because of this, not in spite of this), reminded me of the thrill of my youth when I discovered a new Asimov novel in the library. This book does not pretend to be 'literary'; instead, it sparks your imagination and leaves you with a bit of envy that you aren't able to join a deep space mining expedition