The Precipice (Asteroid Wars)

The Precipice (2001) is the first SF novel of the Asteroid Wars series. In this volume, Earth has reached the greenhouse cliff, the threshold where the world's climate changes drastically in a very short time. Although the greenhouse effect had been hotly debated, the current evidence could not be rebutted. The icecaps were melting and storms tore savagely at human infrastructure. Dan Randolph is one of the victims of the new weather patterns. Jane Scanwell died trying to rescue people stranded by the flooding of the Tennessee River. Dan had not known how much he loved her until she was no longer there. Randolph is determined to alleviate the greenhouse effects as much as possible by moving industry into space and providing raw materials from the Belt. Only one asteroid has ever been brought to Earth in the past; of course, the operation bankrupted Sam Gunn, but it was successful. Now Dan needs a less expensive way to mine the Belt and Martin Humphries shows him such a method. Lyall Duncan has developed a small fusion power source. Unlike most such sources, the Duncan fusion device is small enough to fit into an old cruise missile used as a test vehicle. The results of this test suggest that a large version would be capable of powering a manned vehicle to the Belt in record time. Although Humphries has offered to underwrite the initial voyage, Dan just doesn't trust him. Humphries has made his billions by merging smaller companies into his Humphries Space Systems and Randolph's company, Astro Manufacturing, seems to be the old Humper's next target. While Randolph tries to get other concerns -- public and private -- to fund the first fusion drive spaceship, Pancho Lane has been taken off her piloting duties and assigned, with Amanda Cunningham, to the new fusion drive project. Humphries has recruited her to spy on Randolph, but Pancho doesn't really know anything; besides, she has already confessed her extracurricular activities to Randolph, whom she is beginning to admire. Humphries, however, is still unaware of her new role as a double agent. Randolph finally exhausts his list of earthside contacts and takes his case to the Moon. Douglas Stavenger, founder of Masterson Aerospace and leader of the Lunar succession from the old United Nations, is still chairman emeritus of Masterson and is government head of Selene. Stavenger has made full use of nanotechnology for maintenance of his body and thus looks much younger than Dan. As they talk, Randolph learns that Humphries has blocked any deal with Masterson by buying a majority interest in the company. Stavenger, however, points out than Selene is quite willing to partner with his company in the development of nanomachines to make fusion drive units. This novel is one of many works in the Grand Tour universe. Most of the major players in this novel are also found in other unrelated stories. Moreover, three other novels are direct prequels to this work. Bova has been writin

The Grand Tour is Dr. Ben Bova's series of books on the human exploration of the Solar System. This book is the first in a trilogy called The Asteroid Wars as human development reaches to the asteroids to get raw materials for space based manufacturing in the face of severe global warming. It is the story of the struggle between two wealthy individuals Dan Randolph (who we've met in several books) and Martin Humphries. These two characters are a bit simple minded. Randolph is the good guy, thinking of the best ways to save the Earth's economy. Humphries is the evil villian out only for himself. One aspect of good science fiction is the science aspect that makes a prediction for the future that should be logically possible. At this Dr. Bova does an excellent job. This recording runs for twelve hours, it is on ten CD's, read by Scott Brick, Amanda Karr and a cast of lessor characters.

For those of you who don't like Sci-Fi books (like myself) I urge you to try this one. I picked it up at the library by mistake and when I saw what it was about decided not to read it. BUT curiosity got the better of me and I did ENJOY it very much. As a kid I loved Flash Gorden but lost interest along the way. If you want good detail read the other reviewers who really understand the subject. I enjoyed the idea of living under the surface of the moon, the fast commutes betweenearth and moon and the idea of mining the Asteroid Belt for energy sources, That women were capable of piloting an exploratorytrip to the Belt (unauthorized ofcourse) had me thinking "Go Girl"just to prove it could be done.Ben Bova provided an excellent adventure and I think just maybe I will deliberately bring home another one of his books. Do give it a try if you have been avoidingspace travel or colonazation but remember there is always the bad guy waiting for you.

Assuming a "worst case scenario" for global warming, this new "Asteroid Wars" series is fascinating in it's clarity of laying out a possible near-future path for mankind's expansion into space. It is a wonderful work of fiction that makes some timely predictions about the 21st century (and beyond) and how mankind may cope with the many changes that are coming. It follows loosely behind his "Moonwar" series, which brings in settings and a character or two on Selene, the lunar city where much of this novel takes place. THE PRECIPICE also incorporates and expands on much of the scientific and technological advances that have appeared in Dr. Bova's books over the past decade-including nanotechnology, fusion power, and some very practical approaches to spaceflight within the boundaries of our solar system. A highly recommended novel, followed by THE ROCK RATS, book 2 in the Asteroid Wars series.

Continuing the story of Dan Randolph, the hero of Ben's books Privateers and Empire Builders, I found this book to be very enjoyable. Ben Bova writes the clearest, most epic, and most believable near future fiction I've ever encountered. The Precipice is most interesting, though, because it combines storylines from many other books besides the Dan Randolph series, notably Moonbase and Moonwar, allowing me to become reacquainted with some characters I'd long forgot about. Also, Ben's book Venus alludes to the Asteroid War, and since The Precipice is just book one of a chronicle of the War, I'm going to be eagerly awaiting the next books.