The Silent War: Book III of the Asteroid Wars

The Asteroid Wars continue to rage in this third installment by Ben Bova. Martin Humphries and Pancho Lane continue to battle it out over control of the asteroid belt and its tremendous mineral wealth. Humphries Space Systems and Astro Corporation continue to blast each other's ships into oblivion, and each side has hired mercenaries to combat the other. However, a new player has emerged in the war; Yamagata corporation. The Yamagata corporation has been silently watching as Astro and Humphries Space Systems battle each other. Then, when both are ready to collapse, Yamagata will zoom in and take full control of the belt. At least that's what the plan was. Lars Fuchs continues to be a thorn in the side of Martin Humphries. After being exiled from Ceres, Fuchs has lead the life of a pirate; secretly destroying Martin Humphries' ships in the belt. However, Martin seems to have won the ultimate prize; Amanda, Lars' beloved wife, has divorced him and married Martin. She's even pregnant. But whose child is it, Martin's or Lars'? Sadly, Amanda dies in childbirth, leaving Martin with a handicapped son. Martin never bonds with the child, instead, he sends his new son to Connecticut to live. Dorik Harbin is still on Humphries' payroll and is determined to find Lars. Lars has even tried to kill Martin in his own home. He sneaked into Martin's home in Selene and set fire to the entire compound. Martin managed to survive by hiding in a concealed fire-proof closet, but his house and many of his security team were destroyed. Pancho helped Lars escape by giving him one of Astro's new ships. But, Humphries has sent Harbin looking for him. Meanwhile, Doug Stavenger's wife Edith has left Selene to fly to Ceres to report on the war. But, Harbin has chosen the same path to track Fuchs. Once at Ceres, Harbin demands that Fuchs be turned over to him. He is rebuffed and told that Fuchs is not there. Enraged, Harbin destroys the habitat surrounding Ceres. Meanwhile, Doug Stavenger has convened a meeting of Pancho, Humphries, and Yamagata in an effort to stop the war. Will he be successful, or will the Asteroid Wars continue to rage on? This book is the best one of the series. The action is non-stop, and I enjoyed the way Bova expanded the storyline by adding the Yamagata corporation into the war. Of course, its still fun to watch Humphries and Pancho battle it out. Plus, the beginning and ending, which deals with an alien artifact, is good, too. I give this book my highest recommendation. The action is fast-paced, and the character development is excellent. Will the Asteroid Wars finally come to an end, or will Pancho, Martin, and Yamagata continue to fight it out? Read this great book and find out!

The Silent War (2004) is the third SF novel of the Asteroid Wars series, following The Rock Rats. In the previous volume, Lars Fuchs was caught in an ambush by HSS mercenaries, was returned to Ceres, and then was exiled by the Rock Rats. Amanda Cunningham divorced him and married Martin Humphries to keep Lars from being hurt by any HSS goons. But Amanda also has plans to implant an embryo fertilized by Lars within herself and to carry it to term. In this novel, Yamagata Corporation is moving back into space ventures after years of rebuilding Japan. Saito Yamagata is leaving corporate management to his son Nobuhiko, but providing advice as requested. Saito has insisted that the corporation should remain in the background until their position is assured. Most of their efforts have been focused through Nairobi Industries, an African conglomerate with little overt experience in such ventures. Covertly, Yamagata Corporation is picking off freighters from both Humphries Space Systems and Astro Manufacturing. Now each of these corporations blames the other for their losses. Martin Humphries and Pancho Lane are ready to make war of each other. The Humper is reestablishing the base on Vesta and equipping it with a dozen attack craft. Pancho is arming her freighters. Lars Fuchs is unaware of most of these warlike preparations, but he is continuing his war against HSS. Dorik Harbin, commander of the HSS mercenaries, is still trying to lure him into a trap, but without luck. Still, Lars has learned about Amanda's pregnancy, but not about the heritage of the embryo. Eight years after her marriage to Humphries, Amanda makes her first move in the long held plan to implant herself with the cryogenically preserved embryo of Lars and herself. She is supposedly carrying Humphries's baby and only Douglas Stavenger and Pancho Lane know that the embryo's heritage is quite different. She has even changed the DNA codes in Humphries's medical records to throw off suspicion of another paternity. Now if she can just carry the baby to term without the Old Humper learning of her duplicity. The characters in this novel have well developed, but trite motivations. Of course, trite means commonplace and they are very common personality types. Especially Humphries, who learned early that his father cared nothing for him; now he is marking people notice him by force (mostly economic). Pancho is a white-hatted cowboy, out to do good in the world, but otherwise liable to play practical jokes and other highjinks. Lars Fuchs has been forced into a psychological corner by the Old Humper and differs greatly from his previous self-image. All are what they are due to circumstances beyond their control, just as are you and I. The prologue and epilogue to this work occur six years after the body of this novel. An alien object, thought to be an artistic work, has been discovered and sold to Martin Humphries. Except for the discovering family and the initial secur

The Grand Tour is Dr. Ben Bova's series of books on the human exploration of the Solar System. This book is the third and final 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. The war between two corporations to decide the future of the astroid belt and ultimately of Earth itself comes to a head. Seeing an opportunity as the two fight it out, others come in to try to pick up their share. As the conclusion comes, this volume wraps up the series. 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 thirteen hours, it is on ten CD's, read by Scott Brick, Amanda Karr and a cast of lessor characters.

I have a habit of reading the last book in a triology - first. Despite doing so, Bova's novel is a fantastic read. Though I didn't have all the backstory, I was still able to enjoy it. The main character, Pancho, was well-defined and very real. Humphries is the guy you love to hate. Arrogant, egotiscal and devious. Lars, gotta love the guy and admire his devotion to his wife and the reader definitely feels the hate he has for Humphries. Bova, successfully entwined raw emotion into each of his characters, making them a reality in the mind's eye. As with other Bova novels, I don't expect to be disappointed reading the first two within this series.

Reading what others have said, I wonder if they read the same book I did. Rock Rats: The Silent War is a fantastic conclusion to a three-part epic story. The characters have been developed fully in the first two installments, so this one wisely focuses on the pace of events. Lars Fuchs maintains his personal vendetta against his arch-enemy Martin Humphries, who is cast in the same mold as real-life villains and robber barons throughout the ages. An old saying maintains that if you scratch a bully you'll find a coward, and the climax of the book demontrates this truth in a powerful way. As for Fuchs, he experiences an epiphany regarding his own weaknesses and true nature, as does Pancho and other major characters. These insights take place against a backdrop filled with space battles, corporate intrigue, etc. But unlike the campy 1950s space operas it has foolishly been compared to, this book takes care to show the horrors of war. It also shows the dangers of allowing greed to run unbridled over concern for the common good. The sub-plot regarding the alien artifact adds a nice framework around the main story, amplifying its major themes. All in all, this book is very highly recommended to SF fans of all stripes. It manages to both entertain and enlighten all at once - not bad for any book. Enjoy!