Power Challenges, Ben Bova
Power Challenges, Ben Bova
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Power Challenges

Author: Ben Bova

Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki

Unabridged: 6 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/13/2021


Synopsis

It is time to start colonizing the solar system. Ex-astronaut, current space advisor, and all-out troubleshooter for the President, Jake Ross, is determined to make it happen.And what better way than to return to America’s glory by returning to the moon and setting up a permanent moon-base which can then serve as the launching pad for Mars and beyond.But as usual, political intrigue and conflicting priorities are threatening the whole program. Add to that a President who is about to die, a strong contingent in the legislative body which thinks that money spent on a moon-base is money wasted, and the general apathy of the public, and you have an almost impossible task.Even NASA, natural enthusiasts of a project like this, are dragging their feet because they have lost control of the top-spot in the project.But none of those opposing forces have contended with the resolve and the skill of Jake Ross. He will create the base on the moon. He will send humans out to many worlds.

About Ben Bova

Ben Bova, scientist, multiple Hugo Award winner, and prolific science fiction author and editor, died on November 29, 2020, of complications from Covid-19 and a stroke. He was 88. Bova wrote more than a hundred books, edited some of science fiction’s best-known publications, and was president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for two terms 1990-1992 and was president of the National Space Society.He began his career in a way that, Tor.com said, “brought experience to the science fiction genre that few authors could match”: he was a technical editor for Project Vanguard, the U.S.‘s first effort to launch a satellite into space in 1958. Bova then was a science writer for Avco Everett Research Laboratory, which built the heat shields for the Apollo 11 module.Bova published his first novel, The Star Conquerors, in 1959, and followed up with dozens of others, as well as numerous short stories that appeared in, among other publications, Amazing Stories, Analog Science Fact and Fiction and Galaxy Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.In 1971, Bova became editor of Analog following the death of its longtime editor, John W. Campbell Jr. According to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Bova maintained the publication’s tendencies towards technological realism and Hard SF, “but considerably broadened its horizons.” While there, he published notable stories such as Joe Haldeman’s “Hero” (which became The Forever War) and earned the Hugo Award for Best Editor for numerous consecutive years before stepping down in 1977. He then became the first editor of Omni magazine, until leaving in 1982, and consulted on television shows such as The Starlost and Land of the Lost.Among other honors and awards, as noted by the SFWA, Bova was the Author Guest of Honor at Chicon 2000, the 58th Worldcon, was a lifetime achievement recipient from the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, a Robert A. Heinlein Award winner, a Skylark recipient, and an inductee into the First Fandom Hall of Fame. In 1995, his story “Inspiration” was a Nebula finalist.Bova’s best-known works, Tor.com observed, involved “plausible sciences about humanity’s expansion into the universe, looking at how we might adapt to live in space with novels such as 1992’s Mars, about the first human expedition to the red planet. He followed that novel up with additional installments, forming the Grand Tour series, which explored all of the solar system’s major bodies.” The latest installment, Uranus, was published in July, and was scheduled to be the first of a trilogy. The second installment, Neptune, is scheduled for release next year

About Claire Bloom

Claire Bloom gained international fame in 1951 with her screen debut in Charles Chaplin’s motion picture Limelight. Among her many memorable films are Richard III, The Haunting, Look Back in Anger, and A Doll’s House.

About Stefan Rudnicki

Stefan Rudnicki is an award winning audiobook narrator, director and producer. He was born in Poland and now resides in Studio City, California. He has narrated more than three hundred audiobooks and has participated in over a thousand as a writer, producer, or director. He is a recipient of multiple Audie Awards and AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as a Grammy Award, a Bram Stoker Award, and a Ray Bradbury Award. He received AudioFile’s award for 2008 Best Voice in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Along with a cast of other narrators, Rudnicki has read a number of Orson Scott Card's best-selling science fiction novels. He worked extensively with many other science fiction authors, including David Weber and Ben Bova. In reviewing the twentieth anniversary edition audiobook of Card’s Ender's Game, Publishers Weekly stated, "Rudnicki, with his lulling, sonorous voice, does a fine job articulating Ender's inner struggle between the kind, peaceful boy he wants to be and the savage, violent actions he is frequently forced to take." Rudnicki is also a stage actor and director.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Anthony on June 20, 2021

The Review While it is heartbreaking to lose a truly powerful voice within the science fiction community, this final novel from the author is the perfect example of why Ben Bova always had one hand on the pulse of this exhilarating genre. For the majority of this novel, the author took great detail i......more

Goodreads review by David on January 06, 2022

I have never before read a published book with as many editorial mistakes as Power Challenges. For example, at one point a character answers himself. I don't remember the exact text, but it was something like, "What are you doing?" said Andrew. "Nothing," replied Andrew. Also, there was a character......more

Goodreads review by Tom on March 31, 2022

Not one of his best. I usually enjoy Bova’s work, though I’m not a great fan of Sci-Fi, but I found the plot derivative, drawing from many other Political potboilers with a few references ripped from the front pages. It was well written and fairly entertaining, but nothing to write home about. Three S......more

Goodreads review by Kelly F Hawkins on October 20, 2024

Terrific story about overly ambitious men and women in a space setting. Terrific action space story of efforts to make the whole earth safe from nuclear war by a small group of people while another small group of less noble humans try to take over the world.......more

Goodreads review by Kirk on December 06, 2021

Hard to believe that this sloppily-written novel was written by a 6-time Hugo winner. Female characters are weak and badly written. A good guy on the Federal payroll openly accepting huge gifts of stock from a client? (I’m an ex-Fed. Never wanted to be criminally charged and lose my career.)......more


Quotes

“Far-thinking ideas and the characters’ determination to grab the last hope are characteristic. Fans won’t want to miss this coda to Bova’s prolific literary life.” Publishers Weekly