Titan Alpha has landed: the most complex man-made object to reach Saturn's largest moon. The ten thousand men and women of Habitat Goddard are once more at the frontier of science. From their huge, artificial paradise hanging in orbit above Saturn, some of them dream of landing on Titan's surface. Others will do anything to prevent such a landing. And yet others have darker, secret plans. But almost immediately, Titan Alpha goes silent. And minor, inexplicable faults start to affect Goddard. Is there a basic design flaw that could threaten the lives of everyone on board? Or has one of the many malcontents exiled to space decided to sabotage the probe or even the whole expedition? The newest chapter in Ben Bova's epic of space exploration brings to vivid, awe-inspiring life a barren world of swirling smog, frozen methane seas - and perhaps even a new sentient life form.
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Review
Praise for the novels in Ben Bova's epic science fiction saga, "The Grand Tour":
"Ben Bova continues his epic of solar system exploration by taking refugees from Earth's formidable fundamentalist theocracies on the long voyage to Saturn. The pacing is brisk, and--now that Arthur C. Clarke has retired and Charles Sheffield has departed--Bova is definitely the man to do justice to the astronomical marvels of the Saturnian system with its enormous potential as a second home for humanity, especially in the complex environments of its moons. Loud, prolonged applause, then, for the strengths of this book." --Booklist on Saturn
"Bova proves himself equal to the task of showing how adversity can temper character in unforeseen ways." --The New York Times on Venus
"Ben Bova's latest near-future SF thriller supplies a suspenseful ride and plenty of high-tech hardware as it builds to a climactic confrontation over Washington, D.C." --Publishers Weekly on Powersat
About the Author
Ben Bova is the author of more than a hundred works of science fact and fiction, including Able One, Leviathans of Jupiter and the Grand Tour novels, including Titan, winner of John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel of the year. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation in 2005, and in 2008 he won the Robert A. Heinlein Award "for his outstanding body of work in the field of literature." He is President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past president of Science Fiction Writers of America, and a former editor of Analog and former fiction editor of Omni. As an editor, he won science fiction’s Hugo Award six times. Dr. Bova’s writings have predicted the Space Race of the 1960s, virtual reality, human cloning, the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars), electronic book publishing, and much more. He lives in Florida.
Description:
Titan Alpha has landed: the most complex man-made object to reach Saturn's largest moon. The ten thousand men and women of Habitat Goddard are once more at the frontier of science. From their huge, artificial paradise hanging in orbit above Saturn, some of them dream of landing on Titan's surface. Others will do anything to prevent such a landing. And yet others have darker, secret plans. But almost immediately, Titan Alpha goes silent. And minor, inexplicable faults start to affect Goddard. Is there a basic design flaw that could threaten the lives of everyone on board? Or has one of the many malcontents exiled to space decided to sabotage the probe or even the whole expedition? The newest chapter in Ben Bova's epic of space exploration brings to vivid, awe-inspiring life a barren world of swirling smog, frozen methane seas - and perhaps even a new sentient life form.
**
Review
Praise for the novels in Ben Bova's epic science fiction saga, "The Grand Tour":
"Ben Bova continues his epic of solar system exploration by taking refugees from Earth's formidable fundamentalist theocracies on the long voyage to Saturn. The pacing is brisk, and--now that Arthur C. Clarke has retired and Charles Sheffield has departed--Bova is definitely the man to do justice to the astronomical marvels of the Saturnian system with its enormous potential as a second home for humanity, especially in the complex environments of its moons. Loud, prolonged applause, then, for the strengths of this book." --Booklist on Saturn
"Bova proves himself equal to the task of showing how adversity can temper character in unforeseen ways." --The New York Times on Venus
"Ben Bova's latest near-future SF thriller supplies a suspenseful ride and plenty of high-tech hardware as it builds to a climactic confrontation over Washington, D.C." --Publishers Weekly on Powersat
About the Author
Ben Bova is the author of more than a hundred works of science fact and fiction, including Able One, Leviathans of Jupiter and the Grand Tour novels, including Titan, winner of John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel of the year. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation in 2005, and in 2008 he won the Robert A. Heinlein Award "for his outstanding body of work in the field of literature." He is President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past president of Science Fiction Writers of America, and a former editor of Analog and former fiction editor of Omni. As an editor, he won science fiction’s Hugo Award six times. Dr. Bova’s writings have predicted the Space Race of the 1960s, virtual reality, human cloning, the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars), electronic book publishing, and much more. He lives in Florida.