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Able One
by
Ben Bova
When a nuclear missile launched by a rogue North Korean faction explodes in space the resulting shockwave destroys the world’s satellites, throwing global communication into chaos. The United States military satellites, designed to withstand such an assault, show that two more missiles are sitting on the launch pad in North Korea, ready to be deployed. Faced with the threa...more
ebook, 400 pages
Published
February 2nd 2010
by Tor Books
(first published February 1st 2010)
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Ben Bova is one of the last of the older group of SF stalwarts still writing at a prolific rate. He's done a lot for SF in a variety of roles. And he's on my list of authors of whom I buy everything I see.
But Bova hasn't ever given me a perfect novel. I've liked everything I've read, but they were "ok" or "decent" - very few were "amazing". One factor in Bova's favor: unlike other aging SF writers, Bova hasn't filled his books with sex.
The last 2 I've read weren't even marketed as Sf: The Green...more
But Bova hasn't ever given me a perfect novel. I've liked everything I've read, but they were "ok" or "decent" - very few were "amazing". One factor in Bova's favor: unlike other aging SF writers, Bova hasn't filled his books with sex.
The last 2 I've read weren't even marketed as Sf: The Green...more
This was...not a good book. I picked this up because I heard the author give a talk about developing the laser featured in this book - and I really wish this had been nonfiction, because the talk was interesting, but the book was not, for two reasons: characters and plot. The science was okay. I kept wanting to tell the author that it would be okay to write a book about lasers and have it be non-fiction. The characters and plot seemed pasted on.
I ended up hating every single character that was i...more
I ended up hating every single character that was i...more
Aug 11, 2011
Maria Christensen
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction
Halfway through this book it is painfully (as in hit you over the head with a cast-iron skillet) obvious that while Bova's technology is up-to-date, his cultural and emotional references are stuck somewhere between the 1950s and early 1980s. I'll finish it because I always finish books I start (it's my *thing*), but the hideously racist anachronisms are getting to me. Yes, absolutely, racism still exists, but in a different form than Bova portrays. Gooks? Spics? Really? Then there's the woman wh...more
A fun book in some ways, but it's written like a made-for-tv thriller. Lots of short short chapters cutting away to 3 different plot lines that tie together in different ways. But the characters are kind of flat and there is one set of characters that have NOTHING to do with the story other than to show the reader how the average person might be affected by the events unfolding in the world, and a couple of minor plot lines that aren't tied up or answered - Bova spends a lot of time having the m...more
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A good story, or at least better than some of his recent stuff but not up to his usual. He seems to be breaking from Sci-Fi and moving toward international intrigue and espionage. Albeit with a hard core science feel.
Story falls short in a couple of areas. The same missile defense system was proposed and outlined with same features and issues in Kim Stanley Robinson's The Gold Coast. Also the repeated racial slurs just seem out of place. Not out of a sense of political correctness, but just tha...more
Story falls short in a couple of areas. The same missile defense system was proposed and outlined with same features and issues in Kim Stanley Robinson's The Gold Coast. Also the repeated racial slurs just seem out of place. Not out of a sense of political correctness, but just tha...more
Mar 13, 2011
Christine Biggs
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
thriller
I haven't read Ben Bova (or any science fiction) since high school I think... This is more techn-politico-thriller, but rather thin on characters and plot. The science is good at least: Korean "terrorists" launch missile into orbit where it explodes and the resulting EMP wave knocks out all unhardened communication satellites. Life on earth is totally disrupted, communication-wise. Airborne laser system still being tested must race to knock out two remaining missles set to launch. Reminds me why...more
This is the first book by Ben Bova that I have read. I was very impress by his writing and the format of the book, this book was easy to read, east to pick and start reading again with losing any action. I'm not into science fiction so this was just wright. I'm all ways looking for new authors.
A renegade N Korean military group sets off a nuclear bomb in orbit and wipes out ALL commercial satellites and most military ones as well. TV, GPS, phones, etc are all wiped out. They also have 2 more mis...more
A renegade N Korean military group sets off a nuclear bomb in orbit and wipes out ALL commercial satellites and most military ones as well. TV, GPS, phones, etc are all wiped out. They also have 2 more mis...more
Oct 24, 2011
Louis
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
fict-military
I like techno thrillers and ones with aircraft. My first job was programming avionics and weapon systems. I love this type of book especially Dale Brown's Flight of the Old Dog. In both are teams that are forced to take on a mission into a foreign country (North Korea in Able One) when they should have been testing.
I remember a speech at a convention about the Airborne Laser System by a female Air Force Colonel. The data I saw there is reflected in the book. Perhaps Ben Bova saw the same show.
I...more
I remember a speech at a convention about the Airborne Laser System by a female Air Force Colonel. The data I saw there is reflected in the book. Perhaps Ben Bova saw the same show.
I...more
I've been a big fan of Bova's scifi, so I went ahead and picked this one up when I saw it on the library shelf. This is Bova's foray into the military thriller genre, and, after reading it, my conclusion is that he should leave that genre to Larry Bond, Dale Brown, et al, and stick to writing sci-fi.
The plot was thin, the characters flat, the story just interesting enough to keep reading without actually being fascinating enough to be engaging. Not particularly recommended.
The plot was thin, the characters flat, the story just interesting enough to keep reading without actually being fascinating enough to be engaging. Not particularly recommended.
I hit my cliche limit at the top of page 38, at this bit:
Taki Nakamura, the only woman in the team, made a mock scowl at Rosenberg. "You say every woman you see is hot."
"Not you, Tiki-Taki," Roseberg shot back.
"Kung fu engineer," Monk Delany cracked. Everybody laughed, even Rosenberg.
There were errors and typos in the text before that, and other cliches (a Latino quota and an Englishman in tweed, anyone?) that made me have to take a little time-out, but "Tiki-Taki" the only woman engineer on the...more
Taki Nakamura, the only woman in the team, made a mock scowl at Rosenberg. "You say every woman you see is hot."
"Not you, Tiki-Taki," Roseberg shot back.
"Kung fu engineer," Monk Delany cracked. Everybody laughed, even Rosenberg.
There were errors and typos in the text before that, and other cliches (a Latino quota and an Englishman in tweed, anyone?) that made me have to take a little time-out, but "Tiki-Taki" the only woman engineer on the...more
This really rates at about the three and a half star mark. A decent enough thriller that while being a bit formulaic and somewhat slow moving was still an enjoyable read. The author makes it easy to keep up with the cast of characters by not throwing a whole lot of them into the mix. Are there better political/military style thrillers out there? Yes there are. But for a bit of a fun quick read this one will work.
Yet another disappointing read by Ben Bova. Seriously he should stick to hard core sci-fi. This is just one long drawn out short story that was padded with unnecessary side stories. Then there's the issue of the Americans always referring to Asians as either 'gooks' or 'chinks'. WTF? Is this the way Americans really think and act? In this day and age? Really sad.
I'm a big fan of Ben Bova, but this book was an enormous disappointment. The story itself is as thin as you can get, nothing like any of Ben's other books. Very shallow characters. It's 50s americanism becomes irritating halfway through.
It's a first! This Ben Bova book will not end up next to the 20 others that are already there :p
It's a first! This Ben Bova book will not end up next to the 20 others that are already there :p
If you pick this up and expect a Ben Bova Science Fiction story you will be disappointed, however I liked it as a thriller in its own right. Despite not being one of Bova's Science Fiction novels its style was very much like his SF books.
Overall not a deap meaning full book, but it was an easy read that I kept wanting to see what happens next.
Overall not a deap meaning full book, but it was an easy read that I kept wanting to see what happens next.
Contemporary thriller with science content. Fast paced, well-written with food for thought about current military balance of power and potential rogue weapons use. Not for those looking for deep character development. More of an high science content political thriller than science fiction.
A Korean nuclear missle has taken out almost all of the world's communication satellites and they haave two more nuclear missles ready to launch. All that stands between the missles is an American airborne laser anti- missle system.
A fast read. A competent low key "techno-thriller." It's nice to know that after 115 books and at 80 years of age, Ben Bova, one of the last of the earlier sci-fi greats, can still crank out a decent read.
A standard thriller, good fun, good writing. No big suprises, and a few of the side threads in for atmosphere were just unneeded, it broke the flow of the main story and felt like filler.
Able One is the name of a plane carrying a system designed to shoot down ballistic missiles. North Korean rebels (possibly with help from the Chinese) have launched one nuclear missile and are preparing to launch two more. This book is about the U.S. response, specifically the crew of Able One, sent to intercept the missiles. It was supposed to be suspenseful I guess, but the story seemed pretty predictable. It's a short book though, so not too much of a waste of time.
Pedantic. Reads like seven people did research, came up with technical mumbo jumbo and threw it all in a blender and spat out a novel. Another story by this author that is going nowhere only this time we are in a jumbo jet.
Mar 22, 2010
Ron
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
action,
military-fiction
Not a bad thriller. Reminded me of Dale Brown's Flight of the Old Dog updated with characters similar to today's political leaders.
Definitely a solid "beach read", you won't strain yourself reading this. The characters were a bit thin, I'd give it a 2 1/2 for that.
A nice quick read - traditional scifi set 20 min in the future. What would happen is we developed functional anti-missile system?
Good Ben bova book. Listened to the audio book. Didn't like the presentation that much. Not what I'm used to from bova. I love the grand tour series.
After reading some other reviews for this book I have to agree with them about the characters. It seems that the characters were just pasted on so he could tell a story about lasers. All the characters were very one dimensional and all I can really say about the main character is that he worked alot and has back pains. The science behind the laser was interesting though and how he used it was interesting. Overall I wouldn't really recommend this book to others unless they liked the science aspec...more
Sep 19, 2010
Ray Charbonneau
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery-thriller
Your basic techno-thriller, but not too thrilling.
Good read. Predictable, but still entertaining.
Not bad. I would not recommend this as an introduction to Ben Bova. I read this because I liked Moonrise and Moonwar.
A good techno thriller.
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Ben Bova was born on November 8, 1932 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1953, while attending Temple University, he married Rosa Cucinotta, they had a son and a daughter. He would later divorce Rosa in 1974. In that same year he married Barbara Berson Rose.
Bova is an avid fencer and organized Avco Everett's fencing club. He is an environmentalist, but rejects Luddism.
Bova was a technical writer fo...more
More about Ben Bova...
Bova is an avid fencer and organized Avco Everett's fencing club. He is an environmentalist, but rejects Luddism.
Bova was a technical writer fo...more
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