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To Save the Sun #1
To Save The Sun
A young woman approaches the Emperor of the Hundred Worlds with a plan to save Earth--through astrophysics and engineering--before the Sun explodes and wipes out the last genetically unaltered humans in the universe. Reprint.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Ben Bova
693 books1,049 followersBen 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 was an avid fencer and organized Avco Everett's fencing club. He was an environmentalist, but rejected Luddism.
Bova was a technical writer for Project Vanguard and later for Avco Everett in the 1960s when they did research in lasers and fluid dynamics. It was there that he met Arthur R. Kantrowitz later of the Foresight Institute.
In 1971 he became editor of Analog Science Fiction after John W. Campbell's death. After leaving Analog, he went on to edit Omni during 1978-1982.
In 1974 he wrote the screenplay for an episode of the children's science fiction television series Land of the Lost entitled "The Search".
Bova was the science advisor for the failed television series The Starlost, leaving in disgust after the airing of the first episode. His novel The Starcrossed was loosely based on his experiences and featured a thinly veiled characterization of his friend and colleague Harlan Ellison. He dedicated the novel to "Cordwainer Bird", the pen name Harlan Ellison uses when he does not want to be associated with a television or film project.
Bova was the President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past President of Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
Bova went back to school in the 1980s, earning an M.A. in communications in 1987 and a Ph.D. in 1996.
Bova has drawn on these meetings and experiences to create fact and fiction writings rich with references to spaceflight, lasers, artificial hearts, nanotechnology, environmentalism, fencing and martial arts, photography and artists.
Bova was the author of over a hundred and fifteen books, non-fiction as well as science fiction. In 2000, he was the Author Guest of Honor at the 58th World Science Fiction Convention (Chicon 2000).
Hollywood has started to take an interest in Bova's works once again, in addition to his wealth of knowledge about science and what the future may look like. In 2007, he was hired as a consultant by both Stuber/Parent Productions to provide insight into what the world is to look like in the near future for their upcoming film "Repossession Mambo" (released as "Repo Men") starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker and by Silver Pictures in which he provided consulting services on the feature adaptation of Richard Morgan's "Altered Carbon".
http://us.macmillan.com/author/benbova
Bova was an avid fencer and organized Avco Everett's fencing club. He was an environmentalist, but rejected Luddism.
Bova was a technical writer for Project Vanguard and later for Avco Everett in the 1960s when they did research in lasers and fluid dynamics. It was there that he met Arthur R. Kantrowitz later of the Foresight Institute.
In 1971 he became editor of Analog Science Fiction after John W. Campbell's death. After leaving Analog, he went on to edit Omni during 1978-1982.
In 1974 he wrote the screenplay for an episode of the children's science fiction television series Land of the Lost entitled "The Search".
Bova was the science advisor for the failed television series The Starlost, leaving in disgust after the airing of the first episode. His novel The Starcrossed was loosely based on his experiences and featured a thinly veiled characterization of his friend and colleague Harlan Ellison. He dedicated the novel to "Cordwainer Bird", the pen name Harlan Ellison uses when he does not want to be associated with a television or film project.
Bova was the President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past President of Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
Bova went back to school in the 1980s, earning an M.A. in communications in 1987 and a Ph.D. in 1996.
Bova has drawn on these meetings and experiences to create fact and fiction writings rich with references to spaceflight, lasers, artificial hearts, nanotechnology, environmentalism, fencing and martial arts, photography and artists.
Bova was the author of over a hundred and fifteen books, non-fiction as well as science fiction. In 2000, he was the Author Guest of Honor at the 58th World Science Fiction Convention (Chicon 2000).
Hollywood has started to take an interest in Bova's works once again, in addition to his wealth of knowledge about science and what the future may look like. In 2007, he was hired as a consultant by both Stuber/Parent Productions to provide insight into what the world is to look like in the near future for their upcoming film "Repossession Mambo" (released as "Repo Men") starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker and by Silver Pictures in which he provided consulting services on the feature adaptation of Richard Morgan's "Altered Carbon".
http://us.macmillan.com/author/benbova
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 22, 2013
The good: Great treatment of science - institutional stagnation, the need for committed leadership, the uncertainty and vast amounts of time involved in pushing boundaries and (although not fully realized yet) the unforseen impact of new technologies on society. Worth the read just for that. Also kind of refreshing, the scientific effort is led by a woman who follows her dream instead of devoting her life to family.
The bad: For most of the book, humans on one world are unable to communicate in real time with humans on another, and so things just ... stop. The plot follows one character at a time, almost like a series of short stories, and nothing occurs outside of that scope. This can feel a bit disjointed, and makes the 'archenemy' seem a little ineffective as there's about 40 years between her first move and her second.
The tropes: Good guys win, bad guys die, boy becomes a man, honorable man is disgraced (through no fault of his own) and then redeemed, scorned woman plots revenge, proud man is humbled, the lovers remain so: even though they haven't seen/spoken to each other in 40+ years, their love is eternal and undiminished. They are obvious, but they didn't ruin the story for me.
The bad: For most of the book, humans on one world are unable to communicate in real time with humans on another, and so things just ... stop. The plot follows one character at a time, almost like a series of short stories, and nothing occurs outside of that scope. This can feel a bit disjointed, and makes the 'archenemy' seem a little ineffective as there's about 40 years between her first move and her second.
The tropes: Good guys win, bad guys die, boy becomes a man, honorable man is disgraced (through no fault of his own) and then redeemed, scorned woman plots revenge, proud man is humbled, the lovers remain so: even though they haven't seen/spoken to each other in 40+ years, their love is eternal and undiminished. They are obvious, but they didn't ruin the story for me.
August 7, 2018
Love Ben Bova. Best Christmas present was a collection of his earlier work. Read all his titles except for a couple out of prints which I keep scouring for.
This one however, was my first Bova and still my favorite.
Thanks, Mr. Bova, for the hours and hours of reading time seasoned with real science, strong characters and space journeys.
This one however, was my first Bova and still my favorite.
Thanks, Mr. Bova, for the hours and hours of reading time seasoned with real science, strong characters and space journeys.
November 3, 2022
It’s a great mix the combination of science fiction and mystery. This is a book wherein you get a good load of sci-fi and just enough mystery tossed in to make the book even better.
Humanity has long since moved on from earth as the book opens. It hasn’t abandoned Earth. The planet and its primitive inhabitants have value. They represent the pure gene pool of humans. As the space exploration of former Earth residents continues, it’s crucial that scientists discover genetic mutations and compare them with the Earth residents who serve as a genetic baseline. So, the planet still very much matters to the emperor of the hundred worlds empire. Scientists discover that Earth’s sun is expanding, and that in a few hundred years, it will cease to function in ways beneficial to the Earth. It appears Earth is destined for extinction unless …
She is a young, child-like nonconformist of a scientist when her work gets the attention of the emperor Nicholas. He is old and will die soon. She is youthful and almost evangelistically convinced she can save the sun and the earth with it. The vast bulk of the scientific community throughout the empire is adamant that she will fail. Many work to that end. But the dying emperor and his son, the heir, believe in her and her mission. But those who oppose the mission will stop at nothing to thwart it.
Someone murders the emperor Nicholas, and his son, Javas, is now emperor. Javas and the female scientist are a couple, and they’ve given birth to a son, Prince Eric. Those who murdered the original emperor remain free and active, and they’re ready to kill again. This time, they want Emperor Javas and his teenaged son, Eric.
Meanwhile, Eric’s mother, the scientist who devised a plan to save earth, spends much of her life in cryosleep as she commutes between her world and an alien world that has technology that will help her achieve her goals.
But there are errors in her equations and bringing her project to fruition will require an additional two centuries. Realizing that she will lose her husband if she voluntarily enters cryosleep, she remains faithful to her project. But one of the last people she sees before entering sleep is the woman to whom her husband, the emperor, was married before meeting her. The spurned woman insists that the inheritance of being the empress is rightfully hers, and she’ll do all in her power to reclaim it while the scientist is literally out cold.
There’s a second book in this duology, and it’s next on my reading list. I’m hopeful that, like the first book, this second one has just the right mix of mystery and science fiction.
Humanity has long since moved on from earth as the book opens. It hasn’t abandoned Earth. The planet and its primitive inhabitants have value. They represent the pure gene pool of humans. As the space exploration of former Earth residents continues, it’s crucial that scientists discover genetic mutations and compare them with the Earth residents who serve as a genetic baseline. So, the planet still very much matters to the emperor of the hundred worlds empire. Scientists discover that Earth’s sun is expanding, and that in a few hundred years, it will cease to function in ways beneficial to the Earth. It appears Earth is destined for extinction unless …
She is a young, child-like nonconformist of a scientist when her work gets the attention of the emperor Nicholas. He is old and will die soon. She is youthful and almost evangelistically convinced she can save the sun and the earth with it. The vast bulk of the scientific community throughout the empire is adamant that she will fail. Many work to that end. But the dying emperor and his son, the heir, believe in her and her mission. But those who oppose the mission will stop at nothing to thwart it.
Someone murders the emperor Nicholas, and his son, Javas, is now emperor. Javas and the female scientist are a couple, and they’ve given birth to a son, Prince Eric. Those who murdered the original emperor remain free and active, and they’re ready to kill again. This time, they want Emperor Javas and his teenaged son, Eric.
Meanwhile, Eric’s mother, the scientist who devised a plan to save earth, spends much of her life in cryosleep as she commutes between her world and an alien world that has technology that will help her achieve her goals.
But there are errors in her equations and bringing her project to fruition will require an additional two centuries. Realizing that she will lose her husband if she voluntarily enters cryosleep, she remains faithful to her project. But one of the last people she sees before entering sleep is the woman to whom her husband, the emperor, was married before meeting her. The spurned woman insists that the inheritance of being the empress is rightfully hers, and she’ll do all in her power to reclaim it while the scientist is literally out cold.
There’s a second book in this duology, and it’s next on my reading list. I’m hopeful that, like the first book, this second one has just the right mix of mystery and science fiction.
March 8, 2019
I am a fan of the author having read several of his other books and this one did not disappoint. The premise of the book is that the sun will be expanding in a few centuries and a decision to try and save it by causing it to internally regenerate. It involves an expanded empire of human settlements on other planets and solar systems and interaction with an alien race. It is a engaging read and definitely holds the reader's interest. It is also the first part of a two part book series.
I recommend this book to fans of Ben Bova and science fiction.
I recommend this book to fans of Ben Bova and science fiction.
January 4, 2025
This was my first time reading a book of this genre. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
March 27, 2011
In To Save the Sun, humans rule a vast empire. It is discovered that the Sun is dying. A lethargic entity, the empire arrives at the consensus that humanity will evacuate the Solar System and move to other solar systems in the empire. One woman, however, feels that saving the sun would be both a symbolic gesture worthy of humanity, and a way to get humanity moving towards a common goal, as well as developing new technology. In short, a way to drive change in a society which has become too comfortable with the status quo, and in which progress has become a distant concept. The sequel is simply a continuation of events, but the first book can be read as a standalone. Unfortunately, both books feel rather unfocused on both the central story and the central theme. The main characters are not really fleshed out the way they could be. Since I very much like the thematic concepts, I was rather disappointed. It is, however, still an adequate read.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=467
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=467
August 24, 2013
This book was a big departure from other Bova works I have read, maybe thanks to his co-author, AJ Austin. This book had a feeling akin to fantasy novels, with a monarchy at the center of the novel that gave it a sort of historical feel but instead of fantasy creatures populating the world to set it apart, it was science. There is some intrigue, though perhaps not as well developed as could have been. There is a little bit of romance and a really big project that crosses generations. I don't want to say that they characters are really well developed, they really aren't, but somehow that didn't stop me from connecting with them, rooting for them, and wanting to learn more about them. This book surprised me, and that always helps me to enjoy the reading much more.
July 21, 2009
Undoubtedly the worst book I've ever read! Trouble is, it starts off quite interesting and pulls you in. But disappointment awaits unsuspecting victims. Steer clear!
April 5, 2010
The emperors truly act as leaders. The science is intriguing. The story leaves you wanting to read the next book in the series.
April 23, 2010
Galactic empire's effort to save Earth's sun. Good stuff.
April 29, 2013
For a thick book Ben Bova really keeps the story moving so that I never lost interest. The start of the story was a bit awkward but one it started rolling I could not put the book down at all.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews