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Sam Gunn Jr.
The final completed novel by Ben Bova
Intergalactic explorer, venture capitalist, and Casanova Sam Gunn may be gone, but his legacy lives on in his son, Sam Gunn Jr.
In his first-ever adventure, Sam Gunn Jr. sets off to fulfill his father’s left-behind mission of interplanetary enterprising. He soon learns his father’s shoes are tough to fill, but he is up for the task. Junior takes a journey through the stars, falling in love with beautiful women and leaving his unique mark everywhere he ventures. Soon, however, this trip through the universe takes a dangerous turn when Junior lands on Saturn and learns about a recent scientific discovery that will change everything, possibly forever.
Will he be able to save the universe and live up to his father’s name? Take an unforgettable ride through space in master sci-fi author Ben Bova’s exciting novel!
Intergalactic explorer, venture capitalist, and Casanova Sam Gunn may be gone, but his legacy lives on in his son, Sam Gunn Jr.
In his first-ever adventure, Sam Gunn Jr. sets off to fulfill his father’s left-behind mission of interplanetary enterprising. He soon learns his father’s shoes are tough to fill, but he is up for the task. Junior takes a journey through the stars, falling in love with beautiful women and leaving his unique mark everywhere he ventures. Soon, however, this trip through the universe takes a dangerous turn when Junior lands on Saturn and learns about a recent scientific discovery that will change everything, possibly forever.
Will he be able to save the universe and live up to his father’s name? Take an unforgettable ride through space in master sci-fi author Ben Bova’s exciting novel!
362 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 8, 2022
33 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Ben Bova
692 books1,047 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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February 8, 2022
We begin this one with a shocking revelation in the first sentence: Sam Gunn, that entrepreneurial maverick of many a Ben Bova story, the space industrialist who happens to be in the right place at the right time a lot, is dead.
If you have read the many short stories or The Sam Gunn Omnibus (2007), you may know what a well-liked character he was. Bastion of the pages of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (beginning in October 1983) and then Omni, Amazing and Analog (1989-2015), Sam sailed merrily around the Solar System causing havoc, doing a deal and selling the American way to all-and-sundry. He was often the epitome of the American dream, buying low, selling high and making enough profit to finance the next project. I guess that in some ways he was the Donald Trump of the Spaceways, albeit perhaps more honourable and much more likeable, taking capitalism to the stars.
Such a death obviously leaves a vacuum, into which steps Sam Gunn Junior, who until his father’s death never knew who Sam Gunn Senior was. This revelation, followed soon by the death of his mother, leads Sam Jr. to leave the rural homestead and try and make his way in the world – or rather Solar System.
Junior goes to the head offices to claim his inheritance, where he meets Frederick Mohammed Malone, Sam Gunn Senior’s friend and co-owner. Malone shows Jr. that Dad was holding together a company near bankruptcy. Junior is a bit naïve but under the tutelage of Malone soon manages to overcome many obstacles - re-starting a bankrupt business, building a museum on Mars, setting up an insurance scheme for the mineworkers near Ceres in the Asteroid Belt, for example – to continue in the manner his Dad used to.
Such challenges are not without difficulties, however, and in this case Junior’s nemesis is his father’s old enemy Pierre D’Argent, President of Rockledge Enterprises, who does everything he can to stop Junior succeeding. Much of the book is therefore about how Junior deals with these situations.
In dealing with these challenges, what this also allows us to do, of course, is get one of Ben’s condensed tours of the Solar System – see also his Solar System/Grand Tour books. Here (through Junior) we go from Earth to the Moon (Selene), Mars, the Asteroid Belt, Saturn and Jupiter – and see the Solar System through the eyes of someone to whom this is new. It’s not always pretty, but it does create that sense of wonder.
Such characters and situations seem light-years away from the millennial SF of today. They are perhaps simpler and less subtle, more straightforward and perhaps more fun to those who have perhaps been reading Ben’s stories of Sam Gunn for nearly 40 years. Consequently, the novel may not be liked by everyone, but I think that this is where the strength of Ben’s book lies.
The plot moves along at such a pace and with such good humour that the reader is inclined to forgive the odd plot-hole (how quickly does Sam take over his father’s business?) and convenient contrivances (women fall at his feet, things happen rather too opportunely at times) that occur as you go along. Reading this book, you pretty much know what you’re going to get, but frankly you don’t mind that.
The book is also a rallying call to that old adage that if you work hard you will get your just rewards, which I suspect is part of its appeal. Sam Jr. begins at a low level but through hard work and good ideas manages to make his way and turn a profit, which many readers will like. Seeing how he does it is part of the fun, even when the characterisation is a bit cliched.
In summary then, Sam Gunn Jr is a romp, a lovingly-written, entertaining gem of an SF novel that takes the old ideals of a capitalist Space Race culture, builds them big and then builds them bigger. Whilst the world in reality has moved on to a place where people such as Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bozos may be leading the way, Sam Gunn Jr shows us that it is OK to have a little fun with the ideas as well.
What is sad is that there are elements in this novel that are clearly setting things up for future novels. With Ben’s death it seems that we’ll never know how the bigger picture is resolved. However, Sam Gunn Jr. leaves us in a situation where more stories of “Junior” could be written – and if written by the right hands, I’d be happy to read more.
If this is Ben’s last swan-song - and it is being mentioned as Ben’s last complete novel, as he died of COVID-related pneumonia in November 2020 - then it’s not a bad one to finish on. I’m pleased to say that at the end I finished with a smile – which I am sure is what Ben would’ve wanted.
If you have read the many short stories or The Sam Gunn Omnibus (2007), you may know what a well-liked character he was. Bastion of the pages of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (beginning in October 1983) and then Omni, Amazing and Analog (1989-2015), Sam sailed merrily around the Solar System causing havoc, doing a deal and selling the American way to all-and-sundry. He was often the epitome of the American dream, buying low, selling high and making enough profit to finance the next project. I guess that in some ways he was the Donald Trump of the Spaceways, albeit perhaps more honourable and much more likeable, taking capitalism to the stars.
Such a death obviously leaves a vacuum, into which steps Sam Gunn Junior, who until his father’s death never knew who Sam Gunn Senior was. This revelation, followed soon by the death of his mother, leads Sam Jr. to leave the rural homestead and try and make his way in the world – or rather Solar System.
Junior goes to the head offices to claim his inheritance, where he meets Frederick Mohammed Malone, Sam Gunn Senior’s friend and co-owner. Malone shows Jr. that Dad was holding together a company near bankruptcy. Junior is a bit naïve but under the tutelage of Malone soon manages to overcome many obstacles - re-starting a bankrupt business, building a museum on Mars, setting up an insurance scheme for the mineworkers near Ceres in the Asteroid Belt, for example – to continue in the manner his Dad used to.
Such challenges are not without difficulties, however, and in this case Junior’s nemesis is his father’s old enemy Pierre D’Argent, President of Rockledge Enterprises, who does everything he can to stop Junior succeeding. Much of the book is therefore about how Junior deals with these situations.
In dealing with these challenges, what this also allows us to do, of course, is get one of Ben’s condensed tours of the Solar System – see also his Solar System/Grand Tour books. Here (through Junior) we go from Earth to the Moon (Selene), Mars, the Asteroid Belt, Saturn and Jupiter – and see the Solar System through the eyes of someone to whom this is new. It’s not always pretty, but it does create that sense of wonder.
Such characters and situations seem light-years away from the millennial SF of today. They are perhaps simpler and less subtle, more straightforward and perhaps more fun to those who have perhaps been reading Ben’s stories of Sam Gunn for nearly 40 years. Consequently, the novel may not be liked by everyone, but I think that this is where the strength of Ben’s book lies.
The plot moves along at such a pace and with such good humour that the reader is inclined to forgive the odd plot-hole (how quickly does Sam take over his father’s business?) and convenient contrivances (women fall at his feet, things happen rather too opportunely at times) that occur as you go along. Reading this book, you pretty much know what you’re going to get, but frankly you don’t mind that.
The book is also a rallying call to that old adage that if you work hard you will get your just rewards, which I suspect is part of its appeal. Sam Jr. begins at a low level but through hard work and good ideas manages to make his way and turn a profit, which many readers will like. Seeing how he does it is part of the fun, even when the characterisation is a bit cliched.
In summary then, Sam Gunn Jr is a romp, a lovingly-written, entertaining gem of an SF novel that takes the old ideals of a capitalist Space Race culture, builds them big and then builds them bigger. Whilst the world in reality has moved on to a place where people such as Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bozos may be leading the way, Sam Gunn Jr shows us that it is OK to have a little fun with the ideas as well.
What is sad is that there are elements in this novel that are clearly setting things up for future novels. With Ben’s death it seems that we’ll never know how the bigger picture is resolved. However, Sam Gunn Jr. leaves us in a situation where more stories of “Junior” could be written – and if written by the right hands, I’d be happy to read more.
If this is Ben’s last swan-song - and it is being mentioned as Ben’s last complete novel, as he died of COVID-related pneumonia in November 2020 - then it’s not a bad one to finish on. I’m pleased to say that at the end I finished with a smile – which I am sure is what Ben would’ve wanted.
June 25, 2022
On June 1 I decided I wanted to complete a reading bingo this summer, and picked up the /r/Fantasy 2022 Bingo (which, full disclosure, I was an idiot not to be doing every year but I have tended to be reddit-averse). When on June 2 Bookbub had an offer that fit one of the squares perfectly, it seemed like a sign.
Oh, boy.
Sometimes we write things that are not intended to be read by someone else. Sometimes we indulge our id and write the things we know are wrong because they’re nostalgic or we’re exploring our feelings about something or they’re just plain indulgent fun. There’s nothing wrong with that…until someone comes along after we’re gone and publishes it. That’s how I felt reading this book, that it was something I shouldn’t be looking at, a glimpse inside someone’s id that they never actually intended to see the light of day, “finished” or not.
I genuinely wonder if it was written recently or written quite some time back and left in a drawer for a couple decades until someone dug it up. For instance, Gunn’s list of famous depictions of Mars in fiction doesn’t include Weir or Robinson (maybe they just weren’t sexy enough), and the technologies in play feel more Jetsons than even ST:TNG, let alone anything more modern than that. There’s a mention of distance learning in particular that can only be called retrofuturist; it’s set in this future but significantly less advanced than what we’re literally using right now.
This is a throwback to a throwback, a continuation of a 30-year-old series that was already dated when it was first published. In that sense, it almost feels like a satire of the pulp fiction genre, lampshading its worst traits. But as far as I can tell, that’s not the case here. This is an author who spent a career writing various permutations of these themes and this style, and while this might be more indulgent than most, signs point to him playing it straight.
There are things that I love about a throwback. Sometimes you just want to have fun gallivanting around the solar system and not have to ground your story in plausible science and realistic business acumen. I think pulp fiction can be an absolute joy. But when you’re writing in this vein, what a person considers ‘fun’ starts to really matter. Watching every female character be a conquest - or not hot enough to be a conquest - is not fun for me. Spending time in a story that is demonstrably homophobic is not fun for me. It’s all the things that always made me - and many, many other people who genuinely love speculative fiction - feel excluded from these worlds despite a love for the genre.
Making room for other people doesn’t mean anyone else gets pushed out. There’s room for everyone at the party.
I made notes on this as I went along, but half of them just read ‘wtf’, not because I didn’t understand what was going on but because— well, here are a few examples: he accidentally swaps the professions of two of the female love interests because apparently they are completely interchangeable; he has a gay character say to a woman, “You’re so sexy, I’m thinking of taking the cure”; he compares first contact with aliens to white explorers first encountering indigenous Americans.
Nothing is hard for Sam Gunn, Jr. The whole book feels like a celebration of just how far a mediocre white man can get.
I kind of feel bad that I didn’t like this (as if disliking it is akin to speaking ill of the dead)…but I didn’t like this. I also didn’t DNF it, first because I almost never DNF out of sheer perverse stubbornness but second because I was just so confused by it and wanted to gather more data about what it actually is supposed to be and who it’s for. And I have to admit, I still don’t quite know.
Oh, boy.
Sometimes we write things that are not intended to be read by someone else. Sometimes we indulge our id and write the things we know are wrong because they’re nostalgic or we’re exploring our feelings about something or they’re just plain indulgent fun. There’s nothing wrong with that…until someone comes along after we’re gone and publishes it. That’s how I felt reading this book, that it was something I shouldn’t be looking at, a glimpse inside someone’s id that they never actually intended to see the light of day, “finished” or not.
I genuinely wonder if it was written recently or written quite some time back and left in a drawer for a couple decades until someone dug it up. For instance, Gunn’s list of famous depictions of Mars in fiction doesn’t include Weir or Robinson (maybe they just weren’t sexy enough), and the technologies in play feel more Jetsons than even ST:TNG, let alone anything more modern than that. There’s a mention of distance learning in particular that can only be called retrofuturist; it’s set in this future but significantly less advanced than what we’re literally using right now.
This is a throwback to a throwback, a continuation of a 30-year-old series that was already dated when it was first published. In that sense, it almost feels like a satire of the pulp fiction genre, lampshading its worst traits. But as far as I can tell, that’s not the case here. This is an author who spent a career writing various permutations of these themes and this style, and while this might be more indulgent than most, signs point to him playing it straight.
There are things that I love about a throwback. Sometimes you just want to have fun gallivanting around the solar system and not have to ground your story in plausible science and realistic business acumen. I think pulp fiction can be an absolute joy. But when you’re writing in this vein, what a person considers ‘fun’ starts to really matter. Watching every female character be a conquest - or not hot enough to be a conquest - is not fun for me. Spending time in a story that is demonstrably homophobic is not fun for me. It’s all the things that always made me - and many, many other people who genuinely love speculative fiction - feel excluded from these worlds despite a love for the genre.
Making room for other people doesn’t mean anyone else gets pushed out. There’s room for everyone at the party.
I made notes on this as I went along, but half of them just read ‘wtf’, not because I didn’t understand what was going on but because— well, here are a few examples: he accidentally swaps the professions of two of the female love interests because apparently they are completely interchangeable; he has a gay character say to a woman, “You’re so sexy, I’m thinking of taking the cure”; he compares first contact with aliens to white explorers first encountering indigenous Americans.
Nothing is hard for Sam Gunn, Jr. The whole book feels like a celebration of just how far a mediocre white man can get.
I kind of feel bad that I didn’t like this (as if disliking it is akin to speaking ill of the dead)…but I didn’t like this. I also didn’t DNF it, first because I almost never DNF out of sheer perverse stubbornness but second because I was just so confused by it and wanted to gather more data about what it actually is supposed to be and who it’s for. And I have to admit, I still don’t quite know.
May 13, 2022
Billed as "The last complete novel by Ben Bova", one would think that the novel on question would speak to the legacy of the author, to frame the authors works and themes and perhaps the influence said author has had on his successors. That certainly seems to be what Sam Gunn Jr. attempts to do, but unfortunately for my tastes, it falls a little flat.
The Jr. of course refers to pur protagonist being named after his father, the late Sam Gunn Sr. star protagonist of Bovas earlier works (written in the 90's, but following a classic mid-century SF style) who dies off page in the beginning of this work.
This work very much takes that 50's SF style, conventions and spirit and shows precisely why many of those tropes no longer work on the 2020s. To say that casual misogyny and homophobia are no longer appropriate in today's science fiction market (if they ever were) should be taken for granted, but of course here they are. So if such things are not for you: know that going in. Had these things existed in a novel published in the 50s, they could be written off as "of the time". Unfortunately, this is a book published in 2020, so it's clear the author was "of that time", and never learned better.
Aside from these glaringly anachronistic descriptions and portrayals, my two main problems with this book consist of plot and characterization. Mainly the "plot" seems to be a loosely connected travelog, where character goes to location and stuff happens. This conciet would be better served as an anthology of short stories, each taking place in a different location, (Earth, Luna, Mars, Ceres, Earth again, Saturn) where each adventure could be fleshed out a little, and perhaps some connective narrative provided between areas; as opposed to the minimal efforts used to tie these events into a longer tale, without an obvious direction or theme.
As for the characters, each seems paper-thin, with one or two (sometimes inconsistent) traits or motivations, and many often disappear without explanation, only to resurface when needed. After spending 350 pages with a protagonist, I'd like to know more about them than: Likes girls despite having misgivings about her former profession. Resents dad for leaving mom, but still willing to use his name, reputation, financial assets, and tactics when it suits him. Nearly same with primary antagonist (wealthy corporate executive type). Is in some ways just like his dad, in some ways not?
That said: there is some fun to be had with Sam Gunn Jr. The Solar System Travelog does present some interesting concepts and story fodder: Martian museums, sentient whale-like creatures I'm the seas of Jupiter, advanced alien machines in the rings of Saturn. It just feels like each cool idea is presented, glossed over, and moved aside for the next one. It feels like there was a lot of potential for a great SF adventure here, but ot was let down in the execution.
The Jr. of course refers to pur protagonist being named after his father, the late Sam Gunn Sr. star protagonist of Bovas earlier works (written in the 90's, but following a classic mid-century SF style) who dies off page in the beginning of this work.
This work very much takes that 50's SF style, conventions and spirit and shows precisely why many of those tropes no longer work on the 2020s. To say that casual misogyny and homophobia are no longer appropriate in today's science fiction market (if they ever were) should be taken for granted, but of course here they are. So if such things are not for you: know that going in. Had these things existed in a novel published in the 50s, they could be written off as "of the time". Unfortunately, this is a book published in 2020, so it's clear the author was "of that time", and never learned better.
Aside from these glaringly anachronistic descriptions and portrayals, my two main problems with this book consist of plot and characterization. Mainly the "plot" seems to be a loosely connected travelog, where character goes to location and stuff happens. This conciet would be better served as an anthology of short stories, each taking place in a different location, (Earth, Luna, Mars, Ceres, Earth again, Saturn) where each adventure could be fleshed out a little, and perhaps some connective narrative provided between areas; as opposed to the minimal efforts used to tie these events into a longer tale, without an obvious direction or theme.
As for the characters, each seems paper-thin, with one or two (sometimes inconsistent) traits or motivations, and many often disappear without explanation, only to resurface when needed. After spending 350 pages with a protagonist, I'd like to know more about them than: Likes girls despite having misgivings about her former profession. Resents dad for leaving mom, but still willing to use his name, reputation, financial assets, and tactics when it suits him. Nearly same with primary antagonist (wealthy corporate executive type). Is in some ways just like his dad, in some ways not?
That said: there is some fun to be had with Sam Gunn Jr. The Solar System Travelog does present some interesting concepts and story fodder: Martian museums, sentient whale-like creatures I'm the seas of Jupiter, advanced alien machines in the rings of Saturn. It just feels like each cool idea is presented, glossed over, and moved aside for the next one. It feels like there was a lot of potential for a great SF adventure here, but ot was let down in the execution.
December 28, 2022
lly published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 2.5 of 5
I'm pretty sure I've never read any Ben Bova before this, unless I've read a short story in an anthology sometime back in the 1970's or so. I'm not exactly sure why this is other than the simple fact that there's too many books and too little time and choices of what to read have to be made. Bova's books always appeared to be more technical, hard science fiction (I suppose I based this on nothing more than book covers that always had rocket ships on them) and I was more interested in reading fantasy like Howard, Zelazny, and Ellison.
But this book popped up as a potential ARC (advance reading copy) for me so I requested it (despite having a rocket ship on the cover). I figured it was about time I gave Bova a try and according to reports, this was the last book he was working on when he passed away.
Sam Gunn, Jr., as you might guess, is the son of a gunn ... Sam Gunn. His mother always told him that Sam Gunn, the famous explorer and entrepreneur, was his father, though Jr never met the man. Gunn Sr probably never knew anything about him. But when Jr becomes an adult he wants to be like his father, an adventurer and entrepreneur. But Sr dies and Jr is left trying to convince people (like the bank) that he is Gunn's son and therefore just as trustworthy. But no bank will give him a loan based on his say-so.
But if what Jr says is true, then Sam Gunn's business will become his. Fortunately, there's a tiny bit of Gunn's DNA stored in the office safe, proving that Jr really is a chip off the old block. Now everything belongs to Jr ... including all the debt that Sr racked up. Jr will be forced to go out and hustle money and business the old fashioned way - like a carny huckster.
Along the way, Jr will fall in love with beautiful women, be betrayed by ruthless men, bribe his way out of imprisonment, and explore the rings of Saturn like no one else. The Sam Gunn legacy lives on through his son.
First, this book is pretty clearly written for the middle school crowd I think. I constantly had throwback impressions of Isaac Asimov's old Lucky Starr series or Tom Corbett. Everything had a "Gosh golly gee whiz" attitude and Jr. was never challenged with anything he couldn't just decide would go his way and it would. There really was no challenge, no obstacle - no plot. This was one quick adventure after another with nothing significant happening in any of them (with the possible exception of his girlfriend being taken away by a wealthy man).
This kind of writing worked in the 50's, but not so much now. What also doesn't work now is this old-school sexism and racism.
Although the reports are that this is the book Bova was working on when he died, one has to believe that the first draft(s) of this were likely written 50 or more years earlier. It just feels like a book from the 50's. If not, then Bova the author didn't grow with the times.
I happen to like classic pulp fiction and I like YA books, so there was some appeal for me but I don't expect this to appeal to too many young readers or even longtime fans of Bova's work.
Looking for a good book? Sam Gunn Jr by Ben Bova is a slightly stale YA yarn pulled from the energies of the 1950's. Pulp adventure fiction readers may find this delightful but most modern readers won't see the charm.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
I'm pretty sure I've never read any Ben Bova before this, unless I've read a short story in an anthology sometime back in the 1970's or so. I'm not exactly sure why this is other than the simple fact that there's too many books and too little time and choices of what to read have to be made. Bova's books always appeared to be more technical, hard science fiction (I suppose I based this on nothing more than book covers that always had rocket ships on them) and I was more interested in reading fantasy like Howard, Zelazny, and Ellison.
But this book popped up as a potential ARC (advance reading copy) for me so I requested it (despite having a rocket ship on the cover). I figured it was about time I gave Bova a try and according to reports, this was the last book he was working on when he passed away.
Sam Gunn, Jr., as you might guess, is the son of a gunn ... Sam Gunn. His mother always told him that Sam Gunn, the famous explorer and entrepreneur, was his father, though Jr never met the man. Gunn Sr probably never knew anything about him. But when Jr becomes an adult he wants to be like his father, an adventurer and entrepreneur. But Sr dies and Jr is left trying to convince people (like the bank) that he is Gunn's son and therefore just as trustworthy. But no bank will give him a loan based on his say-so.
But if what Jr says is true, then Sam Gunn's business will become his. Fortunately, there's a tiny bit of Gunn's DNA stored in the office safe, proving that Jr really is a chip off the old block. Now everything belongs to Jr ... including all the debt that Sr racked up. Jr will be forced to go out and hustle money and business the old fashioned way - like a carny huckster.
Along the way, Jr will fall in love with beautiful women, be betrayed by ruthless men, bribe his way out of imprisonment, and explore the rings of Saturn like no one else. The Sam Gunn legacy lives on through his son.
First, this book is pretty clearly written for the middle school crowd I think. I constantly had throwback impressions of Isaac Asimov's old Lucky Starr series or Tom Corbett. Everything had a "Gosh golly gee whiz" attitude and Jr. was never challenged with anything he couldn't just decide would go his way and it would. There really was no challenge, no obstacle - no plot. This was one quick adventure after another with nothing significant happening in any of them (with the possible exception of his girlfriend being taken away by a wealthy man).
This kind of writing worked in the 50's, but not so much now. What also doesn't work now is this old-school sexism and racism.
Although the reports are that this is the book Bova was working on when he died, one has to believe that the first draft(s) of this were likely written 50 or more years earlier. It just feels like a book from the 50's. If not, then Bova the author didn't grow with the times.
I happen to like classic pulp fiction and I like YA books, so there was some appeal for me but I don't expect this to appeal to too many young readers or even longtime fans of Bova's work.
Looking for a good book? Sam Gunn Jr by Ben Bova is a slightly stale YA yarn pulled from the energies of the 1950's. Pulp adventure fiction readers may find this delightful but most modern readers won't see the charm.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
June 3, 2022
Sam Gunn Jr. is an old-school Sci-Fi novel that takes the ideals of the ‘Wild West’ and ‘Frontier Culture’ to Outer Space and the future development of the Solar System.
This is the first Sci-Fi novel that I have ever read, so I found the first few chapters engaging enough to keep me entertained. However, mid-way though the book, when descriptive space travel took over, the plot seemed to disappear into a black hole. The ‘plot twists’ made no sense to me, and that could be opportunistic scene jumping or my lack of experience reading Sci-Fi. I would have appreciated more character development as well as some continuity in characters included through the book. Sam Gunn Jr. reads like an anthology of short stories that were edited together to make a novel, and if that is the case, the author’s “swan song”, doesn’t do him justice.
I appreciated the book as a satire on capitalistic space race culture, but Sam Gunn Jr. did not convert me to a Sci-Fi reader.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. For more reading recommendations, visit Book Junkie Reviews at www.abookjunkiereviews.wordpress.com
This is the first Sci-Fi novel that I have ever read, so I found the first few chapters engaging enough to keep me entertained. However, mid-way though the book, when descriptive space travel took over, the plot seemed to disappear into a black hole. The ‘plot twists’ made no sense to me, and that could be opportunistic scene jumping or my lack of experience reading Sci-Fi. I would have appreciated more character development as well as some continuity in characters included through the book. Sam Gunn Jr. reads like an anthology of short stories that were edited together to make a novel, and if that is the case, the author’s “swan song”, doesn’t do him justice.
I appreciated the book as a satire on capitalistic space race culture, but Sam Gunn Jr. did not convert me to a Sci-Fi reader.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. For more reading recommendations, visit Book Junkie Reviews at www.abookjunkiereviews.wordpress.com
July 15, 2022
I haven't read Bova in decades, and after he died and I found out this book was getting published, I thought why not? So I read it and remembered why not. For many people this will be a rollicking yarn of a space story, but for me it was just a sour reminder of the sexism, racism and other isms practiced by many of the early sci fi writers. I like sci fi and I put up with all that because, it was in the world, you couldn't get away from it (and actually nobody under 35 really can understand what a burden it was to operate under all the time), and I learned to tune it out. I'm too old to tune it out any more, and did Bova write this in the 60s? I don't think so. So there's no excuse. It's the kind of stuff where there will be a single black character constantly referred to as the "big black man", a dwarf who doesn't like being called little that the author constantly refers to as "little", women Sam wants to bed are stunningly gorgeous, and all the other women are dumpy or overweight - smart, though, as if that makes up for the author's obvious disdain. Yawn to all that!! There are other sci fi authors - as old or older than Bova - who aren't anywhere near this bad!!
March 9, 2022
"Sam Gunn Jr." by Ben Bova is a Young Adult oriented collection of chronological episodes of the bold freelancing Sam Gunn Jr as he learns of his legacy, and travels the solar system while pursuing financial success, searching for the love of his life, helping further the scientific horizon, and figuratively crossing swords with a despicable tycoon and assorted troublesome bankers, lawyers, bureaucrats, and assassins.
The various quotes from notable historic figures sprinkled throughout the book was informative and added a nice touch.
This collection is organized into eight books that are further split into simple 2-5 page episodes which all together document Sam Gunn Jr's experiences. Although the overall plot is not all that compelling and the characters feel like flat stereotypes, the episodes include space travel and the settings and various subplots are interesting.
I would like to thank the publisher for kindly providing an electronic review copy of this book.
The various quotes from notable historic figures sprinkled throughout the book was informative and added a nice touch.
This collection is organized into eight books that are further split into simple 2-5 page episodes which all together document Sam Gunn Jr's experiences. Although the overall plot is not all that compelling and the characters feel like flat stereotypes, the episodes include space travel and the settings and various subplots are interesting.
I would like to thank the publisher for kindly providing an electronic review copy of this book.
April 21, 2022
This feels like one he wrote in the 1950s but wasn't good enough to get published. However, it's not even that. In the 1990s, Bova wrote a couple of stories about Sam Gunn, and wrote them in the 50's style -- from what I see on fantasticfiction. Sadly this was obviously the same and the estate wanted to make a bit more money for his kids.
It's doesn't make me nostalgic for the very outdated "classic SF" style. There's no real plot, but still a lot of holes. For instance, early in the story the main character defends himself , but multiple times later he doesn't even try. The characters are very simple and the scenarios fly by without the interest of a good short story for each.
Pass this one up. He was a much better editor of Analog.
It's doesn't make me nostalgic for the very outdated "classic SF" style. There's no real plot, but still a lot of holes. For instance, early in the story the main character defends himself , but multiple times later he doesn't even try. The characters are very simple and the scenarios fly by without the interest of a good short story for each.
Pass this one up. He was a much better editor of Analog.
March 10, 2022
I was easily drawn into the book. I started to care about Sam Gunn Jr from the beginning. I enjoyed the way Bova would think of new ways to get Jr out of questionable situations. I also liked the way Bova would develop all the characters that Jr met throughout the book. Bova also did a good job of describing the different places Jr would end up exploring. However I found the end to be missing certain important information and Jr’s handling of the villain unsatisfactory. In addition, some of the content was a bit dated. Overall this is a book well worth reading. Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the advance reader copy.
March 20, 2022
4-words summary: starts great, ends badly.
In more detail: the first few chapters are just great, well-written Bova-signature fiction, fast-paced and fun. But then it starts going downhill: plot twists that make no sense, characters that misteriously disappear or behave unexplainably, etc. It finally converges into a disappointing ending.
I'm quite a Bova fan and I'm sad to knock down what's supposedly his "last completed novel", but this is not a great book.
That said, it's not terribly bad either, just mediocre; my rating for it would have been 2.5/5, which I round up to 3.
In more detail: the first few chapters are just great, well-written Bova-signature fiction, fast-paced and fun. But then it starts going downhill: plot twists that make no sense, characters that misteriously disappear or behave unexplainably, etc. It finally converges into a disappointing ending.
I'm quite a Bova fan and I'm sad to knock down what's supposedly his "last completed novel", but this is not a great book.
That said, it's not terribly bad either, just mediocre; my rating for it would have been 2.5/5, which I round up to 3.
February 4, 2022
The author continues his Sam Gunn series by passing it on to his illegitimate son who discovers on his mother’s deathbed that the late Sam Gunn was his father. The son overall is less of a scoundrel that his father, but does inherit some of his traits. It is an entertaining and quick read.
I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. .
I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. .
July 30, 2022
Do not bother with this book. RIP Ben, but this does not add to your opus.
Sam Gunn Jr. zooms from location to location (the journey from the Moon to Mars takes 2 weeks with no back story on the technology), he gets a ship full of building materials to Mars less than a month after he arrives (wow, how'd they lift all that from Earth so quickly?), etc. The "adventures" are so superficial and defies belief.
Not even a crutch and oxygen can revive this.
Sam Gunn Jr. zooms from location to location (the journey from the Moon to Mars takes 2 weeks with no back story on the technology), he gets a ship full of building materials to Mars less than a month after he arrives (wow, how'd they lift all that from Earth so quickly?), etc. The "adventures" are so superficial and defies belief.
Not even a crutch and oxygen can revive this.
May 2, 2024
I really liked the Sam Gunn story that was in Bova's favorite stories collection. I tried to like this one, and I did, a little, but sometimes there were creepy things in the treatment of women that made me uncomfortable. And I'm a 50s Boomer, been reading SF since way back. Had subscriptions to Analog and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction back in the 60s! Love Heinlein! Should be inured to that kind of stuff. Maybe I'm growing, a little, I don't know.
May 13, 2025
Meandering story
With an unsatisfying and anticlimactic ending. It seems like someone else finished this book for the author. The “villain” got no comeuppance and at least one storyline dropped out and disappeared. (The protagonist was supposed to be receiving $15 million a year, but often seems strapped. Also, he instantly falls in love with beautiful women who instantly fall in love with him. Eye-roll anyone?)
With an unsatisfying and anticlimactic ending. It seems like someone else finished this book for the author. The “villain” got no comeuppance and at least one storyline dropped out and disappeared. (The protagonist was supposed to be receiving $15 million a year, but often seems strapped. Also, he instantly falls in love with beautiful women who instantly fall in love with him. Eye-roll anyone?)
January 31, 2025
It's nice that the Great Tour books all fit together - they really are a fun read. Characters recur in novels, some older, some with the next generation, and so on.
It reminds me of Anne McCaffrey's Pern series, another series where relatives of characters as well as characters themselves returned in novel after novel.
A fun read!
It reminds me of Anne McCaffrey's Pern series, another series where relatives of characters as well as characters themselves returned in novel after novel.
A fun read!
December 12, 2022
Ben Bova wrote a number of stories about San Gunn the almost criminal entrepreneur operating in space industry. He dies with his company over extended but his secret child Sam Gunn equally intelligent but less delighted in manipulating people and less a sex addict manages to take over.
January 30, 2022
Bova has written a novel about the son of a world famous entrepreneur. He tries to follow in his father's footprints and learns life lessons along the way.
April 2, 2022
Pretty much a young adult book. The last book Bova wrote. Sad there won't be anymore by him.
April 9, 2022
This was the perfect science fiction novel. This is what science fiction is supposed to be.
April 14, 2022
Stupendous YA novel by the great Ben Bova.
May 12, 2022
Bova's not my favorite, but this was a great send-off and a nice throw back.
June 22, 2022
A good space opera, technically a sequel to earlier books by the author. It was an enjoyable read.
September 8, 2022
Well, at least the cover looked cool.
September 19, 2022
Not good. Who decided this was worth publishing?
October 28, 2022
Sam Gunn was a great protagonist. While his son isn’t as interesting it is still great to return to the universe that Bova created.
December 30, 2023
In the vein of classic science fiction. Not a bad rogue’s tail but main character is a bit wooden. Some fun speculation about life on other planets.
January 14, 2024
Fast paced, easy to read. The story is just not really for me.
May 7, 2024
There was no time for any character development (including the main protagonist) in this piecemeal story where each piece is even wackier and more implausible than the last.
August 10, 2022
Enjoyment is strained by Bova’s sexism and homophobia. All female characters are tiresome stereotypes. I can’t help but wonder if the revered Ben Bova was a misogynistic creep.
May 27, 2022
2.5 stars
A throwback to classic sci-fi... for all its good & bad.
I will start by saying I am unfamiliar with Ben Bova's adventures of Sam Gunn, so my review of this book may be hindered by or benefit from that lack of familiarity.
This was an interesting book to read. Had I read it without any prior knowledge of when it was published, I would easily have thought it was released during the Golden Age of Sci-Fi. The story, the pacing, the characters, and the short, serial nature of the chapters themselves truly felt like a good ol' fashioned sci-fi romp around the galaxy. If that's what you're looking for, I truly believe it's one of its pros.
Unfortunately, it's also one of its biggest cons.
Gender roles in this book are, while perhaps 'acceptable' had it been written in the 30s, definitely stereotypical. This novel is broken down into smaller books, with a new woman introduced in every book. Even if our hero, Sam Gunn Jr.—who has to make sure to tell us he is not a womanizer like his father and to whom all things come easily—doesn't actually bed them, they are still written through the male gaze. I was always more surprised when Junior didn't sleep with the latest female character.
That aside, the novel itself was still enjoyable enough. It wasn't complex and it had its issues, but if you're looking for something light with that classic a pulp hero feel, you'll probably enjoy this book, too.
Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read this digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
A throwback to classic sci-fi... for all its good & bad.
I will start by saying I am unfamiliar with Ben Bova's adventures of Sam Gunn, so my review of this book may be hindered by or benefit from that lack of familiarity.
This was an interesting book to read. Had I read it without any prior knowledge of when it was published, I would easily have thought it was released during the Golden Age of Sci-Fi. The story, the pacing, the characters, and the short, serial nature of the chapters themselves truly felt like a good ol' fashioned sci-fi romp around the galaxy. If that's what you're looking for, I truly believe it's one of its pros.
Unfortunately, it's also one of its biggest cons.
Gender roles in this book are, while perhaps 'acceptable' had it been written in the 30s, definitely stereotypical. This novel is broken down into smaller books, with a new woman introduced in every book. Even if our hero, Sam Gunn Jr.—who has to make sure to tell us he is not a womanizer like his father and to whom all things come easily—doesn't actually bed them, they are still written through the male gaze. I was always more surprised when Junior didn't sleep with the latest female character.
That aside, the novel itself was still enjoyable enough. It wasn't complex and it had its issues, but if you're looking for something light with that classic a pulp hero feel, you'll probably enjoy this book, too.
Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read this digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
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