Saturn by Ben Bova

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Saturn by Ben Bova
pub: TOR. 412 page hardback. Price: $24.95 (US), $34.95 (CAN). ISBN: 1-312-87218-6

check out website: www.tor.com and www.benbova.com

As has been previously noted I do like a bit of action with my SF. You know what I mean, a few space battles, some bola-wielding teddy bears here and there and perhaps a 'nameless monstrosity from beyond the realms of mankind's imagination' (who is known as Geoffrey to his friends). ‘Saturn’ has none of that malarkey.

It is a very serious book. Its shiny silver book-jacket positively oozes solemnity. So is this novel an example of the straight-faced Science Fiction we are so familiar with. Well in a way yes, yet mercifully in many other ways, absolutely not.

Saturn by Ben Bova

‘Saturn’ tells the story of humanity's first manned mission to the aforementioned planet. It is set in a bleak future where the world is ruled by the stabilising forces of several different oppressive theocratic regimes. The New Morality is the regime that controls America and a large portion of the storyline concerns their attempts to infiltrate the planned mission.

You see, the crew will not be travelling in a fully air-conditioned, faster-than-light bubble ship. No sir, this is proper SF country you be a'traipsing in now, boy! The 'ship' is actually a vast revolving cylindrical habitat, a space commune with the population of a mid-sized town. The novel charts the journey of this great craft and the effects living in such an environment has on its citizens.

So to refer back to my earlier comments, yes we've certainly got all the trappings of hard Science Fiction on show but Bova's true interests lie in the depiction of the fledging society struggling within the giant shiny toilet roll they call home. This is definitely a good thing, as in Bova's hands this topic is a wonderful source of drama and thought-provoking ideas.

The structure of the book is virtually faultless. I particularly appreciated the way in which each 'book' in the novel was prefaced by a quote from Galileo concerning Saturn itself. Galileo was, of course, persecuted by the Catholic Church for his Copernican beliefs (the belief that the Sun is the centre of the universe rather than the Earth).

As previously mentioned, one of the main plot-lines concerns the New Morality's attempts to make sure that this new colony does not form without a heavy amount of guidance from themselves. The link between Galileo and the attempted suppression of thought and deed by the New Morality is just one example of the seamless thematic construction that Bova creates in this book.

So no, there are no space battles but there is a huge amount of wonderfully Machiavellian political manoeuvring. Malcolm Eberly is the New Morality's plant, an ex-con given his freedom in exchange for a pledge to bring the habitat under the direct dominance of the oppressive religious faction.

There is a huge amount of pleasure to be gained in watching this sociopath build up his power base as he slowly wraps the crew of the ship around his little finger. The majority of the people making the long journey are free-thinking outcasts and rebels. As a liberal-minded kind of guy it gave me chills to read of the ease with which Malcolm slowly cons them out of their freedom and their liberty.

These are exactly the sorts of fears that Bova seeks to engage with. The novel itself is a warning: a reflection on how progressive thinking can be hampered by dictatorial doctrine, be it religious or otherwise.

This doesn't mean that the scientists get off easily though! As the craft is eventually due to set up permanent orbit around Saturn it carries a full compliment of boffins. Many of them are characterised as having motivations that are not always (or even often) rooted in scientific discovery for science’s sake.

They are desperate for glory and unwilling to take any action that could possibly result in losing out to one of their colleagues. As the novel progresses, it is obvious that their isolationist tendencies and their self-obsessed lifestyles are the very things that allow people like Eberly to prosper.

Breaking up these heavy sociological musings are several sub-plots designed to bring this political story back down from the macro to the microcosmic scale. Susan is a girl who was terminally ill, then was frozen awaiting a cure. When resurrected, she remembered nothing of her former life, she was effectively a child again.

Her story of naiveté and hopeless love adds an element of humanity to a tale that could so easily have been much colder. Manuel Gaeta is an intergalactic stuntman who has joined the expedition for his latest trick. Bova places him as the outside observer. Once his stunt is over he will leave, so he is not an official member of the community. This awards him a position that allows Bova to add yet another fresh perspective on the events of the colony.

OK, so it is severely lacking in aggressive teddy bears but who cares! For a great examination of society under a microscope or for a highly entertaining yarn of political backstabbing look no further. Bova's rings rocks and that's a fact.

Paul Skevington

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