Challenges - Softcover

Twelve tales and six essays, 1962-92, including three previously unpublished stories, each piece illuminated by an extensive, and often broadly autobiographical, introduction. Veteran writer-editor Bova's ideas tend to be large concepts rather than sharp insights; not surprisingly, then, his novels are rather more successful than his stories. So here, where only three yarns rise much above the fairly mediocre: ``Thy Kingdom Come,'' dramatizing poverty and struggle in the mid-21st century, plus pieces about a Dyson sphere and some alien art. Elsewhere, the topics range from gravity, news manipulation, lawyers, twins, pacifism, computers, and signalling aliens to a Poe pastiche and altering history; one or two already have a dated feel. The essays, definitely superior, are at once readable, informative, and thought-provoking. One examines literacy and computers in the 21st century; another discusses the challenges of writing the thematic novel. For the rest, titles such as ``2042: A Cautionary Pessimistic View,'' ``Science in Science Fiction,'' ``John Campbell and the Modern SF Idiom,'' and ``Science, Fiction, and Faith'' more or less explain themselves. Worthwhile, especially for the essays and the various indications of Bova's own editorial thought processes--he has been no small influence himself. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

This bland collection gathers recent short stories and nonfiction essays by the Hugo Award-winning author of Mars , with each piece prefaced by the author's comments about his inspirations and writing methods. The stories display the typical elements of Bova's hard-SF orientation: robotic prosthetic limbs in the light-hearted tale, "The Man Who Hated Gravity"; sentient computers in the cyberpunkish "World War 4.5"; a mysterious alien artifact in "Sepulcher"; the problems of interstellar travel in "To Touch a Star." The author handles his subjects with clear prose and well-practiced skill, but none of these works breaks new ground. At best, he offers mildly intriguing perspectives on topics better handled elsewhere; at worst, he is prosaic and predictable. The nonfiction, dealing with the nature and technique of SF-writing, is adequate but forgettable. Bova repeats himself from essay to essay; his arguments about the merits of SF as literature have been made before. The one truly engaging essay is "Science, Fiction and Faith," which contends that SF may be the mythology of the modern age. As a whole, this volume does not represent Bova's strongest work.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.