The Rock Rats : The Asteroid Wars II - Softcover

Ben Bova

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0340769599 ISBN 13: 9780340769591

Publisher: New English Library, 2002

Synopsis

Martin Humphries - the fabulously wealthy, coldly ruthless owner of the greatest space-based industrial giant - has been checked, but his malice and ambition remain. He still dreams of bankrupting the rival space exploration company Astro Manufacturing and bringing the independent prospectors who are beginning to stake claims on large and small rocks of the Asteroid Belt under his control. And most of all, he wants to capture the love of beautiful Amanda Cunningham, the woman who spurned his money, and take his revenge on Lars Fuchs, the space prospector who both defied Humphries and married Amanda. His weapons will be piracy, sabotage and murder. .

About this title

Review

Ben Bova's second installment in the Asteroid Wars series continues his trademark style, with caricatured characters in a classic Greek dramatic structure duking it out against a high-tech, Libertarian-influenced, future-history backdrop. Billionaire jerk and womanizer Martin Humphries stirs the pot again, overcoming attempts to oust him from the Selene moon base. His grip on Humphries Space Systems and its economic scheming remains as tight as ever, but he still desires two things: control of the asteroid belt's rich resources and, of course, possession of the ever-elusive Amanda What's-her-name at the expense of likeable alpha male number two, gruff prospector Lars Fuchs. ("One look at Amanda's innocent blue eyes and full-bosomed figure and any man would be wild to have her." We're left to guess as to whether the "wide-eyed," "lusciously curved" Amanda has any other qualities, desirable or otherwise.)

For Bova fans, Rock Rats has it all--cool technology, whip-fast action, and choreographed intrigue--and this installment certainly ups the ante in the series. As Bova gravely notes, "[T]he Belt became the region where prospectors and miners could make fortunes for themselves, or die in the effort. Many of them died. More than a few were killed." --Paul Hughes

About the Author

An award-winning editor, President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society, Ben Bova is also the author of more than ninety futuristic novels and non-fiction books. He and his wife live in Florida.

Edition details

• Publisher: New English Library
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0340769599
• ISBN 13: 9780340769591
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448