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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780812579901
ISBN number: 0812579909
Label: Tor Science Fiction
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 432
Printing Date: February 01, 2005
Publishing house: Tor Science Fiction
Release Date: February 01, 2005
Sale Popularity Level: 569014
Studio: Tor Science Fiction
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When corporations go to war, standard business practice goes out the window. Astro Corporation is led by indomitable Texan Pancho Lane, Humphries Space Systems by the rich and ruthless Martin Humphries, and their fight is over nothing less than resources of the Asteroid Belt itself. As fighting escalates, the lines between commerce and politics, boardroom and bedroom, blur--and the keys to victory will include physics, nanotechnology, and cold hard cash.
As they fight it out, the lives of thousands of innocents hang in the balance, including the rock rats who make their living off the asteroids, and the inhabitants of Selene City on Earth's moon. As if matters weren't complicated enough, the shadowy Yamagata corporation sets its sights on taking advantage of other people's quarrels, and space pirate Lars Fuchs decides it's time to make good on his own personal vendetta.
It's a breakneck finale that can end only in earth's salvation--or the annihilation of all that humankind has ever accomplished in space.
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Rated by buyers 
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The Asteroid Wars continue to rage in this third installment by Ben Bova.
Martin Humphries and Pancho Lane continue to battle it out over control of the asteroid belt and its tremendous mineral wealth. Humphries Space Systems and Astro Corporation continue to blast each other's ships into oblivion, and each side has hired mercenaries to combat the other. However, a new player has emerged in the war; Yamagata corporation. The Yamagata corporation has been silently watching as Astro and Humphries Space Systems battle each other. Then, when both are ready to collapse, Yamagata will zoom in and take full control of the belt. At least that's what the plan was.
Lars Fuchs continues to be a thorn in the side of Martin Humphries. After being exiled from Ceres, Fuchs has lead the life of a pirate; secretly destroying Martin Humphries' ships in the belt. However, Martin seems to have won the ultimate prize; Amanda, Lars' beloved wife, has divorced him and married Martin. She's even pregnant. But whose child is it, Martin's or Lars'? Sadly, Amanda dies in childbirth, leaving Martin with a handicapped son. Martin never bonds with the child, instead, he sends his new son to Connecticut to live.
Dorik Harbin is still on Humphries' payroll and is determined to find Lars. Lars has even tried to kill Martin in his own home. He sneaked into Martin's home in Selene and set fire to the entire compound. Martin managed to survive by hiding in a concealed fire-proof closet, but his house and many of his security team were destroyed. Pancho helped Lars escape by giving him one of Astro's new ships. But, Humphries has sent Harbin looking for him.
Meanwhile, Doug Stavenger's wife Edith has left Selene to fly to Ceres to report on the war. But, Harbin has chosen the same path to track Fuchs. Once at Ceres, Harbin demands that Fuchs be turned over to him. He is rebuffed and told that Fuchs is not there. Enraged, Harbin destroys the habitat surrounding Ceres. Meanwhile, Doug Stavenger has convened a meeting of Pancho, Humphries, and Yamagata in an effort to stop the war. Will he be successful, or will the Asteroid Wars continue to rage on?
This book is the best one of the series. The action is non-stop, and I enjoyed the way Bova expanded the storyline by adding the Yamagata corporation into the war. Of course, its still fun to watch Humphries and Pancho battle it out. Plus, the beginning and ending, which deals with an alien artifact, is good, too.
I give this book my highest recommendation. The action is fast-paced, and the character development is excellent. Will the Asteroid Wars finally come to an end, or will Pancho, Martin, and Yamagata continue to fight it out? Read this great book and find out!
Rated by buyers -
The Silent War (2004) is the third SF novel of the Asteroid Wars series, following The Rock Rats. In the previous volume, Lars Fuchs was caught in an ambush by HSS mercenaries, was returned to Ceres, and then was exiled by the Rock Rats. Amanda Cunningham divorced him and married Martin Humphries to keep Lars from being hurt by any HSS goons. But Amanda also has plans to implant an embryo fertilized by Lars within herself and to carry it to term.
In this novel, Yamagata Corporation is moving back into space ventures after years of rebuilding Japan. Saito Yamagata is leaving corporate management to his son Nobuhiko, but providing advice as requested. Saito has insisted that the corporation should remain in the background until their position is assured. Most of their efforts have been focused through Nairobi Industries, an African conglomerate with little overt experience in such ventures.
Covertly, Yamagata Corporation is picking off freighters from both Humphries Space Systems and Astro Manufacturing. Now each of these corporations blames the other for their losses. Martin Humphries and Pancho Lane are ready to make war of each other. The Humper is reestablishing the base on Vesta and equipping it with a dozen attack craft. Pancho is arming her freighters.
Lars Fuchs is unaware of most of these warlike preparations, but he is continuing his war against HSS. Dorik Harbin, commander of the HSS mercenaries, is still trying to lure him into a trap, but without luck. Still, Lars has learned about Amanda's pregnancy, but not about the heritage of the embryo.
Eight years after her marriage to Humphries, Amanda makes her very first move in the long held plan to implant herself with the cryogenically preserved embryo of Lars and herself. She is supposedly carrying Humphries's baby and only Douglas Stavenger and Pancho Lane know that the embryo's heritage is quite different. She has even changed the DNA codes in Humphries's medical records to throw off suspicion of another paternity. Now if she can just carry the baby to term without the Old Humper learning of her duplicity.
The characters in this novel have well developed, but trite motivations. Of course, trite means commonplace and they are very common personality types. Especially Humphries, who learned early that his father cared nothing for him; now he is marking people notice him by force (mostly economic). Pancho is a white-hatted cowboy, out to do good in the world, but otherwise liable to play practical jokes and other highjinks. Lars Fuchs has been forced into a psychological corner by the Old Humper and differs greatly from his previous self-image. All are what they are due to circumstances beyond their control, just as are you and I.
The prologue and epilogue to this work occur six years after the body of this novel. An alien object, thought to be an artistic work, has been discovered and sold to Martin Humphries. Except for the discovering family and the initial security detail, no one else has seen the object. The results of viewing the object are variable, but profound.
This novel is the final volume in the Asteroids Wars series, but the consequences carry throughout the Grand Tour universe. Some of these effects have already reached publication in other works, most notably Venus, which is a direct sequel, although taking place over a decade after this volume. Others are still to come.
Recommended for Bova fans and for anyone else who enjoy tales of high adventure, technical warfare and naked slaughter.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Rated by buyers 
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Characters
They're racy, with a corporate cowboy type atmosphere. Only it all takes place in a vacuum. The pace is ok to good and then speeds up during the last half of the book.
Who has the power and freedom to act? Pancho Lane. Who did you want to succeed in the end? Pancho. Who was the main character? Probably Pancho. She could have been the viewpoint character but Bova toggles between scenes so fast he couldn't really use a viewpoint character very effectively. It all has to be third person which I like. As far as who hurts the most there's lots of pain in the book but the winner was either an oppressed exile or an inwardly tortured mercenary.
Story Construction
Bova seems to have made an error in story construction, especially the end. The main characters get cornered and soon after, they dribble off the end of the book by means of Bova's artifact. I like the artifact idea and the uniqueness of the artifact itself. Bova prepares Dorn and Humphries for us with earlier glimpses into their private horrors. (Sorry, you'll just have to read it and I recommend a used paperback.) But I think he uses it as a terminating distraction so he can end the story (even though its introduced in the beginning to bracket the novel).
Summary
The quality of Bova's writing is excellent. His craftwork makes for fast reading and I enjoyed his use of technology to write stellar scenarios in future, not-to-distant places. His ship hulls, moon bases and lasers are believable.
Bova can write anything he wants but the end of the book was awkward and uncoordinated with how the characters developed. Plot twists are exciting but The Silent War contained character types with motivations established during the body of the book and they unwound in unlikely directions. I'm convinced he should have written little Van into the story to correct, console, and provide remembrance. Never underestimate the power of a little baby to propel a story to a memorable end. Remember Bethlehem?
Rated by buyers -
The "3" rating is most definitely an average of a "1" and a "5".
Until the very end, this book exemplified all the best features of this series, with a lot of corporate manipulation and dramatic action. I was hooked quickly. I found myself looking forward to the 2 new books in the Grand Tour that Bova has published since The Silent War. I even joined Bova's mailing list to hear about future books.
Then the last chapter descended on me like a sudden laser blast from space. It was so different in tone and theme that it did not even seem like something Bova would have written. It was not a fitting concluson, nor was it likely to appeal to the kind of reader who would have enjoyed the rest of the book or the rest of the series. If it was a jumping-off point for the subsequent books, it was too sudden and unwelcome.
Is the Grand Tour taking a new route? If so, I'm not sure I want to go along.?
Rated by buyers -
The Grand Tour is Dr. Ben Bova's series of books on the human exploration of the Solar System. This book is the third and final in a trilogy called The Asteroid Wars as human development reaches to the asteroids to get raw materials for space based manufacturing in the face of severe global warming. The war between two corporations to decide the future of the astroid belt and ultimately of Earth itself comes to a head. Seeing an opportunity as the two fight it out, others come in to try to pick up their share. As the conclusion comes, this volume wraps up the series.
One aspect of good science fiction is the science aspect that makes a prediction for the future that should be logically possible. At this Dr. Bova does an excellent job.
This recording runs for thirteen hours, it is on ten CD's, read by Scott Brick, Amanda Karr and a cast of lessor characters.
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