David reviewed The kinsman saga by Ben Bova
Review of 'The kinsman saga' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
In just under the wire!
Now THAT is the reason I keep reading Bova, despite all of my complaining: when he gets it right, it’s really right!
Chet Kinsman is a long lived character. He first showed up in three short stories, collected in Bova’s Forward in Time. Then Bova wrote about him in the novel Millenium, the second half of The Kinsman Saga. THEN he wrote a prequel built around the three original stories (the first half of the Saga). The end result is an exciting portrait of a man living at the end of the twentieth century and how he comes to term with the defects of humanity, the war-mongering of nations, and his own personal weaknesses.
I don’t want to give anything away; what I will say is that The Kinsman Saga reminded me somewhat of Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress …
In just under the wire!
Now THAT is the reason I keep reading Bova, despite all of my complaining: when he gets it right, it’s really right!
Chet Kinsman is a long lived character. He first showed up in three short stories, collected in Bova’s Forward in Time. Then Bova wrote about him in the novel Millenium, the second half of The Kinsman Saga. THEN he wrote a prequel built around the three original stories (the first half of the Saga). The end result is an exciting portrait of a man living at the end of the twentieth century and how he comes to term with the defects of humanity, the war-mongering of nations, and his own personal weaknesses.
I don’t want to give anything away; what I will say is that The Kinsman Saga reminded me somewhat of Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, in the best possible way. The characters are fully fleshed, colorful, and easily distinguished from each other—something that isn’t always true for Bova’s writing. They are, in keeping with the worst tradition of classic sci-fi, predominantly male—but the female characters are well-written (for the most part), are fairly cliche-free (for the most part), and are extremely important to the plot (they have much more to do than dust or get coffee).
Overall, highly recommended, especially for lovers of space opera, tales of revolution, and champions of the human spirit.
