Review: 'Leviathans Of Jupiter'
A successful book of science fiction begets a sequel from author Ben Bova. Leviathans of Jupiter follows physicist Grant Archer's return to the hostile, planet-wide ocean on Jupiter, which he discovered in Bova's earlier novel titled after the solar system's largest planet. The character seeks to learn more about the creatures he discovered on his first visit.
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MICHELE NORRIS, host:
We have a review for you now for a new novel from science fiction writer Ben Bova. In his latest effort, Bova returns to familiar territory: the vast and mysterious Ocean of Jupiter. Here's Alan Cheuse.
ALAN CHEUSE: Ben Bova is an old science fiction hand, with scores of novels and stories published under his name. This latest book, "Leviathans of Jupiter," just out, is in fact the sequel to his 2001 novel "Jupiter," in which we learn that a team of scientists has discovered what may be intelligent life in the strange body of water, laced with ammonia and sulfur compounds, that makes up the Ocean of Jupiter, an ocean 10 times wider than the entire planet earth, Bova informs us.
But enough of the science lecture. The rest of the novel comes as pure entertainment, as a crew descends into the near-toxic fluid of the sea, and the mountain-sized creatures they dub the Leviathans make contact with them, while of course, some interplanetary political intrigue may stop the entire project in mid-flight.
If you love speculative science-fiction you'll enjoy this one no end: musing on the nature of life, the possibilities of space travel and the both retrograde and expansive elements of human nature.
NORRIS: The book is "Leviathans of Jupiter" by Ben Bova. Our reviewer, Alan Cheuse, teaches writing at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. His latest novel is called "Songs of Slaves in the Desert."
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