Ben Bova
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Orion was the first sci-fi and adult novel I ever read. It still holds a special place in my library. As On A Darkling Plain is another one of my favorites, and you can see the beginnings of the novel Jupiter in this book (which is a mashup). Also pretty big on Kinsman, Millennium, Mars, and Return to Mars.
I can't really think of anything of his that would work as a TV show or a movie, though. He's a good writer, if not a little dated by now.
I can't really think of anything of his that would work as a TV show or a movie, though. He's a good writer, if not a little dated by now.
I can easily think of two of his novels that would work as movies or miniseries: Mars and Venus.
Mars looks like it was written with possible filming in mind, the way the characters and events were developed. I love this book - have read it umpteen times - and really wish it could be made into a movie. Even though there are two direct sequels, this novel is capable of standing alone. It's a superb story, and shows the way Mars ought to be studied.
Venus is a tighter, more claustrophobic kind of story that would work as a movie where the audience doesn't mind being completely creeped out at the thought of an unfriendly group of people who have to work together to survive - under the command of a captain whose power is absolute and who tolerates NO dissension - having a mission to travel to the surface of Venus to retrieve the remains of a previous astronaut who went there and never made it back.
I just found out that his novel Leviathans of Jupiter (sequel to Jupiter) is coming out soon in paperback - been waiting a long time for this!
Mars looks like it was written with possible filming in mind, the way the characters and events were developed. I love this book - have read it umpteen times - and really wish it could be made into a movie. Even though there are two direct sequels, this novel is capable of standing alone. It's a superb story, and shows the way Mars ought to be studied.
Venus is a tighter, more claustrophobic kind of story that would work as a movie where the audience doesn't mind being completely creeped out at the thought of an unfriendly group of people who have to work together to survive - under the command of a captain whose power is absolute and who tolerates NO dissension - having a mission to travel to the surface of Venus to retrieve the remains of a previous astronaut who went there and never made it back.
I just found out that his novel Leviathans of Jupiter (sequel to Jupiter) is coming out soon in paperback - been waiting a long time for this!
I just don't think Mars would work unless it was combined with Return to Mars. I mean....
Lichen?
I agree, it likely wouldn't work, although it's portrayal of Mars is very realistic. The closest we got to that was the Discovery Channel miniseries Race to Mars. I had my Dad read it and he thought it was the closest to how a mission to Mars would likely play out.
I feel though that the quality of his stories have declined as the years went on. Mars Life was nowhere near the quality of Mars, for instance, mostly due to his world building, trying to connect everything. He has a lot of great ideas, but his execution leaves a lot to be desired lately.
I feel though that the quality of his stories have declined as the years went on. Mars Life was nowhere near the quality of Mars, for instance, mostly due to his world building, trying to connect everything. He has a lot of great ideas, but his execution leaves a lot to be desired lately.
Bova rocks.
His novel The Starcrossed was written in revenge for his "Starlost" experience. And Harlan Ellison has also written extensively about how awful that experience was.
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