mike%bambi@mouton.ARPA (10/24/85)
From: Michael Caplinger <mike%bambi@mouton.ARPA> Ben Bova used to write some OK books. I thought his zenith was MILLENNIUM [not to be confused with Varley's book of the same name] - a novel with good characters and a well-thought-out, technically smooth plot. Who could forget the pacifist Air Force commander, Chet Kinsman, and his successful revolution against both the USSR and the United States? Now, along comes PRIVATEERS - another offering in the endless stream of blatant pro-defense ranting by SF writers (the other big offender here is Jerry Pournelle). PRIVATEERS is, quite simply, a terrible book. Basic plot: in a few decades, the Russians have succeeded in building the ABM defense that the US was too short-sighted, and have completely taken over the industrialization of space and most world trade, while the US has become a giant, coal-burning slum subsisting only on agrarian labor. A few countries (like Japan) are struggling to make it in space against the Russian stranglehold, with little success. I'll stop here, the title gives the entire plot away. The characters are just awful. We have the incredibly competent US expatriot who risks his life, his company's existence, and the whole free world for his love for a young, beautiful girl; a whole collection of evil Russians led by an ultimately evil young commissar (who is also after the girl); and a wimpy pacifist woman US president who still harbors desire for Our Hero. If you read Bova's COLONY, you'll recognize most of these characters (except it was terrorists there, not Russians). Unbelievably, PRIVATEERS is even worse than COLONY was. Unless you're one of those people who holds your breath for the next sequel to THERE WILL BE WAR (Pournelle's war story "collection" soapbox) skip PRIVATEERS. Kind of a shame. It's surprising that the person who wrote MILLENNIUM wrote this too. Mike Caplinger mike@bellcore.arpa ihnp4!bambi!mike