EPUB (reformatted)Hero or Killer?In a startling future that's coming closer every year, Chet Kinsman is an astronaut ace who has done everything in space--including committing the first murder. It's a secret he can never escape, not even on the Moon, where he's head of the first U.S. lunar colony.But suddenly, a series of shocking yet strangely inevitable circumstances forces Kinsman to confront his hidden past and decide Earth's destiny. In a desperate countdown to nuclear annihilation, Kinsman struggles against a deadly paradox: if he rescues the world, he may end up destroying himself.

Imagine a mechanism that would end all wars and bloodshed. A machine that can create a virtual world where conflicts seem to be fought, but no one dies. Dr. Leo\'s Dueling Machine is just that. But when a warrior from the Kerak Empire finds a way to circumvent the machine, actually killing his opponents, the results are devastating. His secret knowledge of the machine could lead to actual, not virtual, war. Dr. Leo and his assistant must work quickly to discover what Kerak knows. Their lives, their planet, and the preservation of peace depend on it.

VOLUME #2 IN A STERLING COLLECTION OF STORIES FROM LEGENDARY HARD SCIENCE FICTION MASTER BEN BOVA. Selected stories from Bova's amazing career at the center of science fiction and space advocacy. He is the creator of the New York Times best-selling Grand Tour science fiction series, a six time Hugo award winner, and past president of the National Space Society. Volume #2 of 3 of the very best of Ben Bova, a grandmaster of science fiction storytelling. These stories span the five decades of Bova's incandescent career. Here are tales of star-faring adventure, peril, and drama. Here are journeys into the mind-bending landscapes of virtual worlds and alternate realities. Here you'll also find stories of humanity's astounding future on Earth, on Mars and in the Solar System beyond—stories that always get the science right. And Bova's gathering of deeply realized, totally human characters are the heroic, brave, tricky, sometimes dastardly engineers, astronauts, corporate magnates, politicians, and scientists who will make these futures possible—and those who often find that the problems of tomorrow are always linked to human values, and human failings, that are as timeless as the stars. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). About the award-winning stories and novels of Ben Bova:“Technically accurate and absorbing. . .”— Kirkus “[Bova is] the science fiction author who will have the greatest effect on the world.”—Ray Bradbury “A masterful storyteller”— Vector “Gives a good read while turning your eyes to what might be in the not so distant future, just like Clarke and Asimov used to do so well.”— SFX About Mars, Inc. , by Ben Bova.:“. . .perfectly enjoyable as an SF book (could Bova write anything that wasn’t enjoyable?), Mars, Inc. has that torn-from-the-headline vibe that’s obviously intended for a larger audience. . . . the bottom line? Mars, Inc. has inspiration, excitement, thrills, romance, a dash of satire—and is a good, fun read . . . .”— Analog “The Hugo winner returns to his most popular subject: the quest for Mars.”— Publishers Weekly “. . . escapist fantasy for rocket scientists and space engineers, those dreaming of these kinds of missions. Yet Bova’s story is rigorously realistic. . . . a fun read showing you do not need car chases or shootouts to deliver a fast-paced and exciting story.”— Daily News of Galveston County Ben Bova has written more than one hundred twenty futuristic novels and nonfiction books, and has been involved in science and high technology since the very beginnings of the space age. President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past president of Science Fiction Writers of America, Bova received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation in 2005, "for fueling mankind's imagination regarding the wonders of outer space." His 2006 novel Titan received the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel of the year. In 2008 he won the Robert A. Heinlein Award "for his outstanding body of work in the field of literature." Bova is a frequent commentator on radio and television and a widely-popular lecturer. His articles, opinion pieces and reviews have appeared in Scientific American, Nature, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal , and many other newspapers and magazines. Earlier, he was an award-winning editor and an executive in the aerospace industry. Bova has taught science fiction at Harvard University and at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, where he has also directed film courses. Bova currently lives in Florida.

The Next Logical Step is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Ben Bova is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Ben Bova then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

In the 21st century, the world is on the brink of a scientific renaissance, about to birth a future where space has become privatized and the moon transforms into a fertile commercial ground. As former astronaut Paul Stavenger works to turn a handful of abandoned government moon shelters into a full-fledged moonbase, powerful corporate lobbies align against him. Against the neo-Luddites is Masterson Aerospace, a company funding and creating major scientific breakthroughs.But Masterson is nearly crippled when its CEO commits suicide and his wife, Joanna, backs her lover Paul Stavenger, the former astronaut, over her mentally unbalanced son Greg in the board election that follows her husband's death. So begins a power struggle that leads to murder and the ultimate conflict over Moonbase.

Ben Bova, author of Earth, continues his exploration of the future of a human-settled Solar System with the science fiction action adventure Uranus, the first of his Outer Planets trilogy. On a privately financed orbital habitat above the planet Uranus, political idealism conflicts with pragmatic, and illegal, methods of financing. Add a scientist who has funding to launch a probe deep into Uranus's ocean depths to search for signs of life, and you have a three-way struggle for control.Humans can't live on the gas giants, making instead a life in orbit. Kyle Umber, a religious idealist, has built Haven, a sanctuary above the distant planet Uranus. He invites "the tired, the sick, the poor" of Earth to his orbital retreat where men and women can find spiritual peace and refuge from the world.The billionaire who financed Haven, however, has his own designs: beyond the reach of the laws of the inner planets Haven could...

He's passed his college entrance exams with flying colors. He can do pretty much whatever he wants. But what teenager Ron Morgan wants most is for his father to quit telling him what to do. Quit running his life. What better way to unwind than having a last blowout on Labor Day in the domed playground of Fun City: Manhattan.Inside the dome, however, Ron loses his wallet and identity card. Worse, he's trapped when the dome closes for the season. There's no way out. Gangs roam the street. Food is scarce. Ron is on his own.All Ron wanted was some fun. He'll be lucky to escape New York alive....At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

No matter what strange forms the future takes, says Ben Bova in his introduction, crime and criminals will always be with us--and with them, the need for law enforcement. Included with many other stories are the full-length novel City of Darkness and "Brillo"--the famous collaboration between Bova and Harlan Ellison.Table of ContentsCity of DarknessVince’s DragonBrillo by Harlan Ellison and Ben BovaOut of TimeTest in OrbitStars, Won’t You Hide Me?Diamond SamEscape!

Here are the deadliest warriors in the universe—awesome gladiators caught in the ultimate one-on-one battles of all eternity. These explosive tales of future combat are collected here for the first time—featuring today’s acclaimed masters of science fiction.

Our neighboring planets may have the answer to this question. Scientists have already identified ice caps on Mars and what appear to be enormous oceans underneath the ice of Jupiter's moons. The atmosphere on Venus appeared harsh and insupportable of life, composed of a toxic atmosphere and oceans of acid -- until scientists concluded that Earth's atmosphere was eerily similar billions of years ago.An extraterrestrial colony, in some form, may already exist, just awaiting discovery.But the greatest impediment to such an important scientific discovery may not be technological, but political. No scientific endeavor can be launched without a budget, and matters of money are within the arena of politicians. Dr. Ben Bova explores some of the key players and the arguments waged in a debate of both scientific and cultural priorities, showing the emotions, the controversy, and the egos involved in arguably the most important scientific pursuit ever begun.

A new novel from Ben Bova, creator of the New York Times best-selling Grand Tour science fiction series. Bova is a six time Hugo award winner, and past president of the National Space Society.  Here, Bova returns to his most popular and best-selling subject: the quest for Mars!How do you get to the Red Planet?  Not via a benighted government program trapped in red tape and bound by budget constrictions, that’s for sure.  No, what it will take is a helping of adventure, science, corporate powerplays, a generous dollop of seduction—both in and out of the boardroom—and money, money, money! Art Thrasher knows this.  He is a man with a driving vision: send humans to Mars.  The government has utterly failed, but Thrasher has got the plan to accomplish such a feat: form a “club” or billionaires to chip in one billion a year until the dream is accomplished.  But these are men and women who are tough cookies, addicted to a profitable bottom-line, and disdainful of pie-in-the-sky dreamers who want to use their cash to make somebody else’s dreams come true. But Thrasher is different from the other dreamers in an important regard: he’s a billionaire himself, and the president of a successful company. But it’s going to take all his wiles as a captain of industry and master manipulator of business and capital to overcome setbacks and sabotage—and get a rocket full of scientist, engineers, visionaries, and dreamers on their way to the Red Planet. The man for the job has arrived.  Art Thrasher is prepared to do whatever it takes to humans on Mars—or die trying!About Mars, Inc.:"The Hugo winner returns to his most popular subject: the quest for Mars."—Publishers Weekly  About the award winning novels of Ben Bova: “Technically accurate and absorbing.  . ..”—Kirkus “[Bova is] the science fiction author who will have the greatest effect on the world.”—Ray Bradbury “A masterful storyteller”—Vector “Gives a good read while turning your eyes to what might be in the not so distant future, just like Clarke and Asimov used to do so well.”—SFX