[b:Mercury|768916|Mercury (The Grand Tour, #16)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1317791365l/768916._SY75_.jpg|818780] is one of the better books of the Grand Tour, which is a relief after [b:Saturn|64703|Saturn (The Grand Tour, #13)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316130751l/64703._SY75_.jpg|2566821] and [b:Titan|267281|Titan (The Grand Tour, #15)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316727959l/267281._SY75_.jpg|259134].

It starts feeling like one of the more 'sciency' books, with the discovery of life on Mercury--because of course. But that feeling is short lived, as it turns out the life is actually from Mars, leaving Astrobiologist Victor Molina framed and disgraced--although the 'who' and 'why' are left unclear.

But really, Mercury is more similar to the Powersat and Asteroid Wars books, with corporate conflict and an exploration of life and revenge throughout the solar system as the primary focus. In the second part of Mercury, we go back to Earth, years (if not decades) in the past, following the story of the great Sky Tower (a space elevator) on Earth. And then... disaster. It's been hinted at in other books, but we've never really gotten details before, so when the Space Elevator falls... the feel of destruction is impressive.

The third section feels a lot like [b:The Aftermath|768917|The Aftermath (The Grand Tour, #12; The Asteroid Wars, #4)|Ben Bova|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442426245l/768917._SY75_.jpg|754977] actually, only with more of a purpose. We're following the story of an exile from Earth making his way among the miners and ore transporters out to the belt and back. It's a solid slice of life and fits a lot better with the rest of the book/series than I felt Aftermath did.

The final section brings everything together, tying the fall of the Sky Tower to the 'modern' events playing out on Mercury. It's a story of misplaced revenge and how humanity really can be our own worst enemies.

On thing in particular that was interesting to see was the contract between the Yamagatas. I really liked Saito Yamagata from what we saw of his interactions with Dan Randolph what feels like ages ago and it's interesting to see how simultaneously the same and different his son has turned out to be.

Between this book and Saturn/Titan, it really does look like we're finally building up to leaving the Solar System. I'm curious to see where we'll go from here.

Worth the read. ( )

This was not quite what I expected, an almost noir style tale of revenge. Despite the title and the fact that it's set on Mercury, a lot of the story is focused elsewhere. Still entertaining. ( )

Spawned lovers in intergalactic feud, is a potential tabloid headline for Mercury. It's science fiction elements are but a backdrop to the cast of rather unlikeable astronauts. In tone this feels more like a novel from Bova's Asteroid Wars than an entry in the Grand Tour, due to the overstretched plot and overarching coincidences that stitch the story together. Brilliant series however this entry is a little bit below par. ( )

Rerated, as I reread it. The science is incidental, and the story is disjointed to an extent that made it hard to get through. The huge historical diversion in the middle destroyed the flow of the story, and considering the level of societal controls in Bova's Planets'verse, the entire vengeance plot was contrived at best, kludgy at worst. ( )

I thought that a book called Mercury would actually be about Mercury. But, the planet only takes a small portion of the book's length. The rest is a revenge plot, most of which unwinds in flashback. Is it a tragedy or a love story, or both? The plot has shades of twisted romantic love, career, greed, and religion gone awry. In the end, i found myself looking for the Count of Monte Christo. ( )

As I slowly work my way through Bova's Grand Tour, I really liked Mercury. Is it a tragedy or a love story, or both? What makes men and women do the things they do? Romantic love, love of career, love of money, love of a child, or love of one's god? Engineering genus Mance Bracknell has brought together (or engineered) four people to Mercury: the Japanese billionaire financing his solar power operation, the astrobiologist eager to find life on the planet, the New Morality bishop trying to save reluctant souls, and his old love. The stage is set -- let the play begin. ( )

Mercury
by, Ben Bova
(2005), Tor Science Fiction
ISBN – 978-0765343147

Ben Bova - who has been writing science fiction for more than 40 years, including books such as Moonrise and Titan – continues his Grand Tour series about the colonization of the solar system with Mercury. The story begins in the late 21st century as three characters – Astrobiologist Victor Molina, “New Morality” Bishop Elliot Danvers and Billionaire developer Saito Yamagata – come to the scorched surface of the planet closest to the sun. Each has their own myopic agenda, but they are all unaware that they have been lured there by Mance Bracknell so he can avenge the rolls that the three of them played in his destruction a decade earlier.

The story really drags early on and it is difficult to have empathy for any of the characters. They are all uniformly shallow, egotistical and appear oblivious to what any of the others are doing. The second act goes back in time to try and explain where Mance’s wrath originated and the pace of the storytelling picks up a bit, but by then there was little chance to salvage any interest in what would happen to any of the characters. In the finale, Mercury makes a clumsy attempt to make some sort of moral statement of the responsibility of big business and the evil of religious zealots in a future where seemly everyone lives as extremists, but by then the whole story seems unimportant.

Even Bova’s usually engaging science fiction imagery seems to have been sacrificed in this installment. Maybe it was a product of the barren landscape of Mercury, but there just wasn’t anything interesting or unique about the world-building which is a prerequisite of science fiction writing. This book really failed to live up to some of Bova’s other writing and it was a struggle to finish. Mercury is not one of his best works.

Read more of my reviews at www.chadintheazdesert.blogspot.com ( )

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