Farside

By: Ben Bova

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Farside, the side of the moon that never faces Earth, is the ideal location for an astronomical observatory. It is also the setting for a tangled web of politics, personal ambition, love, jealousy, and murder.

Telescopes on Earth have detected an Earth-sized planet circling a star some 30 light-years away. Now the race is on to get pictures of that distant world, photographs and spectra that show whether or not the planet is truly like Earth - and if it bears life. Farside observatory will have the largest optical telescope in the solar system as well as a vast array of radio antennas, the most sensitive radio telescope possible, insulated from the interference of Earth’s radio chatter by a thousand kilometers of the moon’s solid body.

Building Farside is a complex, often dangerous task. On the airless surface of the moon, under constant bombardment by hard radiation and in-falling micrometeoroids, builders must work in cumbersome spacesuits and use robotic machines as much as possible. Breakdowns - mechanical and emotional - are commonplace. Accidents happen, some of them fatal. But what they ultimately find will stun everyone, and the human race will never be the same.

©2013 Ben Bova (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc

Critic reviews

"I believe that by far the science fiction author who will have the greatest effect on the science fiction world, and the world as a whole, is Ben Bova." (Ray Bradbury)

Good read

Would you try another book from Ben Bova and/or Stefan Rudnicki?

Not one of Mr Bova's best works but well worth reading.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Wish I had not downloaded the new Iphone App, then this book would have been more enjoyable!

Did Farside inspire you to do anything?

I went back and looked for any other of Ben Bova'a works that I may have missed, so I must have liked it.

Another good Ben Bova book.

I have read most of Ben Bova's books, some I liked more than others, but I have enjoyed them all. This is a worthy addition to my Ben Bova library. As usual, Stefan Rudnicki did a most excellent job with the narration. I will recommend this book to my friends who like sci-fi adventures.

Ok but not great

What did you like best about Farside? What did you like least?

The idea of having a second earth and a base on the moon

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

If new earth is able to hold life

Which scene was your favorite?

Close the end, not going to spoil

Do you think Farside needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No, the story was enough.

Any additional comments?

I had a hard time finishing this book, I liked it in the end but there was a time that I almost deleted it because I thought it was not word finishing but I did. But I will not read it again.

Great plot, Excellent Narration, Must Read!

Leave it to Ben Bova to create a race out of astronomy accolades. Farside takes us to the dark-side of the moon where a deep space telescope is being constructed to look at a planet called New Earth. This effort, of course is in competition with an rival Earth based effort. Two scientists, racing to be the first, racing the Nobel prize. What mischief is hatched? Hmmm. Well that’s for the plot to lay out and for you to listen to conclusion to.

I absolutely admire and love Stephan Rudnicki’s narration; he is an old hand at it. He has narrated numerous Sci-Fi, namely Orson Scott Card for one. My favorite is Card’s Hidden Empire series. Rudnicki gives the characters weight as Bova weaves their depth.

As a sci-fi genre goes, you don’t have to take a great many leaps of faith to believe the story. And the magic ‘unobtainium’ card, that most writers use, is kept at bay. I think this story will appeal to both the general Sci-Fi listener and well and the purist.

What Were You Smoking, Ben?

I love Ben Bova, but don't know where he was when this novel was written. Definately not even close to his usual standard, which I think is among the best in Science Fiction. Stefan Rudnicki was what kept me going. His performance was stellar, as usual. The story does not have the "sense of presence" for which Bova is well known. I wasn't "right there" like I usually am. Read the book a month ago, and couldn't tell you the main character's name today, or for that matter, what the book was about.

Yep...another good one

Another Bova intrigue book. It had many characters, developed to a "T" and all supporting the whounit plot It's a book in series and it helps to know the past works, but not ctitical. And, it all happens on the moon's far side.

Ok, not as good as the others…

This look was less exciting than the other Ben Bova books. I’d still recommend reading it so you experience everything in the series. Excellent performance as always.

Caught up in character affairs instead of science.

I prefer hard SF and speculative fiction. This book provides an enjoyable amount of technical detail but I felt that the main discovery seems to have been delivered flatly and in a rush with too much attention paid to character driven action and affairs.

An OK read

I liked that Farside was based on real science. There is an amount of suspense, but I missed the "chewing my nails" moments when you can hardly wait what's going to happen next. At certain point the killer was predictable.
I liked the author's voice and the way he wrote the story. However the excerpts from the personal files irritated me. The characters' background should have been incorporated into the story.
Farside is an OK read.

not up to Ben Bova's normal standard of writing

What did you love best about Farside?

The story plot was good somewhat unusual story excellent performance

Has Farside turned you off from other books in this genre?

No I like this kind of story

Which scene was your favorite?

none really

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no was glad when it was over

Any additional comments?

This is NOT Ben Bova's typical writing I have a feeling he wrote it when he was 15 and just published it without rereading it . The story is good but the huge plot holes and just poor writing spoil the book. there are things that just do not make sense he puts things out that don't make sense and later in the book makes some poor expiation about them. like he was too lazy to go back and fix the original writing. An example of a plot hole. There was a "nano" hole in an air lock that depressurized a compartment that was at least a hundred meters wide come on !! Even normal leakage would be more then that . a nano hole would not even be noticed. If this was the only example I could could ignore it, but sadly its not.