Voyagers

By: Ben Bova

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Ben Bova

Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Stoner knew. The fiery object hurtling toward the Earth was an alien spacecraft. But the world might never know. He was trapped in an iron cordon of secrecy, for the discovery had shattered the world power balance, setting off a brutal struggle for supremacy that raged from the sacred halls of the Vatican to the corridors of the Kremlin and the Pentagon. The forces of fear and treachery would use any weapon at their command, from mind war to sabotage, to keep the world in darkness.

Aided by a brilliant Soviet linguist and a lovely young student, Stoner planned a desperate mission, a wild, heart-stopping gamble to preserve the legacy of the star voyager for all mankind.

Hi-fi sci-fi: listen to the second book in this series, Voyagers II: The Alien Within, and the third book, Voyagers III: Star Brothers.

©1981 Ben Bova (P)2006 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Finalist, Science Fiction, 2007

"The most plausible and convincing account I have ever read of how the human race might really react to first contact." (Analog)
"Voyagers marks the return of one of SF's pros to his favorite subject: first contact. The bureaucratic politics of space is classic Bova...and the sense of awe when Stoner finally gazes upon an alien is pure art." (Chicago Tribune)

Very enjoyable

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. After listening to quite possibly the worse book I have ever heard (the ruins) this was quite a relief. The conclusion was mildly disappointing but that is about it. Not a lot of sci-fi type content, more political, but again, it held my attention and I would recommend this book highly.

Shows it's age

The book shows it's age.. written in the cold war era, computers take MANY hours to crunch out numbers, Soviet relations are hostile at best, etc.

All of the action seems to happen in the last hour of the book, and the "Threats" build up to an anti-climax. As I said, Things move very slowly, then BAM, everything happens in the last hour or so.

I just kept thinking that if this was supposed to take place even in the "near future" of that time when it was written, Bova would have extrapolated that computers wouldn't be slow and cumbersome and fill whole rooms, and would see the coming Demise of the Soviet union, Which was apparent even back then.

Enjoyable, but not his best effort... certainly not on a par with the Rock Rat series. I give it 3 stars because It's Bova.. written by anyone else and I'd have probably rated it as 2.

Amazing Sci Fi at it's absolute best

This is the 2nd Ben Bova book I've read and I have to question why it took so long for me to read his work. It's brilliant and thought provoking. Characters are as deep and real as any in life and after reading a lot of garbage, finding someone who can do that well is what separates the pulp fiction into the real soul searching stories we remember for life. It's no action packed roller coaster, but nonetheless gripping and so very human in it's telling.

Not Quite "Rendezvous With Rama"

As someone who views Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendezvous With Rama" as the ultimate novel about man's first contact with extraterrestrials, I tackled this novel by Ben Bova eagerly. A strange object approaches the Earth from somewhere "out there," and the powers of Earth scurry about to find out what it is and what it means. It is Bova's vision of what the political, social, and theological ramifications of such an event might have been in the early 1980s. Very little of this book is about the alien itself; rather it focuses on how the U.S. and Soviet Union jostle to be the first to make actual contact with the visitor. Written seemingly with a movie screenplay in mind, the novel really never met my expectations, and it falls well short of Rama.

Excellent Audio Book

I am a big Sci-Fi fan and I have had the pleasure over the years to enjoy Ben Bova's work. I had not read this book and since I am on the road a lot lately I have really enjoyed the audio book. In fact, after spending 16 hours with this book I have just downloaded Vogagers II so that I can continue the story during my travels.

Voyagers Series

If you're looking for a story of space, aliens, space travel, this is not your series. The review addresses Voyagers, Voyagers II, III, and The Return.

Plot. A spacecraft is approaching earth — no response to earth signals. A mission from earth determines that the craft is a sarcophagus - the sole passenger is a dead alien. A ship message tells us to study the alien and his ship and send him on his way to other worlds. A USA astronaut decides to stay on the alien ship, goes into stasis for 18 years, and returns to earth. He has changed - and so has the earth.

Liked: Stuck with it, well, because it IS a Bova series. Narration and production are fine. No sex, no objectionable language, clean reads.

Not so hot: This is NOT a typical SciFi, rather a platform for the author to voice concerns regarding world politics, religious zealots, climate change, nuclear war...the earth will perish if humans do not change. There have been other books and movies with the same basic theme - The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Abyss, more. So, it's been done before - and better, IMO.

Disappointed.

Reminds me of Arthur C. Clarke

The first half or even the first two-thirds (the first two parts) we're a little slow but by the start of the third part it began to come together. Given the book as part of my audible account it was surely worth my time and an interesting story for 1981 but I didn't love it as much as I do Robert A. Heinlein or James S. A. Corey.


The writing quality was good except I didn't feel like some of the characterizations were congruent in their descriptions.


I thought the narrator did a terrific job of creating different voices for the different characters. The narration was the best part of the overall experience.

flawed but mostly enjoyable

I love this author. the book was written in the 80's and the sexist stereotypes. there are some interesting ideas here. but I think some of the choices made seem more idealistic than realistic. cultural changes make some passages cringe worthy. the reader is excellent.

First in a series - long way to go

I didn't realize this was a serial. I expected to go somewhere, and I did - to Kuadgelin, but DC, and elsewhere on this planet. It's mostly about how big government was trying to hide the fact that there might be an alien species on its way to Earth.
Refreshing to hear the news accounts from credible media cc 1973.
However, I trust Ben Bova and am willing to slog through the book to get to the meat of the story.
Rudnicky is good, but I found the interruption of a shrill, lackluster female voice annoying. What WAS that?
I have already lined up the next book and if it's still more shilly-shalling around then I'll move on.

Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence

This is probably the most plausible first contact story. If you know what SETI stands for, you will enjoy it. Could this strange object be natural? Could intelligent beings travel across interstellar space? Would they be friendly? Would they want to contact us? Would the government try to keep it a secret? Would there be panic in the streets? All of these questions are considered in this novel with plenty of political intrigue and a love story thrown in. The narration by Stefan Rudnicki is excellent. Listeners should realize that while this is a new audiobook production, the original novel was written before the fall of the Soviet Union.