New Earth

The Grand Tour, Book 18

By: Ben Bova

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

We’ve found another Earthlike planet, but what secrets does it hold?

The entire world is thrilled by the discovery of a new, Earthlike planet. Advance imaging shows that the planet has oceans of water and a breathable, oxygen-rich atmosphere. Eager to learn more, an exploration team is soon dispatched to explore the planet, now nicknamed New Earth.

All the explorers understand that they are essentially on a one-way mission. The trip takes 80 years each way, so even if they are able to get back to Earth, nearly 200 years will have elapsed. They will have aged only a dozen years thanks to cryonic suspension, but their friends and family will be gone, and the very society they once knew will have changed beyond recognition. The explorers are going into exile, and they know it. They are on this mission not because they were the best available but because they were expendable.

Upon landing, the team discovers something unexpected: New Earth is inhabited by a small group of intelligent creatures who look very much like human beings. Who are these people? Are they native to this world or invaders from elsewhere? While they may seem inordinately friendly to the human explorers, what are their real motivations? What do they want?

Moreover, the scientists begin to realize that this planet cannot possibly be natural. They face a startling and nearly unthinkable question: Could New Earth be an artifact?

©2013 Ben Bova (P)2013 Blackstone Audio

Incredible Story

First Bm Bova novel I’ve ever read and his style is just my taste. Incredible story here.

Pretty terrible

I actually only finished this so I could write a review.

Minor Spoilers.

Story:
Unlikable, two-dimesnional characters. No way would a team of future scientists be a bunch of whiny, immature, idiots. These people were pretty awful and sounded like a bunch of lame middle school kids.
The conflict in this story just wasn't believable, the scientists who didn't trust the aliens just didn't have any real reason not to, and weren't convincing in their arguments against trusting the inhabitants of New Earth. And then the capitulation at the end was extremely anticlimactic and flimsy.
The whole plot was flimsy actually, why these advanced predecessors would want a bunch of people as ignorant and immature as this group to help them defies logic.
One reviewer called this book 'hard sci-fi'?? Not even close.

Narrator:
I honestly cannot believe people listen to this narrator more than once. His rendition of a Chinese accent had to be the single most cringeworthy thing I've ever heard from a narrator, it was downright offensive. No narrator should try an accent if they sound like they are mocking said accent.
He has absolutely no ability to do accents in general. He made the characters sound either ridiculous or robotic, or both. It really sucks Amazon has chosen him to narrate so much classic sci-fi.

Excellent Sci-Fi Story of the Grand Tour series

Any additional comments?

Unforgettable sci-fi novel that kept me reading! Like the space explorers, I had to find out more and more about the alien species. I am glad I was able to switch between reading and listening to the outstanding professional narration,w or else everything in my daily life would have been on hold, while I was totally engrossed in this wonderful book. By all means, this is a five star read! I highly recommend it. Ben Nova's novels are getting bigger and better with each new release.

Good story overall but...

...the selection process for the main characters didn't sit right. It just felt like the characters were meeting for the first time rather than knowing each other very well which I would expect given the nature of the mission.

sci fi at its best

a good hard look at the human condition. if you enjoy scifi listen to this.