Power Play

De: Ben Bova

Narrado por: Stefan Rudnicki

Dr. Jake Ross, a university astronomer, wants nothing more than to teach a few classes each semester and continue his research. Instead, he finds himself aggressively recruited to be the science advisor to Frank Tomlinson, an ambitious politician with his eye on the US Senate. Tomlinson is in need of an edge that will allow him to defeat his opponent at the polls, and Dr. Ross can contribute just that: MHD.

MHD, or magnetohydrodynamics, is a new innovation that will allow electricity to be generated efficiently and cheaply. The Senate seat is essentially guaranteed if Tomlinson can deliver unlimited energy to voters at less than half the price of nuclear power. But MHD is still in its infancy, and although the outlook is extremely promising there are great - and deadly - risks.

The incumbent senator will not give up his seat without a fight, and as Ross discovers, the world of politics carries its own dangers. Nothing has prepared him for the extreme tactics that desperate and powerful people are willing to use.

Power Play is a timely thrill ride by Ben Bova, one of science fiction’s most respected novelists.

Ben Bova, six-time winner of science fiction’s Hugo Award, is the author of over one hundred works of science fact and fiction. A former editor of Analog and former fiction editor of Omni, he is also a past president of the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America. He lives in Naples, Florida.

©2011 Ben Bova (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Good Story, Mostly Good Performance

I thoroughly enjoyed Power Play except for one thing. The performer mispronounced Tycho Brahe every time he said it.

Not bad

I love Ben Bova books. That being said, this one is just OK. It is a decent story and good science. I thoroughly enjoyed it but it is not one of his best. I would still recommend is as Ben Bova, at his worst, is still fanatastic.

Thebook was too slow and lacked enough plot line.

Way to slow and not enough of a plot line . Should have been a short story

Anticlimactic

I kept waiting for the big reveal the twist I wasn't expecting. Instead it's a long set up for the other books. Hopefully they deliver.

Political 'thriller' passing for science fiction

First, I have read and enjoyed many Ben Bova novels and his favorite narrator, Stefan Rudnicki, is always an attraction but not even he can save this one. The story has promise and the science is interesting but the story reads like the first novel of a high school student. Certainly, the main character displays all the political, emotional, and romantic sophistication of a 16 year old. An assistant professor of astronomy at an unnamed university he is drawn into politics as the science advisor of a first run senate candidate. There he encounters murder, corruption, and 'politics' while helping his candidate promote a new form of efficient, green energy using local coal. (No mention of how burning coal can be good for the environment.) The novel is populated by cardboard characters - heroes and villains - who are hard to care about or take seriously. Had it not been free I would have felt I had wasted my money.