(1997) Ben Bova, Hodder and Stoughton, hdbk, pp531 ISBN 0 340 68250
Oh dear. I am probably the wrong person to review anything by Bova, as I read one of his novels in the past and remember it only for the absolutely worst description of lovemaking I have ever had the misfortune to read. To the credit of Bova, he delivers exactly what we expect. This is complete tripe. True, the plot in itself isn't too bad, but good grief, I couldn't believe in a single character. They weren't characters in fact, they were charicatures; two dimensional entities drifting into set piece dramas involving cliche after ungrammatical cliche.
If you must know, Moonwar follows on from Moonrise and gives us the the 'epic' conflict between the forces of New Morality and the brave little soldiers up at moonbase struggling to survive the monstrous will of the world's population. Democracy means nothing when we have philanthropic multi-billionaires ready to steer mankind away from the brink of collective decisions and back towards the save haven of corporate dictatorship. With multinational dynasties, rabid United Nations secretary generals, cute little women, brave boys despite the odds, deus ex machina and every other juvenile trick in the book, Bova has woven a tired old blanket of fluff and nonsense with little worth and no appeal. If I was a character in a Bova novel, I would apply to Walt Disney so that I could become at least two dimensional. Oh, and he uses regolith too much. Ben, don't bother.
Graham Connor
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