Venus: The Grand Tour Series

By: Ben Bova

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

The surface of Venus is the most hellish place in the solar system - it's ground hot enough to melt aluminum, its air pressure high enough to crush spacecraft landers like tin cans, it's atmosphere a choking mix of poisonous gases. This is where the frail young Van Humphries must go—or die trying.

Years before, Van’s older brother perished in the first attempt to land a man on Venus. Van’s father has always hated him for being the one to survive. Now, his father is offering a $10-billion prize to the first person who lands on Venus and returns his oldest son’s remains. To everyone’s surprise, Van takes up the offer. But what Van Humphries will find on Venus will change everything—our understanding of Venus, of global warming on Earth, and his knowledge of who he is.

Listen to more in Ben Bova's Grand Tour series.©2000 Ben Bova (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Bova proves himself equal to the task of showing how adversity can temper character in unforeseen ways.” ( New York Times)

“A top-notch adventure story of broken dreams and lifelong hatreds that match the turbulence of Venus itself…. Recommended for SF collections.” ( Library Journal)

“Exciting and vividly wrought.” ( Kirkus Reviews)

Plot, Performance good; dialogue dragged on.

I enjoyed the narration, storylines and characters. However, although I was listening at 1.5 speed, I found the main character's self-doubt and angst to be way too drawn out and overdone. A lot less of that would have made a better book. Still, it is a useful part of the series!

Spoiled man-child takes to the stars.

A spoiled, entitled trust fund baby with zero concept of a healthy human relationship decides to go to Venus.
And yet, somehow, he's more capable and competent than either Musk or Bezos.
Stefan Rudnicki continues to provide a great performance.

Though a long book, I didn’t want it to end.

Bova is an excellent writer. I throughly enjoyed this book. I will be reading his other books.

Plot Good

I read all of Bova’s books. The sci did plots are fun without being all about war, disaster and outer space life that is akin to the Great Depression plus WW2. But the characters never cease to aggravate me. They have the emotional intelligence of a teenager, rarely know how to do the job they’ve been assigned and are physically unfit. It is the same in every book. The few who are the least bit likable get killed early. I so want one of the books to have a Mitch Rapp hero, a Lara Croft heroine, and a team of real astronauts who can make it up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing.

Absolutely loved this Audiobook!

Any additional comments?

I can hardly wait to download the next book by Ben Bova! This is by far the best I have read/listened to since Sir Arthur C. Clarke's works. Just cannot get enough. The Mars series was also fantastic, as was the Sam Gunn Omnibus. The narration is exquisite.