Teaser

The war for the asteroid belt is over, but the danger is not. For the scattered survivors, the new era brings not peace and prosperity, but piracy and peril . . .

Review

There are plenty of books out there that deal with world-altering scenarios. In science fiction, that is often extended to the altering of numerous worlds. The genre is positively stuffed with stories of races against the apocalypse, doomsday machines, galactic warfare, and general high-stakes shenanigans. There are, however, not all that many that deal with the fallout from these events. Few that ask the question: The world is saved, so now what? This is an even more important question when the world that emerges from the change is so different from its previous self.

The Aftermath is a book that tackles this question head on, following the fortunes of one family after the devastating events of the previous volume, The Silent War. Victor Zacharias and his family are everyday ore haulers, who have the misfortune to run into a terrorist attack on Ceres. As a result, Victor is parted from his family, and must spend the next three hundred pages fighting to be reunited with them. Concurrently, the other members of his family find themselves hurtling through the depths of space, where they soon learn that not everyone they meet is to be trusted.

By focusing on the Zacharias family, Bova is able to show the broader scope of the setting while still keeping the stakes fairly personal. It’s also a refreshing change of pace to read about fictional families whop are not at each other’s throats day-in, day-out. Sure, there are arguments, but they still look out for one another. Bova then folds in a few extra perspectives to flesh out the story, and smartly gives even the antagonists their own perspective. they’re villains through and through, make no mistake, but they have their reasons for acting as they do. It is, after all, a brave new world out there.

Once again, I marvel at Bova’s ability to write standalones within series. Everything about this book works even if this is your first visit to the Grand Tour. For those in it for the long haul, however, there are plenty of connections. The Humphries family once again reappears, as does a tantalisingly mysterious artefact that connects to much later novels. If you’re not interested in any of this, however, it’s still a rollicking space adventure.

There are a few dings on the edges of this otherwise marvellous book, however. The simplicity of the plot is as much a weakness as it is a strength, with the ending being rather predictable. Character motivation doesn’t always track, even with concessions to those under the influence. Personally speaking, there’s also a little too much bed-hopping going on, too, to the extent that you wonder just how devoted the Zacharias’ are to their marriage vows. These are all small things, but they do accumulate as the novel goes on.

All in all though, The Aftermath is another in a long series of winners for Ben Bova, with everything you could hope for in a tale of piracy among the stars. It also ticks off the first box on my Science Fiction Book Bingo challenge, as it is set almost entirely on spaceships.

Book Stats

• Part of the Grand Tour
• The Asteroid Wars (#4)
• Published in 2007 by Tor
• 396 pages