Teaser

Humanity reaches out in the stars. Not for conquest, nor for exploration, but on a mission to save life itself. That salvation, however, may come at an unimaginable price. For what right do humans have to interfere in the natural order of things . . ?

Review

Picking up where Death Wave left off, but with an entirely different cast, Apes and Angels is a Gran Tour story like no other. It takes place far from our solar system, and largely concerns itself with first contact. The question I had left over from the previous book, that of how exactly humanity would protect worlds from annihilation, is swiftly explained. Just drop a shield generator on the planet in question. Simple as. That makes about as much sense as any explanation was going to, and it’s also not the focus. What Bova is really interested in writing about is societies, and how the exploration of space changes us. That, of course, is the entire point of the Grand Tour, but in Apes and Angels, it’s never been more apparent.

In a way, this feels like a stepping block from the dominance of a single star system to a more Star Trek styled future. All of the character sin this book have boarded a ship for a two hundred year voyage. Suspended animation will allow them to return, but it’s an isolating trip nonetheless. Put that many people in a bubble, and new social orders will naturally arise. That’s been the theme of many a story. What makes Bova’s different, is the fact that he sends along a team of anthropologists specifically to study the rest of the crew. The issue with this, is that they are studying it from within. Simply by doing their work, they are altering the behaviour of their subjects. This includes such inevitable problems as falling in love with a member of the crew, and angering the leader of the expedition as a result.

This all builds nicely for much of the book, but then the plot shifts. Not forgetting the earlier strife, but taking those lessons and applying it to a new problem. In Star Trek, the Prime Directive prevents human interference with developing civilisations. In theory, anyway. The Grand Tour has no such directive. What it has instead is a steep learning curve in which mistakes are made. Mistakes and decisions that raise very important questions. Do humans have a right to interfere with other cultures? Is it acceptable to alter a civilisation’s entire worldview if it means saving their lives? Should we perhaps have a Prime Directive after all?

This book is everything I like about Ben Bova dialled up to eleven. The moral dilemmas are intriguing. The characters are likeable and engaging, and even the human antagonist is more reasonable than evil. It’s a story that mixes humanity and science in just the right quantities. Even at this late stage in the saga, Bova throws in a handful of new ideas in the worldbuilding department, and I’m hoping the next few books had the time to flesh those ideas out in a little more detail.

Apes and Angels is Ben Bova at his finest, and a book I thoroughly recommend for fans of the series, or for those looking to get their Star Trek fix from somewhere beyond the usual sources.

Book Stats

• Star Quest (#2)
• Part of the Grand Tour
• Published by Tor in 2016
• 415 pages