Venus
Roman
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- CHF 7.00
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- CHF 7.00
Beschreibung des Verlags
Die geheimnisvolle Zwillingsschwester der Erde
Fünfhundert Grad Celsius herrschen auf der Oberfläche der Venus; der Luftdruck ist 92-mal höher als auf der Erde und zermalmt jedes Raumschiff, das auf der Oberfläche des Planeten zu landen versucht. Alex Humphries, Sohn eines Milliardärs, nimmt die Herausforderung an. Er wagt die Landung, um sich Gewissheit zu verschaffen, ob auch der Erde durch den wachsenden Treibhauseffekt die Gefahr der Überhitzung drohen könnte. Aber die waghalsige Expedition scheitert, und sein Vater setzt eine Belohnung von zehn Milliarden Dollar für denjenigen aus, der die sterblichen Überreste seines Sohnes zurück zur Erde holt. Es mangelt nicht an Kandidaten, die das Preisgeld ergattern wollen – doch die Venus hält eine furchtbare Überraschung für sie bereit …
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 1993 Bova took readers to Mars and himself onto bestseller lists. Last year's A Return to Mars also sold well. So a narrative about manned exploration of Venus seems an obvious step for this popular author, and Bova's new novel will indeed please his fans, as it offers his usual mix of solid science, serviceable (if sketchy) characterizations and lickety-split plotting with plenty of cliff-hangers. It's late in the 21st century. Three years ago, the first human to visit Venus, Alex Humphries, son of decadent multibillionaire Martin, never returned. Now Martin is offering $10 billion to whoever will retrieve Alex's remains from that planet's hellish surface. Racing against one another for the prize are Alex's aimless younger brother, Van (the story's narrator, who's just been disowned by Martin), and legendary asteroid-miner Lars Fuchs, who detests Martin as much as Martin detests Van. Van's expedition goes bad early on; high above Venus, colonies of alien "bugs" eat through his ship's hull, forcing him and his crew--several of whom die--to seek refuge on Fuchs's stronger craft. Personality conflicts rampage there, particularly between domineering Fuchs and mild-mannered Van, and there's romantic tension between a young female biologist and Van. The real drama, however, arises from revelations that explain the roots of the hatreds among Van, Fuchs and Martin, and during Van's dangerous descent in a small ship to the surface of Venus, which Bova depicts with strong visual imagery as a deadly inferno--albeit one inhabited by an unexpected life form. This novel clicks along only predictably as Van's coming of age tale, but as a voyage to an unknown world, it excels.
