Colony

by Ben Bova

Paperback, 1978

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Genres

Science Fiction

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

English paperback sf

Publication

Magnum Books, Methuen Publishers (1978) Paperback

Description

In the future, everything is different-but nothing has changed. "The Earth has been poisoned by pollution, choked by overpopulation, and ravaged by the mindless greed of power-hungry corporations. A fragile peace is threatened by landless revolutionaries, and global anarchy seems imminent. Yet a single ray of hope remains..." Island One is a celestial utopia, and David Adams is its most perfect creation-a man with a brain as advanced as any computer and a body free of human frailties. But David is a prisoner-a captive of the colony that created him-destined to spend the days of his life in an island-sized cylinder that circles a doomed and desperate home planet. Thousands of miles below him, a world trembles; its people cringe in terror and despair in anticipation of an impending apocalypse. And fate has cast one extraordinary human in the role of savior. For David Adams has a plan-one that will ultimately ensure the salvation of his species ... or its annihilation.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member EmScape

Another science fiction book that confirms my theory that Minnesota is the safest place to be in the event of a global revolution/apocalypse!
Colony is the story of David Adams, a test-tube baby engineered and raised in Island One, the first (and so far, only) residential space station. The

situation back on earth is nearing disaster, with population at 7.28 billion, there just aren't enough resources to go around, and a lot of them are in the hands of the huge international corporations. The World Government tries to help, but unfortunately also takes the brunt of the blame for the struggles of the populace. Various revolutionary groups threaten and David tries to fix things. This is a rough summary, and if this was the entire plot, the book would be a lot better. Unfortunately, it also contains several irritating subplots which might serve to deepen the characterization of supporting roles, but mostly just distract and seem unnecessary. Also, David spends a lot of time first trying to get to earth, and then trying to get from one part of it to another, which is also extensively described without adding much to the plot. I think it's an attempt at suspense-building, but it's not as effective as one would hope. The book is just about 75 pages too long, otherwise it's a fantastic future history.
I really think that my mild distaste for it comes more from having been reading it during the most recent (2010) election cycle and marveling at the similarities of what people are currently asking from the government and what the book describes. This is fantastic for a writer to be so forward-thinking as to be so predictive, but it is also upsetting because I think we might not be far off from the calamities that befall the fictional United States described within the text.

Show Less

2 more

LibraryThing member buffalogr

Another book I just couldn't get into.

LibraryThing member wishanem

Some SciFi ages really well. This didn't. The treatment of women and black men is particularly awful. There are elements here that could work for a modern reader, but not nearly enough of them.

Fewer

Language

English

Original language

English

Original publication date

1978

Physical description

480 p.; 17.4 cm

ISBN

0417041306 / 9780417041308

Local notes

Omslag: Chris Moore
Omslaget viser et rumskib der flyver over en enorm bygningskonstruktion - en rumkoloni måske
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi

Similar in this library

Pages

480

Rating

(71 ratings; 3.3)

DDC/MDS

813.54