Friday, August 29, 2014

Venus

This reminded me a lot of an Orson Scott Card book. The audiobook was produced and narrated by a Stefan Rudnicki, who also narrates many of Card's works. It also has a focus on youth and family relationships, combined with concern of a future world facing environmental issues.

Venus focuses on a boy who is rather estranged from his billionaire father. Dad just does not respect him, and always belittle's him as being the inferior child. Alas, Dad's favorite boy has died on a Venus exploration mission. So, he offers a 10 billion credit reward to the person that brings back the body. (And to help pay for it, he cuts of his living son's allowance.) The son feels obligated to go and do it, as does the father's former rival.

They both go out in ships to Venus. They have to battle all sorts of challenges. The son is attracted to one of his crew members (the cloned daughter of his ship's captain.) However, his ship has trouble and they are rescued by the other ship, piloted by the rival. It turns out he is actually the son of the rival. (His mother was the rival's former wife before he was "stolen".) They succeed in rescuing the body and return to earth to obtain his prize. He proclaims his love to the girl, but they break up, and he has a good time telling off his "fake" father. (Alas, his real father died on the mission.)

It all makes for a fun read. If you pay too much attention, you'll notice characters that just don't act "real". However, the story is interesting and well paced, with plenty of "science" thrown in there.

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