Leviathans of Jupiter

December 20, 2010
Multiple Hugo–winner Bova's 18th Grand Tour novel (after 2009's The Return) is a quick-paced space adventure. Physicist Grant Archer, part of the exploratory team in 2002's Jupiter, is now a research station director dedicated to proving the intelligence of the leviathans his team encountered 20 years earlier. He's aided by four newcomers to the station: biologist and art student Deidre Ambrose; deep brain stimulation expert Andy Corvus; cyborg Dorn (familiar to readers of Bova's Asteroid Wars novels); and engineering physicist Maxwell Yeager. Katherine Westfall, a powerful International Astronomical Authority member, is also en route to Jupiter, on a mission to shut down Archer's team. Bova is at his best writing about the leviathans and their perceptions. The human motivations and emotions (particularly romance) seem more shoe-horned in, with the exception of Archer's engaging scientific passion.