Talk:Grand Tour (novel series)

Novel Order
Okay, so Ben Bova's website says one thing:

1. POWERSAT (Tor Books 2005)

2. EMPIRE BUILDERS (Tor Books, 1993)

3. MARS (Bantam Books, 1992)

4. MOONRISE (Avon Books, 1996)

5. MOONWAR (Avon Books, 1998)

6. RETURN TO MARS (Avon Books, 1999)

7. THE PRECIPICE (Tor Books, 2001)

8. JUPITER (Tor Books, 2001)

9. THE ROCK RATS (Tor Books, 2002)

10. SATURN (Tor Books, 2003)

11. TITAN (Tor Books, 2006)

12. THE SILENT WAR (Tor Books, 2004)

13. MERCURY (Tor Books, 2005)

14. VENUS (Tor Books, 2000)

But this can't be exactly right, since events from Venus are referenced in Mercury. And what's currently up is just darned wrong--there's no way Venus could have happened before The Silent War.


 * Feel free to adjust the order, then. I created this article but I've yet to read all of the books (in fact, I just purchased Mercury yesterday).--Caliga10 20:41, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

I just finished Titan and it referenses that the only flowers left in space were in humphries mansion in selene, and in the same sentence it says that, well they used to, but his mansion is gone now. In Venus Humphries son goes in his mansion. I think I can use this as an exuse to read all the books again. What do you guys think?--lithpiperpilot 21:05, 29 May 2006 (CST)


 * Don't let us stop you! :) --Caliga10 19:23, 31 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Read them again and again - they are briliant! Benjamin stewart05 -) 17:12, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Clearly Titan is after Silent War.

I believe Titan refrences the life found on Venus. Also, where do the Sam Gunn books go? I know they happen in the same 'universe' so where do they go?

I saw two inconsistent lists of the order of the novels, one of them without explanation. I removed that one, since there was no reason for duplication. If necessary, a second list of the chronological order should be explained. Zaslav 10:32, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Order in Which Novels Should Be Read
It might be useful to add the order in which the novels should be read: should they be read in the order in which they were published, or the order in which they take place in Ben Bova's universe? Or does it not matter? I have only just begun reading Venus, but now I wonder if I am reading them out of order... Spaceman21 01:24, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Vocabulary
What did the person who wrote the phrase "background pastiche" mean? It makes no sense to me. Please reword this. Thanks. Zaslav 10:31, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Chronological Order?
Well, of course we want to read them in chronological order, Mr. Bova! It would have saved me a mountain of time trying to figure out which books to read in what order (I think I started and stopped "Jupiter" three times cause things weren’t fitting together) if someone would have just laid it out for me, so I’m going to give it a try: I became fascinated with the Grand Tour series about 5 months ago, and I have read from "The Precipice" to the "The Aftermath," which is the novel that just came out. (I can’t comment on anything before "The Precipice" cause I haven’t read those yet. However, I am pretty sure the Sam Gunn stories come before "The Precipice" because he is mentioned as already having gone out to the asteroid belt at the beginning of that book.) I am going to comment on the novels of the asteroid belt and after. I do agree that the order on Ben Bova's site needs some tweaking, and I even read another list that had put "Jupiter" in front of "The Precipice" (which can't be right because Pancho is discussing merely the idea of a research station around Jupiter with Amanda and Lars as late as "The Rock Rats.") While its true that some of the books overlap (a situation made even more cumbersome by Mr. Bova’s maddening ‘4 Years Later’ breaks in the story), so I find it easier to arrange them in an order that reflects where the bulk of the novel fits into the story line.

From the clues that are spread throughout the books, I’ve placed "The Precipice" and "The Rock Rats" first as these stories begin the era of fusion rockets and the colonization of the asteroid belt. Next, since the majority of events in "Saturn" have already happened (or at least begun) at the beginning of "The Silent War," and the character of Raul Talavera shows up in the "Saturn" storyline after completing his two-year public service duty (which he was just starting at the beginning of "Jupiter"), it would be logical to place "Jupiter" after "The Rock Rats," followed by (at least the majority of) "Saturn," and finally the events of "The Silent War." After which, Pancho Lane retires and flies out to Saturn just in time for the events in "Titan." I put "The Aftermath" after "Titan" because, even though the alien artifact is mentioned as rumor at the end of "Titan," Martin Humphries goes out to see the alien artifact roughly six years after the events of "The Silent War" (as indicated in the first chapter). That allows time for Dorik Harbin to become Dorn, the new Chrysalis station to be built, and allows for the four years of the Zacharias family floating around lost in the asteroid belt. So at least the majority of "The Aftermath" happens after "Titan" (or is happening concurrently); either way, this arrangement allows for the continuity of the "Saturn"/"Titan" story. Next we see Alex Humphries leaving his father’s company at the end of "The Aftermath," presumably to start out on the events that would lead up to his eventual death on Venus and then three years later to his brother Van’s storyline as told in "Venus." (Van Humphries who was born during the middle of "The Silent War" storyline and is said to be 25 years old at the beginning of the "Venus" storyline). Finally, the life forms discovered on Venus in that story are referenced at the beginning of "Mercury" which would put that book last. So that’s what a whole lot of obsessive flipping back and fourth and rereading these books will do for you...(Turn you into a complete dork.) Hopefully this will help anyone who is trying to make sense of all the little cross references that pop up throughout the novels and make some sense of their chronological order. Any thoughts? Clayboy1645 17:38, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Elaboration
The above themes are arguably illustrative of Ben Bova's well-known views regarding capitalism and environmentalism.

But neither this page or the page on the author fill in what those views are. Grrr... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.168.59.57 (talk) 12:56, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

"Ben Bova's well-known views regarding capitalism and environmentalism." as a fan of said author, I have no idea what this is. Well known? Seriously? Interpretive at best. Wikifail — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.90.13.252 (talk) 05:02, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

Any comments about the close resemblances, presumably the deliberate homages, of (many of) these novels to the great classic maritime adventures? I'm surprised this is not mentioned. For example, Bova's "Venus" is openly based upon Jack London's "The Sea Wolf." His "Mars" novel has the main character enduring scurvy, though I'm not certain which seafaring novel that one is based upon. -Paul Carlson — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.127.74.206 (talk) 05:49, 12 October 2014 (UTC)

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External links modified (January 2018)
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