Ben Bova was one of the brightest lights of the science fiction genre in my formative years. Taboo-breaking New wave was still popular at the time, but with exceptions like Ellison and Spinrad, I mostly didn't care for it. I liked the Golden Age writers.

Bova was nothing like the revolutionary writers. He has much more in common with the Golden Agers. Go Space! Technology was the answer to our problems.

And he was good. His fiction, always oriented in credible science, also probed the political aspects of space travel.

I read quite a few of Bova's books. I loved The Multiple Man, The Weathermakers, Kinsman. A disastrous TV show he worked on called The Starlost resulted in a hilarious sendup novel, The Starcrossed. His longtime friend, Harlan Ellison, collaborated on the show, and both disowned it. Bova had fun with a broad character based on Harlan in the book.

Ben Bova was the first editor of Omni Magazine, and many remember him best for it. It was a great position, but I remain more impressed for his work succeeding John W. Campbell as editor of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. Despite Campbell's best work being years before his death, Bova had very large shoes to fill in taking over Analog. I do not believe anyone could have done it better.

I fell away from science fiction around 1987 and I read very little in the genre for a long, long time. I'm dipping into it a bit here and there. I have not read Ben Bova since those days. I don't regret my years of horror fiction obsession, and I believe I will primarily read horror for the rest of my life. Now I am ready to go back to the days when Ben Bova was one of the seers who made tomorrow seem so promising.

Written by Mark Sieber

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