Description:

Second in size only to Jupiter, bigger than a thousand Earths but light enough to float in water, home of crushing gravity and delicate, seemingly impossible rings, it dazzles and attracts us:SATURNEarth groans under the thumb of fundamentalist political regimes. Crisis after crisis has given authoritarians the upper hand. Freedom and opportunity exist in space, for those with the nerve and skill to run the risks. Now the governments of Earth are encouraging many of their most incorrigible dissidents to join a great ark on a one-way expedition, twice Jupiter's distance from the Sun, to Saturn, the ringed planet that baffled Galileo and has fascinated astronomers ever since.But humans will be human, on Earth or in the heavens-so amidst the idealism permeating Space Habitat Goddard are many individuals with long-term schemes, each awaiting the tight moment. And hidden from them is the greatest secret of all, the real purpose of this expedition, known to only a few.... A six-time winner of the Hugo Award, a former editor of Analog and former fiction editor of Omni, and a past president of both the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America, Ben Bova is the author of more than a hundred works of science fact and fiction. He lives in Florida. Visit his Web site at www.benbova.net. Second in size (in our solar system) only to Jupiter, larger than a thousand Earths but light enough to float in water, home of crushing gravity and delicate, seemingly impossible rings, the planet Saturn dazzles and attracts us. As this brilliant SF novel begins, Earth groans under the thumb of fundamentalist political regimes. Crisis after crisis has given authoritarians the upper hand. But freedom and opportunity still exist in space—for those with the nerve and skill to run the risks. Now the governments of Earth are encouraging many of their most incorrigible dissidents—some ten thousand mavericks, intellectuals, scientists, and other free-thinkers—to join a great ark on a one-way expedition into space. Traveling twice the distance of Jupiter from the Sun, they are headed for Saturn, the ringed planet that baffled Galileo and has fascinated astronomers ever since. But humans will be human, on Earth or in the heavens—so amidst the idealism permeating Space Habitat Goddard are many individuals with ulterior motives and long-term schemes, each awaiting the right moment. And hidden from them is the greatest secret of all—the real purpose of this expedition, which is known to only a few. "Another in Bova's series about humanity's expansion into the farthest reaches of the solar system . . . [The author] keeps things ticking over with professional skill."—Kirkus Reviews"[Bova's] storytelling skills and scientific expertise make this SF adventure a good choice for most collections."—Library Journal