You are here: Home > Our Authors > Bova, Ben

VJ Books Presents Author Ben Bova!

Ben BovaDr. Ben Bova (1932-2020) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received a Bachelor's in Journalism from Temple University, a Masters of Arts in Communications from the State University of New York at Albany, and finally his doctorate in Education from California Coast University.

Professionally, Dr. Bova taught science fiction at Harvard University and at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. He was the President Emeritus of the National Space Society, president of Science Fiction Writers of America, editorial director of Omni magazine, and editor of Analog magazine. As Manager of Marketing for Avco Everett Research Laboratory, in Massachusetts, he worked with leading scientists in fields such as high-power lasers, artificial hearts, and plasma dynamics, and prior to that he wrote scripts for teaching films with the Physical Sciences Study Committee in association with Nobel laureates from many universities. Earlier, he was technical editor on Project Vanguard, the first American artificial satellite program.

Dr. Bova wrote more than 130 futuristic novels and nonfiction books. His fictional work combined genres such as romance, adventure, and highly-accurate science fiction in stories such as that of his Grand Tour novels, which followed the expansion of the human race throughout the solar system, and the impact such change might have had upon society. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation in 2005, “for fueling mankind’s imagination regarding the wonders of outer space.” His nonfiction books, such as Faint Echos and Distant Stars have been honored by the American Librarians Association, among others. You can find a selection of Ben Bova signed books and a bibliography of the author's work below this bio. He also wrote and consulted on several television and film productions, including Repo Men (2010) starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker; and the film adaptation of Richard K. Morgan's cyberpunk science-fiction novel Altered Carbon (2002).

Dr. Bova lectured regularly on topics dealing with the prospects for human immortality, the interaction of science and politics, space exploration and development, the craft of writing, and the search for extraterrestrial life. He worked with film makers and television producers such as Woody Allen, George Lucas, and Gene Roddenberry. In his various writings, he predicted the Space Race of the 1960s, solar power satellites, the discovery of organic chemicals in interstellar space, virtual reality, human cloning, the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars), the discovery of life on Mars, stem cell therapy, the discovery of ice on the Moon, electronic book publishing, and zero-gravity sex.

A member of the Arizona Astronomy Board, Dr. Bova spent time on the Steering Committee for the NASA/Space Transportation Association study on space tourism. He also served on panels for the Office of Technology Assessment. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the National Space Society, a charter member of the Planetary Society, and a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. Temple University honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1981, and in 1982 made him an Alumni Fellow.

Ben Bova Book List and Awards
Author's website: www.benbova.com
Similar authors: Stephen Baxter, David Brin, Greg Bear, Kim Stanley Robinson, Neal Stephenson
Follow them on Facebook
Follow them on Twitter
Listen to Interviews

Sam Gunn Jr.
Signed First Edition

Sam Gunn Jr. by Ben Bova

Neptune
Dbl-Signed First

Neptune by Ben Bova & Doug Beason

My Favorites: A Collection of Short Stories
Dbl-Signed First

My Favorites: A Collection of Short Stories by Ben Bova & Doug Beason

Space Station Down
Dbl-Signed First

Space Station Down by Ben Bova & Doug Beason

Uranus
Signed First Edition

Uranus by Ben Bova

Earth
Signed First Edition

Earth by Ben Bova
BlogTalkRadio Interviews

Click Here to Listen to VJ Books' exclusive interview with Ben Bova about his book "Apes and Angels"

Ben Bova Bibliography


Collections

  • Forward in Time - 1973
  • Maxwell's Demons - 1979
  • E - 1984
  • The Astral Mirror - 1985
  • Prometheans - 1986
  • Battle Station - 1987
  • Future Crime - 1990
  • Challenges - 1994
  • The Future Quartet - Earth in the Year 2042 - 1995
  • Twice Seven - 1998
  • Best of Bova Vol. I - 2016
  • Best of Bova Vol. II - 2016
  • My Favorites: A Collection of Short Stories - 2020

Exiles

  • Exiled From Earth - 1971
  • Flight of the Exiles - 1972
  • End of Exile - 1975

Grand Tour

  • Privateers - 1985
  • Mars - 1992
  • Empire Builders - 1993
  • Moonrise - 1996
  • Moonwar - 1998
  • Return to Mars - 1999
  • Venus - 2000
  • The Precipice - 2001
  • Juniper - 2001
  • Saturn - 2002
  • The Rock Rats - 2002
  • The Silent War - 2004
  • Tales of the Grand Tour - 2004 (short story collection)
  • Powersat - 2005
  • Mercury - 2005
  • Titan - 2006*
  • The Aftermath - 2007
  • Mars Life - 2008
  • The Return - 2009
  • Leviathans of Jupiter - 2011
  • Farside - 2013
  • New Earth - 2013
  • Earth - July 2019

Star Quest Trilogy

  1. Death Wave - 2015
  2. Apes and Angels - 2016
  3. Survival - 2017

Outer Planets Trilogy

  1. Uranus - 2020
  2. Neptune - 2021

Sam Gunn

  • Sam Gunn, Unlimited - 1993 (short story collection)
  • Sam Gunn Forever - 1998 (short story collection)
  • Sam Gunn Omnibus - 2007
  • Sam Gunn Jr. - 2022

Chet Kinsman

  • The Weathermakers - 1967
  • Millennium - 1976
  • Colony - 1978
  • Kinsman - 1979
  • The Kinsman Saga - 1987

Orion

  • Orion - 1984
  • Vengeance of Orion - 1988
  • Orion in the Dying Time - 1990
  • Orion and the Conqueror - 1994
  • Orion Among the Stars - 1995
  • Orion and King Arthur - 2011

To Save the Sun

  • To Save the Sun - 1992 (with AJ Austin)
  • To Fear the Light - 1994 (with AJ Austin)

Voyagers

  • Voyagers - 1981
  • The Alien Within - 1986
  • Star Brothers - 1990
  • Return - 2009

Watchmen

  • The Star Conquerors - 1959
  • Star Watchmen - 1964
  • The Dueling Machine - 1969
  • As On a Darkling Plain - 1972

Jake Ross Series
  1. Power Play - 2012
  2. Power Surge - 2015
  3. Power Failure - October 2018

Non-Series Novels

  • Out of the Sun - 1968
  • Escape! - 1969
  • THX 1138 - 1971 (with George Lucas)
  • When the Sky Burned - 1972
  • Gremlins, Go Home! - 1974 (with Gordon Dickson)
  • The Starcrossed - 1975
  • The Multiple Man - 1976
  • Test of Fire - 1982
  • The Winds of Alatair - 1983
  • Peacekeepers - 1988
  • Cyberbooks - 1989
  • The Trikon Deception - 1992 (with Bill Pogue)
  • Triumph - 1993
  • Death Dream - 1994
  • Brothers - 1995
  • The Green Trap - 1996
  • Laugh Lines - 2008
  • The Immortality Factor - 2009
  • The Hittite - 2010
  • Able One - 2010
  • Mars, Inc.: The Billionaire's Club - 2013
  • Transhuman - 2014
  • Rescue Mode - 2014
  • Space Station Down - 2020 (with Doug Beason)

Non-Fiction

  • The Amazing Laser - 1971
  • The Milky Way Galaxy - 1961
  • Man Changes the Weather - 1973
  • In Quest of Quasars - 1975
  • Starflight and Other Improbabilities - 1973
  • Notes to a Science Fiction Writer - 1981
  • The High Road - 1981
  • Assured Survival: Putting The Star Wars Defense In Perspective - 1984
  • Welcome to Moonbase - 1987
  • The Beauty of Light - 1988
  • The Craft of Writing Science Fiction That Sells - 1994
  • Immortality - 1998
  • Are We Alone in the Cosmos? - 1999
  • The Story of Light - 2001
  • Faint Echos, Distant Stars: The Science and Politics of Finding Life Beyond Earth - 2004
  • Carbide Tipped Pens - December 2014

Anthologies Edited

  • The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two - 1973
  • Aliens - 1977
  • The Best of the Nebulas - 1989
  • The Many Worlds of Science Fiction - 1971

Ben Bova Awards


  • 1974 - E.E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction
  • 1983 - Balrog Award winner for Professional Achievement
  • 1985 - Inkpot Award for his outstanding achievements in science fiction
  • 1996 - Isaac Asimov Memorial Award
  • 2005 - Lifetime Achievement Award of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation
  • 2006 - John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Titan
  • 2008 - Robert A. Heinlein Award in 2008 for his work in science fiction
  • 2012 - Space Pioneer Award from the National Space Society
  • Science Fiction Achievement Award (the "Hugo") for Best Professional Editor - six time winner!


Go to top of page