As Ben Bova continues his swing through our Solar System, writing book after book named for the planets, I've been following this journey very closely. So far he's brought us stories from Venus, Mars and Jupiter. Now, on his latest romp, he's made a stop at the great ringed planet with a book titled--SATURN.

Although Bova's recent heroine, Pancho Lane, makes a few brief appearances in this story, it's Pancho's sister Susan who is the star of this show. Susan Lane, newly awakened from a cryogenic sleep that lasted more than two decades, was cured from the cancer that had ravaged her body as a teenager by new developments in medical science and given another chance at life. However, there was a high price to pay--her memory. It seems that long-term cryogenics tends to totally wipe memories from the human brain, so Susan had to learn everything all over again, as if a baby. Now that she is once again a functional member of society, Susan decides to accept a position on board the Saturn mission, in which a habitat of several thousand people will embark on a venture that will take them farther from Earth than any other human beings have ever traveled.

Susan takes the name Holly, as a symbol of her rebirth, and quickly becomes a valuable member of the administrative team aboard the habitat. Unfortunately, Holly is unaware at first of the political machinations that are taking place aboard the habitat, led by some very nefarious people, including her Boss. Holly just happens to be falling in love with the man, Malcolm Eberly, despite his seeming desire to keep their relationship strictly professional.

Ok, maybe Holly isn't the only star in this show, because several other characters do make a leap to the forefront of the story, but by the time this tale is fully told, Susan... er...Holly takes first place and the lead role. Through murder and mayhem, adventure in the rings (in the form of a daredevil stuntman who charms his way through most of the female cast during the journey) and the discovery of what appears to be a new space-borne life form, SATURN flows along nicely and keeps those pages turning. Of course, Bova is a master of the science fiction tale and knows very well how to hold a reader's interest.

But, when I turned over the last page, I strangely found myself wanting for more. It wasn't that the tale was faulty or failed on some level, not at all, the story races along through peril and plot twists rather nicely, ultimately reaching a successful conclusion. It's just that...I guess I expected more from SATURN. You see, Bova's tales of Venus, Mars and Jupiter were all rollicking good fun! And, although this one was fun as well, SATURN never reached the level of the others that had come before it.

Not to worry, though, for fans of science fiction, SATURN is still a very good read. And I'm sure that Bova will wow us all once again with MERCURY, his latest planet-titled novel. And my slight disappointment with SATURN will in no way influence any future decisions to pick up another Bova book while browsing through the local Borders or Barnes & Noble. Nope, Bova is still a master story teller, as he has been for decades. I will eagerly await the release of MERCURY in paperback in the coming months and there's still THE SILENT WAR, Book III of Bova's Asteroid Wars Saga--another installment in the life of Pancho Lane, sitting on my "as yet unread" bookshelf.

For those of you who are familiar with Bova's work, you'll definitely be able to find some enjoyment with SATURN. For those of you who are not familiar with Bova, I suggest that you review the selection of his titles found in every Science Fiction Section of every book store in this country, simply pick up a title and let it take you away.