Rating: 
Summary: A novel about the next step in space exploration...
Review: Like Mr. Koman, I've been bitterly disappointed in NASA's floundering, post-moon-program. However, Mr. Koman wrote a novel about how private people could conceivably take the next step---without the layers of bureaucracy NASA has accreted about itself, without the hysterical concern for public relations that plagues any publicly funded effort such as NASA, and taking advantages of technology that, when the Saturn V was flying, was a dream for the far future, but which is well within the reach of (somewhat) ordinary people today---just for starters, the computer I'm entering this from makes the best at NASA in the early sixties look absolutely sick. I could have used a "Guide to Spacecraft" in the back, and the book _is_ awfully long, but on the whole, I recommend it very highly. I have a signed copy, and it's going into plastic shrinkwrap to be passed down to my descendants.
Rating:
Summary: One of the BEST books no one has ever read
Review: This is a great book. It's got everything going for it: a great plot, interesting and likable characters, important themes, and a more-than-competent narrative style. It is also a great read -- fast and fun. So why hasn't it won ALL the science fiction awards and become a nationwide bestseller? Maybe because no major book publisher would touch it. Not because it's a bad book, but because it offers up the interesting idea that the main impediment to mankind's entry into space is NASA. And it provides fascinating tidbits of news that never made it into the newspapers about how NASA really works (or doesn't), especially concerning the Challenger disaster. Sort of makes you wonder about the First Amendment, when book publishers are afraid to publish a book that's critical of the government. Anyway, if you can find a copy, GRAB IT! And if you're the kind of reader who only buys one book a year, this would be a good one to pick.
Rating:
Summary: One of the BEST books no one has ever read
Review: This is a great book. It's got everything going for it: a great plot, interesting and likable characters, important themes, and a more-than-competent narrative style. It is also a great read -- fast and fun. So why hasn't it won ALL the science fiction awards and become a nationwide bestseller? Maybe because no major book publisher would touch it. Not because it's a bad book, but because it offers up the interesting idea that the main impediment to mankind's entry into space is NASA. And it provides fascinating tidbits of news that never made it into the newspapers about how NASA really works (or doesn't), especially concerning the Challenger disaster. Sort of makes you wonder about the First Amendment, when book publishers are afraid to publish a book that's critical of the government. Anyway, if you can find a copy, GRAB IT! And if you're the kind of reader who only buys one book a year, this would be a good one to pick.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting in more ways than one
Review: This is an incredibly exciting book, not only because of the story, but because of what it could mean for our future. It re-awakened in me a virtually dead dream: living the second half of my life in space.
Rating:
Summary: You'll not look at NASA the same way again
Review: This story was worth reading for the buildup to the "breakout" scenario alone. Sorry: any more... would be telling. I can't recommend this book highly enough. The quality of writing was unexpectedly high, the characters were (predominantly) believable while still heroic, and the goals pursued by the characters were interestingly different, but aimed in the same direction. Buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: You'll not look at NASA the same way again
Review: This story was worth reading for the buildup to the "breakout" scenario alone. Sorry: any more... would be telling. I can't recommend this book highly enough. The quality of writing was unexpectedly high, the characters were (predominantly) believable while still heroic, and the goals pursued by the characters were interestingly different, but aimed in the same direction. Buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Read this to encourage the publishing of a next book ....
Review: Victor Koman writes very good fiction, with "Solomon's Knife" being one of my favorites. In many respects he has done it again with this novel. It has both greatly inspiring and truly horrific scenes, and has certainly changed the way I feel about the space program (with the recent tragic loss of Columbia only underscoring this). He tells a rousing tale, and does it well. Many of the characters are fascinating, and I agree with the other reviewers who have pointed out the similarities of the arch villan to Rand's Ellsworth Toohey. I loved the wide range of competing private space projects, and the group of college students, while I felt were the most implausible builders, did inject a valued dose of humor into the story. I also loved the SSTO space station.
Where I disagree with the author is in his painting of a giant conspiracy by NASA and the United Nations to keep mankind earthbound. I well know the temptation of this, having given in to it myself. Government is incompetent. They can't operate a successful conspiracy to bug the offices of their political opponents! Sure these sad little losers would hate to see humans forever beyond their reach. But they are infighting twerps who cant think beyond the next Federal election. Not grand masterminds of evil with the power and ommiscience of gods. Having said that, this is well worth reading, and I'm very glad I did so.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful book, shame about the conspiracy side.
Review: Victor Koman writes very good fiction, with "Solomon's Knife" being one of my favorites. In many respects he has done it again with this novel. It has both greatly inspiring and truly horrific scenes, and has certainly changed the way I feel about the space program (with the recent tragic loss of Columbia only underscoring this). He tells a rousing tale, and does it well. Many of the characters are fascinating, and I agree with the other reviewers who have pointed out the similarities of the arch villan to Rand's Ellsworth Toohey. I loved the wide range of competing private space projects, and the group of college students, while I felt were the most implausible builders, did inject a valued dose of humor into the story. I also loved the SSTO space station.
Where I disagree with the author is in his painting of a giant conspiracy by NASA and the United Nations to keep mankind earthbound. I well know the temptation of this, having given in to it myself. Government is incompetent. They can't operate a successful conspiracy to bug the offices of their political opponents! Sure these sad little losers would hate to see humans forever beyond their reach. But they are infighting twerps who cant think beyond the next Federal election. Not grand masterminds of evil with the power and ommiscience of gods. Having said that, this is well worth reading, and I'm very glad I did so.
Rating: 
Summary: Take the Next Big Leap with Victor Koman in KINGS
Review: Victor Koman's KINGS OF THE HIGH FRONTIER is as timely as it is timeless. The author is truly a visionary of the highest order, offering us a view of the "what could be"...or is it the "what is"? For KINGS OF THE HIGH FRONTIER could happen tomorrow, folks. This isn't your comfortable man-against-the-alien science fiction at all. Quite the contrary. And that's what makes KINGS dangerous. Koman, with the delicate fingers of a space age surgeon, peels back the layers of deceit and ineptitude surrounding the global attempt to keep us from the next big leap? He stares at the reader, questioning: "What happened to the dream?" What indeed! The question is addressed and answered adeptly through the trail blazing characters that step straight from the pages of the novel and into the reader's heart. Join Space Shuttle Commander Tammy Reis in her struggle between duty and freedom. Get clandestine with the enigmatic and intriguing black market savant Marcus Aurelius Grant. Pound your head in frustration with slump-shouldered rocket designer Gerald Cooper. And enjoy the challenges with NYU student Davy Crockett, descendent of one of the greatest pioneers in history.The race is on. A new space race fueled by true desire to brave the wilds of the final frontier, the high frontier. But there are those who would stop this race of freedom. And time is running out. KINGS OF THE HIGH FRONTIER has already won the coveted Prometheus Award and it continues to receive high praise and critical acclaim. KINGS is a book about freedom, and is science fiction in the trueset sense of the phrase. The reader will come away not only with a sense of awe and wonder, with a renewed lust for the limitless bounds of space, but also with an in-depth understanding of the politics, science and sociology of the complex and varied space programs and communities around the world. Yes, KINGS is dangerous. But it is also a ray of hope as we move steadily toward a new decade, a new century, a new millinneum...a new frontier.
Rating:
Summary: Almost overwhelming!
Review: Wow, this is definitely one of the most powerful science fiction books I've ever read. I read it in two days in a white heat!
|
