Winds of Altair is my second venture into the works of acclaimed sci-fi writer Ben Bova. I have heard from a few sources that it heavily inspired Avatar, so I was willing to take an 8-hour shot at it. Afterwards, I felt disappointed at the wasted potential, but do give credit to the story for inspiring the superior cinematic follow-up.That’s not to say there is nothing redeemable found in Winds. I would pass this with 2.5 stars, because Bova shows he is capable of grabbing the reader’s attention right away, by setting up a well-described dystopic future and populating it with characters that shine through and develop adequately. Bova continues into the middle of the story strong, placing believable obstacles in the path of the protagonist, and raising the stakes just when you think they would abate. Bova’s description of the technology that connects people to lion-like animals is unique and refreshing, and doesn’t beat the reader over the head with jargon and massive paragraphs of vague exposition.Heading towards the end, the story suffers greatly. There begins unrealistic character shifts, and liberal applications of deus ex machina. It’s almost as if the ‘winds’ in ‘Winds of Altair’ are howling through to get the book finished, stamped, and published by a deadline. I was waiting for a unique insight into the debates between religion and science that pepper the story, but it remains a formulaic execution on philosophy. Winds feels like wasted potential, feels like a story that could have used a grander publishing implementation, but instead was a grand idea that was relegated to a pocket book. I can sense Bova has a lot more to say about respecting nature and humankind stewarding it, but it is muddle in Winds of Altair.
What do You think about The Winds Of Altair (1988)?
Thinking that I hadn't read a Science Fiction novel in a while I decided to just pick a random title off my shelf from my library. Bova seemed like a good pick, but, alas, this book wasn't a good choice. I won't summarize it only to say the plot was quite weak and not engaging, there weren't any truly strong characters and there was little protagonist/antagonist friction to help give it some excitement. The ending also felt contrived and rushed - not even remotely believable. All in all a disappointment. Don't waste your time with this one.
—Don
