7.4 /10 1 Votes
Series Grand Tour Publication date 26 October 2001 ISBN 978-0-312-84876-7 Page count 352 (Hardcover edition) Followed by The Rock Rats, Jupiter | 3.7/5 Goodreads Publisher Tor Books Media type Print (Hardcover) Originally published 26 October 2001 Preceded by Return to Mars Genre Science Fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pages 352 (Hardcover edition) Similar Works by Ben Bova, Grand Tour books, Science Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Precipice is a science fiction novel by Hugo Award winner Ben Bova. This novel is part of the Grand Tour series of novels. It is the first book in the The Asteroid Wars series. It was first published in 2001. The title "The Precipice" refers to the "greenhouse cliff", or the ultimate collapse of Earth's biosphere, preceded by the steady encroachment of climate change.
Contents
Plot synopsis
The greenhouse effect is threatening the earth. Two rival industrialists, Dan Randolph and Martin Humphries believe that the key to earth's survival is to mine the asteroid belt and move earth's heavy industry to space.
Millionaire Dan Randolf is going bankrupt, due to the lack of work for his aerospace company, Astro Corp, due to the fact that the "greenhouse cliff" has put Earth at a higher priority than space. Cold-hearted multi-billionaire Martin Humphries shows Randolf a fully laid-out plan to reach the Asteroid Belt and mine it for its abundant metals. Randolf immediately takes up the idea, putting his entire life savings into the plan. Humphries donates much of the funds from his own pocket, planning to use that leverage later, after Randolf has put in all of his own work, to destroy Randolf, take over Astro Corp, and have a monopoly on all metals arriving from the Asteroids Belt.
While Dan Randolf wants to distribute the Asteroids' resources fairly at a very modest price to aid in the restoration of Earth's climate system, Martin Humphries intends to take over the company and use the monopoly to his own financial gain.
Characters
Reception
According to Library Journal, The Precipice "highlights current environmental issues and scientific speculation while simultaneously telling a tale of heroes and villains that should appeal to most fans of hard sf.