Legendary Science Fiction Author Ben Bova Has Passed at the Age of 88

I'm very sorry to read this. I've read Ben Bova's writing most of my life. I met him about 10 years ago at a book signing. He was nice and gracious and we had a long talk, mostly about his Immortality book.

My favorite Bova books are probably "Privateers" and "Test of Fire".

As I noted on Twitter, I was really bummed to see this. His novel Mars was one of my favorites. https://twitter.com/AndrewLiptak/status/1333525488552308736

Dang. He wrote great sci-fi for kids when no one was. I read him in elementary school, my first sci-fi reads.

and

Freaking Covid.

His book "The Dueling Machine" based on a short story from 1963 was an early exposure to the possibilities offered by virtual reality [0]. Time to dig around the bookshelf.

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/397658.The_Dueling_Machi...

In about the 6th grade, I randomly selected Ben Bova's book "Escape" from the shelf and started reading it without any real expectations.

The story grabbed my attention so quickly and thoroughly that it changed me. The experience took my love of reading to a new level.

> due to complications from COVID-19 and a stroke

He helped novelize the THX 1138 movie.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Bova_bibliography