Pluto: 3 (Outer Planets Trilogy) by Ben Bova and Les Johnson (book review)
Ben Bova needs little introduction. He had published well over 100 books in various genres and was well known for his series ‘The Grand Tour’ of which ‘Pluto’ is the final volume. Bova received many awards and was the editor of ‘Analog Science Fact & Fiction’ after John W Campbell’s death. This reviewer has read several of Bova’s book, some of them parts of ‘The Grand Tour’ and always found them to be an intoxicating mixture of plausibly hard feeling SF and convincing dramatic tales of the people involved. Sadly. Bova finally met his end in 2020 as the mighty COVID19 struck. Now Les Johnson has used Bova’s work to complete the last part of the series.
Les Johnson has already authored several SF novels. He is a noted futurist who works as his day job at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Centre in Alabama working on solar sail propulsion technology. Furthermore, Johnson has collaborated with Bova previously on ‘Rescue Mode’ (2014). So there does seem to be some precedent in Johnson making this final collaboration.
It is obvious to the reader that this book, ‘Pluto’, forms the final part of a trilogy about the outermost planets and follows ‘Neptune’ and ‘Uranus’. We can gather that in those books, which I have not read, humanity has discovered its first evidence of intelligent extrasolar life. This solely consists of long dead ruins. There is also evidence that something else wiped out the extrasolar beings that left behind the ruins.
As ‘Pluto’ opens, we are initially introduced to Dr. Aaron Mikelson. This scientist has been blended with an AI named Marlene following a devastating accident that crippled his body. The only way to save him was this new procedure whereby his consciousness is transferred into a robotic form. After some time, Mikelson’s personality dominated and then annihilated Marlene. Mikelson regrets this and searches his memory banks to find traces of Marlene to reconstruct her. Meanwhile, his rover body is exploring Pluto and has found an unusual neutrino source emanating from under the ice. The science research vessel Tombaugh, whose team includes Mikelson, have been signalling him to return. But Mikelson will not acknowledge them. In his cold calculating arrogance, he does not wish to share the discovery with them. So he simply continues his research without bothering to talk to the other scientists.
Therefore, the research vessel has called in the United States Space Force vessel Aurora and Major Dr. Larry Randall. This dynamic fellow is charged with retrieving the errant scientist. In order to do so, he pilots a tank-like conveyance with the not-so-snappy name Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel. Along for the ride are Dr. Abigail Grigsby, Mitsui Arashi the avionics engineer and Bashar al-Salam, the engineering tech. Abigail is from the Tombaugh and the others are with Space Force. They soon catch up with Mickelson, who explains he has found this odd neutrino emission. Abigail quickly agrees this is worth checking out as the neutrino pattern is typical of matter-antimatter annihilation albeit on a small scale. While Randall does not forget that he was called in because of Mickelson’s intransigence, it is clear that the scientist has found something very well worth investigation. Alas, Mickleson’s cold detachment and towering arrogance soon show through. Due to Mickelson’s anima being hosted on machines, he no longer needs sleep cycles and thinks about three times faster than a human being. He therefore tends to view the human scientists as dolts who will try to steal his credit. Naturally, this will become an issue further into the text.
The neutrino source is buried some two kilometres beneath the ice. So the scientists decide to drill down to whatever is emitting the neutrino pattern. Given time, the chain of events leads to greater discoveries and Mickelson’s cold detachment and determination to stay and study events leads the Tombaugh and all of her crew into danger.
This would not be particularly compelling if the characters were not so humanely written. Randall has a loving family back on Earth and so is very conflicted when a mutual attraction develops between him and Abigail. As Randall is seconded to the Tombaugh, he meets most of the science team as well as the crew itself. The captain of the Tombaugh is very helpful but, although most of the scientists are at least cordial, some are more abrasive. Mickelson meanwhile seems to hold slightly higher regard for Randall after they worked together on Pluto which causes a clash with the head of the science team Dr. Bridenstein. While this good doctor is helpful to Randall, Mickelson treats her as a total fraud who claims credit for others’ work. Mickelson is not good at making friends.
I have previously noted that in some of Bova’s books there are not really any villains. Sometime people can be antagonistic due to clashing aims even when they are all working to a good end. Quite often the exploration of the solar system presents tricky environmental threats and often the human angle can lead to clashing efforts to overcome the difficulties. Mickelson is something of a halfway villain. Not really evil, but staggeringly arrogant and borderline sociopathic. His rigid insistence that potentially dangerous situations be examined closely simply because he can survive even when a human being might not leads to some tense moments in the plot.
However, while there are some good ideas in ‘Pluto’, there are also a lot of unanswered questions. Much like ‘2001: A Space Odessey’, the humans have an encounter with the tools of alien civilisations while the aliens themselves remain inscrutable. While I can understand this approach as part of a wider series it does make for a vaguely unsatisfying denouement.
Les Johnson clearly understands Bova’s writing process and makes a good stab at producing a book that feels at least in part like the earlier Bova volumes. It is hard to put one’s finger on exactly how this volume differs but there is something there somewhere. Maybe there is not quite so much passion in the human drama? Maybe the exploration of the alien artifacts is not quite satisfying enough? Nonetheless, credit must be given to Johnson for bringing us a facsimile that is 95% entirely like Bova’s normal vivacious writing.
Can I recommend this book? Well, yes, indeed I can but not before I recommend other Bova volumes. This reviewer has also written reviews about ‘Mercury’ and ‘Titan’, both of which are earlier ‘Grand Tour’ books and both of which are slightly better than ‘Pluto’. I suggest starting with an earlier pure Bova and then progress to this if you like what you read.
Dave Corby
May 2026
(pub: TOR, 2025. 288 page hardback. Price: $32.99 (US), £22.00 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-25029-665-8)
check out website: https://torpublishinggroup.com/pluto/?isbn=9781250296658&format=hardback