Reviewers refer to this Bova series as juvenile but it is as close to being adult fiction as you can get and still be considered juvenile. The themes are adult and the stories are serious. The main thing that makes these books juvenile is the lack of sex. As stories I quite like them.
I consider the first book to be the best and most adult. The third book the weakest and most juvenile.
Are they deep thought stories? No.
Do they present original ideas that no other writer has offered? No.
Is the original premise a bit silly? Yes.
Are they interesting stories? Yes they are.
I have read very little of Bova was pleasantly surprised. ( )

I found the premise of this book fascinating -- it is a variant on the theme of sending out a group of colonists into space. In this case the colonists are a group of scientists that have, to borrow a phrase, come to 'know too much' for the comfort level of the world government on Earth. As an option for lifelong imprisonment, this group is allowed to take an orbiting space station and retrofit that as an interstellar ship (and hence gets this group out of the hair of the government for good). The story is told in three parts, making up the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Since this is a multi-generational trip each part is separated from the others by quite a bit of time.

When I read this when I was younger I enjoyed the book quite a bit. On re-reading this more recently I have to say it didn't read quite as well for me. The characters and how they act felt more two-dimensional to me on the second pass through. The scientific part felt more strained to me than it did years ago as well... which is perhaps to be expected. ( )

This book reminded me of why I liked Science Fiction when growing up during the 60s and 70s. Although the science may be a little dated, there is still plenty of adventure, rockets, space travel and new worlds. The 3 stories although connected by theme are quite different in that the time and the characters are totally different. The third story has an almost post-apocalyptic feel to it. I've read a few Ben Bova stories before and this is certainly one of his better ones. ( )

I didn't enjoy this as much as I enjoyed his later works. It's worth reading if you're a big Bova fan (like me) or if you like a lightweight sci-fi thriller. ( )

Exiled From Earth, Flights of the Exiles, End of Exile