The novel “Exiled from Earth” by Ben Bova was published for the first time in 1971. It’s the first book of the Exiles trilogy.

The world government has taken the difficult decision to exile the most important scientists of the Earth from the planet. Their work is considered too dangerous for humanity so it was decided to send them to a space station where they cann’t interfere with society.

Lou Christopher is a computer scientist who’s working on a project of genetic engineering in which the use of computers is essential. Included in the list of scientists to be exiled, he manages to escape arrest and tries to find support in order to avoid his fate ending up involved in various political intrigues.

“Exiled from Earth” is set in a future where the world is united but terribly overcrowded. From this point of view, Ben Bova worked within a trend not only of science fiction typical of the ’70s, when the consequences of overpopulation were being explored in science, literature, cinema and in other fields as well.

In the world described by Ben Bova, science and technology have come a long way and, for example, there are space stations and important research in the field of genetic engineering. However, many members of the world government are not enthusiastic about a lot of progress: on the contrary, they believe that the work of many scientists will cause chaos in the world by changing social and economic balances that are already unstable.

The solution chosen by the world government is to exile scientists “guilty” of being engaged in unwelcome research from Earth confining them to a space station. They make it a matter of danger but there aren’t real ethical considerations about the ongoing research. Among the scientists involved, there is Lou Christopher but he manages to escape arrest.

Lou Christopher’s escape gives Ben Bova the opportunity to describe the situation of the future megacities. “Exiled from Earth” isn’t exactly social science fiction becuase that’s not its main theme. The author does provide an idea of ​​the social problems, which are actually in many ways the same already existing at the time when the novel was written.

Of course, reading “Exiled from Earth” today it seems very unlikely that a man wanted by the World Government can take a commercial flight without being intercepted. The search for Christopher Lou is discreet but today government agencies can meticulously control all major airports of their own country.

Ben Bova hadn’t anticipated today’s mass surveillance or preferred not to include it in the novel. Together with the apparent incompetence of the agents who let Lou Christopher slip away from them, this serves to develop the scientist’s adventure since in the end the actual exile story is only a small part of the plot.

Another part of Lou Christopher’s adventure concerns his involvement in the world’s political intrigues. In this case, Ben Bova can explain how the world government works but again there aren’t many insights regarding future politics.

The result is a novel that brings together several elements from social to political passing from scientific and technological in a story that is too short to be able to develop them properly. Ben Bova is still good at creating a plot that despite certain limits can be rather consistent.

The pace is fast with lots of action and twists so the tension is maintained in the course of the novel. The characters are fairly sacrificed because Lou Christopher is the absolute protagonist and almost always the story is told following his adventures while the other characters come and go.

Overall, “Exiled from Earth” is a novel with various strengths and weaknesses. In my opinion Ben Bova succeeds only in part in hiding its flaws but I think that the story is good so if you’re not looking for something demanding it’s worth reading it.