As a kid, did you ever say to yourself, “Someday, I’m going to Mars.” Well, hello, we’re almost there and it’s not on the public’s dime as people used to complain about, it’s on Elon Musk’s many dimes and Jeff Bezo’s and other future-thinking minds. “The Space Barons…” should wake all of us up and get us all back on track to not only thinking about what we could do if something serious did happen to our planet Earth, but to doing something about it now. Musk and Bezo as children made for interesting reading. This is one book you won’t want to put down until it’s finished.
-Anna Q.L.

Engaging romp through the world of billionaire space moguls. Good overview of these new space entrepreneurs and the business of space in general. Hard not to be somewhat awestruck by these huge, larger than life maverick personalities as they dream, brag, argue, pontificate, and shoot rockets into the upper stratosphere. Liked Vance's Musk biogreaphy more, but this was still hugely informative. Fun book - 4 stars

Reading this book has made me more sure than ever that Jeff Bezos' vision of the human future in space is the right one. Specifically, I think we need to strap him to a rocket and launch him off the planet as soon as possible.

A great look at the new space age that is emerging and the people who are driving it. I really enjoyed all of the details about Musk and Bezos and their completely different approaches to trying to revolutionize the ways that we get to space. Overall a well researched and deeply interesting look into the beginning of this new era.

I quite enjoyed reading it, however the book was more superficial than I would have liked. The American nationalism and capitalist ideals are never questioned. Issues such as the risk of life for astronauts are adressed, but always in a sort of roundabout way. This is essentially a book about some big, rich and crazy men chasing their very expensive boyhood dreams of colonising the cosmos. Which , yes, is fun to read about. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of launches and crazy parties. But I would've liked some more food for thought.
Also, at times the book got a bit repetitive. I got tired of the whole "NASA/the government let us down so now we need to rely on the Russians, the horror"narrative after two chapters, and the hare and tortoise comparison was clear the first time Davenport introduced it, it did not have to be repeated twenty times after that.

"Their [Musk's and Bezos'] race to the stars was driven not by war or politics; rather, by money and ego and adventure" this sentence sums up the conclusion of the book. The question I am left with, is if money, ego and adventure are better foundations to build a space age on than war and politics.

I quite enjoyed reading it, however the book was more superficial than I would have liked. The American nationalism and capitalist ideals are never questioned. Issues such as the risk of life for astronauts are adressed, but always in a sort of roundabout way. This is essentially a book about some big, rich and crazy men chasing their very expensive boyhood dreams of colonising the cosmos. Which , yes, is fun to read about. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of launches and crazy parties. But I would've liked some more food for thought.
Also, at times the book got a bit repetitive. I got tired of the whole "NASA/the government let us down so now we need to rely on the Russians, the horror"narrative after two chapters, and the hare and tortoise comparison was clear the first time Davenport introduced it, it did not have to be repeated twenty times after that.

"Their [Musk's and Bezos'] race to the stars was driven not by war or politics; rather, by money and ego and adventure" this sentence sums up the conclusion of the book. The question I am left with, is if money, ego and adventure are better foundations to build a space age on than war and politics.

Davenport has done an incredible job using his journalistic prowess to put together an engaging, enlightening, and at some times frightening account of the great 'Space Barons.'

Couldn't put it down!

The Space Barons is an inside look at the efforts to commercialize space and the race to be the leaders again in space flight. Of course I had heard of SpaceX and watched the YouTube videos, I had heard of Virgin Galactic, but am ashamed to say that I had no idea about Blue Origin and Jeff Bezo's role in the race.

The race is on, the setbacks have been real, the costs have been high but progress is being made. It is a fascinating read, especially the differences between the billionaires and their methods. It makes you wonder what benefit there might be in joining forces versus the role of the competition. So many resources, so many ideas. Should there be more collaboration?

I recommend reading this, learning more, and look forward to a part II in a couple of years.

Took me forever to get through this thing, and a lot of what's in here has become outdated since (to say nothing of the extent to which this plays out as somewhat blindly celebratory of Musk and Bezos in particular), but it's a fascinating look into what goes into modern space exploration, and how far we still have to go to get back to exploring the cosmos as we should.

Bureaucracy ruins everything, sure, but it's hard to argue that something as dangerous as space travel doesn't benefit from such obnoxious attention to detail.