Rating: 
Summary: To repeat a previous reviewer
Review: "I like hard SF and this is just pure trash. The characters are straight out of some bad tv movie. I got to page 126 and couldnt stand it anymore. Never read Bova before and never will again. What a pig ignorant writer. Hey Bova why dont you get out and travel a little before you go insulting other cultures and nationalities. Uugh!"
Now, let me start off by saying I pride myself on finishing books I start, but I have made it in the the 250-300 page range, but MUST stop. The writing is stilted. The characters are cardboard. The treatment of ethnicity is juvenile and insulting (if I read "red man" one more time I will puke). And not to be picky, but if you are going to have characters that are Brazilian, shouldn't they actually Portuguese and not Spanish.
I wish I could give this negative stars
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre story, with lots of sloppy details!
Review: A pretty so-so tale about the first trip to Mars. Mr. Bova decides that he wants his protagonist to be Native American, and then creates a perfect Pan-Indian character. He's supposed to be Navajo, but its clear from the get-go that Mr. Bova knows nothing about Navajo culture, so he feels free to substitute a pretty odd mix of pan-southwestern Indian characteristics that are pretty well both banal and cliché. The major plot complication comes in the form of a mysterious disease that I will not give a spoiler for, but again, its pretty obvious that Mr Bova knows nothing about this illness, as there is no possible way that this disease would have manifest itself in the ways described in the book. In 3 or 4 years, yes this disease might be inconvienient, but crippling in just 6 weeks? A whole lotta bunk in here, my friends. Its too hard to take a novel seriously when such trival details are just plain wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: Life on Mars?
Review: Ben Bova's novel 'Mars' is slow, a little too slow at times, but nevertheless is a fun journey to the red planet. The story deals with an international expedition to Mars whose primary mission is to search for signs of life. Along the way rivalries and romance spring up among the crew. While the science-fiction is hard and entertaining, the story more often delves into the realm of soap opera. Bova is an author that no doubt has done extensive research on the subject of space travel but this proves to be both a plus and a minus. Sometimes it feels as though he's forcing situations into the book to show off his research, more often than not to the detrement of the plot. Of course, the plot itself is rather thin. But I do have to say that Bova throws in more than a few twists and turns that will hold your interest and gives us a clever ending. If you're looking for something that's fairly easy to read and you enjoy B-movie characters, this one could be for you.
Rating: 
Summary: I look forward to reading the sequel
Review: I like near future Sci-Fi in which the characters run into problems that for the most part seem possible and likely. I also like stories that throw in one or two things that I didn't expect. Mars does all these things fairly well.
The characters have to deal with realistic physical, emotional and political problems in this story. My only criticisms of this book are that it kind of drags in the middle and that the female characters rely on the male characters a little too much.
The end of this book is very exciting and I look forward to reading the sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Trite, superficial, and politically correct
Review: I like science fiction, and I like Mars, but I don't like Ben Bova's Mars. Anachronisms aside, the book's preoccupation with all too convenient but all too ridiculous political and racial differences falls on its face. Maybe if all the astronauts were Berkeley undergrads, they would be as preoccupied with the color of each other's skin; but these are grown up scientists. And speaking of the science in this novel, it reads like a 5th grade textbook. They land on Mars, and wow, the next day they discover water! And a fews days later, they discover microbial life! Gee whiz! Sorry folks, but if only science were that easy.
Furthermore, the "medical mystery" that marks a turning point near the end of the novel is an all too convenient and disappointing event. Not only is the natural history of the disease wrong, but the astronauts ingest plenty of the cure in the form of orange juice yet they still remain ill! Give me a break.
In summary, this book reads more like the dimestore Del Rey novels of the 1940s-50s than the thoughtful and mature masterpiece that is Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy. Maybe the sequel is better, but I'm not sure I can stomach any more of the unrealistic interpersonal relationships or bogus political concerns that inform so much of Ben Bova's Mars.
Rating:
Summary: MAY NOT BE GREAT LITERATURE, BUT I LIKED IT
Review: Man's first expedition to Mars, the political and financial intrigue behind the scenes, the crew's training here on Earth, the interaction of the crew in transit, the struggle to maintain sexual self-discipline for five months in space, the indescribable excitement of being one of the chosen few to walk upon the Red Planet.
This book is entirely believable, and in many passages reads like nonfiction. Ben Bova patiently--but not condescendingly--explains the science behind the characters' activities. He also does a fine job of portraying the characters' child-like enthusiasm for finding evidence of life on Mars--an obsession tempered by their skeptical scientific minds.
This story can be quite frightening: there are several mishaps--several injuries--that just might make you yelp. Through these mishaps, the reader comes to care for the characters.
HOWEVER, Mr. Bova always likes to interject romance into his novels, and I'm afraid his portrayal of romantic feelings on the printed page is rather two-dimensional. His romantic characters seem to always suffer from an inability to adequately express themselves, and are shackled by miscommunication. In short, his portrayal of romance is immature.
But don't let that stop you. This book is worth reading. Especially now (April '04), for as you read these words, two rovers from Earth are prowling about the frigid red sands of Mars.
Rating:
Summary: Slow, Slow, Slow... But Good Ending
Review: Perhaps I was spoiled by Bova's other work (I started with some of the latter books in his "series" before going back to Mars, which is considerably older), but I found this book to be agonizingly slow to start. In the beginning of the book, the flashbacks to the training really chop the book up and break up any kind of flow that might have been going. The story at this point feels VERY disjointed and slow, as there is very little actually going on, other than back story that moves too slowly and should've been handled in a different way, in my opinion. HOWEVER, towards the last 150 pages or so (I know, quite awhile to wait in a big book like this), the action starts to pick up, as does the science. I found myself trudging through the first half of the book, but unable to put the book down for the second half. Bova started gripping me with the suspense factor towards the end, and it was this that saved the book. The science was fun and interesting, and has greatly increased my interest in the Red Planet. However, I don't feel it was nearly as creative as his science in "Jupiter", but maybe I was spoiled by that book. My only other complaint is a minor one that has to do with the "Martian disease" that the explorers come down with (this is not new information: it's on the back cover). I felt that it was handled wrongly and was only suspenseful because of misinformation. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it was too slow to start. 3.5 stars overall.
Rating:
Summary: Slow, Slow, Slow... But Good Ending
Review: Perhaps I was spoiled by Bova's other work (I started with some of the latter books in his "series" before going back to Mars, which is considerably older), but I found this book to be agonizingly slow to start. In the beginning of the book, the flashbacks to the training really chop the book up and break up any kind of flow that might have been going. The story at this point feels VERY disjointed and slow, as there is very little actually going on, other than back story that moves too slowly and should've been handled in a different way, in my opinion. HOWEVER, towards the last 150 pages or so (I know, quite awhile to wait in a big book like this), the action starts to pick up, as does the science. I found myself trudging through the first half of the book, but unable to put the book down for the second half. Bova started gripping me with the suspense factor towards the end, and it was this that saved the book. The science was fun and interesting, and has greatly increased my interest in the Red Planet. However, I don't feel it was nearly as creative as his science in "Jupiter", but maybe I was spoiled by that book. My only other complaint is a minor one that has to do with the "Martian disease" that the explorers come down with (this is not new information: it's on the back cover). I felt that it was handled wrongly and was only suspenseful because of misinformation. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it was too slow to start. 3.5 stars overall.
Rating:
Summary: Good Sci-Fi, Bad Ending
Review: This book was not filled with white-knuckle suspense. It wasn't filled with edge-of-your-seat action, either. It was a very deliberate, methodical (sometimes slow) story that was filled with very true-to-life characters.
Jamie Waterman, a geologist, earns a seat on an expedition to the red planet. In doing so, he makes a few 'enemies', but also some strong allies. He starts out as an afterthought, and ends up essentially as the 'leader' of the expedition through sheer will and determination.
The book is filled with navaho folklore, and has an excellent use of description. It also has a lot of current cutting edge scientific knowledge about space exploration and research on possible martian exploration.
The reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is that the ending seemed, well, forced. I kept thinking to myself, there are only X number of pages left, Bova better start wrapping up! When the end finally came, I felt like, "Okay, what just happened?" and "There's no more?"
If you like good, 'real world' sci-fi, stuff that could really happen today or sometime in the near future, read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: My Scifi Start
Review: This is the book that got me started on Scifi about 8 years ago. The characters are great. The plot is fast moving and it's a really enjoyable read. Along with Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy this is the book that REALLY makes one want to experience the Red Planet for themselves...in person! The vast majority of Bova's works are great...this book is on the top of the list.
|
