Rating: 
Summary: A depressing story of man's first trip to Mars.
Review: The one good thing about this book is that if you completely ignore the politics (impossible in this book!) the story of how man might put together an expedition to Mars is actually fairly plausible.Unfortunately, the book is overrun by politics. Evidently this novel was written just before the old Soviet Union fell apart, because it postulates that the Soviets dominate the international consortium due to their superior science, dynamic economy, and experience in space. The novel even has a throwback to the early Space Race days when a Russian explains that Russia pulled itself up to modernity in one generation and gave billions in foreign aid to the Third World. God only knows where Bova has been during the 90s. Oh, I almost forgot. A gaggle of South Americans are the "soul of the Mars project." Sure--South America is constantly forging ahead into outer space. Bova's depiction of 21st Century America is utterly depressing. If that is the way things are going, I might emigrate to Mars myself. Putting this aside, the book is tolerable. The technical concepts behind the Mars expedition as postulated by Bova are well thought-out and plausible, and the characters, excepting the Russians, aren't badly done. In fact they are quite well done by Bova's standards. Several of them are near sociopaths though, and one wonders if psychologists are really sufficiently incompetent to select people like this for the trip. NASA mostly seems to avoid these problems, but then again most US astronauts seem to be Midwestern farming types. Maybe a disparate group of Russians, Americans, Chinese, Indians, South Americans, and Europeans would be as dysfunctional as Bova predicts. The book is worth a read, but isn't one that most people will want to keep on their bookshelves for a repeat. Someone still needs to write a **really good** novel about man going to Mars. Or maybe we just need to do it for real.
Rating:
Summary: An okay ride with some interesting twists
Review: Bova rarely fails to entertain and he certainly does in Mars. His Native American hero is well drawn, but some of the other characters never quite click...they're a little shallow and predictable. All in all, the story feels real and so does Bova's rendition of the Red Planet
Rating: 
Summary: mars, by jove
Review: I was disappointed that "Mars" did not win the Nebula that year, as it was far superior to the winner, also set on Mars. At least Ben knows his science and avoids predictable plot-lines. Excellent book.
Rating: 
Summary: Sci-Fi for people who hate Sci-Fi
Review: I enjoyed this novel...I like light science fiction, and found this to be the perfect "light" science fiction novel. I guess I'd consider light science fiction to be somewhat believable, light on the robots, creatures, technology, spaceship talk, etc., and an easy read (as opposed to one of those long sagas). Basically, Mars is an interesting adventure story that happens to take place (mostly) on another planet. Interesting because there are several sub-plots and themes surrounding the novel. Right from page one, the reader is on Mars as the team lands; the story goes back and forth in "present time" being the Mars exploration (including some interesting scenes on Earth) and "past time" dealing with several training sessions, and other events leading up to the trip. Throughout, we weave in and out of issues of politics, racism, deception, etc. There are several interesting personalities that must deal with one another on the long trip, and at times, it becomes soap-opera like (several devious deceptions!) I also enjoyed the "historical" comparisons of the Mars exploration to the explorations and expansion of the United States, using the metaphor of the Europeans as "aliens" taking over the world of the Native Americans (the main character being Native American brings up such comparisons). And, as one would expect, the issue of "Life on Mars?" is explored, and realistically so...they don't bump into any green men! But they do find some interesting discoveries that leave the door open for a possible sequel (which did come, called "Return to Mars" and I plan on reading...). Give it a try!
Rating:
Summary: A lot of sand to sift through.
Review: Hmm... Mixed opinion here. Having read many of the current crop of Mars hard-science novels, Bova's incarnation show his experience as a sci-fi writer, but still leaves some gaping holes in the telling. James Waterman, the half-navajo hero, is a decent character, providing an novel basis for perceiving the Martian world. The descriptions of the search for life, discovery of interesting areological and atmospheric features flow well into the adventure. But there were some seriously lame constructions, too. The worst was the scurvy that nearly killed the entire ground team, all because of some improbably tainted vitamin supplements. Even as the scurvy develops, the crew continues to guzzle OJ and tomato juice to quench their burning thurst! The overdone scale of the mission leads to a needlessly large crew, making it a bit of mental gymnastics to sort out the relevance of each of the members. The sheer numbers of casual copulation combinations clog the story, like the talcum-fine dust that interferes with the equipment on the surface. It wasn't the worst book in the category that I've read, but I didn't really feel satisfied that my time was well spent.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring with a capital B
Review: Mars is a decent book at first, with a realistic view of what a trip to Mars would be like. The main characters are interesting enough, with conflicting relationships and problems. As the book goes on, you began to get bored though. One of the subplots about some of the characters being sick is ridiculous, and a major subplot is left unfinished at the end of the book. After finishing this book I was highly disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome book
Review: I am not a sci fi reader so when I saw sci fi on the binding of this book i was expecting aliens and such, but i got none of that. I got a superbly composed story of the first mission to Mars, from the political and scientific standpoints. The characters are very well-developed and the plot is rock solid. VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: ::sighing:: Ben, Ben, Ben... ::shakes head sadly:::::
Review: I think the most terrible disappointment is one like this one is... the sort that promises so much, but ends up little more than formula with a dose of machoism to boot. Mr. Bova has a common thread in all his books, there isn't a male character that won't take pause to admire how f**kable the female characters are, no matter how dire the situation... If a plot-line could be charted on a graph, I'd imagine that all of his books would align almost exactly to some formula or other. MARS and its companion (Return to Mars) however, are anticlimax embodied. You drag yourself through the whole trudging plot to find it to be not worth much of the effort. I suppose he likes to write about how things are done and how they work, and those are indeed interesting for their own part, but not enough to hold up an entire book, let alone a SEQUEL! Argh! My recommendation? For what it's worth: It may appeal to some.. why there's plenty of 'little Joanna' and frisky Russian astro-skanks to go around, and lots of technobabble to keep you busy ::incoherent grumbling:: But for my count, I found myself, like after reading most of his other books (in some mad hope to find some appeal in his writing), putting the book down and rolling my eyes, wondering how I could have possibly wasted as much time on that when I could have been reading something better, like The Sparrow, or Ender's Game. Anyway, such is my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: A Mar on Mars
Review: An international expedition to Mars is the setting stone of this book. While interesting and amusing at times, it's hit or miss. I did like it, but I don't know if I will read it again, at least not for a while. Bova does flawlessly convey the many nationalities and genders in which the social, political and human aspects of such a voyage and the subsequent two-month stay on the red planet could cause. It is a human drama story with lots of impressive information about Mars and Bova explores the concept of space exploitation. At times a bit too long, showy and a tad bit boring sometimes, it is an engrossing tale of our inevitable future. Just tell the story, I say. Mars could be a story that tells our own future travel to the Red Planet.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful, Entertaining, and Fairly Realistic
Review: First let me say that this book and the sequel (Return to Mars) are the best science fiction books about the first human trips to Mars. Bova does a good job of developing characters and mixing science fact about the planet without getting too techical (which might have been nice). I would have liked a little more science about Mars, even speculation. The book departs from reality a bit in that this mission is on a MUCH grander scale than the first international mission to Mars is likely to be. A mission like this would likely cost half a trillion dollars! I think the first mission will likely more resemble the second mission in the sequel. But it is still entertaining and well written. One more thing. Two reviewers mentioned it took place in about the year 2020 (it doesn't say in the book). But using the clues, I calulated a date more like 2013 or 2014. Nevertheless, it is a much better story than the one in the movie "Mission to Mars". If well done, this would be a great movie.
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