Mars

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Summary: Want to know what the first Mars mission will be like ?
Review: If you want to know what the first man- mission to Mars is going to be like in 2020, then this must the book ! Its details, optimism and enthusiasm makes it a very good read !

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Summary: A trip to Mars with a few science roadbumps
Review: I liked the book, in general, but about every fifty pages Bova's superficial science knocks me right out of the story. In the middle of the story, there's a meteor storm, which affects the characters like a machine-gun attack. AARGH! This ancient meteor-shower menace was already a cheap cliche (and unrealistic, to boot) back in the days of Flash Gordon. Then there's the ending, which makes me wonder if Bova paid any attention to what he described his characters as drinking. If you're not a science nit-picker like me, however, it's a good read. (And I really like the half-Navajo main character.)

Rating:
Summary: Gripping, entertaining.
Review: When it came to the last 200 pages, I couldn't put it down. It kept my interest the entire time, don't get me wrong, but as the story progressed, so did my need to find out what happened next. So imagine my disappointment when I reached the end, which to best describe it, stopped short. It lead me along so well, only to leave my hanging over the cliff that characters in the book nearly drove over. It was definitely worth the read, and I am anxious to get the follow-up "Return to Mars."

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Summary: Real Sci-Fi like Real TV
Review: A very entertaining sci-fi read. This was my first Ben Bova novel and what I found most appealing is that Bova focuses more on the characters than the science fiction. The book was more about the people who went to Mars than on Mars or the equipment necessary for Martian exploration. Bova's explorers are not the usual trumped up heroes of the space-age but real people with all the frailties, vices, and passions like the rest of us. Real Sci-Fi like Real TV in my opinion. I definitely will be purchasing the sequel, Return to Mars!

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Summary: Enjoyable trip to Mars
Review: "Mars" is not a great book or even a particularly good book, but it is entertaining, and though Bova's story sometimes gets lost in the soap opera drama, and a subplot involving the political ramifications of the trip back on earth is uninteresting and unneccessary, the Adventure--as a team of international scientists go to Mars in search of signs of microscopic life--is itself worth reading and generally enjoyable. Though the convential heroes-fight-for-their-lives ending is a bit of a let down.

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Summary: An entertaining travelogue
Review: Overall, this was an enjoyable read. I view it more as a travelogue than a novel. I liked the feeling of being along for the ride and the discussions of the technology needed to get to and live on Mars. The novel had a "You are there" immediacy that was very rewarding. The charactors, with the exception of the narrator,are fairly flat. Bova is no Frank Herbert in this respect. People seem to have one facet or intrest and that is all. What attempts at "hidden agendas" or insight Bova wrote into these people was so simple or silly it was a waste of space. Still, worth reading for the feel of a trip to mars. Of note, Bova never informs the reader what year the book takes place in.

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Summary: I was hooked
Review: This is the first book I read by Ben Bova and I found it compelling enough that as soon as I finished it I went out and bought the sequel, Return To Mars.

What keeps me from giving the book 5 stars is that many of the characters are stereotypes, particularly the foreign ones. Some other reviewers complained that some of the characters were down right insulting. I don't believe that Bova meant to offend anyone, but like any writer trying to write about people from cultures he does not fully understand, he is more apt to go with stereotypes because they are easier to recognize. At the very least, Bova deserves credit for recognizing that future space travellers will not all be American white males. I also found the periodic flashbacks into the background of the characters to be distracting, though it does help to flesh them out and provide explanations for some of their behaviors.

What makes the story work is the interplay between the different characters. Some of them do not particularly like each other and are forced to work together in cramped environments. The day to day work on Mars is done rather believably, and you get a feel for what it might actually be like for real people on the planet. Bova exhibits tremendous restraint in dealing with the possibility of life on Mars. Too many stories tend towards the fantastic, whereas Bova focuses more on lower orders of life such as lichens and raises the prospect of advanced life that is addressed in more detail in the sequel. For sci-fi fans who are looking for alien encounters and space battles, MARS will disappoint. But for those who are interested in a story about humans trying to study and survive in a hostile new world, this book will hold your interest until the end.

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Summary: Mars, a harsh mistress.
Review: For Jamie Waterman, A Navajo geologist, the trip to Mars was a dream come true. The reader is allowed to take this fantastic trip with Jamie to Mars. Jamie and the other scientists set up camp and attempt to determine whether there is or ever has been life on Mars.

While exploring, Jamie goes to one of the many canyons on Mars and sees what he believes are cliff dwellings similar to the ancient Navajo cliff dwellings in Arizona.

Is there life on Mars? Has there been life on Mars? To find out,read the novel.

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Summary: Behold The Mysteries Of The Red Planet!
Review: I can't imagine anyone not showing some kind of fascination with our neighboring planet Mars. Ben Bova creates a fantastic scene which places the reader right there along with the characters. My expectations were that of anything could happen in a strange planet unexplored by humans. There is a possible startling discovery made by Jamie which will keep you reading on and on. I must admit the ending is almost tragic and a bit disappointing, but the entire novel is definitely worthwhile. Bova made sure to leave something to the imagination and to preserve the possible mysteries of the red planet.

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Summary: Dull and racially ignorant.
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!