Mars

Rating:
Summary: not bad
Review: while a good book, it never ties up all the loose ends. The book hints from the first chapter that the human race might have come frome mars. good, but I've read better.

Rating:
Summary: Eh . . .
Review: This book might have been tolerable if Bova hadn't gone out of his way to contrive inter-personal conflict. The worst was the woman president of the US who gets angry at the American Indian who (because he was a little nervous, among other reason) says the wrong first words when they first step on martian soil. Instead of some grand-sounding phrase, he utters some ancient Indian saying. This gets the president angry, and (from afar) she begins to hold all these things against the mission and other things. Like . . . get real. No one would get angry over something stupid like that (or, at least I hope no one would. I guess you never know. People get upset over some pretty stupid things. But I find it hard to believe a president would hold such a grudge and take it to such lengths). Also, several things happen on the planet which I find hard to believe. Other reviewers point them out.

Rating:
Summary: Learn more about how "Mars" came to be published
Review: Perhaps I'm breaking the rules here since this isn't actually a review of the book but rather a pointer for fans of "Mars." If you're interested in how "Mars" went from manuscript to published work, there's a public television documentary (of which I was the on-line editor) called "The Publishing Game". It was produced by and originally aired on Southwest Florida Public Television station WGCU (WSFP when the special first aired) and includes interviews with Ben, his wife/agent Barbara, and many others involved in the publishing of the book. As I recall it has also aired on a few other public television stations around the country as well. The special aired for the first time shortly after the release of the hard-cover edition. Hope you find/found it interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Science Fiction: Bova's Best
Review: Excellent science fiction novel--this is real SF, not what you see on much of the bookshelves these days. Solid science/extrapolation, detail about Mars that is both fascinating and mind-blowing. Good characters you care about. If you don't like this novel, you don't like REAL science fiction!

Rating:
Summary: Awful!
Review: Boring characters. Endless detail. Little action. Worst of all, INACCURATE! It is impossible to develop scurvy in a month. If the author messed up this familiar medical condition, how realistic can one expect other technical aspects to be?

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Science Fiction book of first Mars Landing
Review: I had not read science fiction, or fiction books for that matter in many years. I somehow purchased MARS to take on a trip. After the initial pages, I was hooked. It switches back and forth between Mars and Earth giving background that needs to be explained as time goes on. The attention to detail (science) was refreshing. I am now hooked, and will try to find other Ben Bova as well as other science fiction books.

Rating:
Summary: Not as bad as those below would led you to believe...
Review: Realistic, enjoyable, trivialising. Alot of realism in this book<hence a few negative comments below>, as good as most of us will get anyway. I would like another Mars based book from Bova. Maybe a mars landing from Nasa?!?!!? :

Rating:
Summary: Loosen-up Bova!!!
Review: First of all, when buying this book, don't believe the covers. They say that the crew battles with deadly metor showers, sub-zero tempatures, and a mysterious "mars" virus. This deadly metor shower is nothing but a bunch of pepples falling quietly on the ground. The sub-zero tempatures don't matter because the whole Mars team is saftly protected from it! And as for the "Mars" virus, THERE IS NO VIRUS!!!!! They get scurvy thanks to the lack of brain power on Mars. I was totally dissapointed with this book because it promised all these interesting plot twists, yet none of it happens!!! Plus, the novel moves at a snail's pace. It takes FOREVER for them to finally relize that they have scurvy. A good 60 pages deals with them trying to discover what this disease is. Hurry up already Bova!!! The plot goes sooooooooo slowly that I was not having fun reading this book. I read it so I could just finish it, and was not enjoying the story at all. Bova treats his main character, Jaime Waterman, so poorly because he's Native American. All throughout the novel people constantly refer to him as red man and other cruel guestures. Come on Bova! Do you really think that on the actual manned mission to Mars, people would be so mean to one of the scientists? Why do you keep shoving Navaho history at us in a book about Mars? And finally, the book cover says that at the Grand Canyon of Mars, the team discovers the ultimate discovery. What it it? WE DON'T KNOW BECAUSE BOVA NEVER TELLS US!!!!!!! Is it a Martian village? Is it just big rocks? Who knows?!? It seemed that Ben Bova just didn't care.

Rating:
Summary: Eventually I really enjoyed this book
Review: I don't even remember when I bought this book, because I found it very difficult to get into as the initial pace was so slow. However recently, when looking for something to read, I picked it up again from my bookcase and started about 1/3 of the way in and found that by the time I got to the end of the book I was looking for more of the same, so I went out and bought Moonrise which I enjoyed even more. All in all, I would say Mars is a very good book that is worth the struggle to get past the first few disorganised chapters

Rating:
Summary: A journey to the worst publication in the universe.
Review: Where do I start? I hated this book. Possibly the worst book I ever read. First of all, Bova makes the worst literary mistake possible. Every chapter tracks a new character. His efforts to give man's first journey to Mars an epic, objective, global, and comprehensive approach have failed miserably. There was absolutely no character development - without characters that the reader can identify to, the exploration of Mars is very boring. Bova sets up potentially interesting, intriguing situations that are grave disappointments. An alleged alien colony, seen from afar, is never investigated. Then there was incredible hype about the "life on Mars" that they found. When they finally reveal the well-guarded secret, it is a mere lichen (hardly living in the first place!) that generates such outrageous response. And then part of the team comes down with a mysterious disease. You think it's some life-threatening, never-seen-before Mars parasite - which would be very cool. Bova won't even have fun with this idea. They have scurvy. And the characters have lost all diginity - not that they had much to begin with - by this point. He is too concerned with scientific explanation, and what is plausible in this day and age. Loosen up! Remember that flying UFOs, sinister aliens, mysterious parasites, and a new futuristic take on society are the components to a GOOD science-fiction novel (oh, and don't forget that interesting characters help a whole lot, too). The old formulas are classic, and they work