Mars

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Summary: The Perfect Blend of Hard Sci-Fi and mysticism...
Review: In Mars, Mr. Bova has done a remarkable job of capturing the human spirit - the urge to go forth and discover. This novel starts out on a near-future Earth, and proceeds into space on board the first manned exploration of the planet Mars. The characters are convincingly written, with all of the human foibles - jealousy, greed and lust to name a few. The lead character, James Waterman, is a young geologist of Navajo heritage whose only dream has been to go to Mars on the first manned expedition. When that dream is realized, he and the rest of his ground team develop in unexpected ways. There is hardship, misfortune and danger... Intrigue, politics, and even love. Along with the sheer energy that Bova's charcters radiate, the correlations that he has tentatively drawn between Native American Folklore and and his visions of what Mars could be like, will have you pondering a whole new angle on the history of the Red Planet

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Summary: The most realistic science fiction novel I ever read
Review: One of the best SF books ever written on mars. I hope there will soon be a second landing

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Summary: Inspiring adventure. A handbook for those who travel there.
Review: One of the best books ever written about space travel. You'll feel like you're there - deeply caring about the people involved in the mission. Mars continues to prove when we explore space, we are really exploring ourselves. Congratulations to Mr. Bova on a great epic

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Summary: If you want a great, thought provoking story, this is it.
Review: Bova has written the book on how to go about the first manned trip to the red planet and this is it. The characters are great and fully realized. Bova has taken a story that could have been all science or all plot and made it so you loved the characters. You're willing to follow them wherever they go. After reading this book, one can't help but want expeditions to Mars made. And with recent findings the time for this book is perfect

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Summary: An account of the first landing on Mars.
Review: A technically accurate novel on the first Mars landing by a joint World effort to conquer the planet Mars and seek out it's mysteries, including the search for life and the origins of the universe. The Protagonist is an American geologist who teams up with the 25 man crew on a political journey that the astronauts and cosmonauts turn into a mission of scientific discovery. Well written and interesting.

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Summary: Good Science, Great Fiction
Review: In general I prefer to read fantasy & watch sci-fi, but this book might have changed my mind. I really appreciated the fact that the author did his homework. I took a college course on the Red Planet & it was great to see how accurately he portrays Mars; from the surface features to the planet's climate to its moons and everything in between. I also liked how this story was quite realistic, something we could all see happen in our lifetime - an expedition to Mars - as opposed to a story full of slimy, insect-like aliens with tentacles shooting photon missiles. The characters were also so real I could practically see them while I was reading the book. There was a great deal of politics involved, with many struggles amongst the voyagers of different ethnicities and national origins; it seems that human nature is just as dangerous as any technical malfunction, if not worse! While it is a long book, it does not get boring, as Bova alternates between the expedition and mission control while inserting some history on each of the astronauts/scientists on board as well as the entire Mars project. Highly recommended as this is a very enjoyable book based on some pretty accurate science!

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Summary: amazing book
Review: Mars is one of the best books ive ever read. it was exitting when Jamie discovered the cliff dwellings, scarry when they were all sick with scurvy and when Jamie walked around the crater weak from the sickness, and expecially amazing when Joanna discovered life on mars.

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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

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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.

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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.