Rating: 
Summary: Not a review....
Review: ... but a spoiler warning. One of the editorial reviews, Kirkus, contains a major spoiler. I suggest you avoid reading their review/synopsis. Excellent novel, BTW.
Rating: 
Summary: Binding Falls Apart
Review: An excellent story ruined by the WORST binding effort I have ever seen. The book literally fell to pieces in my hand after only a few pages. I guess it says something about the story that I even bothered to fight to the end of it. No chance of a re-read. Unless you're willing to deal with loose 25 page sections, I would just look for a copy at the library. It will not survive to become part of your collection.
Rating:
Summary: Binding Falls Apart
Review: An excellent story ruined by the WORST binding effort I have ever seen. The book literally fell to pieces in my hand after only a few pages. I guess it says something about the story that I even bothered to fight to the end of it. No chance of a re-read. Unless you're willing to deal with loose 25 page sections, I would just look for a copy at the library. It will not survive to become part of your collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Good science, so-so story
Review: Benford clearly knows his stuff. The mission practicalities and planning; the effects of low-G; setting up hab modules, and the exploration of an alien world are all described in satisfying detail with a gritty air of authenticity (quite literally in the case of the spacesuits). The characterisation and human interaction however fails to impress. Viktor, the brooding Russian in particular, seems little more than a crudely-depicted comic-book character and his stilted and quirky use of English soon becomes a cliché. Furthermore, the structure of the book's first half is rather irritating - jumping between the present and the less-than-enthralling political intrigue leading up to the launch. To be honest, the reader could dive in at around page 120 and not miss much. The Martian Race reminded me a great deal of Ben Bova's Mars and Return to Mars (check out my review, folks!) and, whilst Bova tends to get a bit hung up on the politics, he generates a bit more excitement than Benford. Without including any spoilers here, I will happily acknowledge that the payoff is worthwhile, with satisfying and plausible discoveries. The conclusion is rather tame though and left me feeling "is that it?". Not bad, but not brilliant either.
Rating:
Summary: Good story, bad binding
Review: Benford continues as one of the leading lights of plausible SCIENCE fiction. This story touches many of the same concerns as Robinson's magnificent multi-generational Mars trilogy, but limits itself to the trials of getting there (voluntarily funded via the commercial marketplace), and to the initial search for life forms. Although the technical problems and descriptions seem realistic and solid, the real emphasis is on the life forms. First there's the attention given to the relationships between the astronauts in training and cooped up for two years, and with their controllers and competitors. This as a paean to American capitalism: they get it done fast and cheap and for everyone through commerce, while NASA with all its redundancies and tight spin control blows up in politicians' faces. Then Benford also explores the fascinating possibilities for anaerobic Martian life, which I found quite thrilling. I thought the story rather petered out near the end, not so much leaving hooks for a sequel[?] as too quick to resolve a sudden crisis with a pat communal solution for all the worlds' ills. This after the socialist Airbus effort has conveniently caused the crisis, through too much haste in an effort to show up the private Mars effort and steal their amazing discoveries. The "Aspect" paperback began to fall apart by p.62, the most execrable publishing job I've seen in over a decade. Time Warner should receive market revenge: no sales! If you think this is a keeper, the hardback might do (but it's also from Time Warner, who shows here they could care less).
Rating:
Summary: Better than average
Review: Benford is usually good, and he doesn't fail here. The Martian Race is far better than the Kim Stanley Robinson series, but not quite up there with Mars Underground or Outpost. The planetology is up-to-date, quite believable for anyone who keeps track of new releases from MGS on the Malin site. Unfortunately my paperback fell apart as I read it. Hopefully it wasn't meant to self-destruct and be read only once.
Rating:
Summary: Faster, Cheaper, Better
Review: Benford's "The Martian Race" works on the premise of NASA finally facing up to the short-sightedness of congress with respect to Mars and giving up on it's goal of landing humans on the red planet. The alternative, give someone else the incentive to do it! I liked Benford's twist on a basic pretext that has been written about by many of the big Sci-Fi authors. Where Benford differs is that he takes a non-traditional, but totally relistic approach to the suspense requirement for the story. What could be a more realistic motivation for a manned Mars mission than $30 billion dollars - it is also sure to create some tensions as the competing teams fight to ensure victory. Benford's writing was technically competant and showed good research into alternative propulsion technologies and ISRU techniques. Not quite in Kim Stanley Robinson's league, but a great read nonetheless.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard science fiction at its best
Review: First a disclaimer: I'm an unrepentant Gregory Benford fan. But in a sci-fi world increasingly dominated by Star Wars and dragons, I think any lover of hard-science fiction will enjoy this novel. The fact that it is based on technology from Robert Zubrin's 'Mars Direct' program is icing on the cake. This really *could* happen. It's a great read, and I recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: loved it
Review: great book, i loved benfords writing style and the overall structure of the book (the first half switches back and forth from the mission on mars back to the planning of the mission, it works well). the martian race also uses mission designs by robert zubrin and justly honors the mars society.
Rating:
Summary: Mars Lives
Review: Gregory Beford has created a plausible story of the first explorations of Mars. The book was well paced, with few (if any) dead spots. The character development was very good. The idea of making the exploration of Mars a race gave The author the opportunity to add to the suspense in the novel. The extra tension developed through this plot line allowed Mr. Benford to switch between the struggles on Mars and the struggles on Earth. It gave the book an added dimension which will make me read it more than once. This could well be a modern classic of science fiction.
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