Rating: 
Summary: Buy It
Review: I'm betting that this title will give Benford, yet, another award. I love his writing style and the richness of his ideas. I see a movie here.
Rating: 
Summary: Really exciting, well paced, near-future science fiction...
Review: I've always enjoyed Benford for the "hard science" he incorporates in all of his stories. This has that plus some interesting character development, captivating plot, and sub-plots that all hang together. That coupled with the near-future time frame in which the story takes place all combine to make this a "very good read". Who doesn't love a race, and when the race involves getting to Mars and back coupled with characters in closed environments that have to deal with life threatening situations it all combines to make this a real page turner!!
Rating:
Summary: Really exciting, well paced, near-future science fiction...
Review: I've always enjoyed Benford for the "hard science" he incorporates in all of his stories. This has that plus some interesting character development, captivating plot, and sub-plots that all hang together. That coupled with the near-future time frame in which the story takes place all combine to make this a "very good read". Who doesn't love a race, and when the race involves getting to Mars and back coupled with characters in closed environments that have to deal with life threatening situations it all combines to make this a real page turner!!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Mars Book,Futile binding job
Review: I, too had my copy fall apart in my hands as I read the book, which I thought was excellent. The story grabed my attention like no other since Rendezvous with Rama, 25 years ago. I finished the book in 3 days as I couldn't put it down ( maybe for fear of loosing some pages!!). It was an entirely realistic story and I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't really happening, that it was fiction. I'll be looking for more books from Benford!
Rating:
Summary: bad spine
Review: if you buy the the mass market paperback edition of this book it will disintigrate in your hands if you bend the spine at all.
Rating:
Summary: I tore through it in a couple days
Review: Loved the story and the characters. Excellent 'alternate' way of reaching Mars outside of normal thinking. Tied up most loose ends, and I think it will go down as the first fictional Mars book with a trajectory chart published within! I recommend this for anyone who thinks we should go, and anyone who doesn't, but loves a good sci-fi story.
Rating: 
Summary: Mildly interesting science fiction
Review: Not great, not bad. The characters are mildly sympathetic and the story is mildly interesting, but nothing about the book is particularly affecting. I'd recommend it to someone who had read the genre extensively and was looking for a slightly different take on near-term space exploration. I did find the inclusion of real-life persons as characters somewhat fawning, but nowhere near as bad as Niven's Fallen Angels.A note on the workmanship of the book itself: The edition I purchased was from Warner Books (Aspect), and fairly new (no more than a year old, I'd estimate). The binding was so poorly done that the cover fell off before I was halfway through the book, and the pages themselves separated from the main body as they were read. While I fully expect paperbacks to be of lesser quality than hardcover editions, I expect them to at least make it through the initial reading. I will certainly think twice before buying another Warner Book.
Rating:
Summary: Mildly interesting science fiction
Review: Not great, not bad. The characters are mildly sympathetic and the story is mildly interesting, but nothing about the book is particularly affecting. I'd recommend it to someone who had read the genre extensively and was looking for a slightly different take on near-term space exploration. I did find the inclusion of real-life persons as characters somewhat fawning, but nowhere near as bad as Niven's Fallen Angels. A note on the workmanship of the book itself: The edition I purchased was from Warner Books (Aspect), and fairly new (no more than a year old, I'd estimate). The binding was so poorly done that the cover fell off before I was halfway through the book, and the pages themselves separated from the main body as they were read. While I fully expect paperbacks to be of lesser quality than hardcover editions, I expect them to at least make it through the initial reading. I will certainly think twice before buying another Warner Book.
Rating:
Summary: Solid classical hard sci-fi worth the read
Review: Opening new frontiers is always difficult and expensive, be it the race to find a new route to the Indies, locate the South Pole, fly solo from the U.S. to France, or perform manned exploration of Mars. The rewards cannot be measured ahead of time -- unless a monetary award goes to the first explorer to achieve predetermined goals. Gregory Benford, like many before him, realizes this and uses it extremely well in The Martian Race. Mars is in reach and may well be our next frontier. There'll be hardships and loss of life, along with many astounding discoveries -- some of which may be as dramatic as those Dr. Benford presents and some may be even more fantastic. He presents the facts and extrapolates plausible possibilities while building characters with greater depth than is commonly portrayed in the latest sci-fi to hit the theaters. Bravo! I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, the only fault I found was that the ending seemed rushed; but the end of a long race is always a hard push to the finish line.
Rating:
Summary: Good Stuff!
Review: Rarely can you go wrong with reading anything by any of "The Three B's"(Benford, Brin, and Bear). This book was excellent. Hard science and fiction in the right proportions. And, it could quite possibly be real, one day.
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