Rating: 
Summary: Slow paced plot, poorly developed characters
Review: As i write this I am 3/4's of the way through the book and pending a miraculous change in pace, I consider the money I spent for the book a terrible waste. The plot moves at an unbearably slow pace and the author seems to go off on 2 or 3 page sidetracks which have no bearing on the plot or the development of his characters. The "love" story that seems to be developing has no reason for being....why are these characters attracted to one another??? The book makes no attempt to explain the budding relationship...one page these people meet,, the next they're in bed together and behaving like love sick teenagers..As for the technical aspect of this novel..dont look for it, its not there. Ive never NOT finished a book, and this one is threatening my perfect record.. If you enjoy books on Mars, Kim Stanley Robinsons trio, Red Mars, Blue Mars,Green Mars, is absolutely the best out there. A true epic story of the colonization of Mars. You wont want to put them down.! ..as for mars underground...skip itg
Rating: 
Summary: Rating: Strong "A" - an exceptional first hard-SF novel.
Review: Astronomer and planetary scientist Hartmann makes an impressive fiction debut in "Mars Underground". The areology and extrapolation are impeccable, as one might expect. Less-expected, but equally welcome, are fully-formed characters - people you come to care about - set in a well-paced story with intriguing plot twists and a satisfying resolution. Bravo!
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of potential, not much payoff...
Review: Hartmann has a nice, comfortable prose-style that makes for a relaxed, enjoyable read; unfortunately, though, this story never really takes off. The mystery is developed nicely (if a bit too slowly), but doesn't have quite enough of a payoff. A banal love triangle slows things down unnecessarily, while many of the characters remain mere thumbnail sketches, without much life breathed into them. What really prevents the tale from working, however, is Hartmann's almost complete lack of description of the Martian landscape, of the human habitats, of the characters, etc. In a tale like this, if the author's storytelling doesn't make you feel as though you're on an alien world, he isn't doing his job. I read tales set on Mars in order to be transported there, to have the planet brought to life for me. This tale didn't really even try to do that. Too bad.
Rating:
Summary: Slow-paced Mars yarn
Review: Hartmann's novel reads rather like a less dynamic Bova-esque tale. In similar manner to Bova's potboilers, Mars Underground is populated by gross stereotypes, the feisty (yawn!) reporter Annie and the grizzled old prospector type Stafford, being particularly irritating. At least Bova would have thrown in some action to keep matters ticking along though. Hartmann merely gives us a few interesting pages describing the chase across the Martian landscape in pursuit of the errant Stafford, and a handful of less-than-convincing sex scenes. The pay-off in the final chapters is pretty muted and merely serves to throw up further clichés surrounding rebellion against starchy authority. The marvellous backdrop of every SF fan's favourite planet ensures that a modicum of interest remains throughout, but seldom have I read a book where so little of interest happens in 400 odd pages. The paucity of atmosphere echoes the thin wispy air of Mars itself and only rarely does Hartmann generate any sense of excitement or wonder.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating scientific insights, mediocre storytelling.
Review: I didn't have to struggle to get through this book, but it wasn't a real page-burner either. Hartmann did a great job of making the science of Mars approachable, and tying it into the story in a completely realistic manner, but the story tended to meander all about the surface of Mars, with a bit of an anti-climactic ending...
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating scientific insights, mediocre storytelling.
Review: I didn't have to struggle to get through this book, but it wasn't a real page-burner either. Hartmann did a great job of making the science of Mars approachable, and tying it into the story in a completely realistic manner, but the story tended to meander all about the surface of Mars, with a bit of an anti-climactic ending...
Rating:
Summary: An overratedexercise in intellectual wheel spinning.
Review: I had great hopes for this book when I ordered it but it was avast disappointment. Three quarters of the novel is a tedious buildup. Finally, after the love triangles and pointless maunderings on human nature the reader feels that he has arrived at the meat of the story only to reach the end crying: "Where's the beef?" The ending is unsatisfying, to say the least. Maybe Arthur Clarke liked it because it is a direct steal from 'The Sentinel' only less upbeat. The author seems to have written the ending in the midst of a fit of depression.
Rating:
Summary: Much ado about nothing
Review: I had heard (and read) good things about MARS UNDERGROUND so at the first chance I purchased the book. After a couple of chapters the problemse were already glaring. The first one is the matter of character - or lack of it. The people never seem to "grab" the reader and are like cardboard cutouts. There are no individual personalities and no one really "grows", totally forgetful. Then there is the matter of the S-L--O----W moving plot. After a lot of boring set-up, give and take on the planet, discussions of various ideas and operational minutiae someone goes missing. The events are totally predictable: Media folk yap about the public's "right to know", the Cold War continues (2034), professional jealousy, secrecy, revolt, etc Toward the end the group is drilling for rock samples and discovers an alien object dated 3.2 billion years BC. It originated outside the Solar System and after some brainstorming, they declare it to be a terraforming machine. Let's get this over with. Surprise, shock, arguments and at last we get to see the grand machine (horizontal and vertical pipes). One fool unscrews a bolt on the machine - nothing happens of course. Then battles over disclosure and suddenly an earthquake/tremors caused by ancient machine - nothing happens again. That's the sum of this book - nothing happens.
Rating:
Summary: Much ado about nothing
Review: I had heard (and read) good things about MARS UNDERGROUND so at the first chance I purchased the book. After a couple of chapters the problemse were already glaring. The first one is the matter of character - or lack of it. The people never seem to "grab" the reader and are like cardboard cutouts. There are no individual personalities and no one really "grows", totally forgetful. Then there is the matter of the S-L--O----W moving plot. After a lot of boring set-up, give and take on the planet, discussions of various ideas and operational minutiae someone goes missing. The events are totally predictable: Media folk yap about the public's "right to know", the Cold War continues (2034), professional jealousy, secrecy, revolt, etc Toward the end the group is drilling for rock samples and discovers an alien object dated 3.2 billion years BC. It originated outside the Solar System and after some brainstorming, they declare it to be a terraforming machine. Let's get this over with. Surprise, shock, arguments and at last we get to see the grand machine (horizontal and vertical pipes). One fool unscrews a bolt on the machine - nothing happens of course. Then battles over disclosure and suddenly an earthquake/tremors caused by ancient machine - nothing happens again. That's the sum of this book - nothing happens.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely poor as far as sci-fi goes!
Review: I have to agree with some of the previous reviews for this book. The book's opening chapter is good, and draws you into the plot. But as soon as you hit the second chapter, Hartmann loses it. He launches into a completely unnecessary and monotonous love triangle, which only manages to drag out the plot and make you want to reach into the thing and grab the protagonist's neck. It's almost completely unbearable. I truly had to do some serious struggling to get through this novel, and as long as I don't have to come across another Hartmann novel ever again, I'll be a happy man. Please don't waste your time and money on this piece of garbage. This book has two main parts, but neither one lives up to it. So, if you want good sci-fi, read Greg Bear or James Alan Gardner. And if you want a good romance, read something by Danielle Steel or "Bag of Bones" by Stephen King.
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