Rating: 
Summary: 400 + pages of nothingness
Review: I just finished this book. Honestly, it was the worst book I've ever read. Absolutely nothing happens. The character development somehow manages to stay flat even as the author writes ream after ream. The only redeeming aspect (which is why it deserves one star) is the perspective it provides on the social development of makind (and human romantic relationships) in the context of liberating our socio-biological history. Beyond that the book is a waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Mars Mystery Tradition Continues
Review: I obtained this book when the author Bill Hartmann came to my Arctic home town of Barrow, Alaska to do some public science presentations about Mars,and also brought along this very good mystery novel set on the Red Planet.
Some of the other reviewers rightly note that this is not the best novel ever produced, but it is a great combination of mystery and science fiction.
Hartmann the astronomer does a lot of work interpreting photos of Mars from missions ranging back to Mariner 9, through Viking and Mars Pathfinder to the present. And that background is put to good use as the main character, Carter, uses similar talents to unravel the mystery of the missing scientist.
There are similar scientific touches added to the story, including seldom-discussed --daily life on the small Martian moon Phobos. Sometimes, the details on Mars and Phobos are a little long, and slow down the plot, but it is a small price to pay for the overall reading experience---
accuracy on the real Mars, solid science fiction and a rather unique Mars mystery.
Some have criticized the love story within the book. Sure,it could be tightened up a bit, but give Hartmann some praise for including passion in the Mars mix.
Let's all remember that Mars itself is a planet of passion and mystery to many of us. There was Percival Lowell and his canals, and Orson Welles and the Mars scare over radio, and pioneers like Robert Goddard who dreamed of flying to Mars and then worked long and hard to develop rockets to get us there.
Hartmann combines this passion, and sense of mystery, built on a solid Mars science foundation.
On to Mars---in person someday, but for now, through robot spacecraft, and creative scientists and writers like Hartmann.
Earl
Rating:
Summary: don't waste your money or your time
Review: I read prose for the enjoyment of the reading. I read every word and I don't skip to the end to find out how the story comes out. This book was a singular exception. Boring, at least 3 times too long, more concerned with a pointless love triangle than with Mars. I only finished it by skimming, stopping every four or five pages to read the few paragraphs necessary to follow what little plot there was. Unless you're into existential philosopy, the ending is a total joke. The descriptions of Mars surface geology are interesting, but that's about it. Stephen King could probably turned this into a good short story.
Rating:
Summary: "Mars Underground" is really good techno scifi
Review: I really liked the novel. In addition to good scifi it is full of clever ideas and interesting bits of philosophy. The novel and story and contain a good deal of thought.I very much very much recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: An exceptional first hard-SF novel
Review: It's 2030 in Mars City. Crusty old scientist Alwyn Stafford is out on a solo
Mars-buggy trip in Hellespontus. Now he's overdue, and his young
protege "Carter Jahns" (nudge, <G>) is leading the search. Annie Pohaku, a
reporter newly-arrived from Earth, tags along. Stafford isn't found before his air runs out, and is presumed dead.
Carter finds the abandoned buggy. Oddly, it had been deliberately hidden.
The director of Hellas Station is uncooperative. Carter heads to the
University of Phobos to study satellite imagery for clues to the fate of his
friend. He finds interesting IR imagery; overnite, the imagery is lost due
to "computer error". Annie has followed. They become lovers, and plot
the next move in an increasingly-murky mystery... Hmmph. I've never much cared for plot-outline book reviews, but how
else do you start one? 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! I've read and enjoyed a number of Dr. Hartmann's nonfiction books and
papers over the years. An endnote says his novel took 8 years to write. I
hope we don't have to wait that long for his next. For bookstore blurb-browsers: Tor has assembled an impressive
collection, ranging from Clarke, Benford & Bear to Tony Hillerman.
They're all fair and accurate, IMO. Nice cover art, too. Happy reading!
Pete Tillman
Rating:
Summary: An exceptional first hard-SF novel
Review: It's 2030 in Mars City. Crusty old scientist Alwyn Stafford is out on a solo
Mars-buggy trip in Hellespontus. Now he's overdue, and his young
protege "Carter Jahns" (nudge, ) is leading the search. Annie Pohaku, a
reporter newly-arrived from Earth, tags along.Stafford isn't found before his air runs out, and is presumed dead.
Carter finds the abandoned buggy. Oddly, it had been deliberately hidden.
The director of Hellas Station is uncooperative. Carter heads to the
University of Phobos to study satellite imagery for clues to the fate of his
friend. He finds interesting IR imagery; overnite, the imagery is lost due
to "computer error". Annie has followed. They become lovers, and plot
the next move in an increasingly-murky mystery... Hmmph. I've never much cared for plot-outline book reviews, but how
else do you start one? 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! I've read and enjoyed a number of Dr. Hartmann's nonfiction books and
papers over the years. An endnote says his novel took 8 years to write. I
hope we don't have to wait that long for his next. For bookstore blurb-browsers: Tor has assembled an impressive
collection, ranging from Clarke, Benford & Bear to Tony Hillerman.
They're all fair and accurate, IMO. Nice cover art, too. Happy reading!
Pete Tillman
Rating:
Summary: An exceptional first hard-SF novel
Review: It's 2030 in Mars City. Crusty old scientist Alwyn Stafford is out on a solo
Mars-buggy trip in Hellespontus. Now he's overdue, and his young
protege "Carter Jahns" (nudge, <G>) is leading the search. Annie Pohaku, a
reporter newly-arrived from Earth, tags along. Stafford isn't found before his air runs out, and is presumed dead.
Carter finds the abandoned buggy. Oddly, it had been deliberately hidden.
The director of Hellas Station is uncooperative. Carter heads to the
University of Phobos to study satellite imagery for clues to the fate of his
friend. He finds interesting IR imagery; overnite, the imagery is lost due
to "computer error". Annie has followed. They become lovers, and plot
the next move in an increasingly-murky mystery... Hmmph. I've never much cared for plot-outline book reviews, but how
else do you start one? 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! I've read and enjoyed a number of Dr. Hartmann's nonfiction books and
papers over the years. An endnote says his novel took 8 years to write. I
hope we don't have to wait that long for his next. For bookstore blurb-browsers: Tor has assembled an impressive
collection, ranging from Clarke, Benford & Bear to Tony Hillerman.
They're all fair and accurate, IMO. Nice cover art, too. Happy reading!
Pete Tillman
Rating:
Summary: If you want beautiful moody scifi - this book has it!
Review: It's a pity so many people can't see the qualities of this this book. I thought it was a very good read - especially for a debut!! What I especially liked was that it focused on the characters AND on the the very vivid descriptions of Mars. You have lotsa writers, including geniuses like Asimov and Clarke, who tend to focus too much on the technology or the concept (new aliens/ alien worlds, new science, whatever), but only manage to create one or two-dimensional characters. Hartmann's characters aren't too 'deep' either, but he has definitely made them much 'deeper' - and *described* them much better than many of his more esteemed colleagues. And that makes the characters come alive in a very intense way. And it makes the whole book come alive, because the thoughts and doings of the characters are intimately connected to the experience of a lonely, and secretive - but also beautiful - Mars, which Hartmann conveys to the reader with so much vividness that it really feels like you're there! Hartmann expertly describes moods and settings, his language is rich and varied - each sentence filled with metaphors and imagery. Only very few times does he fail to maintain this level of writing. The plot drags sometimes, true, and the you may or may not like the ending, but such things can be forgiven for a debutant. (Besides: I thought it was rather gutsy not to give anything away about the aliens. It also emphasizes that this is not a plot-driven, but rather a character and 'mood-driven' story which I am sure is quite intentional.) Bill Hartmann has very much potential as a new and different writer, and I definitely look forward to future novels. If you long for more contemplative characters in today's scifi (and like the 'melancholic touch' this book has), I think you are in for a very good experience.
Rating:
Summary: Good, old-fashioned SF/Mystery
Review: Mars Underground is an old-fashioned SF book - but that's a good thing, in most ways. The author is a scientist first and a writer second, but he still knows how to write. The story is plausible and fits into the known facts. The plotting is tight and fast. And, unfortunately, the book has a rather poorly done and unnecessary love subplot - the only real weakness in an otherwise fun read. It's refreshing to see a book like this. People writing SF now mostly lack either the background to make the story scientifically believeable or the writing ability that makes it readable; Hartmann has both. His Mars is solid and realistic, his science is smooth and polished, and his tale is fun to read because it's well-written. Mars Underground is a science fiction/mystery novel, one of the hardest kinds to do (according to Niven and Asimov, who both should know) and do well. Hartmann does an excellent job. The plot, which concerns the mysterious disappearance of a grand old man of Mars (not, I'm happy to report, an obvious simulacrum/ideal of Hartmann himself) and an administrator's attempt to understand the disappearance - and then the conspiracy behind it - is compelling, and the book is light and fun as a result. The only real problem with the novel (and those who read a lot of SF will be only too used to this) is the painful love triangle subplot. Florence King said that love scenes don't belong in certain kinds of novels; she also said that such "scabrous growths" can be lifted almost seamlessly from the story, taking nothing important away from it. That's definitely true with the Annie/Philippe/Carter triangle. The book slows down unbearably while those three are working through their pointless machinations. The only really worthwhile feature of this subplot is that it contains possibly the silliest explanation I've ever heard for an open marriage: "You can't shut yourself off from the other half of the professionals in the world, the other sex." Fortunately, the romance angle takes up only a few pages and thus wastes only a few minutes of the reader's time. The rest of the book is solid. Mars Underground is not exactly a classic and ground-breaking work of SF, but it is entertaining and plausible and interesting. True SF fans will enjoy this book, and find it well worth buying (new, but in paperback).
Rating:
Summary: Good, old-fashioned SF/Mystery
Review: Mars Underground is an old-fashioned SF book - but that's a good thing, in most ways. The author is a scientist first and a writer second, but he still knows how to write. The story is plausible and fits into the known facts. The plotting is tight and fast. And, unfortunately, the book has a rather poorly done and unnecessary love subplot - the only real weakness in an otherwise fun read. It's refreshing to see a book like this. People writing SF now mostly lack either the background to make the story scientifically believeable or the writing ability that makes it readable; Hartmann has both. His Mars is solid and realistic, his science is smooth and polished, and his tale is fun to read because it's well-written. Mars Underground is a science fiction/mystery novel, one of the hardest kinds to do (according to Niven and Asimov, who both should know) and do well. Hartmann does an excellent job. The plot, which concerns the mysterious disappearance of a grand old man of Mars (not, I'm happy to report, an obvious simulacrum/ideal of Hartmann himself) and an administrator's attempt to understand the disappearance - and then the conspiracy behind it - is compelling, and the book is light and fun as a result. The only real problem with the novel (and those who read a lot of SF will be only too used to this) is the painful love triangle subplot. Florence King said that love scenes don't belong in certain kinds of novels; she also said that such "scabrous growths" can be lifted almost seamlessly from the story, taking nothing important away from it. That's definitely true with the Annie/Philippe/Carter triangle. The book slows down unbearably while those three are working through their pointless machinations. The only really worthwhile feature of this subplot is that it contains possibly the silliest explanation I've ever heard for an open marriage: "You can't shut yourself off from the other half of the professionals in the world, the other sex." Fortunately, the romance angle takes up only a few pages and thus wastes only a few minutes of the reader's time. The rest of the book is solid. Mars Underground is not exactly a classic and ground-breaking work of SF, but it is entertaining and plausible and interesting. True SF fans will enjoy this book, and find it well worth buying (new, but in paperback).
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