Mars

Ben Bova weaves a compelling, realistic tale of man's first mission to Mars. This is a plot-line that has been pretty well beaten to death, but Bova has created a story that, I think, explores the complexities and possibilites of our first exploration of the Red Planet. The strength of this books is definitely in character development. The main character, Jamie Waterman, is a geologist whose father is a well-educated Navaho indian, and his mother from a wealthy family in New England. This type of character could easily have been cliched, but I found him to be thoughtful, sympathetic, and well-developed. His family are both professors at Berkeley, but I found it interesting that Bova had Waterman study at a less well known school (University of New Mexico). Waterman isn't some superhuman who was destined for greatness from the time he was three, just a smart, hard working scientist who through a combination of effort and luck ultimately gets selected to go to Mars. The ultimate goals of this mission are two fold: to find out as much as they can (in a scientific sense), but also to lay the ground work for future missions. The story starts with the explorers arrival on Mars, but the text is filled with flashbacks that describe the training, the characters, some of their initial interactions, and the background of the trip to Mars. Bova clearly did his homework when writing this book and describes Mars in great detail. Many of the difficulties encountered by the explorers are well-reasoned and well-explained, and the entire mission plan is well thoughtout by Bova. One thing that could really have added to this book was a map of Mars so that we could see where everyone was going and what the relationship was between the locations visited by the scientists. There are a few things that I didn't like about this story. Occasionally the tale degenerates into `Beverly Hills 90210' in space. The characters become more interested in who is sleeping with who, or who is giving who little meaningful winks. There is also a minor story thread that involves the US vice-president and simple power politics. This didn't really advance the story at all and was left hanging at the end. This thread was wasted space in my view, Bova should have used it on Mars. This book was written in 1992 and the Russians play a much larger role in the mission than they likely would given the current political climate. This dates the book slightly, but there is no real US/Russian Cold War rivalry. Finally, some of the rivalries between the scientists are a bit overblown. Finally, I thought the ending was fantastic, an intelligent ending to an intelligent book. One of the less favorable reviews states that there is no big payoff at the end. Without giving too much away, there isn't any great termination of the story, so if you're looking for some fantastic discovery to finish the tale, you'll be disappointed. The `payoff' is the journey itself, not the conclusion

I believe that this book was not about Mars. This book was a way to protest about the way mankind reacts when science advances faster than our understnding. Ulterior motives, politics, personal hatred, racial stereotypes, pride and more evils are found in the crew of scientist on their way to Mars. This book was very informative. I believe that the major task of literature is to inform. Ben Bova has a fun way to do it. "Mars" is a book that keeps you reading. It's like a mirror of our soroundings. Bova wants to make a comparison between the two worlds by placing a village that resembles terrestrial dwelings. It could be also a warning that whatever happened in Mars could happen here if we are not careful. I think this is the main message in this book. "Humans will be humans" and it's so human to go to Mars and pollute it with our prejudice, ignorance and arrogance(not to mention dangerous CFC's hydrocarbons and other pollutants).Or maybe that's the reason Mars today is dead. Maybe the Martians made the same mistakes we're making today and the result is a barren planet. If you read this book thinking that you are going to read about Mars, then don't read it, unless you want to learn about regolites, permafrosts, and other geological formations. There is nothing else in Mars to talk about. If you want to read about men and women undertaking a major scientific endeavor and read about their adventures, then you won't be dissapointed!

I am not a sci fi reader so when I saw sci fi on the binding of this book i was expecting aliens and such, but i got none of that. I got a superbly composed story of the first mission to Mars, from the political and scientific standpoints. The characters are very well-developed and the plot is rock solid. VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!

For Jamie Waterman, A Navajo geologist, the trip to Mars was a dream come true. The reader is allowed to take this fantastic trip with Jamie to Mars. Jamie and the other scientists set up camp and attempt to determine whether there is or ever has been life on Mars.While exploring, Jamie goes to one of the many canyons on Mars and sees what he believes are cliff dwellings similar to the ancient Navajo cliff dwellings in Arizona.Is there life on Mars? Has there been life on Mars? To find out,read the novel.

This book is an excelent review of the mistakes all human beings can make. I thought it of an example of carelessness that human beings can and will have. In my opinion, Bova writes in a true, life-like style.