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Amazon.co.uk Review
Esteemed Mars guru Bob Zubrin calls The Martian Race "one of the finest novels about human exploration of the Red Planet ever written." But then again, Bob is a character in the book (albeit in the briefest of cameos), so what else could he possibly say? That notwithstanding, Zubrin's right--he couldn't have picked a better book to show his face in. By popular assent, The Martian Race deserves top honours among the millennial wave of Mars exploration tales, propelled as it is by the skilful storytelling of physics doyen Gregory Benford, a Campbell and two-time Nebula winner.
Martian Race is near-future SF, set in the twenty-teens (just before Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars saga kicks off), which may contribute to its being a bit of a slow starter; this is realistic, nuts-and-bolts speculation on a mission using pretty basic technology. But the pace picks up considerably as our heroes--the likeable Julia and her Russky hubby Viktorand crew, backed by the Mars Consortium and its biotech billionaire CEO John Axelrod--begin to duke it out with a Euro-Sino concern to claim the $30 billion Mars Prize and, of course, get back from the Red Planet in one piece. Benford's work throughout is engaging and thorough, exploring every aspect of why we should make this trip at all (and even a few arguments against it, like Mars Bar marketing tie-ins). --Paul Hughes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
New York Times Book Review
`...writes with verve and insight not only about black holes and cosmic strings but about human desires and fears'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
"WELCOME BACK TO MARS!" Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
"WELCOME BACK TO MARS!" Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'd better begin by saying I am a Gregory Benford addict. In view of this and my engineering background: I found the technical details precise and believable, the description of Mars and her environs beautifully written. Nevertheless, the personal interactions between Tycoon and Astronauts fell down somewhat from the beginning as did the corresponding spats with the Airbus crew. This is unusual for me as Benford often excels with human interaction. However, this does not hold up the plot machinations or hinder the book in any serious way.
Overall, the story is extremely compelling - and the science even more so - and I would rate it as one of the best Mars books so far. Sorry to give you only 4 Greg......
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
. . .I thought something exiting was going to happen but it was just a blob of stuff wiggling around. Okay, so finding life on Mars (oops, but then you thought that would be in the plot anyway right?) would be exiting, but this novel singularly fails to convey any such drama. In fact Robert Zubrin's book oulining the technical basis for how this type of exploration might be feasible (The Case for Mars) is way more interesting and is not cluttered up with clunky stereotypes crunching about in the red dust bothering us with their mundane introspections. And I don't believe astronauts are this dull either, or that a Russian with the level of training and technical expertise portrayed here couldn't get his head around English grammer. And the cartoony mogul pulling the strings on earth is Bond-film implausible. There is a 'dashed off' feel to the whole thing, which is a shame because the science is good enough to support a really compelling drama. Maybe I should write it . . .
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
46 reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
THE BEST MARS NOVEL EVER
28 Dec 1999
Format:Hardcover
This is the real, hard stuff--an informed look at how we might go to Mars, for the very best reasons, both scientific and personal. Better than the Robinson because it's about what we can do NOW, not political dreams. A great read, fast pace, real characters.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Hard Sci-Fi.
13 Mar 2002
Format:Hardcover
This is "hard sci fi," just as I like it. The title refers to a race to Mars, not a race of Martians (although it comes close to that, too). It's as much an example of "how to" on the cheap as it is a story. Benford is down on NASA (or the Federal government, or both), postulating a competition to Mars with a huge purse ($30 billion) as the way to get a human expedition there. That might be what it takes. Yet it's also a call for cooperation rather than competition. He shows the downside of human nature -- competitiveness, going for the gold, the potential for a breakdown of discipline in difficult situations. He advocates nuclear propulsion systems for planetary exploration, rather than today's chemical systems. He stresses how difficult planetary exploration will be -- especially the early stages, when improvisation and self-sufficiency are critical and thereby makes a case for on-the-spot decision-making rather than relying on orders from Mission Control. He also looks forward to life (past or present) on Mars. He was very creative in his depiction of what it could be like. In fact, this novel once again demonstrates to me the limitations of my creative abilities. Maybe I'm just intimidated, but I can't imagine writing a novel this well put together, this imaginative yet full of sophisticated technical detail. Heck, I wonder if I could even come up with a good idea for a "beginning, middle, and end." At any rate, it was an excellent adventure story, notwithstanding the fact that the end was predictable two-thirds of the way into the book. Benford put his lead characters through so many troubles (it actually got depressing at one point) in order to show the extent of danger and difficulties he expects planetary explorers to face that he left them only one way out. Arguably, that aspect of it could have been better written. And the way the threads came together in the end just fit too well.
Still, I enjoyed it immensely.
Still, I enjoyed it immensely.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Hard science fiction at its best
29 Mar 2000
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
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