Customer Reviews

Mars Crossing

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

In this near term science fiction novel, circa 2028, Geoffrey Landis gives us an exciting long distance trek across the surface of the planet Mars in a desperate attempt to save themselves after a major equipment malfunction puts them in deadly peril. Two previous Martian missions have both failed. This is an exciting adventure and kept me turning the pages. The plot and character development were excellent, with several flashbacks that brought out the backgrounds and personalities of the astronauts in meticulous detail without becoming monotonous. In some science fiction novels an author sometimes creates too many characters, but here Landis gets it just right. There are many chapters, all very short. Landis is a NASA engineer, so the technical aspects of this novel are superb, and as in all great science fiction the technology takes on a supporting role to the story and the lives of the people involved. This is a well written novel, earthy at times, not stodgy, a joy to read, a brilliant literary work. And you may even learn a little about the real planet Mars, after all, that is what science fiction is all about, a look at future possibilities in an entertaining way, and there is also a surprise ending.

This is a very uninteresting tale of a multi-national team of astronauts who have landed on Mars and then are forced to trek across the planet to try to save themselves. Sound cool? It ain't. The tale of their boring trudge across Mars is broken up by chapters giving us their utterly implausable backstories. The Trevor/Brandon switcheroo is just too stupid to believe. Identical twins, one 18, one 21, (HUH?) buy $60K worth of Win A Trip To Mars lottery tickets. Older twin wins, has a suspicious accident then the younger twin assumes his identity and takes his place on the mission. Where did the boys get $60K for the lottery tickets? Where were their parents? Why didn't the inevitable celebrity spotlight that would result from their winning uncover their sham. Too, too mind-numbingly dumb.
COL Radkowski's tale is also downright silly. Here's a guy who kills someone during a holdup as a teen and ends up commanding the third mission to Mars. Gimme a break.
Then there is Estrela, the Brazilian prostitute turned geologist. It just keeps getting worse from here, believe me.
Comes complete with an absolutely horrible throwaway ending.
Don't buy this book. Stick with Robinson or Bova for your Mars fix.

Mars Crossing is very plain. I cannot find anything of real substance other than perhaps having some technical details that a NASA engineer can provide.

The prose is dull, neither creating mental imagery nor giving genuine insight into characters' thoughts or feelings. Perhaps the author should read a little Hemmingway for influence. He also too often interjects events from the characters background that only have some superficial relevance to the story. These events become nothing more than diversions from a tale that doesn't grab your attention in the first place, resulting in a schizophrenic mess.

The author has an appallingly juvenile attitude toward human sexuality. All events of a sexual nature either occur in an emotionless, routine fashion or in inappropriate times. Sex in the novel is both meaningless and ineffective.

Yes, Mars Crossing left too much to be desired. Fortunately, I know of more enjoyable novels. If you find yourself longing for an adventure in an alien environment, I'd recommend Arthur C. Clarke's Rama series. If you want a logical and developing plot, then I'd recommend Asimov's recent (1980s and 1990s) additions to his Foundation series or his robot novels. If you desire bold imagination, then read Greg Bear's Eon and Eternity.

After last summer's horrid "Mission to Mars" and the disappointing "Red Planet," I was hesitant to invest my time in yet another Mars story. Besides the above mentioned movies, I also found Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars somewhat disappointing (I have yet to read Ben Bova's recent Mars books), so I began this book with some trepidation.

After the first few chapters of the book I was looking forward to kicking a few of the characters out the air lock; one in particular was very annoying. However, Geoffrey Landis did a good job of making me care for the characters by the end of the book. Landis accomplished this through frequent flashbacks to develop the characters. Some may find this style of writing distracting, but I found it important because I would not have found the tension in the story if I did not care about the characters.

The basic story is very similar to the movie "Red Planet," a team of astronauts fly to Mars in one ship and trek a short distance to a return vehicle only to find it damaged beyond repair. Their only hope is a long distance voyage across most of mars to use another ship as an escape vehicle. The problem: the vehicle cannot hold them all. Despite the lack of "Red Planet's" flesh eating explosive insects and psychotic attack robot, I found the adventure in this "Mars Crossing" much more exciting, largely because it felt real.

If you are a fan of space exploration and have been following the various real missions to Mars (at least the ones that worked), you will be treated to the additional pleasure of having the recent knowledge gained from these missions woven into the story. Science, when presented well, can be an adventure.

This book is mediocre at best. It's well over 300 pages, but I read it in one day, but only because most of the "chapters" are only a half a page long. The book could have been so much better. Ben Bova, who is not even a NASA insider did a much better job with "Mars". I'm still interested in picking up Landis's book of short stories. He has some good ideas in Mars Crossing, but nothing ever came to fruition.

So, what would you do as the commander of the third manned Mars mission who's discovered, after a back-slappingly successful landing, your ride home is busted and Earth can't send a rescue cab? Wow, talk about the potential for a nasty mood swing!

In MARS CROSSING, this is the dodgy predicament facing John Radkowski and his crew of five (Ryan, Tana, Estrella, Chamlong, and Trevor) in 2028. Their return vehicle, previously landed on Mars to robotically manufacture fuel from the planet's atmosphere for the trip back, didn't function as its instruments indicated. As a matter of fact, it's now just so much scrap metal. The only solution is to travel 4,000 miles to the polar cap and the landing site of the first Mars mission - Brazilian no less! - in 2020 whose crew mysteriously died on the surface. Their return vehicle is presumably still intact and ready to go. Trouble is, it only has room for two pilgrims.

I rarely read space sci-fi because the plots, ETs and technology are so exorbitantly far-fetched. I suspect life will be less fanciful, even in the far future. However, in MARS CROSSING, author Geoffrey Landis, a working NASA scientist, has crafted a solid tale around plausible new technology and the planetary knowledge gained from the Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor projects, both of which he was a part. Even the low key villains of the piece, for example the itchy life form that doomed the second Mars manned mission in 2022, are relatively mundane. (At least it wasn't Tinea cruris!)

I especially liked some aspects of the mission's technology, such as the Spectra 10 super-fiber rope, almost as thin as a spider's web, which can hold thousands of pounds, and the super-light Butterfly airplane. Pretty neat stuff!

I did find the composition of the crew slightly improbable. Estrella was the wife of the long-dead Brazilian mission commander. And Trevor's only reason for being there - talk about Dead Weight - was that he won the $1000 per ticket lottery that helped finance the cost of the expedition. Now, really! However, once I got over that credibility hiccup, I enjoyed this book very much and, since it is the author's first novel, much credit is due.

There is a category of Science Fiction, that we like to call "hard" science fiction, frequented by the likes of Steven Baxter, Greg Egan, and David Brin. Then there is this stunning first novel by an author that I would have to call "ultra-hard" or "Real world" science fiction. That is because Geoffrey A. Landis really works on Mars technology! His "real" job is a Scientist at NASA Jogn Glenn Research Center, working on Mars technology. So if there ever was anyone qualified to write a novel on Mars, he is. We have waited for years for his first novel, since all his short story quality has been so consistently excellent. He has already won Hugo and Nebula awards for his short stories. In this first novel, the scientific explanation is full and authehtic. But the characters and their development is also splendid. The story has the epic quality of real-world adventures. It is high-quality hard science fiction with the authenticy of a NASA insider. This should be the Hugo award winner for the best Science Fiction book of 2000.

Even at 434 pages, I read "Mars Crossing" in two sittings over a 12-hour period. It is an amazingly strong debut novel from NASA engineer Landis, who deftly balances compelling characters with a thoroughly realistic and scientifically intriguing early trip to Mars. We start out with the third human crew ever to reach the surface of Mars, a mission more palpably dangerous than in many comparable novels, not least because the first two missions had no survivors. The novel opens with a successful landing on Mars, only to learn that a Herculean challenge stands between the astronauts and a functioning ride home. Landis's Mars is a truly alien environment that forces its visitors to confront their inner selves, showing their best or worst sides in the process. The characters are realistic, compelling, conflicted, and human. Each one is given fairly equal "screen time" of first-person perspective, with an exception for one red-shirt. Each character is also explored in brief vignettes from their earlier lives interchanged with the current story. The constant back-and-forth flashbacks would be an awkward device in many writers' hands, but Landis uses it to great advantage in painting his characters, making it seem just as natural as anyone reflecting on poignant memories at odd moments. Fans of hard science fiction will be thrilled at Landis's imaginative constructs, although his bias as an engineer rather than a scientist seems apparent - in the interests of spoiler-avoidance, you'll just have to see what I mean. The plot includes a decent string of clues and surprises ending in a satisfying plot twist. Best of all, "Crossing" demands realistic, and grave, consequences for the choices and missteps of its characters, that are unpredictable but become crystal clear in hindsight - sort of like real life. In this way, it joins higher fiction in reflecting compelling truths rather than just telling a story. To compare with other Mars Pioneering novels, "Crossing" is on par with Zubrin's "First Landing," superior to Benford's "Martian Race," and miles ahead of Robinson's dismal "Red Mars." "Crossing" conveys the unforgiving harshness and emotional rigors of the alien world, as well as the honorable heroism of those who are committed to challenge it.

A most excellent Sci-Future(my term)book, Landis presents a novel angle(forgive the pun)of presenting a possible Science Future of multiple explorations of the "Planet of War'Mars'". Found myself truly rooting for a particular charactor to survive. Landis has a way of making all his characters so real that one cannot but help feel solidarity with the reasons behind each one's goodness, roughness, sorrow and joy of their lives. Found myself weeping with sorrow and yes even joy at Landis' finality of the tale- also hoping for a continuation of humanity's insatible need to understand the planet Mars via a sequel to 'Mars Crossing'.

This book is excellent!

Landis has written the book in short chapters as in the style of Arthur C Clarke so that it is very readable - I found I could not put it down however.

The characters are very carefully developed unlike so many Science fiction writers, so that one really does begin to care about what happens to them. Their very different motives are explored in detail. Why would anyone want to be on the third mission to Mars?

When things start to go wrong the crew conceive a desperate plan involving crossing half the planet. Landis manages to capture the realism through very careful images and a sound technical basis for his story. Whilst the mission is set in the future one really has a feeling that the mission could be happening today thanks to his use of Dr Robert Zubrins (The Case for Mars, and Entering Space)mission concepts and descriptions of manned versions of hardware already being develped. The tension is as real and palpable (remember Apollo 13?). The easy style with which the author writes about Mars is reminiscent of some of Gareth Lynn Powells short stories. Whilst this book is not up to the heavyweight standards of Kim Stanley Robinsons Red Mars, It does not run out of steam as with K.S.Rs later works Green and Blue Mars.

Do the crew survive? You will have to read the book to find out but I promise you, you will care what happens. I only hope someone at NASA reads the book in advance of planning the real mission!

More people will be asking. If we can go to the red planet with todays technology why arn't we trying?

On To Mars!!