13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Listen to the wisdom of the Old Ones, September 2, 2008
This review is from: Mars Life (Grand Tour) (Hardcover)
I haven't read a great deal of science fiction in recent years but I grew up on the novels of Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke, and Ben Bova's Mars Life reminds me a whole lot of the style used so successfully by those guys. Those writers were at their peaks in socially simpler times, when the dialogue of books and movies seldom reflected the harsh reality of street language and the raciest sex scenes described were of the relatively tame James Bond style. Their plots were seldom over-complicated, their character types rather predictable and their dialogue not always very realistic sounding. But, taken as a whole, the style worked, and today many of their books are considered to be science fiction classics. So the fact that Mars Life reads like a throwback to that science fiction era is not at all a bad thing.
This book is actually the third in Bova's Mars series but readers like me who have not read the first two books in the series will have no problem reading and enjoying it as a standalone novel. In fact, Mars Life is actually the sixteenth novel in Bova's "Grand Tour" series begun in 1993, which also includes a book of "Grand Tour" stories.
Navajo tribesman, Jamie Waterman, discovered Martian cliff dwellings on his first trip to Mars and has ever since that time dedicated his life to keeping the Mars exploration program focused and well-funded. Now, much to the dismay of Waterman and everyone associated with the program, both governmental and private funding is drying up and the existence of the program is threatened. Partially, that is because the United States government is facing the tremendously complicated and expensive prospect of relocating a substantial portion of its population due to all the flooding caused in recent years by global warming.
But even more importantly, a group of religious fundamentalists known as the New Morality has become so powerful that it can determine the outcome of elections at both the state and national levels by simply choosing whom to support. And New Morality leadership sees the archeological work being done on Mars as such a threat to its core religious beliefs that it wants the whole project shut down. Private donors have been intimidated into withdrawing their support from the Mars program, and the President and members of Congress told to do the same if they want to have any hope of being re-elected.
Mars Life is a race against the clock during which anthropologist Carter Carleton tries to uncover as much of the Martian village and cemetery discovered beneath the cliff dwellings as possible before everyone is forced to leave the planet and Waterman desperately searches for new sources of funding. It is also an intriguing look at what might happen if the clash between science and religion were to get so out of hand that extremists end up with the power to shut down scientific exploration any time that it threatens their shaky religious beliefs, something that seems more and more possible every day.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
More About the Martians, November 30, 2008
This review is from: Mars Life (Grand Tour) (Hardcover)
Mars Life (2008) is the eleventh SF novel in the Grand Tour series, following
Titan. The storyline, however, continues from
Return to Mars. In that volume, Jamie Waterman -- a Navajo -- found a cliff dwelling much like those of the Old Ones back on Earth. The announcement of intelligent life, even though extinct, was a great sensation, but the fundamentalists were not pleased.
When everyone else was recalled to Earth, Jamie and Vijay stayed behind. Then the Navajo nation claimed Mars with Jamie as their immediate caretaker. When another Navajo came to occupy the claim, Jamie and Vijay returned to Earth and were married.
In this novel, twenty-three years later, Jamie and Vijay are still married and still in love. But their son has died in a skydiving accident. Jamie was on Mars at the time and returned to console his wife. He has spent the past two years close to her, never leaving her alone.
Varuna Jarita -- Vijay -- isn't quite as devastated as Jamie thinks. She has been waiting for him to work out his own pain. When he decides to go back to Mars, she is ready to go with him. After all, they can always use another physician with Mars experience.
Dex Trumball was a geologist on Mars with Jamie two decades before. Since then, he has been head of the Mars Foundation. He is Jamie's best friend, but they do disagree about tourism on Mars.
Carter Carleton is the oldest man on Mars and the only archaeologist. He has come to Mars to escape the false charges of rape leading to his forced resignation from the university. He is still angry at the fundamentalists who framed him.
In this story, the fundamentalists are still not pleased with the evidence of intelligent life on Mars. They don't want to believe that any other form of intelligent life has ever existed. After all, God made Man in his own image.
Religious fanaticism is being encouraged by the fundamentalist leaders. People who incur their wrath are being killed by members of their groups. Despite disclaimers of responsibility from the pulpit, these leaders are providing justification for such killings. Someone has even set off car bombs near scientific facilities at the University of New Mexico where Jamie works.
These same religious leaders are using the economic and political power of their congregations to ban the teaching of Darwinism in the public schools and the universities. They are also trying to suppress the search for intelligent life on Mars. They pressure the President into zeroing out federal subsidies for the Mars Foundation and force reductions in its private contributions.
When Carleton discovers a vertebra in the ruins of the Martian village that he is excavating, the fundamentalists try to suppress the news. The base personnel, however, volunteer to help Carleton uncover the rest of the village. Then they find the Martian burial grounds.
This tale takes Jamie back to Mars with a serious problem to resolve. He sees his own depression and anger reflected in the feeling of the scientists there. They have come to Mars to investigate significant scientific issues and find their projects endangered by the antagonism of the religious conservatives and the apathy of the common people.
The story has conflicts, intrigue and sex. The excitement rises from the first to the last. The details seem to be well thought out, yet it all seems so contrived. It lacks a feeling of spontaneity.
Suggested for Bova fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of Mars exploration, xenopsychology, and dedicated scientists.
-Arthur W. Jordin
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Tapering Off..., July 10, 2009
The Grand Tour is tapering off with this installment. I did enjoy the further exploration of Mars and discovery of Martian fossils. The familiar characters were welcome.
The references to Christians and scientists were a bit heavy-handed. It supposes that tens of millions of Christians are old-style Puritans and/or loons and that despite their foibles scientists are the epitome of human development and ardent in thier pursuit of knowledge.
Such broad strokes take away from the story as the truth is somewhere far in between.
Some character motivations and reactions seem a bit...exagerrated, as if this was a screenplay. Some characters even seemed repellent which surprised me. It almost seemed rushed.
It was worth three stars but far from Bova's best works. It is worth reading if you have the first two installments under your belt.
Regards,
Sean
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