Customer Reviews

Mars Underground

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

As i write this I am 3/4's of the way through the book and pending a miraculous change in pace, I consider the money I spent for the book a terrible waste. The plot moves at an unbearably slow pace and the author seems to go off on 2 or 3 page sidetracks which have no bearing on the plot or the development of his characters. The "love" story that seems to be developing has no reason for being....why are these characters attracted to one another??? The book makes no attempt to explain the budding relationship...one page these people meet,, the next they're in bed together and behaving like love sick teenagers..As for the technical aspect of this novel..dont look for it, its not there. Ive never NOT finished a book, and this one is threatening my perfect record.. If you enjoy books on Mars, Kim Stanley Robinsons trio, Red Mars, Blue Mars,Green Mars, is absolutely the best out there. A true epic story of the colonization of Mars. You wont want to put them down.! ..as for mars underground...skip it

g

I had heard (and read) good things about MARS UNDERGROUND so at the first chance I purchased the book. After a couple of chapters the problemse were already glaring. The first one is the matter of character - or lack of it. The people never seem to "grab" the reader and are like cardboard cutouts. There are no individual personalities and no one really "grows", totally forgetful. Then there is the matter of the S-L--O----W moving plot. After a lot of boring set-up, give and take on the planet, discussions of various ideas and operational minutiae someone goes missing.

The events are totally predictable: Media folk yap about the public's "right to know", the Cold War continues (2034), professional jealousy, secrecy, revolt, etc Toward the end the group is drilling for rock samples and discovers an alien object dated 3.2 billion years BC. It originated outside the Solar System and after some brainstorming, they declare it to be a terraforming machine.

Let's get this over with. Surprise, shock, arguments and at last we get to see the grand machine (horizontal and vertical pipes). One fool unscrews a bolt on the machine - nothing happens of course. Then battles over disclosure and suddenly an earthquake/tremors caused by ancient machine - nothing happens again. That's the sum of this book - nothing happens.

Hartmann's novel reads rather like a less dynamic Bova-esque tale. In similar manner to Bova's potboilers, Mars Underground is populated by gross stereotypes, the feisty (yawn!) reporter Annie and the grizzled old prospector type Stafford, being particularly irritating. At least Bova would have thrown in some action to keep matters ticking along though. Hartmann merely gives us a few interesting pages describing the chase across the Martian landscape in pursuit of the errant Stafford, and a handful of less-than-convincing sex scenes. The pay-off in the final chapters is pretty muted and merely serves to throw up further clichés surrounding rebellion against starchy authority. The marvellous backdrop of every SF fan's favourite planet ensures that a modicum of interest remains throughout, but seldom have I read a book where so little of interest happens in 400 odd pages. The paucity of atmosphere echoes the thin wispy air of Mars itself and only rarely does Hartmann generate any sense of excitement or wonder.

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!

Hartmann has a nice, comfortable prose-style that makes for a relaxed, enjoyable read; unfortunately, though, this story never really takes off. The mystery is developed nicely (if a bit too slowly), but doesn't have quite enough of a payoff. A banal love triangle slows things down unnecessarily, while many of the characters remain mere thumbnail sketches, without much life breathed into them. What really prevents the tale from working, however, is Hartmann's almost complete lack of description of the Martian landscape, of the human habitats, of the characters, etc. In a tale like this, if the author's storytelling doesn't make you feel as though you're on an alien world, he isn't doing his job. I read tales set on Mars in order to be transported there, to have the planet brought to life for me. This tale didn't really even try to do that. Too bad.

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).

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

William Hartmann's books on Astronomy have been a source of great inspiration and education; this novel does the same while adding good solid entertainment. Hartmann continues in the "plausible extrapolation" mode of SF and includes enough mystery, conspiracy and excellent characterizations to keep the reader entertained.

With all the interest in Mars that has been generated by the success of the Sojourner/Pathfinder mission, this novel provides a good fix for those who like to get their science education within the bounds of an imaginative look into the mid twenty first century. The story takes it's time in meticulously building plot, characters and setting -- then leads you on a grand adventure. Highly recommended

This novel could have been -- should have been -- half or a third as long. It's an interesting and at times fascinating portrait of life on Mars in the near future, but the love story is ridiculous and pointless, and the red herring aspect of the old scientist's disappearance is incredibly annoying. This book really needed some serious pruning, better focus, and a real plot that goes somewhere.