Return to Mars [Hardcover]

Ben Bova (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 1999

Six years have passed since Jamie Waterman took charge of a foundering expedition and courageously led its surviving members to perhaps the greatest scientific discovery in the history of humankind: extraterrestrial life in its most basic form. But things have soured for Waterman back in Earth's rich atmosphere since the monumental breakthrough that brought him fame and -- for a time -- happiness. Now a second Martian expedition has been announced. Jamie Waterman is named commander and must journey back to the eerie, unforgiving landscape of towering cliffs and sere natural beauty that haunts him still. But a destructive rivalry, a new emotional attraction, and a series of deadly unexplainable "accidents" could doom the mission of which he is in charge. Yet Waterman knows he must not fail. For there are still great secrets to be uncovered on this cruel and enigmatic world -- not the least being something he glimpsed in the far distance during his first Martian excursion; an improbable structure perched high in the planet's carmine cliffs: a dwelling that only an intelligent being could have built.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Ben Bova's 1992 bestselling book Mars, geologist Jamie Waterman and his crewmates discovered the existence of primitive lichen on the floor of the great Martian canyon known as the Valles Marineris. In Return to Mars, Waterman is headed back to the Red Planet, this time in charge of an expedition that hopes not only to study Martian life but also to prove that exploring Mars can be profitable. Waterman also wants to revisit a part of the canyon where he thought he spotted a primitive cliff dwelling during the first Martian mission. The second voyage to Mars runs into trouble right away, however, as Waterman clashes with Dex Trumball, the son of a billionaire who's backing the expedition. Dex wants to turn Mars into a tourist attraction, while Waterman wants to preserve the planet for scientific research. Both men are also attracted to the expedition's beautiful psychologist, Vijay Shektar, who can't seem to decide which of the two she likes best. As if that weren't enough, one of the Mars team may be trying to sabotage the mission, while back home the elder Trumball is pulling strings in order to force Waterman to step down as the expedition's leader.

Like Jamie Waterman, Bova takes on a lot of responsibility in this second Mars book. He's trying to create a complex story that relies equally on science, characterization, and politics, mixed in with a healthy dose of mystery and a dash of thriller. As usual, Bova nails the science but fares less well--though by no means poorly--with his characters. He pulls off the politics with confidence, but the thriller subplot seems forced. Finally, the mysteries (there are several) all succeed reasonably well, though some are more compelling than others. The whole makes up a thoroughly enjoyable novel both about what life might be like on an expedition to Mars and what Martian life might be like. It's a better book than its predecessor, and it can be read entirely on its own thanks to Bova's carefully interwoven details about the back story that took place in Mars. --Craig E. Engler

From Publishers Weekly

The sequel to Bova's popular Mars (1992) returns Navajo Jamie Waterman to the Red Planet as the mission director in tenuous command of a crew of scientists and astronauts jockeying for political power, romantic liaisons and scientific renown. And as anonymous journal entries also indicate, one of the explorers is seriously deranged. Waterman's chief rival on the mission is C. Dexter Trumball, the heir of the man who substantially funded the flight. Trumball has promised his wealthy father that the mission will make money, and he is determined to win his father's love and respect, even if it means turning Mars into a tourist attraction. For ideological reasons, Waterman is equally bent on keeping Mars free of tourists, especially his beloved "cliff dwellings"Aa nearly inaccessible structural anomaly that he believes will prove there was once intelligent life on the planet. Waterman must struggle to find the Navajo way of negotiating the crew's various desires and manias. He must also contend with the powers-that-be back on Earth to ensure that scientific concerns continue to supersede crass commercial interests. Bova makes the speculative hard science aspects of this novel vivid and appealing. His characters, however, are less enchanting, and the inclusion of a saboteur seems like overkill, since the environment he describes is more than capable of destroying anyone for simple carelessness. The novel ends with plenty of room for a sequel to pick up and continue the saga. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Harper Voyager; 1st edition (June 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380976404
• ISBN-13: 978-0380976409
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #916,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great story brought downy by author's agenda..., July 22, 2001

By 

Rottenberg's rotten book review (nyc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Return to Mars (Hardcover)

In Bova's original "Mars", the first human explorers escape the red planet after they had discovered life upon it - a mindless green lichen that hints at the possibilities of colonization. The team's unofficial leader, native american Jamie Waterman made what promises to be a major discovery of his own - steps apparently cut into the side of a martian cliff. Now returning on an expedition financed by a sinister billionaire with his own plans for Mars, Waterman looks to follow-up his last discovery. Now the team leader (due to his experience on the other trip) Waterman commands a crew that will search for patterns among the martian lichen, further map mars and climb Olympus, the highest mountain in the solar system.

Unable to walk the cliff-steps himself in "Mars", Waterman waits years to return to Mars and make that ascent into the cliff wall and history. In doing so, he stands not only to discover intelligent life but perhaps add substance to an ancient tribal legend that the dead red world and the blue on which they were born are actually brothers of a sort. What lies at the top of the stairs adds tension to the story, one not spoiled when Waterman - pressure suit and all - takes that giant step.

Although Jamie's thoughts of the martians - which soon rise to the point of mystical visions - are evocative and would have made for a great novel, their dragged down by other elements brought in by Ben Bova, whether to shore up a better novel Bova thought beyond him, or simply to push some agenda. Here, the greatest enemy is not some evil martian, or the natural dangers of an alien world, but Trumball, the expedition's bankroller, who threatens (gasp!!) to bring tourism to Mars (which is unlikely, since most on Earth can follow the expedition with their VR glasses and without subjecting themselves to the dangers of the trip) and spoil...whatever tourists spoil. Bova pretty much downgrades all those back on Earth as uneducated boobs who don't know anything they don't see on VR. He piously leads the fight against increased exploration to Mars, even though that would improve the chances of discovering more martian cities or other signs of their civilization. Though Trumball is on Earth, his son fights for him on Mars, rivaling Waterman at every turn (including love, with Waterman's prospective conquests falling to the brat's boyish charm before they even reach Mars). Dex Trumball, as a typical Bova charachter, gets little in the development treatment (his turnabout at the book's end isn't so much a charachter development as it is simply the author's changing his mind for him), and his early martian plans are an obvious clue that his mercenary plans for Mars are modeled on Cortes. (Setting out for the landing sites of 1997's Martian Pathfinder, Trumball announces his intention to salvage it for the cash). Realizing that the War against Tourism isn't enough for a story, Bova tosses in another element - the Coyote: the spirit of malice that will seek to undermine the mission and perhaps kill its members off. In short, somebody on the team isn't what he seems. Small accidents are followed by larger ones, clueing Waterman in that they've got a sabouteur on Mars. But even this idea seems like filler, and the resolution is pretty pat for the tension that Bova wants to generate. By the end of the book, the only enduring thing about it is the strikingly patronizing tone it saves for those back on their easy chairs on Earth - a tone reminescent of that used against religious-minded (but actually hypocritical) zealots in Bova's "Moonrise" series. Bova isn't so much concerned about discovering anything new on Mars as he is putting a wide moral chasm between his heroes and those who are simply greedy, ignorant or mindlessly zealous. This could have been a much better book, but Bova's tortuous morality grounds it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have read this year., November 2, 1999

By 

Chris Fountain (Perth, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Return to Mars (Hardcover)

In a word: Brilliant! In three words: I enjoyed it. I started the book as bed-time reading, but found (to my wife's disgust) that it was keeping me awake at night. In the end, I had to devote a Saturday morning to finishing the book for domestic harmony.

If your idea of a good read is a slam-bang space opera with cardboard characters, this is not the book for you. But if you like your books to be thoughtful and thought-provoking, with excellent characterization, then this is the one.

Bova's strength is his ability to really make the characters in his books come to life. The scientists in the novel were just like some of my friends, struggling with the issue of how do you get someone to pay for your hobby and indignant that someone might actually want to make a profit from it. The mystery and tension built throughout the novel, making it harder and harder to put down. It was great.

I am looking forward to reading Bova's next novel.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book is good, January 17, 2000

By 

CCG (Phialdelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Return to Mars (Hardcover)

I feel compelled to write a review of this book because I wrote such a negative review about Bova's earlier book, MARS. RETURN TO MARS is much better. It is a better story with more realistic characters, and there is more action. Unlike the first book, I felt like they really did something on Mars, and what they discover is credible. There were less of the racist overtones and more the incorporation of heritage and the value of diversity. Now I understand why people like Bova. This was a good book, well-paced, not too psychological, not too sci-tech, just right. I was sorry to see it end. (And I did not miss the characters from the earlier book that were left out. I only wondered about them for the first 50 pages, then the new story took hold. Fewer is better in this case.)