Customer Reviews

Returning to the Garden: A Novel about Mars

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a kid I looked to the stars in wonder, read all I could get ahold of about stars, planets, and all things in space. I drew them, painted them, and kept a childlike wonder in me about life "out there", where I was from, and if someday I wouldn't have to draw Mars, paint Mars, but actually touch it and know it. McCullough's book, one which I couldn't put down for two days. Because of the fast paced nature, the characters you grow to love, and the ever present and growing discoveries, synergies, and uncoverings, this is a story that I don't want to end. For those of us who know in our hearts that there is more "out there", this is a book that can re-ignite that same childlike passion and wonderment about the Universe in which we live.

If you liked Clive Cussler's first few books, you'll enjoy Returning to the Garden.

I first heard about this book while listening to drive time a.m. radio. The story line was enough for me to risk the $10 to buy the large paperback version.

The book is a fast paced, fun, enjoyable read. While there isn't alot of deep technical discussion to support the general premise, the story line keeps you wanting more. There is supposed to be a sequal. I can't wait, because there are a whole lot of loose ends that need to be tied together.

In a few years this author could be at the top of the scifi field.

This book raise some mighty big issues - and at a breakneck pace too. Not many 220 page works can credibly challenge all we think know about the origins of the Old Testament and the space race. Heck, this book also raises fundamental questions about our religious faiths, the theory of evolution, the global arms race, and humanity's view of our place in the cosmos.

As a fact-based science fiction novel set in the modern era, "Returning to the Garden" describes the discovery by two American's that the planet of Mars is the Garden of Eden of religious and mythic lore. The refugees, diminished and deranged within a generation, were the missing link in human evolution and the spark for all human life on Earth. The novel focuses on the discovery, the manic response of various government agents, and the consequences for the discoverers - both intellectually and temporal. I hope the promised sequel focuses more on the heroine and the cosmic issues, which are much more interesting and original than the cloak and dagger elements.

As we get bombarded with all the new Mars movies this year, check out the "Returning to the Garden" for a fresh and thought provoking perspective on Mars - a perspective which even claims to be fact based.

This is more of a conspiracy theory book than a novel about Mars, and I found it pretty far-fetched. In addition, the author's style was flat, giving us the events, but no real depth of character. I plan to resell my copy. I don't need to re-read it, and don't plan to recommend it to my fellow Mars enthusiasts.