Customer Reviews

The Forge of Mars

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

A near-future speculative fiction novel with a fast pace, well-drawn characters, realistic science, shadow governments, conspiracy, and a sense of wonder. If you mixed Ray Bradbury with Kim Stanley Robinson, shook them together with a dash of Robert Ludlum and a twist of Tony Hillerman, you'd have a novel in the style of The Forge of Mars. I particularly enjoyed the character of Kate McCloud and her inner journey that reflected the trials and tribulations of her outer journey as she moved from a sedate existence in San Francisco to an amazing discovery on Mars. I also enjoyed the detailed Russian background of General Zhukov. This kind of character development is sadly lacking in much of the speculative fiction I've read over the last few years, so it's refreshing to see a skilled new author who takes as much time with the characters as he does with the plot. I got my hands on an advance copy, but I'm buying more for my friends.

I just stayed up till dawn to finish THE FORGE OF MARS, and I am still reeling from this magnificent book. I loved the contrast of Navajo culture with the high-tech of artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, and I didn't want the story to end.

In this book, Balfour creates a fully-realized world fifty years from now, with dark conspiracies behind the scenes and characters striving to come to grips with the modern world and forces beyond their control. The writing is extraordinary, compelling, and generates a sense of wonder. The stories of Tau, Kate, and Zhukov are exciting, disturbing, and enthralling.

Balfour carefully lays out several different strands of story and then braids them together with unerring skill -- the kind of plotting that trips up a lot of writers but looks easy when done by a master. On the surface, it is a gripping adventure story; but it is much more than that, for Balfour regularly brings us face-to-face with the moral dimensions of his characters. We care about their world, their struggles, and Tau's efforts to unravel the great mysteries.

I want more. Right now.

I just finished reading "The Forge of Mars" by Bruce Balfour in about three sittings. I couldn't put it down. The story takes place in the near future. Two scientists, Tau and Kate, get caught up in political intrigue involving discoveries on Mars and their implications.

Normally I don't care much for hard science fiction because sometimes the plot is just an excuse to describe scientific principles that go right over my head, but in this case the plot is super interesting, the characters are complex, and the science makes complete sense. The bad guy is fascinating (I'd love to see more of HIM), and the women are capable and strong without being masculine. Balfour is a great writer and I'm sure we'll hear more from him.

Barely readable. Not particularly creative, nothing to ponder, characters you really don't care about. Where has all the good science fiction gone? Not here.

On the surface, Bruce Balfour's new novel, The Forge of Mars, is a science fiction thriller with enough realistic science in it that you come away with the feeling that you've learned something. A Navajo NASA scientist is given the opportunity to pursue his groundbreaking research on Mars, unaware that shadowy government forces with their own agenda have manipulated him into a confrontation with a powerful alien intelligence. However, if you look for deeper meaning, you realize that Balfour's novel is about the human mind, human weaknesses, and how our personal interpretations of reality can alter the world in which we live. Balfour mixes a literary effort with the excitement of a mass-market genre. His style is simple, but poetic, vividly painting both the stark realities of the Martian landscape and the turbulent mental landscapes of the main characters -- ranging from a Navajo scientist fighting the shadows to a Russian general fighting for a lost ideology. I was sorry to see this story end, and I hope to see more from this author in the near future.

This is my first Amazon.com book review. Everyone who knows me I read a lot, but this is the first time I've written about a book I've read here.

I started off feeling the book was "OK"... it didn't keep me up at night, but it was an enjoyable enough book... Then later on in the book when everyone got to Mars things started to take a turn for the worse. What little bit of a "plot" that had been developing in the book started to fall apart. As other's have commented here the characters seemed to be "cookie-cutter" style, lacking depth.

I just don't know where to start... the "Russian tanks" that are on Mars (yea... when earlier in the book they are talking about shipping a hand full of people at a time Russia would ship "TANKS" to Mars...), or the "un-killable" assassin that shows up on the ship, just before they blast off back to Earth, or the changing timelines (they have a ship that will be at Mar's in a few days, then a few days pass (while he is off in an alien world learning "the way of the warrior" and adding in a little randomness into the alien AI), and then after all of that they are still a few days away...

I've seen a number of people here give RAVE reviews, and I guess I just look at the book differently. Anyway... I do not feel that I could recommend anyone buying it... that is unless you already like the writings of Bruce Balfour. If you know someone who has this book, or if you can get it from a library, then it might be worth checking out... but at today's book prices... in my opinion, no.

There are only a few books I have given up on before finishing, and this is one of them. Being a fancier of possible life and artifacts on mars, I was drawn to the enticements of the book jacket. Unfortunately, once I began reading I became repelled by the prose, plotting (or is that plodding?) and characters. The writing is pedantic, the people and human situations unbelievable, the science meager, the frame of reference nerdishly undeveloped. I knew that if I persevered, I would only be angry at myself and the author for wasting my time. I must express my gratitude to the other low score reviewers for helping warn me off.

This book is a real stinker. Written in amateur prose with cardboard characters and a plot that reads like a Saturday morning cartoon. The continuous references to a vast amount of future tech and the ridiculous amount of exposition slows down the first part of the book to the point of pain. Add to that the disjointed nature and many clichés used by the author and you've got yourself a truly childish piece of work. There's far better science fiction out there, don't waste your time with this book.

Tau Wolfsinger is a brilliant, cutting edge scientist who works on Artificial Intelligence for NASA. He is unhappy because he can't get funding because he's too independent a thinker and the powers that be believe that Tau's ideas that an A.I. can build a city is to dangerous to explore. His personal life is going down the tubes as well with his fiancee Kate heading to Mars for a long time.

Evidence of an ancient civilization has been discovered on the red planet and Kate is one of the archeologists going to excavate the site. Neither Tau nor Kate know they are being manipulated by a shadow government known as the Davos group who want to find out how these ancient artifacts can be used to further their goals. They believe Tau is the best person to figure out what these artifacts and portals are all about so they give the scientist the funding he needs providing he does the testing on Mars.

Bruce Balfour does an excellent job of explaining the concepts of artificial intelligence, virtual reality and nanotechnology in layman's turns. His protagonist is a mild-mannered person who can play hardball when the situation warrants it. THE FORGE OF MARS is an action packed science fiction thriller that is a one sitting read.

Harriet Klausner

Balfour has composed another intelligent and intriguing work of science fiction. His complex heroes, Tao and Kate, return with a host of creative new characters. The novel calls to mind the grandeur of the great science fiction authors without being derivative. This book is a true page turner; once picked up it cannot be put down. I would recommend it both to long term science fiction fans, who will find it a breath of fresh air from the cliches of the genre, and to new readers, who will find it a fascinating introduction.