Jamie Waterman has made an important discovery on Mars. A cliff dwelling reveals the fact that an intelligent race lived on the red planet sixty-five million years ago, only to be driven into extinction by the crash of a giant meteor. But now the exploration of Mars is itself under threat of extinction, as the ultraconservative New Morality movement gains control of the United States government and cuts off all funding for the Mars program.
Meanwhile, Carter Carleton, an anthropologist who was driven from his university post by unproven rape charges, has started to dig up the remains of a Martian village. Science and politics clash on two worlds as Jamie desperately tries to save the Mars program and uncover who the vanished Martians were.
This is a compelling tale of adventure, political intrigue—and the possibility of life on other planets.
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"I enjoyed reading this book and finished it in a couple of weeks. The story was compelling to me and other than the story line revolving around discovering 65 million year old Martian remains on the planet, it was extremely technically realistic. It also dealt with the politics of financing Mars missions as well as the politics of the right wing fundamentalist movement and their total ignorance of science and reality while they attempt to convert the world to their small perspective on reality. Are we not experiencing some of this today in our country and around the world, whether Christian, Muslim, or whatever? The interpersonal relationships were good as well although possibly a bit simplistic. And finally I just felt it was a good story and quite interesting to me."
— Robert (4 out of 5 stars)
“A gripping and convincing conclusion…Bova deftly captures the excitement of scientific discovery and planetary exploration. This compelling story, balancing action and plausible political intrigue, will easily be enjoyed by both fans and newcomers.”
— Publishers Weekly“Bova gets better and better, combining plausible science with increasingly entertaining fiction.”
— Los Angeles Daily News“Bova's Grand Tour future histories continue to constitiute one of the more absorbing and intelligent contemporary SF sagas.”
— Booklist" Ben Bova has written a number of books speculating about the exploration and colonization of our solar system -- known as the Grand Tour. This book, Mars Life, is the 16th book in the series, although each one stand's alone. It describes the goings on of a team of scientists sent to Mars to uncover the archaeological remains of an ancient Martian civilization -- juxtaposed against religious intolerance that dominates old Earth. Team biologists have also discovered microbes living in the Martian soil. A solid read! "
— Skyler, 8/16/2019" Navajo Tribe is caretaker of Mars, where scientists have discovered ancient ruins. "
— Kfinney, 2/4/2014" Unfortunately, Ben Bova seems to be going slightly off the deep end with some of his political and environmental ideas. While his mythical greenhouse cliff and New Morality have always been a part of the Grand Tour series, they now seem to be just a chance for him to rant and rave, rather than being an actual part of the story. The ironic thing to me is that he attributes government takeovers and conspiracies to the ultra conservative religious right (as he calls them). But, if you take everything he talks about and flip it 180 degrees, you have what the radical left is actually doing today. As an example, in his universe, the religious right has infiltrated all forms of government and business. They control the banks, transportation, insurance companies, and education - sounds familiar, except change right to left. In an ironic twist, he has the right updating all the school textbooks to take out Darwinism and only allow creationism. Funny how the left is trying to do the very same, except they want to say the Founding Fathers (who they want to rename "framers") didn't have religion as a foundation during their writings and deliberations. The shame of it all is that when he's actually focused on the exploration of Mars and the trials of the people living there, his stories are still incredibly interesting. Just wish he could stay off the lunatic rants about the religious right... "
— Stacy, 1/16/2014" Bova concludes his Mars trilogy in satisfying fashion. "
— Grant, 1/2/2014" Get this from the library. Its entertaining. Definitely anti religion. It seldom show religious people in a favorable light except for native American theology. "
— JParsons1974, 12/22/2013" Kind of got old beating over your head about the tyranny of the religious political powers stifling thinking. While I agree with the sentiment, it starts to detract from the story writing. "
— Zeromind, 12/22/2013" This was a solid third book in this set. A couple of times I felt like the characters were a bit stubborn, or their behavior was a bit forced to fit in with the plot, but overall it was a pretty good read. And it left the door open (actually pretty wide open) for a fourth. Can't wait! "
— George, 11/17/2013" I wasn't crazy about the end, it felt rushed and almost like a cop out. However, it was a very enjoyable read, and some nights were hard to fall asleep listening to it. "
— Cindy, 10/28/2013" I found this a very good light read. It was the first time I saw an adult spell "Navajo" as "Navaho". "
— Meg, 9/28/2013" I have always liked good stories about Mars and this is one. "
— Philip, 9/10/2013" A throughly enjoyable "page turner" that develops Bova's vision (this is the third or fourth of his "Mars" novels) of the exploration of Mars in conflict with an increasingly dystopian (from the rise to power of no-nothing fundamentalists) in a US beset by climate change. "
— Salam, 11/8/2012" Great book if you like Ben Bova. His books on the exploration of the solar system seem more like science future than science fiction. "
— Lynn, 10/28/2011" Book Three of Ben Bova's Mars, Return to Mars trilogy. "
— Chris, 5/14/2011" Read like a school textbook. Interesting ideas, but very dry and sleep inducing. "
— David, 3/25/2011" Not his greatest book, I felt the ending was rushed & lack luster. "
— Craig, 1/13/2011" This was a solid third book in this set. A couple of times I felt like the characters were a bit stubborn, or their behavior was a bit forced to fit in with the plot, but overall it was a pretty good read. And it left the door open (actually pretty wide open) for a fourth. Can't wait! "
— George, 8/29/2010" Totally satisfying read. Loved the parallel between the blue world <br/>and the red world..........Earth and Mars......and the ties that bind <br/>them together. Fictional or not....it got me thinking. "
— Mom, 2/19/2010" Great book if you like Ben Bova. His books on the exploration of the solar system seem more like science future than science fiction. "
— Lynn, 2/7/2010" Not as good as the Kim Stanley Robinson trilogy. It was too simple, like a novel you would bring to the beach. I wish there had been some sand around or this review would have been better. "
— Rachel, 11/16/2009" Good 3rd installment. Makes me wanna read more "Grand Tour" books. <br/> <br/>I'm really glad I didn't read this during the previous Presidential administration -- the extrapolation of a fundamentalist controlled government was terrifying enough now. "
— Derek, 7/13/2009" Book Three of Ben Bova's Mars, Return to Mars trilogy. "
— Chris, 7/5/2009Ben Bova (1932–2020), American author of more than one hundred books of science fact and fiction, was awarded posthumously the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award. His work earned six Hugo Awards. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation in 2005, and his novel Titan won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the best science fiction novel of 2006. In his early career, he was a technical editor for Project Vanguard, the United States’s first effort to launch a satellite into space in 1958. He then was a science writer for Avco Everett Research Laboratory, which built the heat shields for the Apollo 11 module. He held the position of president emeritus of the National Space Society and served as president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Stefan Rudnicki first became involved with audiobooks in 1994. Now a Grammy-winning audiobook producer, he has worked on more than five thousand audiobooks as a narrator, writer, producer, or director. He has narrated more than nine hundred audiobooks. A recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, he was presented the coveted Audie Award for solo narration in 2005, 2007, and 2014, and was named one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices in 2012.