What Jamie Waterman discovered on Mars was astonishing. What he survived was remarkable—but it was only the beginning.
Six years after the first manned Martian expedition, a second has been announced, this one motivated purely by its profitable potential. Half-Navajo geologist Jamie Waterman, a veteran of the first mission, feels his conflicted soul beckoning him back to the eerie, unforgiving planet. As commander of the new exploratory team, he will have to contend with a bitter and destructive rivalry, a disturbing new emotional attraction, and deadly, incomprehensible “accidents” that appear to be sabotage—all of which could doom the mission to failure. But there are still great secrets to be uncovered on this cruel and enigmatic world, not the least of which is 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.
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"Best of the three Mars books in my opinion. I read the first book a couple years ago and just read the second and third this week. Return to Mars seemed to have the most developed and interesting character interactions." — Michael (4 out of 5 stars)
"Best of the three Mars books in my opinion. I read the first book a couple years ago and just read the second and third this week. Return to Mars seemed to have the most developed and interesting character interactions."
“Where Bova shines is in making science not only comprehensible but entertaining.”
“Provocative and believable…Bova writes with sparkling clarity.”
“Bova makes the speculative hard science aspects of this novel vivid and appealing.”
“Characterization is better than usual in this kind of adventure, the pacing is brisk, the scientific details are convincing, and Bova's depiction of the Martian environment is outstanding indeed. No one who enjoyed Mars is likely to turn down this lively continuation of it.”
“Bova skillfully develops plot and characters in this tale, showing the talent that has earned him six Hugo Awards…Highly recommended.”
“Combines speculative fiction with psychological thriller…Rudnicki does a wonderful job reading this story, and [it is] quite possible to lose oneself in his performance…Excellent.”
“Absorbing and thoroughly satisfying: Mars fans will pounce, while newcomers will feel welcome too.”
" I read the Mars book 10 years ago and just got around to reading this one (November 2009). My tastes may have changed but I remember enjoying the first book a lot. This one though was ok but didn't have the same 'impact' as the first book. "
" reasonable book with lots of driving on Mars trying to find alien place. Little bit slow at times till finally get to discovery. Dissapointing overall as Bovas imagination on this book not great and left me feeling a bit let down. 2 stars only "
" Bova is no stylist, but the story is good, moving forward swiftly with 2.5 dimensional characters. "
" This novel was well researched and well written, but it was missing something. It was rather anti climactic and set itself up a little too well for a sequel. The characters are well developed and the story flows very smoothly. You could skip this one and you would not really miss that much. "
" More science than the first and a great story to boot. "
" Characters from Mars return in this sequel. There is a third I havven't read yet. "
" They go back...It isn't all good...Well, it isn't really good at all. "
" series losing what little steam it had "
" Kind of forgettable but mildly interesting at times. "
" A really good follow-up, with really plausible science. "
" I have always liked good stories about Mars and this is one. "
" I liked this one better than the first. It helped that their was a saboteur loose. Still too many lectures that slowed the pace, but on the whole much more satisfying than the first one. "
" i feel like they could have found out more about the martians but still a good read "
" The private sector is where the money is, but is it worth the cost. "
" This is a great book to it's predecessor, Mars. It really gets a thrill ride going. "
" The Mars books were the only two Ben Bova books I've read that were worth my time, and boy, were they good. This book is an excellent sequel to Mars, and comes highly recommended if you enjoyed reading Mars. "
" Jamie Waterman returns to Mars as the leader of the second Mars expedition but there is but there is trouble with the crew and the fund raiser on Earth. "
" Enjoyed it, but felt it dropped off somewhat from the first. I wasn't as captivated by the story. "
" Bova is one of the masters of hard science fiction. This is a worthy successor to Mars. Four stars rather than five because the characters are not exactly on the level of an Orson Scott Card. Still, an excellent read. "
" A really good read. It's been a long time I've gotten so worked up over the characters in a book. I wanted to kill a few characters and the end had a really surprisingly plot twist that I enjoyed "
" Tired space opera. I like Ben Bova's work, but this was too predictable, too flat. It contained a few adventurous moments on the Red Planet, but none really took off. "
" A worthy sequel to Mars. Not quite as good, but well worth the time. Has very good characters. The story is not quite as strong as Mars was. But very worthwhile read. "
" I had never read any of Ben Bova before but I really enjoyed this offering. The good guys win and the bad guys.. well you can guess. Deightful tale. "
Ben 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.
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