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Title: As It Is On Mars by Thomas William Cronin, Thomas W. Cronin ISBN: 0-9687502-0-6 Publisher: Tharsis Pub. Date: 01 March, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (8 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Technically interesting; literally a bore
Comment: While the book presents a convincing technical case for survival on Mars, complete with a geography lesson and specifics on Martian weather, geology, and orbital mechanics, the characters are one dimensional and the plot predictable. The dialog between characters is, at times, as tortuous and "canned" as a high school algebra lesson. I found myself skipping pages of conversation between Denise and John who are unfortunately the most uninteresting couple ever to embark on a interplanetary voyage. The introduction of Zen philosophy into the equation is intersting, if not odd. The conspiracy aspects of the book are forced and an extreme stretch of credulity.
The book presents a good basis for survival on Mars; but as entertainment, leaves much to be desired.
Rating: 3
Summary: A "how to" to live on Mars.
Comment: Currently, I'm about 2/3 through this book, so I'm not saying anything about the ending! The characters spend the whole book speaking in pages of expository technical details on how to survive on Mars in a forced and stilted fashion. Their dialogs are about as far from "realistic" as you can get, so for me they fell flat.
The opening for the book was an absolute killer for a novel; two large chapters of Congressional hearings, after a 2-page prologue explaining some of the lead-in events on Mars. If I wasn't such a Mars fanatic, I wouldn't have made it past these chapters.
Technically, I'm enjoying the book. Most everything in it has been completely predictable, but that might be due in part to the fact I've read most of the other "Mars" books currently in print, so the way they set up their colony, such as it is, is old news to me. It's not a page-turner, but I'm not stopping either. It's a bit of a treatise on setting up a colony, in many respects, so some readers may get a lot of pleasure out of it for that.
One of the most enjoyable parts of the book are Cronin's insights into Zen Buddhism, perhaps because I know nothing about it.
Rating: 4
Summary: really fun!
Comment: If you've been reading the various "Mars" science fiction novels that have come out in the past 10 yrs or so, this is a really fun book to read. I enjoyed it much more than the recent entries by Zubrin, Landis, or even Kim Stanley Robinson. However, in addition to the criticisms others have raised here about typos and editing, one other thing Cronin would have benefited from is to have a real Mars geologist give the book a read, before it was published. There are some real errors in the geology. For one thing, no dunes on Mars move as fast as those in Cronin's story, and quartz is practically nonexistant. (dunes hardly move at all under the present climate conditions). Regardless, a really fun book that I only wish was taken to that next level (some editing for typos, and a *Mars* geologist's input).
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Title: The Forge of Mars by Bruce Balfour ISBN: 0441009549 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: 27 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Martian Race by Gregory Benford ISBN: 0446608904 Publisher: Aspect Pub. Date: 01 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization by Robert Zubrin ISBN: 1585420360 Publisher: Jeremy P. Tarcher Pub. Date: 03 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: A Traveler's Guide to Mars: The Mysterious Landscapes of the Red Planet by William K. Hartmann ISBN: 0761126066 Publisher: Workman Publishing Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title:Firefly - The Complete Series ASIN: B0000AQS0F Publisher: Twentieth Century Fox Home Video Pub. Date: 09 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $49.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $34.99 |
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