Mars, Ben Bova
Mars, Ben Bova
5 Rating(s)
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Mars

Author: Ben Bova

Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki

Unabridged: 18 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/21/2008

Categories: Fiction, Science Fiction


Synopsis

This grand epic adventure from six-time Hugo Award–winning author Ben Bova tells the irresistible story of man’s first mission to that great unconquered frontier, Mars—a planet pocked by meteors, baked by ultraviolet light, and covered by endless deserts the color of dried blood. Technically plausible and compellingly human, Bova’s story explores the political, scientific, and social repercussions of our greatest quest yet: the search for evidence of life beyond Earth’s boundaries.Half-Navajo geologist Jamie Waterman has been selected for the ground team of the first manned expedition to our mysterious neighbor planet. Joining an international team of twenty-five astronauts and scientists, he endures the rigors of training, the dangers of traveling an incredible distance in space, the challenges of an alien landscape, and the personal and political conflicts that arise when the team must face the most shocking discovery of all.Mars is an unforgettable portrait of space, politics, science, and humanity that captures for all time the mystery and wonder of an alien frontier.

About Ben Bova

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.

About Emily Janice Card

Emily Janice Card (a.k.a. Emily Rankin) is an actor, writer, and singer. In addition to being a narrator, she has directed numerous audiobooks, including the 2007 Audie and Earphones Award winner Hubris, Legacy of Ashes by Pulitzer Prize winner Tim Weiner, and Them by Nathan McCall. Her own audiobook narration has won her four Earphones Awards.

About Stefan Rudnicki

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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul on January 28, 2025

The discovery of life on Mars! Navajo geologist-astronaut, Jamie Waterman, blasts off to the red planet for a second time as the leader of a privately funded follow up expedition to the earth's first foray to Mars which ended on a literal cliff-hanger. the discovery of pueblo-like cliff dwellings tha......more

Goodreads review by Jonathan on January 06, 2024

This book is a very frustrating read. It is both entertaining and not entertaining at the same time. I have aspects of the book I enjoyed, and aspects of the book I didn't enjoy. I disagreed with so much of the decisions the author made with book...and yet I found it entertaining throughout. The boo......more

Goodreads review by Susan on August 24, 2022

Enjoyed going back to Mars and "exploring" it with the various characters. Not quite up to par with the first book but still a fun and riveting read.......more

Goodreads review by JP on June 18, 2019

Return to Mars finishes what Mars started--and I really feel like they might have been better as one book. There was such a huge tantalizing idea dangled in front of us in the first book--not only life on Mars, but intelligent life?--only for a rush to the ending so that we never got to actually get......more

Goodreads review by AndrewP on December 26, 2011

Unlike most books in a series, I actually enjoyed this one a bit more than the first one. It's probably because the scene was set in the first book with all the necessary technological explanations. This book has quite a bit of mars exploration in it, building on the things described in the first bo......more


Quotes

“Bova re-creates for us much of that first excitement we felt in reading about the possibilities of space flight or, later, witnessing the earliest manned exploration.” Los Angeles Times Book Review

“An intelligent, entertaining story that may also serve as a rallying cry.” Omni

“A sweeping, Michener-style saga of the first expedition to our neighboring planet…[T]he ultimate summer escape.” People

“An exemplary summer read…adventurous, brilliant, over-the-edge characters…a carefully imagined, striking, and spooky portrait of the planet.” Voice Literary Supplement

“Bova’s 1992 novel follows Jamie Waterman—a Navaho geologist—on the first manned mission to Mars. The multinational expedition is wrought with political and personal strife, as well as a mysterious illness that strikes the entire land crew and nearly brings the project to a halt. The earnestness and longing of the lead character comes through in Stefan Rudnicki’s voice as he narrates the story of Waterman’s dogged search for signs of life on the Red Planet. Whether or not there’s life beneath the frozen surface of Mars, Rudnicki’s spellbinding baritone brings all the members of the international crew to life, providing believable accents for Russian, Brazilian, English, Japanese, and Israeli members of the landing team.” AudioFile

“A bulging, impressive, all-you-ever-wanted-to-know, you-are-there Martian odyssey.” Kirkus Reviews

“Bova has done extensive research and his descriptions of Mars and the conditions under which the study is conducted are very plausible. All in all, a satisfying story.” School Library Journal