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The scientists wanted to go to Mars for curiosity's sake. To them, exploration of the universe was a goal in itself.
The visionaries wanted to go to Mars, because it is there. They viewed the human race's expansion into space with religious fervor.
I'm not gonna lie to you and pretend I understand anything about astronomy and astrophysics, because I don't. That doesn't mean it doesn't fascinate me, though. We live in an universe we don't know what there is to know about, and to me it's an endless source of inspiration for theories and stories alike. Ben Bova is one of the first courageous science-fiction authors that I know of to try and tackle space in a methodical manner, starting with our mysterious neighbor planet: Mars. His novel MARS is the first tome of a series on the exploration of the red planet and, if I understand, at the heart of a cycle about the discovery of our galaxy. All of it is delightfully nerdy.
Mars-1, the first ever human spaceship to land on Mars. It is harboring a team of carefully selected scientist, who are dying to explore the red planet and uncover its secrets. It's been a long journey, though. One that lasted several years and that has gathered quite the loaded political background. American geologist Jamie Waterman triggers a diplomatic incident on Earth when, emotionally overwhelmed, he pronounced his first words on Mars in Navajo. Jamie's torn between the life in another world to which he owes his presence on Mars and his devouring intellectual curiosity that drives him to wonderful discoveries. The wonders of the red planet don't give themselves easily, even if you have both feet on its surface.
The first thing anybody would notice about MARS, is that it's wonderfully well written. It opens on one of Ben Bova's short chapters where he narrates the red planet from no point of view in particular. These chapters are the glue that hold this novel together, as they reveal things the scientists team haven't discovered yet and keep the reader from disconnecting. I can already hear you from here: so there are reasons to disconntect with MARS? Isn't it a red flag, B?
Yes and no. There's a major issue with MARS, but it isn't going to be one for several readers. It feels very standard for a novel. There's a love interest subplot, a tense geopolitical situation on Earth (something every space exploration novel ever had) full of superfluous characters, a despicable villain, stuff like that. I don't know about you, but I read this stuff a thousand times and MARS is a long novel, truffled with it, so I couldn't help rolling my eyes a couple times. Some readers thrive on pattern recognition though, especially younger ones. So maybe I just wasn't in the right demographic.
Gotta admire the pulp, vinyl-like approach to the audio book.
Still, MARS is delightfully nerdy. The difference between nerds and geeks is misunderstood by most people. Nerds love reality (and all its potential), and geeks love pure fantasy. MARS is just about the most realistic way one could write fiction about the exploration of our neighbor planet, finding bits of life, scientific hints and having to fend off the mediocrity of politicians trying to sabotage the advancement of human knowledge in order to further their own interest. My inner nerd loved the rigorous attention to detail and the patience the novel showed. It felt like something that could (almost) legitimately happened. If science taught us anything, is that our imagination can become a vector of new knowledge.
So what to make of Ben Bova's MARS?
It's a lot of fun. I don't think it's a novel you can take seriously because it's wallowing in tropes usage, but it got both a nerdy and a pulp appeal, which is more than what most science-fiction novels can claim. It's not as sprawling, thought-provoking and ambitious as Arthur C. Clarke's immortal Space Odyssey, but it's taking an honest crack at space exploration and it found a way to distance itself from the master's work and establish a strong identity. I'm going to read some more of Ben Bova's science-fiction because I feel better equipped at dealing with what he offers and the man obviously shares my fascination for our galaxy. If you dig nerdy science-fiction like I do, Ben Bova's an author worth digging into. MARS might not blow you away, but it's a good time nonetheless.
It's a lot of fun. I don't think it's a novel you can take seriously because it's wallowing in tropes usage, but it got both a nerdy and a pulp appeal, which is more than what most science-fiction novels can claim. It's not as sprawling, thought-provoking and ambitious as Arthur C. Clarke's immortal Space Odyssey, but it's taking an honest crack at space exploration and it found a way to distance itself from the master's work and establish a strong identity. I'm going to read some more of Ben Bova's science-fiction because I feel better equipped at dealing with what he offers and the man obviously shares my fascination for our galaxy. If you dig nerdy science-fiction like I do, Ben Bova's an author worth digging into. MARS might not blow you away, but it's a good time nonetheless.