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Phobos
Lt. Mike Brogue is one of a the only native Martian to be a commissioned officer. He's the military's poster boy for relieving political tensions between Mars Colony and Earth---but he wants nothing to do with it. Brogue is just a man trying to do his job as a tactical analyst and prefers to leave the politics to civilians and government subcommittees.
After he manages to save a top Terran official from an extremist plot, however, the only way to avoid the spotlight is to get offplanet. So he pulls some strings and gets shipped to one of the small moons of Mars to help unravel a mystery.
Some people at the research station on Phobos---Mars's smallest moon---have been killed, and it seems like the culprit is a native life form. The first military team sent in quickly discovered just how lethal the Phobos beast could be.
Brogue, however, doesn't focus on the dust clouds and barren rock that compose the beast's lair but rather turns his attention to the high-tech research facility and its crew.
He soon learns that there's no such thing as a safe haven from political upheaval.
After he manages to save a top Terran official from an extremist plot, however, the only way to avoid the spotlight is to get offplanet. So he pulls some strings and gets shipped to one of the small moons of Mars to help unravel a mystery.
Some people at the research station on Phobos---Mars's smallest moon---have been killed, and it seems like the culprit is a native life form. The first military team sent in quickly discovered just how lethal the Phobos beast could be.
Brogue, however, doesn't focus on the dust clouds and barren rock that compose the beast's lair but rather turns his attention to the high-tech research facility and its crew.
He soon learns that there's no such thing as a safe haven from political upheaval.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published November 8, 2003
1 person is currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Ty Drago
27 books66 followersTy Drago is the author of 13 published novels, including the 5 book Undertakers series (MG horror), which is being adapted for the movies. More recently, his horror novel ST. DAMNED was released by Castle Ridge Media in January of 2025 and BLIND DOVATION, his installment novella in the System Paradoxa/Cryptic Crate series launched in February.
He's currently working on...well...a lot.
To find out more, you can try www.tydrago.com. He occasionally blogs.
He's currently working on...well...a lot.
To find out more, you can try www.tydrago.com. He occasionally blogs.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 9, 2012
Facing a choice between two books, a Sports Fiction book by an author I’ve read before, but didn’t particularly like (I’ve seen good reviews for the option book and thought I’d give the author another chance, only read 1 by him so far), and a Science Fiction, Military Fiction book by an author that I’ve never read before and have the impression that he hasn’t written any more books, I decided to catch up on my magazine reading. Later, after spending some time catching up with the piles of magazines, I finally got around to reading another book. Picked the sports book up first, glanced at the first two lines, didn’t like the way they went and started the Science Fiction book.
The books own "description" of itself: a Martian officer in the Earth space service facing some discrimination, and placed in a position near/on Mars while it threatens to hold a revolution.
And, according to the book itself, this is Drago’s First Novel. According to later acquired knowledge, this is actually Drago's second novel. Never heard of the author previously, and never seen the book anywhere except at my library.
Plot: Lt. Mike Brogue is the first Martian military officer in Peacecorps (Terran military; The planet Mars has been colonized by Earth beings, but certain failures has hindered widespread open (as in under open skies) living, and the "Martian's" desire greater control over own lives and future; if saw the movie "Total Recall" - just picture something similar - Corporations run Mars, corporations owned by outsiders, locals want more independence, and both even have something about search for aliens). Mars desires independence and Lt. Brogue finds himself in the middle.
Finding alien life will apparently result in a similar "freedom" like in Total Recall (there is something in some charter that mentions that the alien life would need to be preserved or studied or something that would give the native humans more control - in the book).
Then: something (something alien or some rogue human terrorists?) starts killing people on Phobos, moon of Mars. Lt. Brogue is sent to investigate.
Phobos - completed, rated 5 stars. Great book. Too bad it appears that he wrote at most 1 more book, and neither were apparently well-received (at least in terms of buyers). Very well written.
(above is quickly slammed together from blog entries in my defunct reading journal; re-edited to remove things like "began reading today, only read prologue" etc)
The books own "description" of itself: a Martian officer in the Earth space service facing some discrimination, and placed in a position near/on Mars while it threatens to hold a revolution.
And, according to the book itself, this is Drago’s First Novel. According to later acquired knowledge, this is actually Drago's second novel. Never heard of the author previously, and never seen the book anywhere except at my library.
Plot: Lt. Mike Brogue is the first Martian military officer in Peacecorps (Terran military; The planet Mars has been colonized by Earth beings, but certain failures has hindered widespread open (as in under open skies) living, and the "Martian's" desire greater control over own lives and future; if saw the movie "Total Recall" - just picture something similar - Corporations run Mars, corporations owned by outsiders, locals want more independence, and both even have something about search for aliens). Mars desires independence and Lt. Brogue finds himself in the middle.
Finding alien life will apparently result in a similar "freedom" like in Total Recall (there is something in some charter that mentions that the alien life would need to be preserved or studied or something that would give the native humans more control - in the book).
Then: something (something alien or some rogue human terrorists?) starts killing people on Phobos, moon of Mars. Lt. Brogue is sent to investigate.
Phobos - completed, rated 5 stars. Great book. Too bad it appears that he wrote at most 1 more book, and neither were apparently well-received (at least in terms of buyers). Very well written.
(above is quickly slammed together from blog entries in my defunct reading journal; re-edited to remove things like "began reading today, only read prologue" etc)
September 2, 2012
A solid science fiction novel that is at its heart a mystery novel, this book is well crafted and to me all the more impressive as it is a debut novel. I took a chance on an author I had not heard of before and I was not at all disappointed and would definitely read more of his works and what’s more, books centered on the book’s main character, Lt. Mike Brogue.
Many things were well done in this book. The central mystery was engaging and intricate without being I think convoluted. There were “obvious” villains and ones not so obvious, ones at work behind the scenes. There were characters that could have easily blended together (namely, the scientists and staff of the book’s principal setting, a scientific research station on the Martian moon of Phobos) but didn’t. The book didn’t insult the reader’s intelligence nor just throw out accepted scientific fact; the main villain, at first, appears to be a huge creature – the first life ever discovered off the face of the Earth - that is dubbed the Phobos Beast, a being that is killing both the residents of the research station and the soldiers sent to kill it. How could a creature that large, that deadly, even exist on Phobos at all, let alone having remained undetected while the station was built? Well you, see, it can’t and didn’t, and there are answers to be had and the author ably shows that Brogue is the one to get them.
The book has good action too, more than I would think a non-science fiction mystery novel might normally have. The parts of the plot that take place on the surface of Phobos or in space on a spacecraft seem well done and believable as well as entertaining.
I also liked how while the book went to one of the old standbys in science fiction – rebellious Martian colonists under the boot of Earth – and didn’t over do it and made that idea a workable part of the plot (without being the only plot) and just a part of the setting, maybe a setting in the same way that so many mystery novels use English manor houses or the homes of the London upper class (Christie) or exotic Italian cities (Dibdin) might do; it is both the backdrop and the setting but also a part of the plot though an element used with more subtlety than most might accomplish.
Try the book. If you are like me, mostly a science fiction/fantasy reader (in terms of fiction that is) but with one foot in the mystery door, I think it will be more than a pleasant read. If you are fan - as I am - of Jack McDevitt's Alex Benedict series, which have a definite mystery feel to them, then I think this book will definitely be one you want to read.
Many things were well done in this book. The central mystery was engaging and intricate without being I think convoluted. There were “obvious” villains and ones not so obvious, ones at work behind the scenes. There were characters that could have easily blended together (namely, the scientists and staff of the book’s principal setting, a scientific research station on the Martian moon of Phobos) but didn’t. The book didn’t insult the reader’s intelligence nor just throw out accepted scientific fact; the main villain, at first, appears to be a huge creature – the first life ever discovered off the face of the Earth - that is dubbed the Phobos Beast, a being that is killing both the residents of the research station and the soldiers sent to kill it. How could a creature that large, that deadly, even exist on Phobos at all, let alone having remained undetected while the station was built? Well you, see, it can’t and didn’t, and there are answers to be had and the author ably shows that Brogue is the one to get them.
The book has good action too, more than I would think a non-science fiction mystery novel might normally have. The parts of the plot that take place on the surface of Phobos or in space on a spacecraft seem well done and believable as well as entertaining.
I also liked how while the book went to one of the old standbys in science fiction – rebellious Martian colonists under the boot of Earth – and didn’t over do it and made that idea a workable part of the plot (without being the only plot) and just a part of the setting, maybe a setting in the same way that so many mystery novels use English manor houses or the homes of the London upper class (Christie) or exotic Italian cities (Dibdin) might do; it is both the backdrop and the setting but also a part of the plot though an element used with more subtlety than most might accomplish.
Try the book. If you are like me, mostly a science fiction/fantasy reader (in terms of fiction that is) but with one foot in the mystery door, I think it will be more than a pleasant read. If you are fan - as I am - of Jack McDevitt's Alex Benedict series, which have a definite mystery feel to them, then I think this book will definitely be one you want to read.
January 11, 2025
Wow! Just wow! What an amazing and fantastic book! I was honestly impressed. Once you get past the beginning and Brogue reaches Agraria, the story really picks up and becomes an exciting page-turner.
First, I want to talk about the civilian characters on Agraria Station. I wonder if Ty Drago has ever worked at a university, because the insufferable civilian characters on Agraria are exactly like the administrative staff at universities. Everything is political, and if something doesn’t support athletics, it gets scrapped—just like Martian colonization in this case. The head of security reminded me so much of the chief of public safety at the university where I used to work that it wasn’t even funny.
Additionally, I’m glad we didn’t get to know many of the other military characters until the very end, aside from Sergeant Choi. If they had been in the story more after what they did to Lt. Brogue, it would have made me cringe a little. So, I definitely think that was a good decision.
My only hang-up with this book was that there were almost too many twists. Every time you started to get used to one twist, another one would pop up. I’d break the book into four parts: one twist in the first part, three twists in the second part, five twists in the third, and nine twists in the final part. At one point, I was almost shouting, “Oh my gosh! Stop with the twists!” But, I guess it did keep things exciting.
In the end, it all came together and worked out. I really enjoyed the ending. I liked how they left things open for a sequel. I hope he does make a sequel one day. 5 out of 5 stars.
First, I want to talk about the civilian characters on Agraria Station. I wonder if Ty Drago has ever worked at a university, because the insufferable civilian characters on Agraria are exactly like the administrative staff at universities. Everything is political, and if something doesn’t support athletics, it gets scrapped—just like Martian colonization in this case. The head of security reminded me so much of the chief of public safety at the university where I used to work that it wasn’t even funny.
Additionally, I’m glad we didn’t get to know many of the other military characters until the very end, aside from Sergeant Choi. If they had been in the story more after what they did to Lt. Brogue, it would have made me cringe a little. So, I definitely think that was a good decision.
My only hang-up with this book was that there were almost too many twists. Every time you started to get used to one twist, another one would pop up. I’d break the book into four parts: one twist in the first part, three twists in the second part, five twists in the third, and nine twists in the final part. At one point, I was almost shouting, “Oh my gosh! Stop with the twists!” But, I guess it did keep things exciting.
In the end, it all came together and worked out. I really enjoyed the ending. I liked how they left things open for a sequel. I hope he does make a sequel one day. 5 out of 5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2025
surprisingly good for a random book i picked up at a used bookstore. i do think the denouement wasn't as strong as the rest of the book, as the final confrontation felt a lot more generic than i would have expected. i do kind of wish op had continued w the series as conceptually it's quite fun and ofc i lov mars
January 23, 2018
A good first book. Holy Mary Sue, though. The plots tied together a bit too neatly, but I enjoyed it.
August 27, 2020
A solid, if timid, science fiction novel, and a solid mystery set in space. Not a life-changing experience, but a satisfactory piece of entertainment, perfect for a quiet weekend.
April 13, 2021
EXCITING AND INTRIGUING!
November 10, 2013
I'm still in the middle of this, but enjoying it immensely. I suppose a lot of the science isn't quite there, and I guessed early on the true nature of the beast. (The idea that people in 2218 are still using some sort of device to store data--"datapacks" is funny. The AI interface of having to use a separate bracelet to access one's "veyer" seems really clunky, especially when I just read "The Future of Physics." Scientists are currently working on contacts that will project the internet and be controlled by electrical impulses directly from our brains. The author also states that nanotechnology is in its infancy at the time of the book. No, it's in its infancy *now* and by then? We really can't imagine. Still I really liked the main character and all the politics that came with this book. The plot is fast-moving, and there are some interesting twists.Too bad the author hasn't written more.
February 24, 2009
A fun science fiction story turned detective novel. Very much in the spirit of similar works by Asimov, if not quite the match in quality. Lots of suspense-filled moments as the hero goes out to confront the beast.
September 25, 2011
Very good first novel. Much more traditional science fiction than a lot of stuff produced these days. I'm looking forward to more of the author's work.
December 25, 2013
I Loved this book! I found it as a remainder, but was totally hooked.
I hope to read more from Ty.
I hope to read more from Ty.
October 27, 2015
Three and a half stars. This is a taut, inventive, and well-written debut novel. It should be better known than it is. Well worth a read, if you like scifi.
July 7, 2016
Monster on Phobos! Got a rave review from Stuart Jaffe.
BUT: dull, improbable, clumsy novel. Mars colony lite. DNF. Avoid, avoid.
BUT: dull, improbable, clumsy novel. Mars colony lite. DNF. Avoid, avoid.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews