Resurrecting Mars

by Brandon Spacey

A mission to Mars is doomed from the beginning, but no one sees the signs. When the radar goes out millions of miles from home, the Atlas crew begins to realize they might be lost.

Running out of fuel, oxygen and time, they must decipher the chaotic star charts and find a way to salvage their mission - without sacrificing themselves.

Genres: Science Fiction

456 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2009

About the author

Brandon has almost always been a writer. Since grade school, when teachers would assign book reports and creative writing essays, he has always loved to express himself with the written word. That still holds today. He has filled journals with poetry and prose, written hundreds of short stories and even wrote on several popular weblogs for many years. It is the one avenue in which he finds complete freedom for the release of emotional tension - including just the need to create.

Now in his middle-age years, he mostly focuses on his novels. The universe he has created over the span of his books is at once sweetly malleable and perfectly cozy: there's nowhere he won't take his characters. But it is also consistent. No one book contradicts any other - and some characters cross the boundaries from book to book, making it a homely and familiar place for his readers

Be it a dive to the depths of the Challenger Deep in a cold steel sphere or a brief visit with a recently deceased but reawakened cadaver, his characters are comfortable finding - or creating, if necessary - the science to make it happen. And Brandon feels right at home letting them tell their stories.

He lives in Dallas, Texas.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spacey always writes amazingly lifelike characters. Whether or not you actually like them is another story. But the trick is that the author gets you to want to read about the characters whether you like them or not. In the case of these characters, I pretty much loathed all of them except maybe Mike. The girls were too girly-girl squealy. Donnie's a casual genius guy's-guy rich bastard. And pretty much everyone seems to want to take advantage of or cheat him out of his wealth in one way or the other. And even if they don't, you assume they all do. Also, there's probably more vomit in this book than I've seen in real life in a decade. Dead body? Yak. Think you're gonna die? Yak.

The first half of the book went a little more slowly since it's all set-up for all the people trying to cheat Donnie in someway or another as his private satellite company prepares for a trip to Mars. There seems to be a rat behind every rock along the way. But when you have millions of dollars to throw around, who's going to miss a few of them? Right? The second half of the book is the pay off. The reader knows something's amiss and who to point the finger of blame at, but still the mystery lies in exactly what's going to go wrong on the way to Mars and why.

I found myself turning pages as quickly as I could in the last half of the book. However, I have to say that I was a little disappointed at the ending. Yes, I had a hunch about how the book would turn out, but I expected more of an explanation. The final chapter, which is called "Closure", didn't really give me any. It just made me need a 3rd book in this universe to tell me exactly what's going on. Will Callie go to "Fiji"? Will Callie and Walter ever get it on? What's Royal really up to? What do we need to know about Shanna? Who's gonna yak next? How will gravity affect everyone's boobs on Mars? Ya know ... gotta answer the important questions.

[Haycomet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book of Brandon Spacey's I've read. Once again, I became attached to the characters he created - possibly too attached. Brandon's books incite many different emotions from me, from start to finish. Resurrecting Mars will take your heart and make a Rubik's cube out of it. That's not necessarily a bad thing because all of the parts get put back into place by the time the last sentence is read, but you will definitely know that someone has been playing with it.

There are many books written about space exploration, but I have never read another like this one. Sometimes sci-fi books will have foreign terms and ideas that are hard to grasp. In this book, however, Spacey does an excellent job of mixing in science without making the reader feel overwhelmed or inept. I could actually grasp what was happening and everything made complete sense.

Just as with its predecessor, Resurrecting Mars left me wanting more books. Why can't this be a series?!

[Jessica Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. This book will leave you with so many questions and theories. This book introduces several new characters. Each character is unique. The writer does such an amazing job at creating his characters. Buckle up and get ready for a wild adventure to Mars.

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Resurrecting Mars is a captivating book. This story has many twists and turns. Get ready to be taken on a thrilling adventure. Many unpredictable things occur during the story and one can’t help but wonder, “Will they ever make it to Mars?” I enjoy the suspense Spacey creates in the book. I love not being about to anticipate what’s going to happen next. Very intriguing. This book is a rollercoaster ride until the end.

This is the kind of book when you finally stop reading for the night (far later than you had planned) you lie there thinking about what might happen next, what could change, how things might work out. I found myself eagerly anticipating the outcome and hoping this mission would be a success.

An action-packed and riveting story, great character development, and an inspired and poignant ending make this an exceptional book. Brandon Spacey is a brilliant writer, and Resurrecting Mars is another of his outstanding works. Write on, Mr. Spacey!