Mars Crossing

by Geoffrey A. Landis

By the middle of the 21st century, humanity has finally landed men on Mars-only to watch helplessly as the first two missions end in catastrophe and death.
With resources running out, a third-and perhaps final-mission to Mars is hastily mounted, with a crew of four men and two women. But from the moment of their arrival on Mars, everything begins to go wrong. The fuel tanks that were to have supplied their return trip are found corroded and empty. Their supplies are running out and their life support systems are beginning to fail. And any rescue mission won't reach them for months, or even years-if at all.
The crew's only hope for survival lies in a desperate plan: an agonizing trek halfway across the surface of Mars to a ship designed to carry only half their number. Torn by conflict and dissent, and troubled by secrets that endanger them all, they must embark on an ordeal that will test them to the limits of endurance.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Hard Science Fiction, Novels

330 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2000

Reviews

[Luke Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cool geek-out sci-fi technology and terms. Surreal and beautiful world-building. Terrible characters.

[Bryan Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasurable diversion.

I picked up Mars Crossing in a search for exciting space exploration stories. Landis offers some of that, with the main plot (team desperately fleeing across the Martian surface) and the backstories (three failed missions). Actually, I'd like to read more about those backstories.

The novel is structured in temporal syncopation, with one chapter taking us further in the present, and another scoping out personal backstories. This works well, gradually filling in the characters as we follow their adventures. The characters feel a bit too much, with too many unusual events in their pasts, and too much deception.

There's a good deal of hard science, mostly about surviving the Martian surface, and that's well done.

The book does best at the end, and here I must throw up a spoiler shield: the increasing death toll and physical exhaustion effectively ramped up tension, as did the seemingly intractable problems of getting off the planet. I guess that there were murders, and who the murderer was, alas. But I did like her eventual fate.

Unfortunately, Mars Crossing brought to my mind three other books, and doesn't fare well in comparison.

The Far Call, Gordon Dickson (1978). A mission to Mars goes awry do to political sabotage, and only a remnant of the crew makes it in extreme circumstances. Dickson ends on a very moving, heroic note about the necessity of continuing to explore space, which Landis doesn't sound.

Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson (1992). The high level of background lying that Landis' characters do to get to Mars reminds me of that hilarious scene early in Red Mars, where all the marsnauts confess to cheating on their psych evaluations. Unlike Landis, Robinson has human settlement beyond more visitation.

The Martian, Andy Weir (2011). This one is the obvious comparison, being about survival while desperately moving across the Martian surface. The protagonist is a lot of fun to spend time with, and characterization is better overall.

[Scott Kardel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this when it was published in 2000, and decided to give it another read. If you liked The Martian, you might consider giving this one a try. Published more than a decade before Andy Weir's novel, Mars Crossing also follows a "doomed" Mars expedition where astronauts are stranded on the Red Planet and have to cross large distances in order to have any hope of a return trip. Weir's book has just one stranded astronaut, while this one has six, and also focused more on the science & engineering aspects of staying alive on Mars. Landis' Mars Crossing isn't as good or as fun as The Martian, but it is a book worth reading if you want an adventure across a (mostly) realistic Martian landscape.

[Repix Pix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se me ha hecho pesada la parte de las historias personales. Aún así, muy entretenido.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading "Red Mars" prompted me to re-visit this book. It is unequivocally better. Geoff combines encyclopedic knowledge of science (drawing on his own work as a NASA physicist) with a deft hand with character and plot. His characters are all real, nuanced people who have deep flaws and nuanced ways of interacting.

Also he's a poet, and you can tell, evoking just the right image at the right time, the most poignant scientific fact, to break your heart. There are no dry infodumps, rather he works the science into the tapestry of emotion seamlessly.

If the book has a flaw, for me it was too short. It could have had another 100 pages to flesh out more of the character arcs at the end.

Hard SF writers need to read more Geoffrey Landis. He'll show you how to do it right.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well before Matt Damon had his adventure, Landis wrote this very good Martian novel. Landis, a NASA scientist, high-lights the scientific problems and examines the political climate much more than he shows concern for nuanced characters, but that's not a bad thing in this case. Mars Crossing is a thought-provoking and engaging read, particularly for those who enjoy a realistic depiction of how things may be.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the disaster of a Brazilian and an American mission to Mars, where both crews perished, a third and final landing is initiated using the Zubrin Mars Direct method: send the unmanned return lander and supplies first, then the crewed lander. After a successful landing they discover anomalies in the return lander’s oxygen readouts and an explosion occurs killing one of the crew. Now they have no way to return to Earth. A Brazilian woman on the crew recalls that the initial expedition to the Martian North Pole never used their return lander, but it only holds two people and they are five, and five thousand kilometers away from it. Forced to trek to the abandoned lander a number of unlikely accidents kill some more crew members and the suspicion grows that one of the crew might be killing off the others to ensure a spot on the return crew… Geoffrey A. Landis keeps us entertained and guessing right up to the bitter end in this fine first novel. Enjoy!

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 1 out of 5]

First, no, sorry, this book was a major disappointment starting on page 1. Flat, uninteresting characters, no problem/challenge presented, no hook to keep me reading (aka "The sheriff didn't get shot in the first paragraph"). I'd read some of Dr. Landis' short stories, enjoyed them hence had high hopes for Mars Crossing. Dang but I hate when a book fails me like that.
Second, I'm sure this would be a great book for traditional SF lovers. It is a true science-fiction story, simply not a good story.

[Andrew Edge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bad luck to have read this book shortly after having finished "The Martian" by Weir. My standards for this type of story were very high as a result, and Mars Crossing just didn't measure up. I enjoyed many aspects of this book, but felt no connection or empathy with its characters. I'm giving it an OK rating, but on another day I could easily see myself going three stars. This is a very decent reality-based science fiction adventure story and is worth reading.

[Lamadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this from the author's booth at a FanExpo and was intrigued by the similarity in basic plot to The Martian and the fact that it was written a decade earlier. Turns out, it's only the most basic part of the plot that is similar. The focus and tone of the stories are completely different and make them barely even comparable.

This story is about a group of astronauts who land on their Mars expedition after the first two both ended in everyone dying. On the first day, their return vehicle is completely disabled due to unexpected problems from having been sitting on Mars way longer than it was designed. This is very much a drama with suspense and mystery aspects. It was also written by a NASA scientist, so the science behind it is very realistic, but the science isn't a focused on as in the Martian.

Something I found interesting in the reading experience is that a few times I was annoyed by a writing choice thinking that it was unrealistic, and then not long after, the story would explain why it was there and it made more sense than ever. For example, one of the team is described as very young, 21, but acting even younger. From the early point of view, he even describes the others as "the adults", like a child would. I was thinking about how unrealistic it was that this annoying young person would possibly be picked for a mission like this over more experienced scientists and astronauts, but then it's explained that the government stopped all funding of the mission and it ended up having to be crowd funded by a lottery to be on the mission, and this stupid, annoying, literal child got on that way, and by lying about his age. I then thought, of course it lost funding and had to be crowd funded. This was written in 2000, but it perfectly describes everything now. Everything has to be crowd funded, including life saving health care. What I thought made no sense was really a prescient vision of the current times.

The murder mystery aspect was effective as I kept changing my mind on the culprit and what was happening at all. The result was satisfying as well.

This is a more serious tone and group dynamics focused version of being stranded on Mars than the Martian. I like both in their own ways and think they are very different stories and give me very different feelings.

[Tony Manning · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am hesitant to give this a one-star rating, but I feel it really deserves it as it was one of the most dissatisfying reads I've read all year. It lacks a wow factor, not even a small one. It's akin to watching the NASA channel on TV, it holds tidbits of useful information, but it's a chore to watch it for any length of time. The story was very simple, get from point A to point B. They had a few minor setbacks, but nothing that grasped the reader's attention. Even the deaths were ho-hum. Half the story was the background on the astronauts, but these lacked any real depth and weren't that interesting so it was hard to really grow attached to the characters. That's why when some of them died it wasn't a big deal, the story hadn't piqued your curiosity enough about them that you cared when they died. This was technically Science Fiction, but very light in my opinion. It was set in the very near future and basically just talked about stuff already in existence when it did talk about the science aspects which weren't that often. I was mildly surprised at the end, but the ending was rather lackluster. Fitting since the entire book failed to shine. In short, the book though short was a chore to get through, boring and uninteresting. I found myself putting it down after only a page or two of reading at a time (consequently the length of the chapters... I think Landis may have known book would be hard to read for long stretches so gave natural pauses often). I think most people who like Science Fiction would find this book disappointing. I'm not sure what particular set of people might be drawn to it, perhaps friends, family and colleagues of Landis.

[Benjaminxjackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book about how a mission to Mars might work, and what might go wrong from both a technical and human standpoint.

The author is a NASA scientist, so my guess is that he has had to think about some of these things in a very practical way. What sets this book apart is the way the details help build out the world. For example, the astronauts' spacesuits are color coded so that they become an instant visual reference for who is one the surface; if the suit is light blue, then that's Ryan. The idea makes sense if you needed to easily keep track of a crew in a tough environment.

Of course, things go wrong -- would it be a good story if they didn't? In space, even minor things can lead to big consequences. For example, athlete's foot seems like a minor problem, but could it doom an entire mission? And what happens when the dust of Mars gets into everything?

Once the technical problems start, the human problems soon follow. Some are born out of a crew member who won his spot in a lottery to raise money for the mission, and others out of the history of people who overcame long odds to get to where they are both physically and metaphorically.

The novel presented what felt like an authentic picture of a Mars mission. This would be a good read for science fiction fans who like their stories to have a good dose of science to make them think as they also enjoy the story.

[Yoshinobu Yamakawa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read A Trip to Mars by Jeffrey A. Landis. The book was so interesting that I almost missed it.

The story begins when astronauts are caught up in an unexpected incident during an expedition to Mars. Their struggle to survive on the Red Planet with limited resources is like watching a survival game.

It's not just about survival, it's about friendship and conflict among the crew members, and it's full of human drama. What's particularly striking is the depiction of the harsh environment on Mars. It's unimaginably harsh, with dust storms and frigid nights.

Even in such desperate circumstances, humans never lose hope and try to survive. While I was moved by the images, I also felt the strength and fragility of humans.

I think the best part of this book is the wonderful blend of science and story. The book is packed with the knowledge of the author, who is a NASA researcher, and you can learn about Mars in detail as if you were reading an illustrated book. At the same time, the mental movements of the characters are delicately described, and it feels like watching a movie.

I recommend this book to people who want to enjoy both science and story. As for the after-reading, it was both exhilarating and thought-provoking. The vastness of the universe and the smallness of human beings. But I thought it taught me that humans can live with hope in any situation.

[Kerry Hennigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first two manned expeditions to Mars have failed, and now the third, an international effort, has become stranded on the red planet. Survival means trekking across the Martian wastelands to reach the supplies and equipment left by the earlier, failed attempts to explore the planet - hence the title "Mars Crossing."

Geoffrey A. Landis’ novel, released in 2000, gives us a cast of characters, both men and women, whose lives are revealed in intimate detail through flashbacks. These are scattered throughout the main narrative of their quest for survival on Mars. As their journey progresses, so too does the reader's knowledge of their personalities - and peculiarities. Not everyone is exactly as they seem.

The landscape of the planet is extremely convincing, as are the technical aspects of the expedition and its precursors. A convincing tale that becomes a race against time and the very nature of a planet completely impassive to their survival. "Mars Crossing" would make a great TV mini-series.

[Nathan Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I team of astronauts must traverse halfway around Mars, what could possibly go wrong? Plenty, as it turns out. The author has been a part of the Mars Underground for some time, so we can figure he knows his stuff. I've found it interesting to read all the various technological approaches to Mars missions chosen by various authors, as well as the technical aspects each has chosen to emphasize and/or ignore.

I might have given this four stars, but there were a few things about the storytelling that I thought needed some more work. I found the character references a bit distracting. Nor was I sure about the frequent shift to parts of each character's past--I guess since it seemed to have worked for Ben Bova, it should work here? I dunno, though...for me, it interrupted the narrative too much. Still, it's worth a read, especially if you focus on the technical aspects and the author's body of knowledge evident throughout.

[Kivrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read but I didn't particularly love it. The story follows astronauts who are stranded on Mars and need to cross the planet to survive. There are flashback chapters that cover each astronaut's past. They aren't particularly likeable people. They are definitely not a team which I think would be an advantage for a group of astronauts. (I kept comparing them to the characters in "The Martian".) The descriptions of the planet are very vivid and beautiful, but the characters themselves are flat. There is supposed to be a mystery surrounding a couple of the characters, but I figured everything out pretty early on so that was no fun. The ending was okay. At least it didn't end as badly as I thought it might.

[Paul Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the structure of the book, with the character's movements interspersed with their backstory. The travel across the Mars landscape was well done.

I wish there had been more interaction between the characters. There was some in the various backstories, but only a little. Even on the planet, it felt like they interacted more with the planet and the equipment then each other - although there was conversation, it felt stilted and one-dimensional.

I didn't see the final ending coming, so that was nice. It did feel rushed.

Even with the problems I listed above, I found it enjoyable and easy to pick up and read.

[Connor DeLong · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read. A lot of technical terms gave this book a sense of realism for travel to Mars, more so than The Martian by Andy Weir, but how this book is setup, with chapters only containing a few pages, and most of the time switching between a certain character's past and the present is a tad tedious to follow. Each character's death is a tad anticlimactic, and the ending just happens. After nearly 6000km of travel to survive and needing to decide who gets to leave and who has to stay, they arrive at their destination and leave on a few pages.

I enjoy hard Sci-Fi, but this one was a tad underwhelming.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mars in 2028 is the setting as the members of the third expedition to the Red Planet are forced to attempt to cross from near the equator to the North Pole to utilise an abandoned spacecraft from one of the disastrous earlier missions after their own capsule is destroyed. The story has a real momentum due to the gradually unveiled and often melodramatic backgrounds of the six astronauts as well as the tension created by the fact that the return vehicle can only accommodate two of them

[Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mars Crossing" is an entertaining, fast-paced story about a mission to Mars involving 6 people that starts going wrong the day after successfully landing. The next 400 pages show the band solving problems as they encounter them, with accidents and some unexpected deaths. In a way it's similar to "The Martian" from several years back, but with the added complication of interpersonal relationships between the crew members. I enjoyed it a good bit.

[Albert_Camus_lives]

By the middle of the 21st century, humanity has finally landed men on Mars-only to watch helplessly as the first two missions end in catastrophe and death.

With resources running out, a third-and perhaps final-mission to Mars is hastily mounted, with a crew of four men and two women. But from the moment of their arrival on Mars, everything begins to go wrong

[Michael Lindner]

I did not finish this book. The science in this book is very accurate, but unfortunately the characters and writing ruin it for me. The way that women are writes feels pretty dated and sexist, some of the dialogue is pretty cringe, and I hate how every other chapter is a flashback one of the characters overly traumatic childhood.

[Jean Lambert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apparently, you ought to be a very odd individual or character with shady past to become an astronaut. Very disappointing, unless you like very -very- long walks. Completely implausible.

[Amanda Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a nice book! Very fast read, switches perspective a lot, frequent flashbacks. Turned into a surprise murder mystery!

[Kit H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those books I definitely snuck home and read! Loved the suspense but for sure read it too young 😂

[eemb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leí un 40 %. Un melodrama con mucho 'melo', mucho drama, menos ciencia.

[Jaxx Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up

[Mark Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was okay, just very predictable. Characters get stuck on Mars, have to travel to a previous failed mission to use their return module to get home. Some characters die. You can probably guess the rest. I found myself hoping for an alternate ending just to make the story more unique.

[Ƶ§œš¹ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third expedition to Mars has trouble, people die and they leave the Brazilian girl behind (if she can stay behind, why couldn't all of them?).

Although I was cautious about the book in the beginning, both the characterization and the good science won me over. This is probably second to Contact in its ability to seem like the real world but modified.

[Roddy Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

‘By the middle of the 21st century, humanity has finally landed men on Mars – only to watch helplessly as the first two missions end in catastrophe and death.
With resources running out, a third – and perhaps final – mission to Mars is hastily mounted, with a crew of four men and two women. But from the moment of their arrival on Mars, everything begins to go wrong. The fuel tanks that were to have supplied their return trip are found corroded and empty. Their supplies are running out and their life support systems are beginning to fail. And any rescue mission won’t reach them for months, or even years – if at all.
The crew’s only hope for survival lies in a desperate plan: am agonising trek halfway across the surface of Mars to a ship designed to carry only half their number. Torn by conflict and dissent, and troubled by secrets that endanger them all, they must embark on an ordeal that will test them to the limits of endurance.’

Blurb from the 2001 Tor paperback edition

Landis can be – as one might guess from reading this book – justifiably credited with the title of Mars expert since he works for the NASA John Glenn Research Centre, has had 150 scientific papers published and carries far more outer space credentials than anyone would have thought necessary.
There is therefore a taste of authenticity in the scientific and hardware aspects.
The novel tells the story of the third Mars Mission, a US-led venture which follows the initial Brazilian landing at the North Pole (where the astronauts mysteriously died) and the second American mission which also ended tragically and ironically when Athlete’s Foot began to infest not only the crew but the machinery.
Now four men and two women (one of them the wife of one of the dead Brazilian astronauts) have reached Mars safely, only to discover that their return craft – which should have been manufacturing fuel and oxygen for the return trip – has been compromised by the Martian environment and is useless.
Their only hope is to travel across Mars to the North Pole where the Brazilian ship might still be capable of getting them back. The only flaw in this plan is that the Jesus Du Sol’ is only large enough to take two of them home.
Comparisons have to be made with Ben Bova’s 1992 ‘Mars’, particularly in terms of structure. the narrative, like Bova’s, is interspersed with events from the pre-Mars lives of the crew.
Although this device is a useful way of putting flesh on the bones of a character, it can be over-used, and here it would I think have been better to have the crew learn of each others’ ‘secrets from the past’ through discovery or conversation. The Mars journey is real, exciting and compelling, while the past life dossiers are a little dull.
Landis’ Mars is a far more real place than Bova’s. This Mars is beautiful, cold, deadly and holds hidden surprises, like the fluorescing rocks which appear to glow for a few minutes after sunset, obviously something which Landis researched or studied, and for which he gives a rational explanation. It is also made clear that the gravity and atmospheric differences have consequences and side-effects (both positive and negative) that laymen – and some other novelists – would not consider.
Landis demonstrates – at least on paper – that it is possible to fly an aeroplane on Mars, although the construction and fuel considerations have to be vastly different.
If one asks ‘What is this novel a platform for?’ one can only say that it is demonstrating the capacity within individuals (and therefore with Humanity) to not only rise from the gutter and reach for the stars but to struggle on against the odds to survive. It’s an old theme and although Landis has created an informative, exciting and entertaining thriller, exploring this theme, he brings nothing new in the way of illumination.
It’s a solid and workmanlike piece but one can’t help feeling that something is missing, that Landis, like Bova, fails to capture the atmosphere of the vast sterile wasteland.