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Mars Crossing
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.
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.
330 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2000
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February 6, 2017
Very cool geek-out sci-fi technology and terms. Surreal and beautiful world-building. Terrible characters.
September 6, 2015
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: .
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.
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: .
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.
September 10, 2017
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.
December 28, 2018
Se me ha hecho pesada la parte de las historias personales. Aún así, muy entretenido.
August 22, 2018
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.
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.
April 15, 2017
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.
January 13, 2022
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!
December 13, 2018
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.
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.
June 27, 2026
I loved this book. When I was a kid, I was fascinated with anything about mars. I still am, but I'm disillusioned. I thought that we would get to Mars and have established a colony by the time I was an adult. Little did I know. How little I knew.
From the start, is Mars mission seems to be cursed:
"...not-well, if not, we'll have to think of something else."
Ryan nodded. "Okay, sounds good. At least it's a plan, anyway."
He would remember that phrase, later. "Sounds good."
Ryan toggled over to an exterior camera-still working fine, after sitting useless for almost seven years and watched Chamlong bend over and se lect a rough volcanic stone about the size of a brick. He picked it up, walked to the first of the booster tanks, and then moved around behind the tank to where the heat exchanger was.
"It's hard to get in close enough to see very much, but I think I see some ice," Cham's voice said over the radio link. "You ready in there?"
"I've got my eye on the gauge."
Steadying himself with one hand against the tank, Chamlong gave it a light tap with the rock.
The gauge hadn't moved. "Nothing," he reported.
"Okay. I'm going to try a little harder."
Chamlong drew back the rock and gave the side of the aluminum man-ifold a solid thump. A snowstorm of white burst out of the interior, settled on the ground, and then quickly evaporated in the dry air.
The gauge jumped, overshot, and settled down. 22.8 tons. Perfect!
"You did it," Ryan said.
"All right! Okay, let's try the other one." Chamlong went to the second tank.
There was a thump, and ice broke free. The needle jumped and pinned itself against the high end of the gauge. A moment later there was a shuddering that he could feel from inside the spacecraft, and then Ryan heard Cham saying "Oh, shit!" over the radio. He looked at the view from the external camera but could see nothing-the entire outside view was blanked out in billowing white. Red warning lights started to come on in the cabin-overpressure, flow-rate monitor, temperature alert.
"Shit!" he said. "Cham! Are you all right?" There was no answer. He jumped out of the chair and out the hatch. He ignored the ladder and jumped down into the sand, raising a plume of dust that momentarily ob-scured his vision. "Chamlong! Report!"
Through the haze of cloud and dust, a torrent of liquid oxygen was jetting out of a broken pipe. It was insanely beautiful, a foaming fountain that glistened in the most delicate shade of pale blue. The pipe was waving back and forth, spraying the precious liquid over the spacecraft, and he could see the panels bowing as they encountered the sudden shock of liquid oxygen at a temperature of a hundred and eighty degrees below zero. He heard a bang-it must have been incredibly loud to be audible in the near vacuum of the Martian ambient and on the other side of the ship, he could see that the second oxygen feed pipe had also burst. Both tanks were venting now, liquid oxygen foaming and bubbling like a torrent of blue champagne flowing across the sand, freezing and boiling at the same time."
The crew soon finds out that only two and possibly three members of the crew will be able to go back on the original Brazilian spacecraft. This causes a lot of competition I'm on crew members:
"...The fact that he had left it out frightened her as much as anything else. It showed that he knew that their situation was desperate, and that in his opinion sacrificing some members of the crew would be an improvement on their current situation. He was afraid that the crew would panic if they knew. At that moment, she knew that they must be very close to death. Could it possibly be that he didn't know? The specifications of the Jesus do Sul were not public knowledge. Could he possibly believe that they could cram five people into a ship that had been designed for two? It seemed unlikely.
Estrela turned her head to take a sip from the nipple of the drinking bottle. The suits had not been designed for long-term use; until she took her helmet off, the electrolyte-replacement drink would be the only nourishment she'd get. She reminded herself not to suck too much; it would have to last. But the thought only made her thirstier.
The alternative was slightly more sinister. Suppose that Ryan Martin did know that only two of them could return to Earth. Could he have a reason to keep this fact secret?
Clearly, he intended to be one of those persons.
A trek to the north pole would be an ambitious traverse even for a fully functional, well-planned mission. It would take the skills of the full team of five to make it. Once they got to the north pole, though, three of the five must somehow be persuaded to remain on Mars. The easiest way to do that would be to make sure that three of them were already dead.
She knew what it was like to have to kill for her life. When it comes to a matter of life or death, anybody would learn to lie and to kill.
Any way she looked at it, Ryan Martin looked to her like a killer."
The captain "accidentally"uses a rope that had been tempered with by Estrella, which was meant for the youngest member of the crew:
"John Radkowski lay on his back, on a slope of broken rock and sand, and marveled. He wasn't dead.
That was the surprise. He wasn't dead.
The fall had been slow, so slow. But he had been moving awful fast. He tried to calculate how fast he must have been moving when he'd hit, but he couldn't quite think clearly.
He didn't hurt.
In fact, he couldn't feel anything, just a comfortable warmth about his body.
The helmet hadn't shattered. It really did live up to its marketing, he thought, a technological marvel: light, clear as glass, and damn near unbreakable. He'd have to do a commercial for the company: "I fell off a cliff, half a mile down, hit rocks at the bottom, and the remarkable carbide hel-met still held air!"
He wished he could say the same about the rest of the suit. He could hear the shrill whine of escaping air.
He was laying at a crazy angle, half tilted toward the sky. The sky was a most remarkable shade of peach, brushed with delicate yellow clouds like feathers. He wished he could move his head, look around. Out of the corner of his eye he could see blood. It seemed to be pooling in the bottom of the helmet, somewhere around his right ear.
He tried to use the radio to call, but his voice wasn't working anymore. He doubted the radio was, either.
The pool of blood in his helmet was getting deeper.
He felt remarkably peaceful. He owed the universe a death, he knew.
One death.
His."
The youngest member of the crew, travis, isn't who he says he is; we find this out as he's dying:
"The water recycler had already quit on him, and his throat was dry and hurt like hell.
He was going to die on Mars.
With the geologic hammer that Estrela had given him, he scratched into the stone beside the fossils. It was soft, as easy to carve as soap. BRAN-DON WEBER WAS HERE, he wrote, and then tried to think of a witty line. He couldn't. At last he added I DID IT.
It would be his tombstone, he thought. The idea seemed vaguely funny, nothing to be taken seriously. But tombstones need dates, so he added: 2010-2028.
And then, he wrote: SO LONG, STOMPERS.
Brandon Weber sat down, rested against the sandstone ledge, and stared into the dark toward the sunrise he would never live to see.
There was no possible way that any of the others could get to him in time. And even if they could reach him, what could they possibly do?"
At the end there are only three crew members left.
From the start, is Mars mission seems to be cursed:
"...not-well, if not, we'll have to think of something else."
Ryan nodded. "Okay, sounds good. At least it's a plan, anyway."
He would remember that phrase, later. "Sounds good."
Ryan toggled over to an exterior camera-still working fine, after sitting useless for almost seven years and watched Chamlong bend over and se lect a rough volcanic stone about the size of a brick. He picked it up, walked to the first of the booster tanks, and then moved around behind the tank to where the heat exchanger was.
"It's hard to get in close enough to see very much, but I think I see some ice," Cham's voice said over the radio link. "You ready in there?"
"I've got my eye on the gauge."
Steadying himself with one hand against the tank, Chamlong gave it a light tap with the rock.
The gauge hadn't moved. "Nothing," he reported.
"Okay. I'm going to try a little harder."
Chamlong drew back the rock and gave the side of the aluminum man-ifold a solid thump. A snowstorm of white burst out of the interior, settled on the ground, and then quickly evaporated in the dry air.
The gauge jumped, overshot, and settled down. 22.8 tons. Perfect!
"You did it," Ryan said.
"All right! Okay, let's try the other one." Chamlong went to the second tank.
There was a thump, and ice broke free. The needle jumped and pinned itself against the high end of the gauge. A moment later there was a shuddering that he could feel from inside the spacecraft, and then Ryan heard Cham saying "Oh, shit!" over the radio. He looked at the view from the external camera but could see nothing-the entire outside view was blanked out in billowing white. Red warning lights started to come on in the cabin-overpressure, flow-rate monitor, temperature alert.
"Shit!" he said. "Cham! Are you all right?" There was no answer. He jumped out of the chair and out the hatch. He ignored the ladder and jumped down into the sand, raising a plume of dust that momentarily ob-scured his vision. "Chamlong! Report!"
Through the haze of cloud and dust, a torrent of liquid oxygen was jetting out of a broken pipe. It was insanely beautiful, a foaming fountain that glistened in the most delicate shade of pale blue. The pipe was waving back and forth, spraying the precious liquid over the spacecraft, and he could see the panels bowing as they encountered the sudden shock of liquid oxygen at a temperature of a hundred and eighty degrees below zero. He heard a bang-it must have been incredibly loud to be audible in the near vacuum of the Martian ambient and on the other side of the ship, he could see that the second oxygen feed pipe had also burst. Both tanks were venting now, liquid oxygen foaming and bubbling like a torrent of blue champagne flowing across the sand, freezing and boiling at the same time."
The crew soon finds out that only two and possibly three members of the crew will be able to go back on the original Brazilian spacecraft. This causes a lot of competition I'm on crew members:
"...The fact that he had left it out frightened her as much as anything else. It showed that he knew that their situation was desperate, and that in his opinion sacrificing some members of the crew would be an improvement on their current situation. He was afraid that the crew would panic if they knew. At that moment, she knew that they must be very close to death. Could it possibly be that he didn't know? The specifications of the Jesus do Sul were not public knowledge. Could he possibly believe that they could cram five people into a ship that had been designed for two? It seemed unlikely.
Estrela turned her head to take a sip from the nipple of the drinking bottle. The suits had not been designed for long-term use; until she took her helmet off, the electrolyte-replacement drink would be the only nourishment she'd get. She reminded herself not to suck too much; it would have to last. But the thought only made her thirstier.
The alternative was slightly more sinister. Suppose that Ryan Martin did know that only two of them could return to Earth. Could he have a reason to keep this fact secret?
Clearly, he intended to be one of those persons.
A trek to the north pole would be an ambitious traverse even for a fully functional, well-planned mission. It would take the skills of the full team of five to make it. Once they got to the north pole, though, three of the five must somehow be persuaded to remain on Mars. The easiest way to do that would be to make sure that three of them were already dead.
She knew what it was like to have to kill for her life. When it comes to a matter of life or death, anybody would learn to lie and to kill.
Any way she looked at it, Ryan Martin looked to her like a killer."
The captain "accidentally"uses a rope that had been tempered with by Estrella, which was meant for the youngest member of the crew:
"John Radkowski lay on his back, on a slope of broken rock and sand, and marveled. He wasn't dead.
That was the surprise. He wasn't dead.
The fall had been slow, so slow. But he had been moving awful fast. He tried to calculate how fast he must have been moving when he'd hit, but he couldn't quite think clearly.
He didn't hurt.
In fact, he couldn't feel anything, just a comfortable warmth about his body.
The helmet hadn't shattered. It really did live up to its marketing, he thought, a technological marvel: light, clear as glass, and damn near unbreakable. He'd have to do a commercial for the company: "I fell off a cliff, half a mile down, hit rocks at the bottom, and the remarkable carbide hel-met still held air!"
He wished he could say the same about the rest of the suit. He could hear the shrill whine of escaping air.
He was laying at a crazy angle, half tilted toward the sky. The sky was a most remarkable shade of peach, brushed with delicate yellow clouds like feathers. He wished he could move his head, look around. Out of the corner of his eye he could see blood. It seemed to be pooling in the bottom of the helmet, somewhere around his right ear.
He tried to use the radio to call, but his voice wasn't working anymore. He doubted the radio was, either.
The pool of blood in his helmet was getting deeper.
He felt remarkably peaceful. He owed the universe a death, he knew.
One death.
His."
The youngest member of the crew, travis, isn't who he says he is; we find this out as he's dying:
"The water recycler had already quit on him, and his throat was dry and hurt like hell.
He was going to die on Mars.
With the geologic hammer that Estrela had given him, he scratched into the stone beside the fossils. It was soft, as easy to carve as soap. BRAN-DON WEBER WAS HERE, he wrote, and then tried to think of a witty line. He couldn't. At last he added I DID IT.
It would be his tombstone, he thought. The idea seemed vaguely funny, nothing to be taken seriously. But tombstones need dates, so he added: 2010-2028.
And then, he wrote: SO LONG, STOMPERS.
Brandon Weber sat down, rested against the sandstone ledge, and stared into the dark toward the sunrise he would never live to see.
There was no possible way that any of the others could get to him in time. And even if they could reach him, what could they possibly do?"
At the end there are only three crew members left.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2016
I wanted to love this book. I could have too, if the author had more experience with character development. The story is fantastic...full of believable science, beautiful descriptive passages and just enough suspense to hold your interest. I was written
An expedition (following two failed expeditions) to explore Mars meets with problems from he very beginning. The crew, four men and two women, stranded on Mars must travel 4000 miles to the North Pole to find the remains of a previous expedition. Many twists and turns, fantastic science and character conflict ensues. This book was written in 2001, but the technology is very relevant.
But it is the characters that fall flat. Flat. Very flat and not in the least believable. The book is written in small chapters alternating between the current situation and the background stories of the six crew members. The tales of the crew are so awful and cliched that it's almost laughable. Even the gratuitous sex scenes are flat and boring. The author tells their stories in such a cold and detached way that the characters are neither likable or un-likable. From what I have read this was Geoffrey Landis' first novel, so there's hope that he had improved upon the development of characters in his later books.
All in all, I would recommend this book only to those of us that can't get enough science fiction. Actually, I would suggest that the reader only read the chapters concerned with the expedition and dispense with those chapters that deal with the character's stories. I really could have loved this book!
An expedition (following two failed expeditions) to explore Mars meets with problems from he very beginning. The crew, four men and two women, stranded on Mars must travel 4000 miles to the North Pole to find the remains of a previous expedition. Many twists and turns, fantastic science and character conflict ensues. This book was written in 2001, but the technology is very relevant.
But it is the characters that fall flat. Flat. Very flat and not in the least believable. The book is written in small chapters alternating between the current situation and the background stories of the six crew members. The tales of the crew are so awful and cliched that it's almost laughable. Even the gratuitous sex scenes are flat and boring. The author tells their stories in such a cold and detached way that the characters are neither likable or un-likable. From what I have read this was Geoffrey Landis' first novel, so there's hope that he had improved upon the development of characters in his later books.
All in all, I would recommend this book only to those of us that can't get enough science fiction. Actually, I would suggest that the reader only read the chapters concerned with the expedition and dispense with those chapters that deal with the character's stories. I really could have loved this book!
May 2, 2018
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.
February 26, 2015
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.
December 23, 2025
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, 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.
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, 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.
October 29, 2017
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.
July 8, 2020
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.
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.
September 2, 2024
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.
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.
December 18, 2020
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.
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.
April 17, 2021
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.
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.
February 11, 2020
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.
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.
July 15, 2024
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.
I enjoy hard Sci-Fi, but this one was a tad underwhelming.
January 9, 2021
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
July 31, 2022
"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.
Want to Read
November 2, 2021By 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
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
Did Not Finish
April 6, 2023I 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.
March 16, 2026
Feels like an attempt at replicating the heroic age of antarctic exploration on Mars. I felt like they were struggling to conjure substance around a pretty tightly-constrained premise. Lots of fun little sci-fi tidbits. Cool if you like Mars facts.
June 14, 2026
This stands out as a journey across Mars book because of the technical details, the characters, and the descriptions. A very enjoyable read, nicely organized, always maintaining a "what happens next" aurora.
March 19, 2022
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.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2022
What a nice book! Very fast read, switches perspective a lot, frequent flashbacks. Turned into a surprise murder mystery!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2023
One of those books I definitely snuck home and read! Loved the suspense but for sure read it too young 😂
December 22, 2023
Leí un 40 %. Un melodrama con mucho 'melo', mucho drama, menos ciencia.
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