Deception: A Prequel to the Mars Frontier Series

Mars Frontier #0.5

by Paul Rix

Falcon is carrying humanity’s first manned mission to Mars in 2028. Four courageous astronauts are putting their lives on the line as the world eagerly watches. As the astronauts struggle to survive isolation, insecurities, and each other, can they set mankind on the path to the stars? For veteran Flight Director Douglas Schmidt, something doesn’t feel right. He’s been in NASA long enough to know when critical information is being withheld. Can he lay his fears to rest before the astronauts reach Mars? Little does he know that the NASA Administrator is hiding a secret. A secret that began when Falcon was built. A secret that could ultimately doom Falcon and its crew. Deception is the prequel to the highly anticipated sci-fi human colonization series, Mars Frontier. If you like The Expanse or The Martian Chronicles, then you’ll love Paul Rix’s brand new human adventure to Mars. Buy Deception to discover the astronauts' fate today!

100 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2019

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely enjoy an exciting Sci-Fi story. And it's even better when I discover a "new-to-me" author at the same time! The cover art and theme of this prequel novella is what first drew me to this Mars colonization story at first...and then the story sucked me right in.

The basics: The crew of the Falcon has been travelling through space for four months heading to Mars. It's a historic mission -- the first crewed mission to Mars that will land and then return to Earth. The crew is skilled and up for the challenge, and NASA is doing their part on Earth to make the mission a success. But, a last minute discovery of possible problems with the Falcon's computer systems might mean aborting the mission short of its goal.

This story pulled me in quickly. I love the basic premise -- a manned mission to Mars facing challenges that no other humans before them have faced. I like the characters. All of them face stress, pressure and extreme conditions (4 months floating in space, the stress of keeping a ship functioning and preparing to land on another planet, troubleshooting a serious problem mid-flight, etc), and all react differently. And the suspense and action are great! In my life time, I have seen space missions succeed, and I've seen missions fail horribly. I was one of many students who sat at school in 1986 watching a television screen ready for a day of space-themed class lessons when the space shuttle Challenger exploded after take-off. One minute we were excited for a teacher to be in space -- and the next we were utterly shocked. Even with top notch training, there is never any guarantee that a space mission will safely succeed. So many variables. And a completely inhospitable environment outside the ship. Think about how much pressure and stress just those concerns cause a human crew.... I think that's why I love sci-fi stories set in space so much. Humans pushed to the absolute limits of life itself....and what happens when fate pushes just that little bit extra. Survival or death -- it all hangs in the balance.

Great story! I like Paul Rix's writing style and characters. And, he had some surprises in store. Very enjoyable short prequel! Deception is the into for the Mars Frontier series. Can't wait to find out what happens next!

[Smalltowncat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A prequel to the Mars Frontier series.  It's an interesting look into the strain that months of space travel can place on a crew and how they each react to it.  Mistakes come to light and point to the corruption in the government's bid process for construction of the ships and the disregard for the lessons learned from the Challenger disaster.  There's also the brave souls who put the safety of the crew first, are trying to find solutions to the problems and funnel the information to the crew.  And finally, the decision by politicians that it is better for the crew to be killed attempting a landing rather than admit to the mistakes, abort the mission and risk their re-election.  A grim read, but I can't wait to start the first novel in this series.

[Jeannie Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an easy read. It’s well paced and sets the scene for the next books in the series. The characters are well formed, believable and very human. There is just enough technical talk to make it all seem real without turning the reader off. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and am looking forward to finding out what happens next! Highly recommend

[Melanie Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intriguing story surrounding the first manned mission to Mars - will the mission succeed or was it doomed to failure from the start?

[Gregory D · Rating 5 out of 5]

must read!

A great prequel to the first book in the series. I can’t wait to read the next one. Easy to read as well.

[Beverly Fuqua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whoa, almost wish I hadn't read this. Did not end well for the crew of the Falcon.

[Ishmael Longstar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Worth reading the whole series.

[Lyle Blosser · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the story was quite realistic and believable (unfortunately, without giving away any spoilers), the characters seemed a bit contrived. And I was let down by the ending after the build-up through-out the story. I had been hoping for a more positive introduction to the series, and a big hook to encourage me to read the series proper, which this book did not provide. There was a very small hook near the end. I still may try the first book; however, I'm a bit less enthusiastic about it.