Moon Racer

Mars Diaries #6

by Sigmund Brouwer

Set in 2040, the Mars Diaries feature 14-year-old Tyce Sanders, the only child ever born on Mars. He lives under a dome on the red planet with 200 scientists and techies, including his mother, Kristy Sanders, a biologist and a believer. Tyce is confined to a wheelchair, but virtual reality and robotics allow him to experience life beyond his physical boundaries. Kids ages 10-14 will love the cool, high-tech gadgets, space travel, and great plot twists in this exciting series.

Genres: Science Fiction, Christian, Fiction, Young Adult, Teen, Childrens, Religion

144 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Sigmund loves going to schools to get kids excited about reading, reaching roughly 80,000 students a year through his Rock&Roll Literacy Show.

Reviews

[Chance Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last book was outstanding. I wouldn’t say it’s a step backward in the slightest. More like a little shuffle behind Sole Survivor. Let's see how it held it's own.

Cover
This cover really pops. I really like the color. Fits the theme all of them are cohesive.

Interior
Believe it or not I remember this book from 16 years ago. I recalled the zero gravity, the design of the ship and the problem. I don't think this book is a step down per say. I would put it more as a shuffle backward from the last one. Mainly the mystery isn’t all that mysterious. But then again this is the perspective of a laser focused 15 y-old and I don’t think the focus was meant to be on the mystery so much as on character development. Brouwer did leave enough mystery for the next book as it closes with a cliffhanger. I like that the book isn’t having chapters to fill in all the details about the robot body and the mind transitions to the computer. With that being said adding a quick description of the robot body at the second last chapter really didn’t feel needed and it felt like the story came to a grinding halt just before the last chapter. I really like how as we’ve heard the Earth is at the brink of war and even though there is government peace there isn’t any peace for the general public. It’s was a nice touch.
We did get an explanation for how Lindsey survived two days ago. I it didn’t seem to make much sense but I’m happy it wasn’t ignored.
I loved how he ended up getting into trouble unauthorized access to the ant bot and spying and then in the next chapter goes right back into spying and using the ant bot without permission. Also I would like to point out he never apologized to Lance for the invasion of privacy.
It’s fascinating how spineless Bane goes which strangely makes his character worse but even better. Even though six months have passed between books I’m not completely falling for the redemption arc. This is the same person that declared in the last book he was happy Tyce what handicapped by his own actions, and that was said when he was proud and winning not angry and desperate. Also, what sort of agency is the Terratakers. Once again, I’m pretty sure they abandoned billions of dollars letting the ant bot get destroyed.

[Colin Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part 6 of my quick foray into all the middle grade novels I've had on my bookshelf for more than 10 years that I never got around to reading when I was younger so I can make room for more books on my shelf:

This book was a lot more action packed than the rest of the books in this series so far. It had less of the drawbacks of the others and focused mainly on plot.
Up until the 2nd to last chapter where Brouwer just had to describe the robot one more time and take up almost an entire page doing so.

The concept and reveal of the secret antagonist was good, along with the red herring that was Lance, but I could telegraph Luke Daab being the secret mastermind from the interview scene. He got really angry and fired up at a certain question and I instantly knew that he was the spy. There also wasn't a lot of time spent with the other two crew members and Lance was an obvious Red Herring so it was a pretty predictable reveal.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book more than the previous two. The overall plot is moving forward, now that we are finally off mars. I was thankful the random faith lectures were cut back this time around. I am faithful in life, but i HATE when the faith talks seem to be randomly inserted with 0 impact on the plot. I am eager to see how this series wraps up.

[Mary Emma Sivils · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't have any complaints with book 6. It simply didn't stand out as much as the last couple--maybe because Tyce wasn't dealing with anything personal this time. The ending did set up the next book to be interesting, though. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens!

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, things are heating up! Really liked the section in the back entitled Will Computers Someday Replace Man?

A full review of the series will be posted once I finish reading it.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery science fiction- good stuff!

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25!

I read this super fast, it was really cute! Nothing mind blowing but entertaining nonetheless.

[Anita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good on first read through, and at the intended reading age, and from the intended worldview. Decently interesting characters. Trying very hard to be hard scifi, which I could stand to see more of. Extremely preachy, and relies more than a bit on the element of surprise to stay interesting, without enough subtlety or foreshadowing to give depth to re-reads. Repeat review ad infinitum for the rest of the series.
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Kudos for spaceship design?

[Denae Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my least favorite of the Mars Diaries. But it still rates 5 stars because it's in my favorite series.

[jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written.

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F BRO md bk. 6

Science Fiction