Return to Mars (The Grand Tour, #7) by Ben Bova

Return to Mars (The Grand Tour, #7) Reviews

• 
  David

  Rounded down from 2.5 stars.
  
  This is a tough one to review. The science, the exploration, the adventure, and the characters were all good; but every time Bova attempts to write about romance, or love triangles, or sex, or really any sort of interpersonal relationship or human emotion, I just want to crawl under a rock and die. There was a lot of the cringey stuff in this one, and it was all very very very very bad. I feel sorry for his wife.
• 
  Susan

  Enjoyed going back to Mars and "exploring" it with the various characters. Not quite up to par with the first book but still a fun and riveting read.
• 
  Thomas

  Bova, Ben. Return to Mars. EOS, 1999. Grand Tour 7.
  In Return to Mars, the seventh of Ben Bova’s series of near-future space colonization novels, Jamie Waterman leads an expedition back to Mars to search for evidence of ancient life. Also on the mission is Dex Trumball, the ambitious son of an industrial magnate who hopes to turn Mars into a theme park for rich tourists. The mission is beset by rivalries, both sexual and scientific. It also seems to suffer more than its share of accidents. Is it just Murphy’s Law, or is there a saboteur? Can Jamie and his love interest, psychologist Vijay Shektar, find solutions and save the mission? Along the way, there is plenty of talk about Martian geology and the possibilities for microbial life. 4 stars.
• 
  AndrewP

  Unlike most books in a series, I actually enjoyed this one a bit more than the first one. It's probably because the scene was set in the first book with all the necessary technological explanations. This book has quite a bit of mars exploration in it, building on the things described in the first book, but there is a lot more going on with the characters in this one.
  
  This was written 6 years after the first one so the tech did not have any glaring anomalies like the first one did. The only thing that bothered me was the idea that a school bus sized rover can run on solar power.
  
  Looking forward to finishing off the trilogy with
  Mars Life in the next few days.
• 
  David Richards

  I enjoyed this book, it was a nice and easy read and kept my attention. And although I have not read the first book in the series that didn't seem to make a difference. There was a lot of exploring and problems related to living on Mars and that sort of thing. But the main thing I enjoyed about this book were the characters. Particularly the mix of male and female characters, all of whom contributed to the story. Yes, a good book and one I was sad to come to the end of. I guess I enjoyed the company I had been keeping.
• 
  Paul Weiss

  The discovery of life on Mars!
  
  Navajo geologist-astronaut, Jamie Waterman, blasts off to the red planet for a second time as the leader of a privately funded follow up expedition to the earth's first foray to Mars which ended on a literal cliff-hanger. the discovery of pueblo-like cliff dwellings that seemed to indicate Mars had been inhabited in the past by intelligent life.
  
  The crew, an eclectic blend of nationalities and experts in a variety of scientific and technical fields of endeavour, direct their efforts to the completion of three distinct projects - the examination of the lichen type biology and the geology of the caldera of Olympus Mons, a volcano and the highest mountain in the solar system; the recovery of a priceless artifact from the much earlier Mars Pathfinder expeditions; and the detailed investigation of Jamie's pueblo dwellings with a view to proving once and for all whether Mars had ever been home to an intelligent species of life.
  
  Aside from the hard sci-fi themes of the Martian environment, the research, the overwhelming dangers and difficulties of extraterrestrial exploration in a fundamentally hostile environment, Return to Mars also examines two other central themes - first, the almost insurmountable difficulties of the costs of big budget science and the conflicts that inevitably arise when capitalism attempts to force fundamental research into profit-oriented motives; and, second, the inherent dangers of contaminating a pristine environment such as Mars with untrammeled, loosely controlled exploration, travel, business and (gasp!) even colonization or, worse yet, tourism!
  
  Certainly, Bova was not shy about using Return to Mars as a forum for espousing his own political views on the matter and, for some readers, the strength of the expression of these opinions was seen as a shortcoming in the novel. But, I felt that using Jamie, in particular, a highly educated scientist with an underlying aboriginal Navajo cultural mindset, as the fundamental mouthpiece for these opinions, the left-leaning political statements seemed to come across as heartfelt and completely natural. While some readers might disagree with some of what Jamie had to say, it seemed completely reasonable to hear him and the other scientists express these views. Their disgust and complete antipathy to the notion of tourism directed at the Martian cliff-dwellings was particularly understandable in the context in which it was presented.
  
  Highly recommended.
  
  Paul Weiss
  
• 
  JP

  
  Return to Mars finishes what
  Mars started--and I really feel like they might have been better as one book. There was such a huge tantalizing idea dangled in front of us in the first book--not only life on Mars, but intelligent life?--only for a rush to the ending so that we never got to actually get answers. At least we do actually get answers in Return to Mars, but in such a way that it really feels like half the same book.
  
  Plotwise, Return to Mars does at least explore some interesting ideas in how Martian exploration may actually take shape in the future, with private backing and a profit motive, rather than as a purely government run, scientific endeavor. It's an interesting contrast to Mars at least, even if it feels like they've taken a number of steps back from the first mission in effort to cut costs (one assumes).
  
  It's also interesting to see how many different threads you can fit into the story. While the main thread I was originally interested in was exploring the potential dwellings Jamie saw in the first book, but there are a number of other interesting threads, involving other aspects of life on Mars, going to visit the Pathfinder far across the surface of Mars, and a traitor in their midst trying to sabotage the mission.
  
  Which--is really strange and intriguing. We have journal entries from the very beginning from the point of view of someone you know is going to snap and do terrible things at some point (and you're not disappointed), but Bova does a good job of keeping it up in the air just who exactly is the 'bad guy' until the last moment. Fairly impressive that. And while I feel it's not likely that we'd actually miss something like that in someone sent on a mission to Mars... it would certainly be just about this terrifying if we did.
  
  Honestly, I think Mars and Return to Mars could have been stronger combined into a single book. Return to Mars seems to have a bit more momentum, but I felt the mission in Mars was more believable. As a pair... they're still pretty well worth reading. Among the better of the Grand Tour books.
• 
  Kerry Hennigan

  In "Return to Mars" Jamie Waterman, part Navajo geologist, is back on the Red Planet with a new team of colleagues, and this time he is in charge. But with the ambitious son of the expedition's wealthy financier on board, things are destined not to run smoothly.
  
  This was the book I needed to read after being disappointed by half a dozen others (which I promptly returned to the library!) "Return to Mars" cured my reading blues - and I own the book, so I can revisit it whenever I want. Not only is this volume a worthy follow-up to the first in Bova's Mars series, it is even more engrossing than its predecessor.
  
  Originally published in 1999, the science is a little dated, but not sufficiently to spoil the adventure or detract from the spell-binding landscape of Mars as depicted in the 544 pages of this book.
  
  
• 
  Susan Goforth

  I think I have found a an author that I will be reading all of his books, starting with the grand tour. It is too bad we lost him during the pandemic. This was my second book and I am already on my third. I notice that I quickly find a central character that is so easy to fall into role of hero with a few faults that we are willing to forgive. There are several storylines, mysteries, an evil guy that wants to thwart exploration of the stars and a leading lady with a couple of romantic side stories. What’s not to enjoy. Ben Bova was an atheist. I am a Seventh Day Adventist Christian and believe that there are others out there watching us and angels that want us to succeed. I look forward to seeing some of the positive things in space that Bova thought were out there!
• 
  Geoff Battle

  The sequel to Mars could quite easily be read stand-alone. Following the discovery of life on the Red Planet a team once more ascends to conduct further research. In true sequel style there is more of everything that made the first one great. The action starts straight away on Mars, with the scene already set Bova wastes no time with the planning stage. Multiple missions with a new and diverse team mix up the action and suspense as Return provides gripping page after gripping page. The science element is never bewildering ensuring a compelling read. Flawless execution - a must for any sci-fi reader.
• 
  Randy

  Jamie Waterman returns to Mars with four other men and three women for a much longer stay than with the first expedition. Conflicts arise, and the extended stay has an effect on the crew, to say nothing about what happens because of the mix of men and women.
  
  I especially enjoyed the story and the Mars details, pretty factual even though the book was written in 1998. The group dynamics are also interesting. Was there intelligent life on Mars? If so, how did it disappear?
• 
  Paul Chandler

  I found it hard to keep interested in this book which took a while to finish. It didn't seem to speak to me through the characters, and it seemed heavily ladened with more science and biology than anything else. I like Ben's writing best when you inwardly smile along with the characters personalities although it seemed to be lacking this quality in this particular Grand Tour entry.
• 
  Xenia

  I was so very happy to be back on Mars. Even though it was a different crew I enjoyed learning the new characters and I loved the new plots.!
  My only complaint was that I listened to it in the audiobook and the recording was not very good. You could definitely hear the parts that they had to edit or re-record. and there were alot of them!!
• 
  Kevin Black

  Enjoyable read. The fact that the quotes at the top of some chapters from someone's diary remain of uncertain source late into the book speaks to the author's skill at writing nuanced characters. On the other hand, that's not how psychosis works.
• 
  Pierrette

  Definitely a page turner
  
  
  
  Great example of the kind of science fiction that could inspire young adults to pursue scientific studies. As for me, it's allowing me to access places where I will never set foot but wish I could!
• 
  Pam

  Having read the first book, I was not surprised that this sequel would be written. The author is really good at writing science fiction without the fantasy. The characters were good, everything made sense. Really good story, good read!
• 
  Dwayne Coleman

  Ben Bova writes well about sciences, machines, and occasionally politics, but his human characters are not good.
• 
  Survive

  A good quick read. Straightforward, but touches on important ideas. Highly recommend.
• 
  Carmilla Choate

  Another fun Grand Tour novel by Ben Bova
• 
  Tyler Cole

  A good read with twists, turns, drama and suspense.
• 
  John Ulrich

  It was just okay I think I like the first Mars book better but maybe I'll appreciate this one more after reading the next installment.