Six years after the first manned Martian expedition, a second has been announced -- one motivated purely by its profitable potential -- and half-Navajo, half-Anglo geologist Jamie Waterman's conflicted soul is beckoning him back to the eerie, unforgiving planet. As commander of the new exploratory team, he will have to contend with a bitter and destructive rivalry, a disturbing new emotional attraction, and deadly, incomprehensible "accidents" that appear to be sabotage, all of which could doom the mission to failure. But there is much more at stake than Waterman's personal redemption and the safety of his crew. For there are still great secrets to be uncovered on this cruel and enigmatic world -- not the least being something he glimpsed in the far distance during his first Martian excursion: an improbable structure perched high in the planet's carmine cliffs; a dwelling that only an intelligent being could have built. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

The sequel to Bova's popular Mars (1992) returns Navajo Jamie Waterman to the Red Planet as the mission director in tenuous command of a crew of scientists and astronauts jockeying for political power, romantic liaisons and scientific renown. And as anonymous journal entries also indicate, one of the explorers is seriously deranged. Waterman's chief rival on the mission is C. Dexter Trumball, the heir of the man who substantially funded the flight. Trumball has promised his wealthy father that the mission will make money, and he is determined to win his father's love and respect, even if it means turning Mars into a tourist attraction. For ideological reasons, Waterman is equally bent on keeping Mars free of tourists, especially his beloved "cliff dwellings"--a nearly inaccessible structural anomaly that he believes will prove there was once intelligent life on the planet. Waterman must struggle to find the Navajo way of negotiating the crew's various desires and manias. He must also contend with the powers-that-be back on Earth to ensure that scientific concerns continue to supersede crass commercial interests. Bova makes the speculative hard science aspects of this novel vivid and appealing. His characters, however, are less enchanting, and the inclusion of a saboteur seems like overkill, since the environment he describes is more than capable of destroying anyone for simple carelessness. The novel ends with plenty of room for a sequel to pick up and continue the saga. (June) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Half-Navajo, half-Anglo astronaut Jamie Waterman is back on Mars, several publishing seasons after his previous adventures in Mars (1992). His second expedition is motivated largely by expectations of profit from the life-forms discovered in the Vallis Marinaris on the first expedition. As far as Waterman is concerned, those pecuniary motives get the second fling off on the wrong foot from the beginning. Waterman also has to put up with small-group politics that are particularly virulent this far from Earth and with this much at stake; with his own emotional attachments; and with a lengthening string of incidents that has the odor of sabotage about it. The last third of the yarn is literally a cliff-hanger, as the expedition maneuvers to reach unmistakable artifacts of intelligent life in a mountainous area. Characterization is better than usual in this kind of adventure, the pacing is brisk, the scientific details are convincing, and Bova's depiction of the Martian environment is outstanding indeed. No one who enjoyed Mars is likely to turn down this lively continuation of it. (Reviewed May 1, 1999)0380976404Roland Green From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.