From the Nebula Award-winning author of "Timescape" and "Foundation's Fear" comes a hard-science thriller about the race to Mars that will tie into NASA's upcoming landing on the planet. Esteemed Mars guru Bob Zubrin calls The Martian Race "one of the finest novels about human exploration of the Red Planet ever written. "But then again, Bob is a character in the book (albeit in the briefest of cameos), so what else could he possibly say? That notwithstanding, Zubrin's right--he couldn't have picked a better book to show his face in. By popular assent, Martian Race deserves top honors among the millennial wave of Mars exploration tales, propelled as it is by the skillful storytelling of physics doyen Gregory Benford, a Campbell and two-time Nebula winner. Martian Race is near-future SF, set in the twenty-teens (just before Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars saga kicks off), which may contribute to its being a bit of a slow starter; this is realistic, nuts-and-bolts speculation on a mission using pretty basic technology. But the pace picks up considerably as our heroes--the likable Julia and her Russky hubby Viktor and crew, backed by the Mars Consortium and its biotech billionaire CEO John Axelrod--begin to duke it out with a Euro-Sino concern to claim the $30 billion Mars Prize and, of course, get back from the Red Planet in one piece. Benford's work throughout is engaging and thorough, exploring every aspect of why we should make this trip at all (and even a few arguments against it, like Mars Bar marketing tie-ins). --Paul Hughes YA-After NASA fails in the attempt at a Mars mission, the race for the planet quickly shifts to two separate factions. A billionaire's crew consists of a married couple and two men, all highly trained in both the scientific and practical technology required to fly to Mars. They spend more than two years there in research, and fly back to Earth. This mission faces two major upheavals: the return vehicle is inoperable and a life-form is found on Mars. When the crew sponsored by a European-Chinese consortium arrives, the race is on to identify the life-form and return to Earth, until two of the researchers are discovered missing. Benford presents a realistic scenario of interplanetary science and discovery caught in the web of big business. While this theme permeates the plot, the author expertly weaves in the often tense and volatile relationships among crew members, subtly showing how the success of the misson depends on their mental, physical, and emotional stability. The depth of the characterizations, especially that of astronaut Julia Barth, along with the scientific base, also make this story ring true. Adventure, relationships, discovery, and the pursuit of fame and fortune all add up to a page-turner for teens who like their science fiction rooted solidly in science. Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. After a launching pad disaster shuts down NASA's dreams of sending a manned mission to Mars, astronaut Julia Barth and her teammates find a way to travel to the red planet under the auspices of billionaire John Axelrod, who expects his investment to make a tidy profit. When a rival coalition decides to enter the race to Mars, the trials and tribulations of the privately funded expedition escalate, becoming a battle for survival against the steadily diminishing possibility of a safe return. The author of Timescape brings his copious knowledge of the physics of space travel to bear in a gripping tale of human enterprise and courage that combines a pro-space polemic with sf adventure. Benford's talent for creating issue-driven stories that do not neglect the human element makes him one of the premier crafters of the genre. Highly recommended. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. The recent race among sf writers to see who can write the best novel about Mars continues, and as one might expect, Benford's entry is a very fine one. It begins with a situation that could be drawn from any of a dozen space-advocacy potboilers. The NASA-manned Mars mission has a catastrophic failure, and a space-minded billionaire comes through to finance an alternative mission in time to beat a foreign consortium--nowadays, a European-Chinese one instead of an all-godless-commie crew. The novel's primary focus, however, is on the voyage of Julia Barth and her comrades, a long, long haul in a ship slightly above the bailing-wire-and-chewing-gum level in terms of repair. Technical problems, faulty personal interactions, and the Martian environment all challenge survival, but Benford is as expert as ever at seamlessly melding characterization, technology, and narrative drive in an effective novel that takes its place near the front of the pack of Martian-yarn contenders. Roland Green A mission to Mars, from physicist-author Benford (Cosm, 1998, etc.), is both a race to reach the red planet and a living race of Martian biota. Early i