"A bulging, impressive, all-you-ever-wanted-to-know, you-are-there Martian odyssey."
-- "Kirkus Reviews"
"A sweeping, Michener-style saga of the first expedition to our neighboring planet...[T]he ultimate summer escape."
-- "People"
"An exemplary summer read...adventurous, brilliant, over-the-edge characters...a carefully imagined, striking, and spooky portrait of the planet."
-- "Voice Literary Supplement"
"An intelligent, entertaining story that may also serve as a rallying cry."
-- "Omni"
"Bova has done extensive research and his descriptions of Mars and the conditions under which the study is conducted are very plausible. All in all, a satisfying story."
-- "School Library Journal"
"Bova re-creates for us much of that first excitement we felt in reading about the possibilities of space flight or, later, witnessing the earliest manned exploration."
-- "Los Angeles Times Book Review"
"Bova's 1992 novel follows Jamie Waterman--a Navaho geologist--on the first manned mission to Mars. The multinational expedition is wrought with political and personal strife, as well as a mysterious illness that strikes the entire land crew and nearly brings the project to a halt. The earnestness and longing of the lead character comes through in Stefan Rudnicki's voice as he narrates the story of Waterman's dogged search for signs of life on the Red Planet. Whether or not there's life beneath the frozen surface of Mars, Rudnicki's spellbinding baritone brings all the members of the international crew to life, providing believable accents for Russian, Brazilian, English, Japanese, and Israeli members of the landing team."
-- "AudioFile"
Ben Bova was born in Philadelphia and received his doctorate in education from California Coast University in 1996. The author of over 120 futuristic novels and nonfiction books, he has also been a radio commentator, editor, lecturer, and aerospace industry executive. His articles, opinion pieces, and reviews have appeared in Scientific American, Nature, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. His work has earned six Hugo Awards. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation in 2005, and his novel Titan won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the best science fiction novel of 2006.
Emily Janice Card (a.k.a. Emily Rankin) is an actor, writer, and singer from North Carolina, now residing in Los Angeles. In addition to being a narrator, she has directed numerous audiobooks, including the 2007 Audie and Earphones Award winner Hubris, Legacy of Ashes by Pulitzer Prize winner Tim Weiner, and Them by Nathan McCall. Her own audiobook narration has won her four Earphones Awards.
Stefan Rudnicki first became involved with audiobooks in 1994. Now a Grammy-winning audiobook producer, he has worked on more than three thousand audiobooks as a narrator, writer, producer, or director. He has narrated more than three hundred audiobooks. A recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, he was presented the coveted Audie Award for solo narration in 2005, 2007, and 2014, and was named one of AudioFile's Golden Voices in 2012.
