Give Us This Mars (As It Is On Mars series) (The Saga Begun in As It Is on Mars Counter Pack Series, 2) - Hardcover

Tom Cronin has come up with a highly original, quite fast-paced saga that can be enjoyed not only by Mars and science fiction enthusiasts but also by the general public. Although the tale does take place on Mars, in the wonderful Kasei Valley region, it has little in it that is exclusively science fiction. There are certainly no alien life forms or artifacts in the story, and even the ESA mission’s nanoguns exist today at the prototype stage. Two indexed maps at the end guarantee readers easy visualization of where the spectacular places in the story are located.

The story is conceived as one that could happen. Indeed, dramatic, heart-wrenching events quite like it actually have happened. That was back in the very early days of the New World, in the time of the conquistadors. These are also very early days in the settlement of Mars, and history comes close to repeating itself in this story, and for much the same reasons.

This story develops relentlessly, and just flows along. The first chapter outlines the high-level events on Earth leading up to the struggle over land on Mars. The pace speeds up as the story on Mars gets going in Chapter Two, with the arrival of Richard Derk. By Chapter Three, in which the settlers attempt a covert preemptive strike, the pace is quite fast, and stays that way.

A quite large number of colorful new characters walk the pages of this epic novel. Six of the ESA twelve, along with the settlers, have lead roles in the story--Sweden’s visionary engineer, Astrid Larsson, England’s good-natured geologist, Don Carruthers, and Spain’s resolute and disciplined military man, Jose Montoya, to name a few.

Although the story is about an armed conflict, it has a low level of actual violence and a high level of strategic maneuvering. Lives are lost in the story -- even the life of a likable lead character. But Mars, still a very dangerous planet, is responsible for half the deaths.

There is little in the way of philosophical discussion in this rapidly unfolding tale. It does contain a heated and sophisticated exchange at one point, between two opposing sides, engaged in a fierce debate over the ownership of land and resources on Mars. A secret E.U. plan, the brainchild of Astrid Larsson, to put a massive and novel technology in place, to exploit the resources of Mars, is also part of the plot.

At the book’s climactic ending, all threads are tied up--except one. As the story unfolds, we become aware of something else going on, something very important, but we never find out what it is. A suspicious CIA would like to know too, and is working hard on the problem. This open thread will no doubt take us into the third book of the saga, Glory Be To Mars, due in March, 2005.

An epic tale of the land, the love of it, and those who fought over it, in a wonderful place far away. . .

KASEI VALLEY.

Largest of the ancient outflow valleys of Mars, a thousand miles long, walled by precipices and mesas.

A magnificent threshold to a strategic valley sanctuary, site of the first human settlement on Mars.

Where fiercely independent settlers clash with resolute adversaries, bent on control of their lands.

A bizarre battleground, as open warfare erupts on Mars, over the rights to its land and resources.