:''There is also a 1955 juvenile science fiction novel of this name by

W. E. Johns William Earl Johns (5 February 189321 June 1968) was an English First World War pilot, and writer of adventure stories, usually written under the pen name Capt. W. E. Johns: best known for creating the fictional air-adventurer ''Biggles''. Ea ...

.'' :''The title 'Return to Mars' was used by authors Anthony Pollock and Brian Crowley in 1989, published by Magistra (Australia) as non-fiction.'' ''Return to Mars'' is a science fiction novel by

Ben Bova Benjamin William Bova (November 8, 1932November 29, 2020) was an American writer and editor. During a writing career of 60 years, he was the author of more than 120 works of science fact and fiction, an editor of '' Analog Science Fiction and F ...

. This novel is part of the

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

series of novels. It was first published in 1999 and is a sequel to Ben Bova's novel ''Mars''.

Plot summary

Navajo geologist Jamie Waterman returned to Earth as a hero, travelling the globe, giving speeches on Mars, and supporting a return voyage. Now six years later, Waterman gets to return to his beloved red planet, and to the mysterious dwelling in the Valles Marineris region. However, the second voyage has sponsorship not from governments, but from corporations, most notably from millionaire Daryl Trumball, whose son is sent on the mission to make his father proud... and money. Now, Jamie finds himself locked in a war between Trumball's wishes of exploiting the planet, his job as mission director, and his own desires to explore the cliff dwelling that could hold the key to discovering the planet's past inhabitants.

Characters

* Jamie Fox Waterman - mission director, geologist. He is the main character of the "Mars" novels by Ben Bova, drives the discovery of microbial life on Mars, as well as of a distant cliff dwelling. Waterman seems to have a connection to Mars, as connections between his Navajo beliefs and the Red Planet become entangled. * Dex Trumball - geophysicist, son of millionaire Daryl Trumball * Vijay J. Shektar - physician and psychologist, Australian-raised with Hindu heritage * Trudy Hall - biologist, British * Mistuo Fuchida - biologist, Japanese * Peter J. Craig "Possum" - geochemist and unofficial repairman * Stacy (Anastasia) Dezhurova - leading cosmonaut * Tomas Rodriguez - astronaut from NASA * Daryl C. Trumball - a heartless millionaire, whose only joy is to make money. He sponsors the second Mars mission after his son convinces him that he could make money off the expedition * Pete Connors - an astronaut on the first Mars expedition, and friend to Jamie * Li Chanu - director of first Mars expedition. born in Singapore

Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'', in its 1999 review, wrote that Bova made the hard science aspects of this novel vivid and appealing. His characters were "less enchanting and the inclusion of a saboteur seems like overkill, since the environment he describes more than capable of destroying anyone for simple carelessness."

References

External links

* 1999 American novels Novels by Ben Bova American science fiction novels Novels set on Mars HarperCollins books {{1990s-sf-novel-stub