I've read several of the 'Grand Tour' books by Ben Bova. The latest I've read I finished just yesterday in "Mars." I read this one on my Kindle. I have to say that I was suspicious of liking this book despite liking the others from the series I have read. Mars just isn't as interesting to me from a science fiction perspective as some of the other books' subject planets that I've read. For clarity, I've previously read "Jupiter," "Venus," and "Mercury."
This book, like the others, is largely realistic and set in the foreseeable future. I know that some folks are working towards visiting Mars and I applaud that effort though I think they're doing it for the wrong reasons. We'll still learn and grow as a species as a direct result from these efforts, and that's good.
In the book "Mars," the narrative goes back and forth between Earth and Mars and features backflashes as well. It kept me reading, though, at first, I wanted it to not switch around like it does. I grew to like and appreciate it, and the chapters are short enough that it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. The content is overall pretty good, which helps make the presentation style work really well.
I was impressed that some of the most minor details in this book actually have large impacts to the story. I don't want to spoil too much, but I will say that it is consistently logical and reasonable. There's nothing terribly fantastic about it, which is one of the things that draws me to Ben Bova and his work. You can believe it without having to force yourself to.
There are a few loose ends at the end of the book, but the overall arc is well established and satisfied throughout the story. I've commented elsewhere that I like loose ends in my books...it makes them more like life. This one didn't have an incredible amount of them as some other authors I love may leave, such as James Clavell or William Faulkner, but it ends with your wanting more of the book if anything. There's enough story remaining to encourage you to accept that the story is a realistic and complete narrative. It has breadth and depth. It is a larger story than its pages and I don't mean that in a bad way.
I'll read more 'Grand Tour' books but will take a break from them for a while. This is largely because my reading queue is pretty stacked right now rather than lack of interest. I've got a lot I want to get through this year, and I don't presently own any 'Grand Tour' books that I haven't already read. This doesn't mean they can't be in my queue, but my to-read list is biased towards books I already have for the most part.
I would recommend this book to any fans of science fiction - especially of the near-future variety. I'll be interested to see, if it happens in my lifetime, how humanity's experience travelling to Mars differs from the book's expectations of it. Obviously, the story will vary, but I'm referring more to the science of it than to the characters' individual arcs. We shall see...
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