Friday, August 31, 2007

Another great review of The Mars Imperative

The reviews keep coming in for The Mars Imperative, and every single one of them complimentary. Here's the latest. It's pretty long, so I extracted the best parts to quote here. If you want to read the full review, use the link below.

[T]his is a professional work of fiction that sets high standards, far better than many novels I've read recently. [It] reminded me at the start of a Heinlein juvi and at the end more like an Alan Dean Foster novel.

I have no idea if the science aspect is believable or not but it sure felt believable; more importantly, the science aspect added to the story instead of detracting, a heck of an accomplishment. [T]he book was particularly appealing when it focused on the main character.

[I]n the final analysis … this is a 'new world' story handled with grace and style…. I give it four out of five stars. Count me in for book 2. I also plan to buy another copy for my Dad.

Paul Taylor (IncrementalGuy) from The Motley Fool web site "Science Fiction and Fantasy Books" discussion group.

Thanks, Paul!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Yet another great review of The Mars Imperative

Here's another terrific reader review for The Mars Imperative:

I really enjoyed the science and engineering aspects regarding space elevators. After having read so much about them in other SciFi novels, I always intended to educate myself about the science and engineering that must be involved, but never did. I'm taking TMI as my primer into space elevator technology.

What I liked best about the book was the dialogue. MTC wrote great, both internal dialogue and conversational dialogue. Through his dialogue he developed several strong characters which I look forward to following into his next books. The plot was strong and like all good SciFi, believably takes today's issues and projects them into space. And perhaps best of all, it had its funny parts, lots of them actually, which just made it all the much more fun to read. Good humor must be extremely difficult to write because I so rarely see it, especially in SciFi. […] I'm ready for all of the other Planetary Imperatives.

By the way, I plan to take advantage of the Fair Use Doctrine and use excerpts from the book to teach my 9th grade Biology class about symbiotic relationships and organic molecules. I'm always looking for ways to introduce popular fiction into my teaching. The average reading grade level of my high school students is 3rd grade, so I'm constantly using fiction to teach science content in a way that will get them more interested in reading. I'll also put a check-out sleeve on the back cover so they can check out the book to read. I know it'll just get lost or stolen anyway, so at least you'll sell more books to me that way!

Sara Burns (GeoGoddess) from The Motley Fool web site "All Things Sci-Fi" discussion group.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Still more reviews for TMI

I've gotten some more extremely complimentary reader reviews for The Mars Imperative in the last week. Here's another:

From Author's Den:

Fresh, unique, and smart, "The Mars Imperative" is a fly-by-the-seat science fiction juggernaut of excitement and adventure. The concept captured me immediately and the characters and plotline deliver thrills and chills not easily forgotten. One can easily picture this as the next cinematic blockbuster in the vein of "Star Wars," which was also revolutionary and ahead of its time in its day.
Shannon Phoenix