First Landing
Robert Zubrin
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    for readers. When the first human exploratory mission to Mars is left stranded on the planet, five scien…
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February 10, 2021

I've read a great deal of Mars fiction over the last 25 years, everything from Williamson to Robinson to Bova to Baxter, as well as earlier, classic stories from Clarke, Bradbury, and Asimov, to list a few. So I think I can say with some conviction that Robert Zubrin's First Landing is the worst Mars novel I've ever read, and that is a dubious distinction indeed.

I don't think this book does a single thing well. It is authentic pulp fiction: juvenile, stereotyped characters; old-school, ham-fisted, potboiler plotting. Everything is amped up on full blast. Nothing is subtle. All it needs is the unmasking of a Scooby Doo villain at the end.

Most surprisingly, this has none of the hallmarks of what Zubrin--a former Martin Marietta engineer--has been advocating for the last twenty years, and it even flatly contradicts him at key points (marking earth days instead of martian sols?; a historian on the crew!? You cannot be serious!).

If this piece of garbage was ghostwritten by a hack sci-fi writer--which I'm beginning to strongly suspect--I'd almost forgive Zubrin for the mistake. This is an odious novel, and it's so bad that I think it actually undermines the credibility of Zubrin's non-fiction. Pick almost any other Mars novel and it will be above this grade level. So read a middlebrow writer like Ben Bova instead. Hell, visit your bathroom and read the back of your toothpaste box instead. Zero stars, well-earned.

November 9, 2014

NO SPOILERS!! This was a good, old fashioned, straight forward adventure story. The writing was excellent and it consistently put you in the action. The characters were well developed/defined and little was left to wonder…which was good. The description of Mars was excellent and it gave your mind's eye a good vision of what the planet might look and feel like. The science portrayed in the book was used aptly and described so the lay person could understand it. Although most of the story takes place on Mars, the interplay between places like Washington DC and Houston, TX and the political tension part of the story was seamless. BOTTOM LINE - this was a fun, easy read and definitely worth the time.

July 26, 2018

What's the first or second thing people bring up about long space trips? Small quarters, crew potentially getting on each other's nerves, right? Right. So this guy managed to come up with a scenario in which the crew is *outright hostile* towards each other. Then, the first thing they do after landing and unpacking is debating what to do. Wtf? As if the mission doesn't have a defined goal and as if this mission wasn't planned ahead from the first to the last hour. "Let's go for the river beds first, because that is what humanity wants to know: is or was there life here?" "There was never life here, admit it! My science meetings rarely brought the possibility of life on Mars up." "Your meetings probably rarely contained real scientists." etc. until the third wheel joins in the conversation, saying -- I kid you not -- "There was never life on Mars. It says so in the bible." That's page 36 or so, and that's where I put the book down. I can't live with this whole crew, not even for only 200 pages, and even if I could stand the dialogue then the story (so far) is about as logical and plausible as Harry Potter.

Another telling example is near the beginning. The book starts during the landing, and after more than a year in space together, this is the moment where the commander mentally remarked that he should take mental note of one of the crew members keeping a cool head under stress. As if that wouldn't have come up in training or, barring that, in year where they were confined together in a spacecraft. The author apparently didn't consider what one would already know at that stage and published what reads as an early draft.

Name usage is also constantly changing: sometimes someone is referred to by their first, and sometimes by their last name, sometimes even mixing it in the same sentence ("McGee’s thoughts about Luke..."). Maybe it's intentional for some reason, but I've never seen a book do this. Sure, mixing names with titles (like "the biologist [did whatever]"), or using nicknames depending on the speaker, are both common ways to change out a name, but given names are usually used in a consistent manner so you don't have to learn two names for everyone from page one, alongside their function and optional nicknames.

This book is just completely incoherent, has bad dialogue, glosses over details, and for those looking for a book similar to The Martian because that one is awesome, this book is nothing like it.

January 29, 2009

Pretty terrible, the dialogue isn't believable, often too stupid or simple, or worst case scenario too clever sounding. The decriptions are limited and don't give us much more decription of mars than we already assume. Not much originality in that department.

November 8, 2007

Avoid books that have the following phrase on the back cover: "Yet somehow the crew must try to pull together." Recipe for disaster, that.

October 10, 2008

Pretty awful in almost every way. The dude's a great engineer with a knack for selling his ideas to the public, but a novelist he most certainly is not.

December 21, 2011

Rather simplistic novel depicting a mission to Mars. Goes hand in hand with The Case for Mars. A fun light read if you are into the space program.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1539

May 19, 2012

Slightly fluffy, mostly predictable. Some of the science is sound, some just convenient. Light, but not distasteful science faction.

June 30, 2015

I really wanted to like this book, but the one-dimensional, unrealistic characters and the stupid dialogue eventually became too much for me.

September 7, 2021

I love Zubrin as a futurist and advocate for Mars exploration, colonization and spaceflight in general. I read The Case for Mars years ago, so I recognized a great deal of the science in this book. That said, Zubrin should stick to non-fiction.

To say his characters are stereotypical doesn't even begin to cover it. They are literally types: macho military commander, beautiful brilliant doctor, absent minded professor, tomboy mechanic, politically connected but untalented scientist. And, of course, the tomboy mechanic is a Christian from a generation of coal miners... and the beautiful doctor is a entitled, trust-find, Ivy league know-it-all. That's the Martians; the Earthbound characters are even worse. The political events he describes on Earth are utterly unbelievable.

Like much of Zubrin's work, he dwells on the science when it serves his needs, and conveniently forgets it when it does not. For example, you get pages of explanation about orbital paths, followed by a decision to "increase our re-entry angle" because we're running low on air. (Trans-Mars re-entry angles don't have any leeway.) His pilot "bleeds off airspeed by sinking into the denser layers of the Martian atmosphere" (a mile deep into the Valles Marineras, no less) and then pops above the rim (as though he's flying in a plane not a spaceship) at just the right location to land. A Martian greenhouse can support 3 people using extra landing lights and 125kWh of "extra nuclear reactor power" daily (the Humboldt grads can do the hydroponic math; it doesn't compute). In short, you never know when it's science and when it's science fiction.

Bottom line, read much of Zubrin's other work. He's one of the few people in the world who has actually planned how to terraform and colonize Mars (also conveniently ignoring key science problems, like the lack of a Martian magnetic field.) But his nonfiction is good -- Elon Musk can plan Mars missions because Bob Zubrin paved the intellectual ground 30 years ago. He's worth reading for that reason alone. However, as a fiction writer, Zubrin is abysmal.

March 10, 2021

I would seriously question whether Dr. Robert Zubrin even wrote this book! Having read a couple of his non-fiction books about his terrific ideas (Mars Direct) for how to greatly simplify a manned mission to Mars, in comparison this book is a total and complete disaster. From beginning to end it is filled with many technical inaccuracies. In addition, the writing is sophomoric, the character development is pitiful, and the dialog is just plain stupid. One example of the technical inaccuracies is that at the beginning of the book, the crew is headed to Mars, and they've created artificial gravity by tethering the spaceship to an empty booster and then spinning the booster and spacecraft around. Anyone with any degree of technical smarts knows this is a completely unworkable solution - the tether would work fine under tension, but as soon as there is the slightest change in weight or weight-distribution, say like the crew moving around the spacecraft, the tension and force vectors in the tether would change, it could potentially go slack, and you'd get all sorts of weird oscillations and motions that couldn't be compensated for. In addition, as the spacecraft approaches Mars, the crew can't unfasten the tether, and when they finally do, the spacecraft is entering the Martian atmosphere at the wrong speed and trajectory. At that point, the spacecraft would either burn-up in the atmosphere, or it would bounce out of the atmosphere into space, and the crew would die because they couldn't get back to Mars. Let me assure you the rest of the book is filled with equally inane technical blunders. I would not recommend this book to anyone - it's just outright terrible! Do yourself a favor and stick to Dr. Zubrin's non-fiction instead!

August 28, 2013

Scroll down for the English version.

Una possibile avventura marziana

Definire questo romanzo fantascienza non sarebbe del tutto corretto, poiché la storia raccontata è realistica in ogni suo aspetto scientifico. Zubrin non si è inventato alcuna tecnologia che già non esistesse al tempo della scrittura di quest'opera, cioè più di 10 anni fa. Ciò fa di “First Landing” un'opera a metà strada tra il romanzo e il saggio, dove una storia di pura invenzione viene usata per fornire al grande pubblico dei lettori una notevole quantità di informazioni sia su Marte che sullo stato dell'arte della tecnologia aerospaziale che sarebbe in grado di portarci fino a lì.

Ovviamente poi la storia è ambientata in un futuro, che in parte è già passato per noi, e resta comunque finzione scientifica, cioè fantascienza ma nella sua traduzione diretta dall'inglese science fiction, non perché si parli di viaggiare nello spazio, ma perché ne illustra la fattibilità reale tramite una storia inventata.

D'altronde stiamo parlando di Robert Zubrin, fondatore della Mars Society e da sempre impegnato nel permettere all'umanità di approdare sul pianeta rosso con l'intenzione di colonizzarlo. La sua posizione è sicuramente ottimista, ma questo romanzo è soprattutto uno strumento di propaganda per il suo movimento (l'appendice ne è una prova), affinché si sviluppi un certo interesse sul raggiungimento di un traguardo che sembra ancora lontano. Zubrin ci dimostra che di fatto non lo è. Manca soltanto la volontà di raggiungerlo per un innumerevole quantità di motivi, tra cui molti di natura politica. Anche questo aspetto viene infatti in parte trattato nel romanzo.

Personalmente, sono fra coloro che vorrebbero vedere l'uomo conquistare e magari colonizzare Marte, finché sono ancora in vita, mi rendo conto che il nostro mondo ha altre urgenze e che un progetto di questa portata deve per forza di cose essere portato avanti con i giusti tempi, ma sono anche persuasa che portarci su Marte potrebbe aiutarci a risolvere una parte di queste necessità. Apprezzo perciò il lavoro di Zubrin, perché senza persone come lui, questo sogno sarebbe ancora più lontano.

Parlando della storia narrata in sé, senza considerare le sue implicazioni, non è affatto male. Mi ha tenuto col fiato sospeso, tanto che l'ho letta davvero in poco tempo, per sapere come sarebbe andata a finire. Il ritmo è sostenuto. I personaggi si trovano già da subito e sin fino alla fine ad affrontare situazioni di altissima tensione. Sono ben delineati e coerenti. I dialoghi ti catturano.

Se proprio voglio trovare un elemento negativo è la mancanza di vera drammaticità, poiché alla fine tutto in un modo o nell'altro viene risolto, e questo è l'unico aspetto di poca realisticità della storia. Nella realtà non tutto può essere risolto, soprattutto quando la narrazione si estende per un così lungo periodo in un luogo così pericoloso. Esiste un analogo reale in cui tutto alla fine è andato bene, cioè la storia dell'Apollo 13 (definito il più grande fallimento di successo della NASA), ma la situazione in quel caso era decisamente più “semplice”: in fin dei conti stavano andando sulla Luna e non erano su un pianeta a centinaia di milioni di chilometri dalla Terra.

Nonostante questo è senza dubbio uno dei libri più belli che abbia letto negli ultimi mesi e si merita il massimo dei voti.

A possible Martian adventure

Defining this novel just science fiction would not be entirely correct, since the story is realistic in every aspect of science. Zubrin has not invented any technology that does not already exist at the time of the writing of this work, i.e. more than 10 years ago. This makes “First Landing” a work halfway between a novel and an essay, where a story of pure invention is used to provide the general public with a considerable amount of information both on Mars and on the state of the art of aerospace technology that would be able to bring us up to there.

Obviously the story is set in the future, which unfortunaltely has already passed for us, and it is still science “fiction” (in particular hard science fiction), not because we are talking about space travel and so on, but because it illustrates the actual feasibility through a fiction (invented) story.

On the other hand we are talking about Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society and always involved in allowing mankind to land on the Red Planet with the intention to colonize it. His opinion is certainly optimistic, but this novel is primarily a propaganda tool for his organization (the appendix is proof of this), in order to develop an interest in achieving a goal that still seems far away. Zubrin shows us that in fact it is not. What is missing is only the will to achieve it for a countless number of reasons, including many political ones. This aspect is in fact partly covered in the novel.

Personally, I am among those who would like to see mankind conquer and colonize Mars, while I am still alive, and of course I realize that our world has many urgent needs and that a project of this magnitude must inevitably be carried out with the right timing, but I’m also persuaded that bringing us to Mars would help fix some of these Earthling needs. That’s why I appreciate the work of Zubrin, because without people like him, this dream would be even farther.

The story itself, without considering its implications, is not bad at all. It has held my breath, so I’ve read it really quickly, to know how it would end. The pace is fast. The characters must immediately and until the end face situations of high tension. They are well defined and consistent. The dialogues capture you.

If you really want to find a negative element, it is the lack of real drama, because in the end everything is resolved one way or another, and this is the only aspect of little realism of the story. In reality, not everything can be resolved, especially when the narrative extends over such a long period in such a dangerous place. There is a similar reality in which all went well in the end, that is the story of Apollo 13 (defined as the greatest successful failure of NASA), but the situation in that case was much more “simple”: in the end they were going to the Moon and they were not on a planet hundreds of millions of kilometres from Earth.

Although this, it is undoubtedly one of the most interesting books I’ve read so far and it deserves full marks.

September 11, 2022

What a fantastic book! I have to admit, I was a little wary of it at first because science fiction isn't my usual type of read. Once I started reading, however, I was engrossed by the story that Zubrin presents his readers. The concept of sending astronauts to Mars is one that has sparked the imaginations of thousands of people, even more so the idea of finding life on Mars. This book was definitely a page-turner that held my interest throughout each and every page. The mere idea of being stranded on Mars, millions and millions of miles away from Earth, without any backup necessities is not only a terrifying thought, but also a thought-provoking one, as well. I especially enjoyed the twist at the end of the novel, as far as the first Martians are concerned. In this novel, I liked the way that Zubrin makes the point of showing just how easy it is to stir up controversy in this country and how high-ranking officials will do anything to preserve the peace, or secure re-election, for that matter. Conspiracy and sabotage are definitely not new ideas in this country and Zubrin demonstrates how differing opinions can easily endanger missions and even more importantly, lives. I will admit that some of the technical NASA jargon was over my head, but Zubrin also makes sure that the reader knows just what is going on. Not only that, but I feel as though his expertise on the subject adds an air of authority to this novel, making it all the more believable and realistic.

July 31, 2017

Do you like science?

Good space stories?

How about people treating women like human beings instead of objects?

If you like those things then this ISN'T the book for you.

This book is awful. I couldn't even finish it because it drove me crazy. It's incredibly inaccurate, and I'd rather not read the internal dialogue of a casual misogynist.

February 1, 2020

I thought the book was good. It kept my attention. I read it after reading "The Martian" and was expecting something similar based on reviews and lists of mars books I found on the internet. It was quite a bit different and less technical but the story was interesting.

August 29, 2018

It was good book never got slow. I enjoyed reading it.

May 9, 2020

A great read, tension from ongoing's on Earth to trouble on Mars.

Great ending too.

September 21, 2020

Really good description of a possible first landing on Mars. A little dated with the technology after what we have learned since the two rovers landed on Mars.

April 8, 2023

Great Idea for a book. Unbelievably badly written and plotted. Reading his bio, one finds Dr. Zubrin has very many accomplishments. Fiction writing is not one of them.

March 7, 2010

"First Landing" is a quick reading no-brakes story (I devoured the 262 pages in a couple of sittings) about humankind's first landing on Mars that packs a shocker of an ending to boot. "First Landing" is the tale of a team of five Americans (three men and two women) that make the long the and perilous journey to Mars only to find themselves stranded by the vagaries of public opinion and a few nasty surprises. As a result they are forced to rely on themselves if they are to survive.

Wasting very little time with exposition Robert Zubrin (president of the Mars Society) jumps right into this story and never slows down until the end. His detailing is quite effective if somewhat limited. Despite the speed with which the story unfolds his characterization is sufficient for me to have rapidly made an emotional connection with main actors.

In an interesting addendum the books epilogue is Zubrin's contention that the type of mission he details in "First Land" is what he sees as a blue print for real manned mission to Mars by 2011. In that limited space he makes a convincing case for a more ambitious Mars program than the one currently being undertaken.

On the down side, I wished there were a bit more to this book. I would have liked to have spent more time getting to know these characters. Further, the swiftness with which things unfold leaves a few holes in the motivations of certain key actors that a longer novel could have addressed.

However, if you are fan of Mars fiction you will find "First Landing" a fun and fast read. It's not as detailed or plot heavy as Kim Stanley Robinson's "Red Mars", "Green Mars" and "Blue Mars" trilogy. But it definitely put a smile on my face when I finished.

January 10, 2014

A great science fiction book set in the early 21st century. This exhilarating tale grabs you from the first pages as you wonder if the crew of the Beagle will be able to survive both the challenges of the environment and the internal conflict that occur when you put together this type of mission. It has been a long time since I actually got so involved in a story that I actually did a fist pump at a high point. This is a must read for anyone who loves Mars, space exploration or adventure tales.

May 3, 2016

Robert Zubrin is a NASA Engineer who was single handedly responsible for the plans NASA used and developed for its Mars Program in the early 2000s. this book demonstrates the character needed for people to actually reach the stars. Robert was responsible for the development of the Arctic Mars project. this book was written in 2001 while the possibility of sending manned trips to mars was still in the works. unfortunately since then the economics of space travel has shelved much of the NASA program leaving private entrepeneurs as the only way forward.

September 28, 2012

An excellent read! The story centers on the first Mars Landing, it is an interesting fiction. A thought provoking story that made me wonder why this has never been done. It is pointed out in the afterword that we have had the technical capability for years.

August 15, 2014

enjoyed ready about the Mars direct program and a fictional version of how it could play out. at times, there was a little to much political nonsense. I understand, however, that this is the way of the modern world, especially as it pertains to NASA.

August 5, 2015

Apparently the author was too excited over what people would find on Mars and how it would affect people on Earth than actual science or description of what the scientists are actually doing there. At the first opportunity, the action heads back to Earth and tends to stay there.

November 30, 2014

A novel where it's obvious that the author is not as intelligent as his subjects. It shows. 5 land on Mars for the first time. Sabotage prompts innovation and hard work. Ends with 2+1 stay and 3 return.