Mars! A reading list of 22 books compiled by the Yahoo Science Fiction Books Group

Last December The Yahoo Science Fiction Books Group posted “Mars! A Reading List” of twenty-two books and one film on Amazon's Listmania! Here is the introductory piece to the list:

"Exploring new worlds is one of the central themes of science fiction, and no world has sparked the imagination more than the Red Planet, our neighbor Mars. From fanciful early tales of Martian civilizations to more modern stories of exploration and colonization, Mars has been fertile ground for science fiction writers. We asked the members of the Yahoo Science Fiction Books group to share their favorite books about Mars. Most are set on Mars, while some are about expeditions trying to reach Mars, and a few are about Martians coming to visit Earth. Here are 23 of our favorites.”

1. Voyage (1996), by Stephen Baxter
“This is the first novel in the NASA Trilogy, an alternative history in which Kennedy survives his assassination attempt and commits the nation to a manned expedition to Mars and beyond. A realistic story of what could have been.”

2. Moving Mars: a Novel (1993), by Greg Bear
“Casseia Majumdar is a native of Mars, a student leader turned politician working to prevent a conflict with Earth. Her former boyfriend, Charles Franklin, leads a team that discovers how to
‘tweak’ the fundamental constants of physics, which gives them great power and makes them a threat to Earth.”

3. The Martian Race (1999), by Gregory Benford
“With NASA languishing, a $30 billion prize is offered to the first private organization to visit Mars and return. An eccentric billionaire puts together a team, which must beat the Chinese-European entry, do some real science, survive, and return intact. The science is spot on, but the story-telling is engaging as well.”

4. Mars (1992), by Ben Bova
“An excellent, hard sci fi story of the first exploratory mission to Mars. Bova’s attention to detail makes the story realistic and believable. Part of his Grand Tour series of novels.”

5. Return to Mars (1999), by Ben Bova
“The main character in Mars, geologist Jamie Waterman, returns with a second crew with an itch to explore what he thinks might be ruins in Valles Marineris.”

Read the entire list of 23 items.