While not gorging on turkey this past week, I read a couple of Mars-related books: Mapping Mars by Oliver Morton (not to be confused with Andrew Morton, biographer to the dimmer stars), and Mars Crossing by Geoffrey Landis.

Mapping Mars is a more up-to-date, less technical, and more gossipy trip down the same path as Sheehan's classic The Planet Mars (available free online via the University of Arizona). It's a fun read, with a lot of 'personal anecdote' history from those who have shaped the way we see Mars -- whether in the form of actual maps of the planet or "mental maps" of how the planet is felt as a "Place". The only serious flaw I saw was in Morton's fawning adoration of Kim Stanley Robinson, particularly in regards to Robinson's collectivist politics and green religiosity as embodied in the Mars Trilogy. However, I only had to hold my nose through one chapter and a few scattered paragraphs -- the rest of the book was a good read.

Mars Crossing I found a bit flat. It's an entertaining story, with an interesting premise and great descriptions of the Martain terrain as witnessed from the point of view of astronauts on the surface. However, the characters just didn't do anything for me, and I didn't find their predicament all that compelling. Indeed, characters were dropping off (some literally) left and right, but whenever someone died it was a "ho-hum" event. The ending was unsatisfactory and abrupt after what buildup of tension there was, and followed a blatant deus ex machina plot contrivance. There's a lot of interesting scientific and engineering content in the book -- too many interesting, "gee-whiz" things, perhaps -- but that isn't enough to save the story intended to cement it together. This is not to say that it's a bad book, but it just doesn't quite live up to its potential.