RED VALLEY

A group embarks on a mission to populate the planet Mars in Teller's SF novel.

In 2028, Michael Teller and his family are among the few chosen to take the monthslong journey to Mars to establish a human population on the planet. His father, Doriel, is already there, part of the early teams sent ahead to start mining for water and to prepare the habitats. Onboard the Providence with Michael’s family are other settlers, all with important jobs and skills that will be necessary throughout the trip and their future lives on a distant planet. But despite the many years they have all trained and studied for this momentous occasion, nothing can truly prepare them for the realities of the sojourn through space, such as the loss of gravity, micrometeoroid hits, failing tethers, and the stresses of being cooped up for months. The fallout includes surprise pregnancies, drug usage, and even death. Will they even make it to Mars? And if they do, will the trip be worth everything they’ve suffered, or is the hardship just beginning? The author gives readers an almost disturbingly real look at what it might be like to send humans into deep space. Those who prefer their SF to be heavy on the science will find this book to be full of technical tidbits, with lots of details about dealing with waste, the ways water is stored and used onboard, and much more (“Nineteen minutes after first stage separation, the computer displayed the red-striped second stage and our MiniHab over the Caribbean, at an elevation of 243 kilometers, traveling more than twenty-eight thousand kilometers per hour”). The cast of characters can be difficult to keep up with, as almost all of the adults onboard are doctors of some kind, but the helpful cast list will guide readers.

A heavily detailed SF story about a journey to Mars that focuses more on the science than the fiction.