Starbound

November 30, 2009
The workmanlike sequel to 2008's Marsbound
continues the adventures of red planet colonist Carmen “The Mars Girl” Dula and her pilot husband, Paul Collins, as they set out on a deep space mission to save humankind from possible annihilation. After barely surviving the first encounter with an alien Other, Earth's leaders decide to send a ship with seven envoys after the Other's craft in a possibly suicidal attempt to reach the Other's home world and forge some kind of understanding. During the 6½-year voyage, the crew comes to some startling realizations concerning humankind and its place in the stars. Reminiscent of Asimov's early work and Heinlein's juvenile novels, the naïve tone, two-dimensional characters, and simplistic story line make for a fast-paced but unremarkable read.

January 15, 2010
A team of humans and Martians travel together through space to search for the home world of the mysterious race the Others to convince them not to destroy humanity. The author of the sf classic "The Forever War" knows how to combine hard sf with genuinely believable characters, both alien and human, in a suspenseful tale laced with Haldeman's sense of humor. VERDICT Haldeman's popularity is owing to the timeliness of subject and his appeal to sf fans of many generations. An important and entertaining addition to most sf collections.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2010
Haldemans Marsbound (2008) introduced Carmen Dula, an impish teenager who migrated with her family to Mars and stumbled across honest-to-god Martians living under the planets surface. By that novels end, it was clear that the Martians are pawns of the Others, a remote, alien race that regards humans as a pestilence deserving extermination. As the story continues, Carmen joins a team of five other humans and two Martians on a six-year, interstellar journey to the Others homeworld in a desperate effort to forge a truce. Their spacecraft is a well-stocked minimansion embedded inside a comet harnessed to an engine running on a mysterious, Others-derived energy source. En route, Carmen and company do their best to stave off boredom while speculating whether the Others will offer greetings or simply annihilate them. Yet when they arrive far sooner than expected, the astonishing surprise the Others actually have in store for them is something no one had anticipated. Haldemans crisp storytelling and juicy plot twists keep us captivated throughout.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)