This is an excellent, well written, beautifully illustrated, and informative book. The author does a great job of explaining the data available at the time of publication from Mars orbiters, surface probes and rovers.

Fun reading for space nuts, people who still dream of seeing a human footprint on Mars in their life time. This is like one of those Frommer's guides, an overview of all the Martian hot spots, featuring lovely photographs and graphics. I keep it beside my bed. To help trigger dreams of red sand, half-buried cities, intriguing bones and alien histories... ( )

I bought this book primarily because I am a science fiction author and have even placed a few of my stories on Mars. I thought having a book that gave me more information on the world could help with future stories. The depth of information in these well-written and informative pages is incredible, and not only for any story placed on Mars, but as a general look at an alien world.

Hartmann's in depth knowledge of the world and is excellent ability to explain the formations has created a far better understanding of this fascinating world than anything else I have ever read. Even the two fold out maps at the front of the book -- one showing the 'Classic' map of the Martian landscape from the 1960's and the second a topographical map created between 1997 and 2000 -- are fascinating to look at.

The pictures in this book are extraordinary. Different sections of the world are shown and the landscape explained. Ancient oceans, huge mountains, outflows, canyons... Mars is a world filled with breathtaking scenery. Until we can go to visit the world itself, this is the best way to take a trip to another world.

Harmann has a wonderful writing style that takes what could have been a dull recitation of facts made slightly better by great photos, into an exciting fun journey. He is the first winner of the Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society, and an author of both nonfiction and fiction works.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the mysterious Red Planet. Science writing is rarely this much fun. ( )

While Mr. Hartmann is an evolutionist, this book is still fascinating for the creationist. The pictures are exquisite. Having read C.S. Lewis' "Out of the Silent Planet" it is easy to imagine that Mars was once filled with life, but a cosmic battle like that pictured in Revelations 12 laid it waste. ( )