The Sunborn

By Gregory Benford

     Julia and Viktor have found life on Mars. The Marsmat grows in the caverns of Mars, but it is the only life form that seems to have survived. It has either developed some kind of self-protective system or it is trying to communicate with humans. However, this time Viktor was injured in the attempt to find out just what those iron veins that ran through the caverns did.

       They had been on Mars for twenty years, and because of the light gravity they could not go home again. Yet if left to their own devices on Mars, the world’s most famous couple could get hurt or killed. They were too valuable to the Consortium to risk leaving them on Mars. So their boss, Axelrod, decided to send them on another mission, this time to Pluto.

       Axelrod’s daughter, Shanna, was captain of the International Space Agency’s mission to Pluto mostly by default. The original captain on the mission had died in an accident. Shanna Axelrod had simply assumed command. She did not intend to give it up, not even to Julia and Viktor. After all, it was she who had made the greatest find in history. She had found life on the lonely planet of Pluto, sentient life!

       The Sunborn is a fiction of hard science that is all too plausible. Julia and Viktor are stepping into an arena for which they may not be suited. Can life exist on Pluto? Can it exist on Mars? It seems unlikely, but the science explored in this book is sound. Life is possible anywhere God decides to put it. Whether it is really there as is described in this book remains to be seen, but the speculation is quite interesting. For those of us who love hard science fiction, this book is a rare treat. Pick up a copy and enjoy a good read.