The Sunborn - Martian Race, Bk 2 Author:Gregory Benford The first manned mission to Mars has been a resounding success, and excitement grows as more new discoveries are made. However, one discovery continues to defy rational explanation -- the 'marsmat' -- a complex anaerobic life-form found in the planet's honeycomb of tunnels. This raises questions about the nature and meaning of life i... more »tself which will lead the curious and the driven to Pluto and beyond, to the cold void at the fringes of the solar system.
Their historic mission to Mars made Julia and Viktor the most famous astronauts of all time. Now, decades later, they are ordered by the Consortium to Pluto, where they will rendezvous with another star-ship led by the brilliant, arrogant Captain Shanna Axelrod. Here, on the frozen ammonia shore of Pluto's methane sea, Shanna has discovered intelligent creatures thriving in the -300 degree temperatures. But even as their findings shift from the amazing to the inconceivable, the two crews must overcome their own intense rivalry to work together. For the most remote reaches of the solar system are filled with unimaginable wonders...and countless forces that will crush all human life.« less