The Mars Frontier

The novel has three series. The Lunar Frontier follows Will Elliott, the chief protagonist, and the return of human beings to the moon in 2028. Will’s geological brilliance and his articulate description of the geology he sees, particularly for the benefits of the geologists in mission control, and his prolific writing about the moon earn him the sobriquet “the Moon Man.” The novel assumes technology very similar to Elon Musk’s Falcon rocket. It covers the years 2028 to 2033.

The second series, The Mars Frontier, follows Will Elliott as a member of the first crew landed on Mars in 2036 and his decision to remain and, ultimately, to raise a family there. The 19 volumes cover almost 40 years of the development of Mars until it becomes an independent sovereignty. Will is in charge of the community on Mars on and off and via various administrative titles most of the time. It covers the years 2035 to 2073.

The third series, The Mariners, follows the first Mars-born generation (including Will Elliott’s children and grandchildren) as they move out to the other planets of the solar system and continue to contribute to the development of the Marsian Commonwealth. It covers the years 2073 to 2096.

The Mars Frontier was the first of the three to be written. The Lunar Frontier followed as a prequel and necessitated some rewritting of The Mars Frontier to accommodate the plot and technology. The Mariners was started right before I completed The Mars Frontier and was dropped for a while. The Mariners is now closing out with twelve volumes that complete the story to 2096.

The novel attempts to make reasonable assumptions about the technology available to send humans to the moon and Mars in the 2020s and 2030s, but speeds up the pace of settlement for dramatic purposes. It also explores the development of Marsian culture (“Martian” refers to the planet’s natural environment, “Marsian” refers to human institutions and conventions developed there; hence the use of “Mars” in the title, as the novel deals with both).

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First Series: The Lunar Frontier

The Second Series: The Martian Frontier

The Third Series: The Mariners

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