Time Bomb

Mars Diaries #3

by Sigmund Brouwer

Fourteen-year-old virtual reality specialist Tyce Sanders, his father, and Director Rawlings set out across the Martian plain to discover the significance of the mysterious black boxes that suddenly appeared after a landquake.

Genres: Science Fiction, Christian, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Religion

113 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Sigmund loves going to schools to get kids excited about reading, reaching roughly 80,000 students a year through his Rock&Roll Literacy Show.

Reviews

[Colin Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part 3 of my quick foray into all the middle grade novels I've had on my bookshelf for more than 10 years that I never got around to reading when I was younger so I can make room for more books on my shelf:

Book 3 was more of the same.
I think the plot is getting a bit too convoluted for its own good. It still made sense, but why jump through so many hoops like this to write an engaging story when you dedicate so much of the 113 pages to recapping the previous two books. It leads to underdeveloped plots and quick resolutions. Very little character growth as well. I think there's a lot to explore within the relationships of the characters but it's all sacrificed for the minimal plot details and the forced gospel messages. A lot of the problems with these books could be solved if they were even just slightly longer. 200 pages, that's enough to develop the plot, develop the characters a bit more, and still have the copy-paste recaps and the way too direct and over-the-heads-of-the-typical-readers-of-these-books biblical apologetics messages.

The target audience confuses me. Tyce and Ashley are 13/14, but these books (in the early 2000's) are probably at the reading level of a kid who is in 4th-5th grade. Not 8th. Just odd.

[Tarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool episode in the Mars Diaries series. There's more interplanetary intrigue in store for Tyce Sanders, a 14-year-old living in a Mars colony. After a "marsquake" takes place and shakes things up, strange black boxes appear on the surface of the dusty terrain. Field trip time for Tyce, his virtual reality robot, his mentor Rawling, and his dad. And it turns into a pretty scary field trip, I might add.

Recommended best for Christian tweens, teens (and yeah, even adults).

[Mary Emma Sivils · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some interesting twists with this one, and I enjoyed having a certain character step in as the villain. My gut tells me he'll show up again to play that part later in the series.
However, it annoyed me how much information from the last two books was repeated at the beginning of this one. I realize that's for the benefit of readers who start the series out of order, but it seemed a little over-the-top. I'm hoping the next book has less of that.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! It was action packed and took several turns I wasn't expecting. Also, Tyce and Ashley's relationship was much more friend-like than the last book, which I hope continues.

A full review of the series will be posted once I finish reading it.

[M. G. A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio. Easy.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m really enjoying this series even though the technology is rapidly becoming outdated.
Compelling comments at the conclusion of this “episode” of the Diaries.

[Chance Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going through the series. How does book number three hold up? This one is better than the last two. Perfect no but that's something I'll be getting into.

Cover
Cohesive with the rest. Photo fits the story well. Only thing I would say is the the peachy/orange blends a little to well with the red for my liking. Makes sense and decent cover. I like the date and the summery on the side of the front.

Interior
To keep it positive I really wanted to say that the overarching story was actually stronger than the first two. Conspiracy, politics, adventure, danger, and mystery. It really is more enjoyable. The characters even seem more structured. There were two things that did rub me the wrong way in the story.

With this book based on a bible less Christianity I feel like I had to call out the error of blasphemy in it. Disagree if you wish but it's inaccurate.
Jesus NEVER claimed to be God!!!
I'll leave that at that...

I did see a bit of a plot hole.
While Bane is back as chairman his threat of mutiny on our trio doesn't really hold water. They were commanded by the UN to go investigate. Now to me that sounds like the bosses boss make a command before Bane was in command. Which would mean their orders came from UN and they don't have to answer to Bane about their directive. Bane needed to contact UN for answers.

Standard criticism
For the first time there feels like a risk was taken in this book. Even still going through the series book by book I am finding the virtual reality description too repetitive as well as the description of the robot. I would have eased into the descriptions as the book goes on like the analysis on the robot's finger or the censors on the robot body. Did I mention this kid is in a wheelchair? Because he's in a wheelchair. It's reminds us a little too much.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this after my 12 yo son recommended it to me. I was happy to see that it reviews some of the facts about Mars that he learned earlier this year studying astronomy. I thought it was fairly exciting and suspenseful for a junior high book. I missed the first two, but I didn't have trouble figuring out what was going on, and I would read another. The message (science can't solve all our problems or answer all our questions about life) is spelled out pretty clearly, but I didn't find it overly pedantic as some Christian fiction can be. I enjoy more "science-y" science fiction, and after all the fantastical sci-fi I've read lately, this was a nice change. You can imagine something like this happening sometime in the future of the universe we know (not in some galaxy, far, far away where people move things with their mind etc.). Fun, easy read.

[Richard Pittman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've enjoyed the previous books in this series, but this one was not as enjoyable. The books are overtly christian, which I did not know when I checked the first one out of the library to read to my my daughter. I am wary of overtly religious books because so many of them have terrible theology. The first two books in the series, though, were a lot more about using religion to build a meaningful life and to inform morality. I am fine with that. This book had sections that were a lot more about "you should be a christian because otherwise you'll go to hell." I don't have time for that. It was disappointing from a series that had done better than that. I will get the next one to read to my daughter at some point. Hopefully it will return to the previous style.

[jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of strange, but still great

[Ayesha Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

clean science fiction

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F BRO md bk. 3

Science Fiction

[Frode · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a kid book like the rest in the series. My grandsons like them, and Brouwer writes with a clever twist here and there.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

First misfire in the series. The plot is nearly identical to last book. How many alien life scares are these people going to go through in a matter of months?