Glory on Mars

Book excerpt: A one-way journey to Mars may be a mistake. Welcome to the first book of the On Mars series, a story of our near-future. Before you volunteer to settle on Mars, read Emma's struggle to slip the bonds of Earth and survive on a hostile planet. There are eight settlers on Mars until the colony's psychologist walks out an airlock to die on the cold, airless sands. Emma and her crewmates, the next mission of settlers, launch from Spaceport America despite the tragedy and despite their own misgivings. They take a tabby kitten with them, as requested by the survivors on Mars, and hope to revive the shocked colony. Emma leaves everything she knows behind, including a sometimes-boyfriend who's dropped from the next mission - all for a chance to explore the Martian surface in her robotic walkabout suit. Her arrival on Mars isn't welcomed by all the colonists, and the mission loses more lives and vital supplies in a crash landing that may not be an accident. Crippled by an inexplicable sense of desolation, they face an unforgiving planet and even Earth may hold danger. The question isn't if the colonists will explore, but if they'll survive at all.