I Walked on Mars (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798199204002)

A realistic near-future novel about humanity's first permanent settlement on Mars, blending technical detail, human drama and a forward-looking vision of space exploration. This first volume follows the selection, training and departure of the first colonists.

David is not an astronaut, an engineer, a fighter pilot or an elite soldier. He is an ordinary man. Yet Hermes, an artificial intelligence designed to see what human recruiters miss, selects him for an extraordinary mission: helping establish the first permanent human settlement on Mars.

At his side is Stella, an American nurse whose strength lies not in commanding machines, but in keeping people alive, together and moving forward. Before Mars comes the selection. Medical examinations. Psychological tests. Survival training. Centrifuges, spacesuits, simulations and emergency procedures. Strangers must become a crew before they can become colonists. And Hermes is watching.

The AI sees their fears, silences, weaknesses and instincts. It does not create love, but it reaches a conclusion before David and Stella do: they may be stronger together than apart. What begins as an immense technical and scientific challenge gradually becomes something more intimate. On a mission where isolation can be as dangerous as vacuum, trust, loyalty and human bonds may prove as essential to survival as engineering.

I Walked on Mars is the first novel in a four-book near-future hard science fiction series following the selection, journey, construction and evolution of humanity's first permanent settlement on Mars.

Realistic spaceflight, artificial intelligence, survival, technology, love and the beginning of a new world come together in a future our own generation could live to see.

For readers who want to explore the universe further, I Walked on Mars - The Author's Vision is the visual companion to the story, while Arcadia - Manual of the First Martian City explores the engineering and urban foundations of the settlement.