The Fifth Man - John B. Olson and Randall Ingermanson Book Review

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"The Fifth Man"
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Review Summaries

" John B. Olson, Randall Ingermanson Bethany House, 2002, 361 pp. ISBN: 0764227327 The crew has reached Mars after a harrowing near death space trip from earth (see OXYGEN). Now a new survival test begins with the crew trying to live on a planet that makes Antarctica seem like a sauna and no rescue flight possible. Nothing should be able to survive in this frozen inhabitant. The four member crew struggles with the harshness of life while trying to meet NASA's detailed expectations in which every nanosecond is booked. Meanwhile, deeply religious microbial ecologist Dr. Valkerie Jansen finds proof that life once existed on the angry red planet, but swears she has also seen a “fifth man” sabotaging their mission. No one else has seen this ET so Commander Dr. Bob Kaganovski worries that she is cracking up under the strain. Illness has hit the team too in what seems like a War of the Worlds reversal. Martian madness grips the crew, but is that why Bob cannot stop looking at Valkerie while they wonder if infected, can they go home? The second book in John B. Olson, and Randall Ingermanson marvelous Martian mission, THE FIFTH MAN, is a Christian science fiction thriller that enables the audience to feel they are living on the frozen tundra along with the crew. Harriet Klausner "
Harriet Klausner, Resident John B. Olson and Randall Ingermanson Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%

Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story Yes
Plotlets: - fighting a disease/illness affecting everyone - surviving natural elements on planet
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Religious overtones? Yes

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Profession/status: - champion of justice
Age: - 20's-30's
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - An "It".
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some

Setting
Which planet? - Mars
Not Earth, in Solar System? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - significantly more dialog than descript

Most similar books by Gordonator ranking
Oxygen by John B. Olson and Randall Ingermanson
Wyrms by Orson Scott Card
Out of the Silent Planet - Space Trilogy 1 by C.S. Lewis
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller Jr.
Heirs of Empire by David Weber

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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