Reviewed by Saifunnissa Hassam for Readers' Favorite

Thomas Verschelden’s People, Get Ready is a gripping, character-driven, and suspense-filled science fiction story about a mysterious rise in the density of the Martian atmosphere. Glenn Anderson is the manager of Mars Data Processing at NASA. He and his analyst, Oliver, are puzzled when a rise appears in recent Martian atmospheric density measurements. Glenn and Oliver collect and analyze more data. The conclusion is the same each time. Somehow, the density of the Martian atmosphere is changing. He reports his findings to NASA director Jacob. The result is a top-level meeting with the President of the US. She realizes that the mysterious observations cannot be ignored, even though there is no explanation for the phenomena. She shares the information with the other major space exploration nations and draws on their space capabilities to put together an international manned mission to Mars. Glenn heads the operations team that oversees the manned mission. The entire world is on edge as the mission arrives on Mars. Are there extraterrestrial beings on Mars? Are there other intelligent beings in space? The tension and action ratchet up as the story twists and turns dramatically.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading People, Get Ready for its remarkable character development and thought-provoking and imaginative storyline. I became totally caught up in the story by the vivid and vibrant descriptions of characters and settings, and the well-crafted dialogues that were matter-of-fact and yet conveyed the intensity of events. I liked how the character development unfolded, particularly that of the President of the US, her excellent leadership and diplomatic skills, and her equally excellent ability to grasp the big picture and significance for the entire world. The story was greatly enriched by the in-depth character development of key characters. I enjoyed the way philosophical and ethical questions are interwoven into the narrative, through the principal characters and the key characters in the later chapters. Finally, I loved the way the story climbs to a fantastic climax and a captivating ending. I highly recommend Thomas Verschelden’s book to fans who enjoy character-driven sci-fi, space technology development, and stories involving thought-provoking philosophical and ethical dilemmas of the impact of space exploration.