Got my hands on this old battered paperback book from the local Oxfam Shop, Published by Penguin Books in 1989/90, it really is a very good science fiction book, an addictive book, I read the book within the 3 days I had off work during the recent UK Bank holiday period. One thing about working in library with a university is that you get plenty of spare time/holidays. This is book two in The Martian Wars Trilogy. Even though I have not read book 1 or 3 of the trilogy, I was able to get the overall story of the trilogy from book 2. The story line is easy to follow and understand and not too over-complicated, sometimes in science fiction books, authors cram too much into their pages and over-complicated things, but within this book the authors writing style is very east to follow. There is a small picture at the start of each chapter, which I feel is a nice touch and breaks the plainness of a typical book up. When I read a book, I like the book to be easy reading and this book certainly puts a tick in the box for that demand. In the early pages of the book a visual map is displayed which covers the space solar system in which the story line will take place, which again is a nice touch and makes things simpler for the reader. Also in the early pages you are informed that the books story takes place in the year 2456 (Rebellion). If I am honest I cannot remember much of the TV series in order to compare this books story line with, thus said this books own story is enough to image the Buck Rogers universe. A typical science fiction, Buck playing the role of the good guy, with plenty of villains and bad guys. The quality of this book is good despite being 25 years old, a good story-line can last for ever, the story line in this book does not feel out-dated or anything, it is a very enjoyable book, so enjoyable that if I ever see any more Buck Rogers books in the shops, I could be tempted to purchase and read them. The Buck Rogers universe is a very interesting environment. Please note in my profile, that I have read allot of books that I do not own, this is because of two factors, many of what I read are from the library shelves in which I work, others have been purchased 2nd hand from Charity shops and once I have read them, I return them to the charity shops so that other people can read them. Finally if you a science fiction fan you could do allot worse than consider reading Buck Rogers books in the future. ( )