Explore Mars with this Italian bestselling hard science fiction series, now available in English!
Imagine yourself among the dust and rocks of Mars, among its enormous flatlands and insidious canyons, halfway between the urgency to explore and the desire to survive.
Praise for Red Desert in Italy
“Beautiful, introspective, intense science fiction. In the end, the real planet to be explored is us.” – WIRED Magazine
“An engaging, credible, suspenseful narrative.” – Tom’s Hardware
“It combines fiction and scientific rigour and outlines a credible scenario in hypothesising how the human colonisation of Mars can take place.” – Global Science (Italian Space Agency magazine)
RED DESERT - POINT OF NO RETURN by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli
Anna left at dawn.
She entered the Martian desert, all alone.
Where is she going?
What secret is she hiding?
In what looks like a suicide attempt, Swedish exobiologist Anna Persson, crew member of the Isis, secretly leaves Station Alpha at the crack of dawn to travel deep into the Martian desert in a pressurised rover.
As she journeys to the limit of her two day oxygen supply, she shows us memories of events from her past leading up to the mission. Little by little, as time and oxygen run out, she reveals the real Anna.
Whatever her goal, wherever it is, will Anna reach her destination?
RED DESERT - PEOPLE OF MARS by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli
Station Alpha: 1000 days, 5 persons.
Mysterious discoveries.
Friendship, jealousy, hatred, betrayal.
Death.
Where’s Anna?
What’s hiding in Valles Marineris?
After 995 days on Mars, the enthusiasm of the Isis crew has turned into frustration and intolerance. Their research hasn't provided the hoped for outcomes, the resources at their disposal are insufficient, and NASA had previously cancelled the launch of a second mission, which would have brought more colonisers and equipment to the planet.
Relationships among the five members of the expedition have become difficult. Station Alpha is home to a complex web of conflicts, secrets, alliances, and rivalries.
Now a new launch window is about to open, but the news from Houston isn't reassuring at all. While the finding of a possible ice sac might give a positive turn to the events, Anna, embittered by the unusual behaviour of Robert and the cold war against Hassan, is considering the opportunity to return to Earth.
When death strikes amongst the five inhabitants of Mars, Anna finds her only possible choice is a solitary escape.
But Mars has got an incredible discovery in store for her, a key to a mystery hidden in the depths of Valles Marineris.
RED DESERT - INVISIBLE ENEMY by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli
Mars hasn’t always been red.
Once it was covered by oceans.
It was blue, hospitable, inviting.
Then everything changed, but something remained . . . waiting.
The joy of finding the small community living in Ophir is soon shattered by the news coming from Houston about the loss of contact with Station Alpha. In fact for more than a day now, no life signs have been detected inside the habitat.
So, together with Jack, Anna sets out for Lunae Planum again. She’s assailed by dread about Robert’s and Hassan’s fate, and also by doubts concerning their involvement in the death of both the Isis mission commander, and most of all, his wife.
However, having to face Michelle’s murderer is only the first of her problems.
Torn between the desire to return to Earth and the ambition of getting the credit for her scientific discoveries, Anna will see her feeble certainties waver several times, until the revelation of a more devious danger concealed by the Red Planet: an invisible enemy, whose mysterious intent menaces her existence and the one of the only person who is still at her side.
RED DESERT - BACK HOME by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli
They’ve succeeded in escaping.
And are going back home.
But they aren’t alone.
Now that the adventure on Mars is over, what will become of Earth?
Earth.
It’s their home, they were born and raised there, but at the same time they’ve never set foot there. And so the deep feelings that Anna and Hassan have as they return to their own planet, after almost five years, are mixed with the marvel of the foreign entity they bring with them, as it lands on a new world.
The two survivors of the Isis mission are welcomed as heroes, but they can’t enjoy the adulation.
The intent they are pursuing has priority over everything else.
Besides the internal battle between the new Anna and the old, two more conflicts consume her: the one against the hidden dangers brought by Earth itself, not to mention its inhabitants, and a more complex one involving her own feelings, which will force her to make an important choice affecting her future. In the meantime, on the Red Planet, Melissa finds herself deepening her exploration of human nature, torn between dread and disdain against it, and a growing sense of belonging.
But someone, intrigued by the sudden acceleration of the whole Isis program, is beginning to have suspicions.
Now that the adventure on Mars is over, what will Anna’s choice be? What will become of Earth?
