Review 6 :

It’s the years 2320s and Mars has been colonized by mining concerns, turning it into a planet-sized company town. An earth-born professor, George Mills, has immigrated to Mars and built a super-intelligent computer reminiscent of HAL in 2001, but far more sophisticated. George and his lady friend, Dr. Joanne Zhu, have used the computer to alter the gene structure of fifty Mars-born children, thereby creating a race beyond superhuman in abilities and intelligence. The earthly military/industrial complex finds these developments so frighteningly threatening they respond violently.

Those who grew up cutting our teeth on superb science fiction classics and their authors often bemoan the fact that they don’t write them like they used to. This is because too few scientists are also science fiction writers—at least until now. Peter Dingus is the real deal, a research physicist and computer expert, he brings his science training and knowledge to his writing. In my estimation, he has picked up the standard Arthur C. Clarke dropped when he passed on. This is classic sci fi at its best. We rated it five hearts.

Bob Spear, Heartland Reviews

Review 7 :

Couldn't put it down- the short description of this book doesn't do it justice.

Based solely on the description of this book, I might have passed... but instead I stumbled across a great thought-provoking story that I couldn't put down. This book was better than Michael Crichton's genetic thriller "Next." Unlike Crichton's books that are set more or less in current times, Proteus Rising is a sci-fi book set far in the future so it's a bigger challenge to suspend disbelief. But the author manages to pull it off nicely. At its core this book is about flaws in human nature that have plagued us throughout history. We fear people who are different, and our first response to conflict is usually aggression. Proteus Rising's plot unfolds around an ingenious way to correct these flaws through genetic engineering. Ironically, this likely solution to chronic war, bigotry, and social conflict is very threatening to a society comprised of a species that's accustomed to being dominant. The very existence of a solution triggers the fears and aggressive response it was intended to solve.

When reading this book, even the most pacifist among us will be inclined to consider whether they could accept a path to peace and harmony that would involve surrendering control and eventually being replaced by a new species. At a more current level, this is not unlike the questions some societies face when political or religious revolution loom.

Review 8 :

Written by a particle physicist, PROTEUS RISING reads like something from David Brin. With our technology continually coming up with new ways to read e-books, consumers will be in the market for science-fiction that’s as progressive as the medium we choose to read it with. This book should be on that list if you like the concepts of mankind living on Mars, and genetic manipulation. What does our future hold? This is one possibility….

Proteus is a program designed by a professor of physics at a university on Mars. It is a secret program that important people on Earth want desperately to acquire. And, as long as Earth has sent several battle-cruisers to Mars to put down a rebellion, there’s muscle to apply to this problem as well. Just what is the Proteus project? And how in heavens does the shy Dr. George Mills always seem to be one step ahead of Earth’s intelligence services?

Mars wants independence from Earth. George Mills, his AI friend Will, and a handful of very unusual children suddenly find themselves as a pivotal part of that rebellion.

PROTEUS RISING is well written with just the right proportions of action, description, characterization, mystery, and plotting to keep the reader hooked. It does bog down in a couple of places with data-dumps--but no more so than a David Brin story does!

KC Heath, Yet Another Book Review Site