I received a Midwest Book  Review.

Outbound: Meta Mars is the second book in the Outbound series and opens in 2260, as Dr. Virgil Greenly and his sentient implant, Ofelia, arrive on Mars to oversee a massive program to terraform and transform its habitat. Characters from the first book, Islands in the Void, return to highlight this story, making it particularly inviting for prior fans interested in more space colonization action and adventure.

From the start, Dr. Greenly faces new challenges in not just overseeing a massive project, but in addressing the physical and mental requirements involved in adapting human needs to a taxing environment. Ofelia watches over and protects Dr. Greenly (sometimes from himself) as artificial intelligence and human ambition coalesce, with sometimes-different purposes and perceptions of success and failure. Readers who appreciate themes of AI and robotic interactions in their futuristic stories will find especially compelling the manners in which human activities and decisions are augmented and affected by their own creations. Also, intriguing is how young son Lucien asks important questions about machine purposes and possibilities, introducing new thoughts to Dr. Greenly as he answers his son’s questions about what it ultimately means to be either human or robot.

These inspections create interesting dichotomies and contrasts in ability and action as the story unfolds to consider bad decisions based on good rationales, small crimes with big impacts, and ultimately, what it means to be human. From aims of perfection to different forms of intelligence and the impact of poorly kept secrets, Outbound: Meta Mars represents more than a sci-fi adventure about Mars, robots, or intelligence. It considers the ambitions and logic of what it means to be human and complacent in a conspiracy that grows to embrace all of Mars.

Librarians and readers interested in a story that embraces philosophical and social reflection, as well as introducing intrigue and new possibilities for human life on Mars, will welcome this second book in a thought-provoking series examining technology, new possibilities, and the human condition.