The Doomed Colony of Mars (The Maurice Series) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

• Maurice Eugene Haberman: Maurice is a boy growing up in a lunar mining colony, he wants to get out of his little home town and travel the solar system.Maurice is the central character in the Maurice Series -- beginning with "Maurice on the Moon", followed by book #2: "The Doomed Colony of Mars", and book #3: "Crisis on the Far Side"
• Shannon Marie Kappel: Shannon's dad is a space flight engineer on assignment to help save the Eureka Colony on Mars. Shannon has never been off the Earth before and finds a whole new world in things like space travel, pressure suits and zero gravity. She also finds Maurice a brilliant but frustrating boy who drags her into one adventure after another on Mars.
• Ivan Haberman: Add a description of this character.
• Mr. Felsic
• Lamont LaRue
• Mr. Hansen
• Cassie
• MacDuff
• Femmel
• Hector Wrathburn
• George
• Michael Craig
• Sub-Captain Goodman
• Roy Kappel
• Adams
• Widow Tanner
• Mr. James Sheehan
• Jack McGraw
• Ron Davidson
• Griselda Toshiro
• Ruth Haberman
• Mr. Darwin
• Isaac Newton
• MacAllen
• Mr. Hashigaru
• Ramon
• Dr. Barth
• Randy Koppernik
• Mr. Burckhardt
• Mrs. Haberman
• Miss Trisha Wells
• Mr. Ochoa
• Galileo

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Gassendi LEX: Maurice's home town on the lunar near side. Gassendi LEX or Local Economic Exchange is a mining colony -- a city of over 4000 people who live and work on the Moon. Most of the colony is owned by the Consolodated Mining and Petroleum corporation, and most of the residents also work for CMP. Gassendi LEX is part of the Lunar Union - the only independent nation beyond the atmosphere of Earth.
• Eureka Colony on Mars: Eureka Colony is a settlement colony on Mars owned by CMP and home to almost 1000 people. The CMP company owns and operates magnesium mining and other mineral harvesting operations in and around the colony settlement.

Organizations edit see section history

• Lunar Union: The Lunar Union is the only independent nation beyond the atmosphere of Earth and home to almost 250,000 people. Citizenship is not automatic here - it must be earned. Citizens must bank away a year's worth or both water and air, as well as build and pay for their habitat space. Citizenship is expensive, and difficult to obtain. Carving a living out of the Moon's harsh environment is very difficult, and the Moon offers no natural resources like clean air and water as the Earth does!
• Consolodated Mines and Petroleum Corporation (CMP): CMP is an interplanetary conglomerate - a huge corporation with interests in mining and manufacturing as well as colonization of the solar system beyond Earth. CMP owns and operates mines and manufacturing facilities on Earth, Luna, Mars, the asteroid belt, the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn. Headquartered in the United States of North America, CMP is generally considered to be a ruthless corporation that sees people as disposable assets - not necessarily as human beings.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Space Exploration: The entire world of the Maurice Series assumes a robust space exploration and transportation program run by private industry and driven by market and population forces. Human expansion to other worlds as permanent colonists is an underlying theme of these books.People in Maurice's world understand that every species ever born on the Earth has died out there - there is no immortality for any species on the home planet! Humanity is in the first decades of colonization/expansion into the solar system in Maurice's world.
• Resource development and conservation: The idea of resourse development (as opposed to conservation) has become an unpopular idea on Earth. We see the development of mining and manufacturing as a blight on the environment, but in an unsettled land like Mars or the Moon, resource development is needed to drive expansion of the colony and make humanity's new home both economically and biologically viable. Competition for scarce resources in these barren environments is very fierce.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Amgen Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (2009: Science Education, #1)
• Science is for Kids Foundation Fellowship (2009: Youth Science Education, #1)

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Children's Books › Literature › Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror › Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
• Books › Children's Books › Science, Nature & How It Works › Astronomy & Space

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Maurice on the Moon: Information about the Series for readers, parents and teachers.Free educational materials available for download - perfect for teachers and home-school parents!Science News and Science Activities for all ages!
• Funderstanding: For the latest news and information on Education for teachers and parents - look to Funderstanding!

More Books Like This edit see section history