The little boy gazed up at Abigail as they walked on. Im sorry, he whispered. Hanzas statement almost brought tears to Abigails eyes. He seemed to apologize for his existence. For a six-year-old, the history and experiences in Hanzas short life seemed to have created a benign acceptance and realization in him that had sent him beyond his years.

The earth has established twin bases on Mars. Two competing nations have founded their remote, interplanetary outposts on the red planet, separated by over two thousand kilometers of alien and hostile desert. Without warning, communications with the earth are suddenly and inexplicably lost. All systematized transmissions from earth have ceased. It is as though the earth has disappeared. Without warning or explanation, the colonists are alone in the universe. Survival on Mars is a synthesis of skill, intellect, courage as well as the most advanced technology ever developed. But in no one's blackest nightmare has anyone ever planned on permanently severing all links with the home planet. The thin barrier between life and death has just been sliced in two - and now the relatively small band of humans are no longer explorers, but now they are interplanetary castaways, waiting for a rescue that may never come. Now there are too many people and there is far too little to go around. It soon becomes apparent, they would have to fight one another to live - war on another planet becomes the only way out. Dennis Chamberland's Abyss of Elysium - Mars Wars - is filled with the full sweep of the most dramatic, high-tech, nail biting audacious adventure in the genre. Chamberland's style is characterized by a sustained extreme energy, high stakes and maximum passion, a fusion of the human drama and the technology that links the humans with an alien planet.