Sawyer does her best to overcome the inherently anti-dramatic nature of her material. It says something that the centerpiece of The Rock From Mars is a news conference. Science proceeds slowly, and eureka moments are few. Nearly all the advances in her story resulted from painstaking work carried out by people who, for the most part, do not make colorful actors. Sawyer sets about whipping up excitement like a chef beating egg whites. Synthetic cliffhangers abound, and her
narrative relies heavily on "little did they know" foreshadowing. The rock is described, at one point, as "a geochemical Hamburger Hill -- the first Martian battlefield."
Despite all the huffing and puffing, the story unfolds slowly. Once under way, however, it gains momentum. Sawyer has a knack for translating complex procedures and ideas into accessible language and vivid images. She also has a gift for political comedy, both scientific and governmental, and an infectious enthusiasm for the cut and thrust of scientific debate.
The madly whirring bureaucratic machinery of the White House, set in motion by the Mars rock, makes delicious reading as officials ponder how to extract maximum credit while avoiding ridicule. Dick Morris, the political strategist, tries to capitalize on this golden opportunity for the president, but then spills Mars secrets to Rowlands, his hired girlfriend. She turns right around and tells a supermarket tabloid that she knows something top secret and fascinating about a "vegetable in a rock" and "proof of life on Pluto."
Sawyer's story has a beginning and a middle, but no end. This is only right. The Mars rock continues to generate debate, but it has already done beneficial work. "The rock was a catalyst," Sawyer writes. "It fell into a volatile brew of human endeavors and yearnings. It changed the recipe, and became part of the new brew. It changed people's lives and it changed their thinking."
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