Older edition reviews as saved from Amazon are listed below.
From the United States
Naomi Raven – 5.0 out of 5 stars: Under attack! Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2020. Format: Kindle. Verified Purchase . Mars colony Rubicon is under attack. Cheryl Lawson brings us the drama and adventure of these brave souls trying to protect their way of life. This is a riveting take that I’d recommend. I anxiously await the next book.
••
Susan – 5.0 out of 5 stars: Fantastic story! Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2019. Format: Kindle. Verified Purchase. I’m loving the Storm at Dawn series. This second novel was just as good as the first!
••
Matthew Cesca – 4.0 out of 5 stars: Solid second outing in the Rubicon Saga. Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2020. Format: Kindle . Cheryl Lawson has offered up another solid entry in her Rubicon Saga – the story of a hard luck group of settlers on the Red Planet. Much like the first entry in the series, Lawson brings her characters to life in a way that makes you root for them, cheer their success, and rue their fates when things take a turn for the worse. The pacing of Storm at Dawn is a little bit different than one might expect. If you were to read it as if it were a traditional 4 act play, the climax seems to come at the end of act 2, only to be followed by what seems like resolution and denouement, only for the stakes to rise once again. The book really shines in these quiet moments between dueling climaxes, but it may take a few readers off guard. Overall, I really enjoyed Storm at Dawn and am gleefully awaiting the Rubicon Saga’s conclusion.
••
Gardener Eileen – 5.0 out of 5 stars: Political Intrigue, Greed, Strife, and Stamina. Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2019. Format: Kindle . Terrific world-building. You feel for the main characters and want them to succeed. And against all odds, you hope that they will. From poisoning, to war, to scheming, and then annexation. This people do not have an easy life. Plus their food does not seem that appetizing. All of these things combine to put you smack dab into the middle of the story, as if you were experiencing it with Ms. Lawson’s characters. I have one plea for her for the next book. I love the pregnant character and she has lived through enough. Please let her relax, put her feet up, and eat something good for a change. I have a feeling it will be a while before that happens, if at all. Great book. Highly recommend.
••
KIP KOELSCH – 5.0 out of 5 stars: The Characters Make This Science Fiction Thriller Shine! Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2019. Format: Kindle . Storm at Dawn picks up where we were left with the characters of We Are Mars–inside the nearly-forgotten Mars colony of Rubicon, battling nefarious forces bent on bringing the experiment to an end. And just when it appears the colony may be winning that battle and able to stand on its own, a new threat emerges. At that point in the book, the characters are so well-developed, that I can’t help but feel outrage at their having to deal with yet another monumental crisis–I care that much about them and what they’ve already gone through. That is a testament to the wonderful writing of Cheryl Lawson. I’m very much looking forward to the final book of the Rubicon saga and re-joining my friends on Mars for the final battle. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
••
J Christensen – 5.0 out of 5 stars: The fight for life on Rubicon continues! Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2019. Format: Kindle . The dust has barely settled from the events in book one when we reunte with our heroes for book two. Cheryl’s stellar characters come to life once again as they face another life-threatening crisis that forces friends and enemies to work together to face and defend against a new onslaught determined to destroy Rubicon. Non-stop action, suspense and tension abound in this sci-fi thriller sure to keep you turning pages long into the night!
••
Quinn Buckland – 5.0 out of 5 stars: The best book I’ve read in a long time. Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2020. Format: Kindle. This book is absolutely fantastic. I recommend this book to pretty much anyone who enjoys a well written book with probably some of the most real characters you’ll ever read.
••
Kate Rauner – 4.0 out of 5 stars: Can Desperate Settlers Defend Their World? Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2019. Format: Kindle . The struggle at Rubicon isn’t over. As attacks on the colony escalate, I found myself diving deeper into the settlers’ loves, allies, and enemies. If you’ve read Part 1, We Are Mars, you’ll definitely want to continue reading with this book. As a bonus, there’s a good start on Part 3 included too.
••
Anne Simone – 4.0 out of 5 stars: A bit of a disappointment. Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2021. Format: Paperback . Very slow beginning. Not quite as exciting or adventurous as Book 1of the series. Characters were pretty well drawn. A bit disappointing and yet I can’t put my finger on exactly why it didn’t measure up to the first novel.
••
Catherine Bowser – 4.0 out of 5 stars: And the action intensifies. Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2023. Format: Kindle . The second part of this sci fi trilogy continues to excite! It builds on the tension set up in the first book and expands upon it perfectly. Our characters continue to be fun, though I feel like there may be a few too many viewpoints. Some of them might have worked better if combined. There are a lot of viewpoints to keep track of! But the sci fi elements continue to be amazing! There is a lot of homework out into this. It really helps make it feel real! But that being said, I can see why the author is using so many. We’re going all over the place. In a sense, the pieces are being set! I can’t wait to see how it turns out in book 3!
••
From other countries
Mark – 5.0 out of 5 stars: A SciFi classic in the making. Reviewed in Canada on September 26, 2019. Format: Paperback. Verified Purchase . Just about every sequel you ever see will tout itself as “anticipated”. Storm at Dawn, however, is a sequel I really have been anticipating. Since putting down We Are Mars, I’ve been impatiently waiting to jump back in to this world with Dana and Jax. Picking up the action right where the first book left off, the sequel doesn’t waste a single page diving back in to the excitement. It’s a rare instance in which the author manages not to sacrifice character development in exchange for thrills. We still get to spend a lot of time with the characters we’ve already come to love, while meeting some new ones along the way, while the tension is building. If you’ve read We Are Mars, you’ve got to pick up Storm at Dawn immediately. If you haven’t, well, you’d better just go ahead and pick up both.
••
Anita Dow – 4.0 out of 5 stars: Belieavable characters fight situation on Mars Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 20, 2020Format: KindleVerified Purchase In book 1 of The Rubicon Saga we learned of the terrible consequences of a saboteur at work in the Rubicon colony on Mars. In this second book, support and funding from Earth is being withdrawn and the colonists, many of whom were born on Mars, face a desperate struggle against new enemies from both inside and outside the settlement. After a slowish start to lay the groundworks of the plot, the pace picks up with the arrival of pivotal new characters from Earth, each with conflicting agendas. Author Cheryl Lawson did a great job in conveying realistic characters in a believable scenario and I really cared about what happened to them – for me that’s the only reason to keep reading. Her research and knowledge of rocketry and astronauts is evident but this is not a futuristic space opera featuring alien spaceships, but rather a tense and dramatic human story that just happens to be set on another planet, some time in the not too distant future. The tension never let up the entire second half and the ending was enough of a cliffhanger sure to bring fans back to read the concluding book in the trilogy.
••
Ben – 5.0 out of 5 stars: A worthy successor to We Are Mars. Reviewed in Canada on September 26, 2019. Format: Kindle. Verified Purchase . Doesn’t miss a beat as it picks up where the first book left off. Resolving (for the most part) the cliffhanger ending of We Are Mars, the inhabitants of Rubicon face a challenging task. I love the author’s writing style, the awesome characters and the situation they are in along with the right amount of believable technology make this book a very worthy successor to We Are Mars. Highly recommended. Very much looking forward to the third book in the series.
••
John McGee – 4.0 out of 5 stars: A cracking sequel to We Are Mars by Cheryl Lawson. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 25, 2020. Format: Kindle. Verified Purchase . A tense, action-packed and thought provoking sequel to the sci-fi novel We Are Mars by Chery Lawson. The Mars city base of Rubicon, after surviving the trials and tribulations of the We Are Mars storyline, finds itself under attack from an Earth-based dictator. Can the weakened inhabitants of Rubicon stave off the merciless siege placed upon them or is the Rubicon society doomed to failure?
