Sands of Mars is quite anti-climatic all the way, narrating a scientific expedition from the point of a writer, exploring his relationships with the people around him, and his perception of a struggling Martian colonization. It's a light read that takes its steps very casually, and tells a unlikely story with much Clark's scientific views on colonization. As a first novel, Clark doesn't show off his prophetic potential all the way, but it's important just because it was the beginning of one great career.