The Global Sociology Blog

I am a big fan of science-fiction in general, and of Joe Haldeman (that website needs some updating, Joe! Oh well, we can console ourselves with Live Journal) in particular ever since I read The Forever War. I have read all his books since and they keep getting better (The Accidental Time Machine was great but then again, I love the time travel sub-genre). The latest one is Marsbound. It belongs to the first contact genre, humans meet aliens.

The story goes like this: an adolescent and her family were selected to become part of the Mars colony and it is through her eyes that we follow the story and her coming of age (there is unmarried, Kama Sutra-inspired s.e.x. in that book… what will Orson Scott Card say!!).

Anyhoo, the trip to Mars and the Mars colony itself provide a small cast of characters that all but a few exceptions play a minor role in the story… which is a bit of a frustration. One of the main secondary characters is never really explained and her determinations and motivations remain quite obscure all the way to the end.

At the same time, this is one of the things that I like about Haldeman’s books: the story drives everything… no time wasted on long descriptions, super deep character psychology (which always bores the heck out of me), and no science that requires a Ph.D in astrophysics to figure out. It’s about the story. Everything else is background although a great deal of space is devoted to how the Mars journey and colonization would be possible in terms of conservation and management of resources, which makes for some humorous moments. The same goes for the human / alien interactions… until it all goes to !@#$, of course… because it all has to all go to !@#$, otherwise, what’s the point of first contact stories?

So, yes, there are a few loose ends and that book screams for a sequel. But it was a quick great read for end of summer. Quick because I could not put it down.