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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Another brilliant sci-fi book with emotional and psychological depth. Set on a base on Mars, it's a mysterious thriller with untrustworthy AI's, conspiracies, personal trauma and complex characters. We get a lot of the main character's thought process, it's very intimate. The main character is a geologist and a painter, and she struggles with her decision to leave behind her husband and her daughter on Earth to pursue a one-in-a-lifetime job opportunity. Weird things happen at the base and from the first chapter I was totally into the mystery, wanting to know what happened. It features excellent mental health representation, it's raw and real. I had tears in my eyes when I finished it.
Story of Anna Kubrick who was sent to mars as a geologist and painter. She discovers a secret base where an atlas ship is being built. Later it is revealed that there has been nuclear war on earth, and their memories have been wiped and the atlas ship launched leaving them behind. They build a new ship to follow.
This was really good. I liked the subplot of her struggles with post-partom depression.
This was really good. I liked the subplot of her struggles with post-partom depression.
3.5 stars. I loved Planetfall, the first in this series. And I very much enjoyed After Atlas. All three books bring compassion to their stories about people with trauma and/or mental illnesses. This is unusual in the sci-fi world, which has traditionally favored tech and toys to psychological depth.
Before Mars also features an imperfect hero with a background that includes trauma. And it takes place on Mars, so bonus points for that. I didn't find it quite as compelling as the other two, but it was a great read.
Before Mars also features an imperfect hero with a background that includes trauma. And it takes place on Mars, so bonus points for that. I didn't find it quite as compelling as the other two, but it was a great read.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
After the events of the second book, many of the twists and turns weren't actually wasn't as surprising to me as they were written to be... But it's still an amazing book, and I continue to appreciate the frank discussions of mental health issues.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, War
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt
The first book I can remember reading where the ending was spoiled by the previous book in the series. Protagonist wakes up on Mars having apparently just arrived, but with a hand-painted note of hers telling her not to trust the ship's psychiatrist. She has flashes of recognition of the other people on the ship and places she hadn't seen. But once the author starts referring to the date of the start of the book it becomes clear that the book is set in almost the same timeframe as the previous book, which means that right when the capsule is opened on Earth, almost the whole Earth will be destroyed in thermonuclear war. So the protagonist struggles with the obviously-lying AI and the possibly-lying rest of the crew, discovering their innocuous secrets Poirot-style until the big reveal: the psychiatrist erased their memories after they had discovered that the Mars trip (which was sponsored by GaborCorp) was just a ruse to build a ship to go to Pathfinder, just as the Circle cult was the US's ruse to build a ship to go to Pathfinder in book 2. Hard to read the parts involving psychological breakdown, but overall a thrilling mystery not harmed by the fact that the previous book gave away 75% of the ending.
The first book I can remember reading where the ending was spoiled by the previous book in the series. Protagonist wakes up on Mars having apparently just arrived, but with a hand-painted note of hers telling her not to trust the ship's psychiatrist. She has flashes of recognition of the other people on the ship and places she hadn't seen. But once the author starts referring to the date of the start of the book it becomes clear that the book is set in almost the same timeframe as the previous book, which means that right when the capsule is opened on Earth, almost the whole Earth will be destroyed in thermonuclear war. So the protagonist struggles with the obviously-lying AI and the possibly-lying rest of the crew, discovering their innocuous secrets Poirot-style until the big reveal: the psychiatrist erased their memories after they had discovered that the Mars trip (which was sponsored by GaborCorp) was just a ruse to build a ship to go to Pathfinder, just as the Circle cult was the US's ruse to build a ship to go to Pathfinder in book 2. Hard to read the parts involving psychological breakdown, but overall a thrilling mystery not harmed by the fact that the previous book gave away 75% of the ending.
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated