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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
120 scientists from throughout the world are stationed on Mars when a nuclear war breaks out on earth. They have to figure out who they can trust and how they will survive when they don't really no what is going on back home or why. While the writing isn't spectacular, this is a neat story with interesting relationships between the characters. The author had to put a lot of thought into the science and the cultures involved. There is a bit of a plot twist that makes the second half of the book quite suspenseful. Retrograde is a fun little sci-fi novel to read over the weekend.
It was okay. A bit 2001 ish. He limits himself by writing in the first person, you can't kill the narrator which diminishes the suspense of certain parts of the book. All of the talk about body language and such was annoying and then it just stops. An odd inconsistency.
The interesting questions raised in the book about AI are given a breath of time at the end.
Some interesting ideas, but the bits are not well put together.
The interesting questions raised in the book about AI are given a breath of time at the end.
Some interesting ideas, but the bits are not well put together.
Summary: An international group of scientists is stationed on Mars. They live underground in four separate pods with a central skylight domed hub. Each of them has a specialty, although some specialties, such as medical, are duplicated for the safety of the group.
Late one night while drinking and playing a game in the Chinese pod, their leader screams at the two visiting Americans and shoves them back toward their area, locking theme out. When they get inside the American pod, they are informed that nuclear bombs have dropped on several major world cities. They quickly realize that their situation will become precarious when supplies dwindle without support from Earth.
The short communications with earth are full of disinformation and propaganda. Then everything falls completely silent. Some of the scientists realize they will have to overcome national allegiances and get everyone to cooperate if they are to survive. Others steal and stockpile valuable resources. They don’t start to fully cooperate with each other until a serious incident makes them realize that the war isn’t just happening on Earth: it is also endangering them on Mars.
Comments: Reading Retrograde brought me back to my childhood, when I read the Hard Sci-Fi books of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein. Back in the 60’s and 70’s Mars was still full of unknown potential and fanciful tales about the red planet were in print and film. While there are no longer stories written about little green men on Mars, the dreams of exploration still abound in science and story.
I admit I skimmed over the science facts, but the fact that they were there was enough to ground the novel for me. From the author’s descriptions, I was able to clearly visualize the colony, the landscape and environment. There was more than enough action to keep the story moving. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Reentry.
Recommended for readers of Hard Science-Fiction and those with an interest in novels about Mars and Planetary Exploration.
Late one night while drinking and playing a game in the Chinese pod, their leader screams at the two visiting Americans and shoves them back toward their area, locking theme out. When they get inside the American pod, they are informed that nuclear bombs have dropped on several major world cities. They quickly realize that their situation will become precarious when supplies dwindle without support from Earth.
The short communications with earth are full of disinformation and propaganda. Then everything falls completely silent. Some of the scientists realize they will have to overcome national allegiances and get everyone to cooperate if they are to survive. Others steal and stockpile valuable resources. They don’t start to fully cooperate with each other until a serious incident makes them realize that the war isn’t just happening on Earth: it is also endangering them on Mars.
Comments: Reading Retrograde brought me back to my childhood, when I read the Hard Sci-Fi books of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein. Back in the 60’s and 70’s Mars was still full of unknown potential and fanciful tales about the red planet were in print and film. While there are no longer stories written about little green men on Mars, the dreams of exploration still abound in science and story.
I admit I skimmed over the science facts, but the fact that they were there was enough to ground the novel for me. From the author’s descriptions, I was able to clearly visualize the colony, the landscape and environment. There was more than enough action to keep the story moving. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Reentry.
Recommended for readers of Hard Science-Fiction and those with an interest in novels about Mars and Planetary Exploration.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
This one is difficult to get through, and I mean that in a good way.
It starts out like "The Martian," but you know all the parts with hope in them? "Retrograde" takes those out. The reason this crew is stuck on Mars is because things go nuclear kablooey on Earth.
The story is still a hard-science look at living on Mars, with a cast of smart heroes. They're just in, well, kind of a rotten situation. The story dives deep into their relationships and explores full-granny levels of grief, anger, despair.
It's worth a read. Bring a box of tissues, maybe two.
(review from an early preview copy.)
It starts out like "The Martian," but you know all the parts with hope in them? "Retrograde" takes those out. The reason this crew is stuck on Mars is because things go nuclear kablooey on Earth.
The story is still a hard-science look at living on Mars, with a cast of smart heroes. They're just in, well, kind of a rotten situation. The story dives deep into their relationships and explores full-granny levels of grief, anger, despair.
It's worth a read. Bring a box of tissues, maybe two.
(review from an early preview copy.)
medium-paced
Time of death: 12%
Astronauts sent to start a Mars colony learn that there were global nuclear attacks on Earth. Their personal responses are indiosyncratic and not in a "humans responding to trauma" way and none of them ask "are we still in contact with mission control?"
I'm not looking for my fiction to be exactly out of any agency handbook, but COME ON. Don't tell me their astronauts if they don't even do stuff you learn about in Apollo 13.
NEXT!
Astronauts sent to start a Mars colony learn that there were global nuclear attacks on Earth. Their personal responses are indiosyncratic and not in a "humans responding to trauma" way and none of them ask "are we still in contact with mission control?"
I'm not looking for my fiction to be exactly out of any agency handbook, but COME ON. Don't tell me their astronauts if they don't even do stuff you learn about in Apollo 13.
NEXT!
I was completely thrilled by this story, it is one of the better Mars stories I've read, I must say! It gave enough detail to really put you there, so to speak, but not so much that it weighed the story down. Anything involving space is both terrifying and fascinating to me, so I felt like I couldn't put this down until I knew what was going on. You form a connection to the characters pretty quickly and are invested in the outcome for them.
Fun read, with a number of didn't-see-that-coming twists. A scientist settlement on Mars must decide who to trust in the midst of war, and find allies to work against the threats to their own survival. (rated PG for language) Would read more of this author.
Lots of science backs up this tense story of Mars colonists dealing with the aftermath of a nuclear war on earth, escalating tensions amongst themselves, and all manner of technological failures.
There are astronauts from all over the world on Mars, though the US, China and Russia have the largest numbers of individuals, with Europe and Asia together making up the last group. Main character Liz is one of the American colonists. When everyone receives minimal but horrible news from Earth, grief and anger is expressed along country lines, and fear and mistrust is the order of the day. When technical failures start occurring, and colonists begin dying, the fear ratchets up.
I loved all the details about Mars and about the technology the astronauts used. And though I found Liz painfully naïve about people and their motives several times during the first quarter to half of the book, I liked her, and was worried about her and a few of the other colonists once things started to go wrong. As this was an enjoyable, tense story, and there are several questions raised by the end of this book, I'm interested to see where the author takes his story next.
There are astronauts from all over the world on Mars, though the US, China and Russia have the largest numbers of individuals, with Europe and Asia together making up the last group. Main character Liz is one of the American colonists. When everyone receives minimal but horrible news from Earth, grief and anger is expressed along country lines, and fear and mistrust is the order of the day. When technical failures start occurring, and colonists begin dying, the fear ratchets up.
I loved all the details about Mars and about the technology the astronauts used. And though I found Liz painfully naïve about people and their motives several times during the first quarter to half of the book, I liked her, and was worried about her and a few of the other colonists once things started to go wrong.