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A review by sarabz
Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang
4.0
Decades after people working on Mars win a war to become independent of earth and establish a socialist city, young Martians are returning from five years of living on Earth, the first Martians to do so since independence was established. Upon their return, they find themselves struggling with how to live their ideals, informed by both their Martian roots and their time on earth, and find a place in the machinery of Martian society and politics.
Beautifully written, I especially appreciated the sense of striving for something that is conveyed in the interactions of the young Martians as they explore ideas about freedom, individualism, and collectivity.
The story also prompted me to reflect on connections between scarcity and abundance, collectivism and individualism. Although Earth has been thoroughly developed and exploited, there is still an ability to walk away from cities and live in relative isolation while on Mars, the environment outside the city is uninhabitable without technology and tools and supports. But the story focuses on powerful and privileged people, so there isn't a lot deep exploration of the material impacts of inequalities.
I also loved that the Martian city was a glass city, taking advantage of the abundance of sand where other materials are lacking. I enjoyed the description of the development of the city and the opportunities created by the development of the technology for making the glass domes it is composed of.
Definitely see echoes of Le Guin's The Dispossesed, as noted by reviewers, although this society feels more fleshed out than the one on Anarres. This review had interesting things to say about the intended audience for the book because there is a market right now in the U.S. for Chinese science fiction in translation.
Beautifully written, I especially appreciated the sense of striving for something that is conveyed in the interactions of the young Martians as they explore ideas about freedom, individualism, and collectivity.
The story also prompted me to reflect on connections between scarcity and abundance, collectivism and individualism. Although Earth has been thoroughly developed and exploited, there is still an ability to walk away from cities and live in relative isolation while on Mars, the environment outside the city is uninhabitable without technology and tools and supports. But the story focuses on powerful and privileged people, so there isn't a lot deep exploration of the material impacts of inequalities.
I also loved that the Martian city was a glass city, taking advantage of the abundance of sand where other materials are lacking. I enjoyed the description of the development of the city and the opportunities created by the development of the technology for making the glass domes it is composed of.
Definitely see echoes of Le Guin's The Dispossesed, as noted by reviewers, although this society feels more fleshed out than the one on Anarres. This review had interesting things to say about the intended audience for the book because there is a market right now in the U.S. for Chinese science fiction in translation.