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Champion of Mars
ASIN moved from less recent edition here
In the near future Dr. Holland, a scientist running from a painful past, joins the Mars colonisation effort, cataloguing the remnants of Mars’ biosphere before it is swept away by the terraforming programme.
When an artefact is discovered deep in the caverns of the red planet, Holland’s employers interfere, leading to tragedy. The consequences ripple throughout time, affecting Holland’s present, and the destiny of the red planet.
For in the far future, Mars is dying a second time. The Final War of men and spirits is beginning. In a last bid for peace, the disgraced Champion Val Mora and his ‘spirit’ lover are set free from the Arena to find the long-missing Librarian of Mars, the only hope to save mankind.
Holland’s and the Champion’s lives intertwine, across the millennia, in a breathtaking story of vast ambition.
In the near future Dr. Holland, a scientist running from a painful past, joins the Mars colonisation effort, cataloguing the remnants of Mars’ biosphere before it is swept away by the terraforming programme.
When an artefact is discovered deep in the caverns of the red planet, Holland’s employers interfere, leading to tragedy. The consequences ripple throughout time, affecting Holland’s present, and the destiny of the red planet.
For in the far future, Mars is dying a second time. The Final War of men and spirits is beginning. In a last bid for peace, the disgraced Champion Val Mora and his ‘spirit’ lover are set free from the Arena to find the long-missing Librarian of Mars, the only hope to save mankind.
Holland’s and the Champion’s lives intertwine, across the millennia, in a breathtaking story of vast ambition.
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
130 people are currently reading
591 people want to read
About the author
Guy Haley
288 books719 followersGuy Haley is the author of over 50 novels and novellas. His original fiction includes Crash, Champion of Mars, and the Richards and Klein, Dreaming Cities, and the Gates of the World series (as K M McKinley). However, he is best known as a prolific contributor to Games Workshop's Black Library imprint.
When not writing, he'll be out doing something dangerous in the wild, learning languages or gaming.
When not writing, he'll be out doing something dangerous in the wild, learning languages or gaming.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
January 8, 2017
Surprisingly good
Picked up this book several times and put it down. Starts rather disjointed, but makes up for this about 1/3 of the way through. Glad I stuck with it.
Picked up this book several times and put it down. Starts rather disjointed, but makes up for this about 1/3 of the way through. Glad I stuck with it.
November 29, 2022
The cover lies; readers who specifically pick this up because they liked The Martian aren't going to be happy. Rather than a straightforward, hard SF problem-solving story, this is an epoch-spanning saga told in nonlinear episodes, from the near future of the first Martian colonies to so many hundreds of thousands of years further that even the immortal AIs who run Mars' virtual world can't remember. It's a strong and poetic tale of reborn entities encountering each other throughout their existence -- it's not terribly accurate to call it "Martian Cloud Atlas," but it tickles my funnybone, so I'll call it that regardless.
December 16, 2015
I like this guy-- no pun intended-- & work with him, so bias up front. BUT. Let me say this. There are a few concepts in here that I wedded together with some ideas from His Dark Materials for use in my RPG campaign...& I can think of no higher praise.
January 13, 2017
Parts of this were great and parts, well, faltered. The writing was good overall, like the other Haley book I read, flickering into cheesy territory though when higher meanings were addressed and topics like love and the meaning of life popped up. (I'm generally a pretty cynical guy-- maybe those with more hippy-like leanings will appreciate these philosophical nuggets more than I?) In Clarion (a 6-week workshop), one writer (Delany? maybe Tim Powers?) said: Write a story, polish it, and then throw the last page in the trash. Facile advice, but I get it- authors can try too hard to wrap up story lines, underscore meanings we think the reader might not have gotten (though they probably have): a last chance, as it were, to get the point across. Maybe the final chapter of this book soured me? I'd had a lot of fun up till then. Anyhow. Nice to read a smart, adult scifi book, with characters that actually seem to have a life. We follow an AI in and out of time, from the near-future terraforming of Mars to some crazy ethereal future, with a few other floating time periods scattered throughout. We also learn about life and eternal love. Three point five?
August 6, 2012
The real stand out point of this is the skill Haley has shown in the narrative. The ideas set out to build the setting are nothing new as such, artificial intelligence, life on mars, anti hero characters etc, but all put together pretty much to perfection. The novel written as a split between the tale of Dr Holland and the time his part is set in, Yoechakanon and the time that his tale is also set in and how one effects the other., at first it is a little confusing as to which one is meant to be the future and which is supposed to be the 'present time' but this does not last long.
The characters themselves are very memorable but the use of Kaibeli (a spirit who is connected to Yoechakenon) to explain the workings of the spirit world in connection to life on Mars is both an indispensable tool and a piece of genius.
All in all, I am not expert on sci-fi novels as a genre but of the ones that I have read this is very easily among the best.
The characters themselves are very memorable but the use of Kaibeli (a spirit who is connected to Yoechakenon) to explain the workings of the spirit world in connection to life on Mars is both an indispensable tool and a piece of genius.
All in all, I am not expert on sci-fi novels as a genre but of the ones that I have read this is very easily among the best.
September 27, 2013
CHAMPION OF MARS is an ambitious and imaginative tale.
This tale ultimately spans centuries although there are two points in time from which the narrative is steered. One timeline is a point many centuries in the future, the other a mere century from when we are reading this story. From these two vantage points and the characters who drive the respective narratives of their era, we become versed on the long, tumultuous and seemingly circular history of Mars.
In the near future, Dr. Holland arrives at his new post in Mars, joining the pioneering effort to colonise the red planet. Escaping from personal tragedy, he intends to immerse himself in his work. As part of his work and despite his distrust of artificial intelligence constructs, Holland is forced to work with the android Cybele. There is much to learn about the landscape of Mars and its indigenous inhabitants. The planet has unknown and inherent dangers.
In the far future, we meet the titular Champion of Mars, Yoechakenon and his spirit companion and symbiote of sorts, Kaibeli, an enduring restored consciousness linked with Yoechakenon. The link is intimate and persistent, communication instant. Yoechakenon and Kaibeli embark on the Herculean task of saving Mars from ultimate and final destruction by finding the Great Librarian, the prime and ultimate arbiter of all conflicts.
The two timelines ultimately tell one story, separate but related, distinct but a mirror of one another. The discovery of how these two branches share roots is engrossing and gratifying. There are parts when the reading slows to a crawl but nowhere near enough to divert interest altogether.
Stylistically, Guy Haley has the enviable talent for expressing profound and complex ideas thoroughly but succinctly. Peruse this sentence, for instance, so ripe with meaning and nuance that would take others at least three sentences to convey.
"Intent on their small extinctions, they are ignorant of the greater death going on all around them."
It struck me from the beginning how a cloud of foreboding blankets the tale. You realize more and more how appropriate the portentous tone and mood are the deeper you get into the narrative. This book is a space opera with unique and interesting forays into the nature of relationships and conflicts. There is a purity in the presentation of various ideas and philosophies. It even dabbles in romanticism without wading into saccharinity.
Champion of Mars is sweeping in its breadth and scope yet conceivably plausible and entertainingly so.
This tale ultimately spans centuries although there are two points in time from which the narrative is steered. One timeline is a point many centuries in the future, the other a mere century from when we are reading this story. From these two vantage points and the characters who drive the respective narratives of their era, we become versed on the long, tumultuous and seemingly circular history of Mars.
In the near future, Dr. Holland arrives at his new post in Mars, joining the pioneering effort to colonise the red planet. Escaping from personal tragedy, he intends to immerse himself in his work. As part of his work and despite his distrust of artificial intelligence constructs, Holland is forced to work with the android Cybele. There is much to learn about the landscape of Mars and its indigenous inhabitants. The planet has unknown and inherent dangers.
In the far future, we meet the titular Champion of Mars, Yoechakenon and his spirit companion and symbiote of sorts, Kaibeli, an enduring restored consciousness linked with Yoechakenon. The link is intimate and persistent, communication instant. Yoechakenon and Kaibeli embark on the Herculean task of saving Mars from ultimate and final destruction by finding the Great Librarian, the prime and ultimate arbiter of all conflicts.
The two timelines ultimately tell one story, separate but related, distinct but a mirror of one another. The discovery of how these two branches share roots is engrossing and gratifying. There are parts when the reading slows to a crawl but nowhere near enough to divert interest altogether.
Stylistically, Guy Haley has the enviable talent for expressing profound and complex ideas thoroughly but succinctly. Peruse this sentence, for instance, so ripe with meaning and nuance that would take others at least three sentences to convey.
"Intent on their small extinctions, they are ignorant of the greater death going on all around them."
It struck me from the beginning how a cloud of foreboding blankets the tale. You realize more and more how appropriate the portentous tone and mood are the deeper you get into the narrative. This book is a space opera with unique and interesting forays into the nature of relationships and conflicts. There is a purity in the presentation of various ideas and philosophies. It even dabbles in romanticism without wading into saccharinity.
Champion of Mars is sweeping in its breadth and scope yet conceivably plausible and entertainingly so.
May 14, 2013
An ambitious and not entirely successful narrative. It is structured in three threads, separated by time, which is a difficult polyphony to pull off. The first and most accessible is set in the early 22nd century at a research station on Mons Olympus, studying Mars' moribund ecology. The second is set tens of thousands of years in the future, and involves spirits, warfare, Stone Kin (whatever they are), Quinarchy (whatever that is) and technologically aided reincarnation. The third goes skipping across the centuries between. Unfortunately it takes so long for the connections among the threads to become apparent that interest is quickly lost, and even so after four hundred pages it's necessary to introduce a character whose sole purpose is to explain the plot.
There are a lot of interesting ideas in the book, but the narrative structure impedes rather than facilitates their expression.
There are a lot of interesting ideas in the book, but the narrative structure impedes rather than facilitates their expression.
September 2, 2016
I like science fiction, and I like stories in interesting settings where you are figuring out how things work as you go along, and I'm used to doing that, but... I still found myself reading this and wishing they would just come out and explain WTF was going on. Like, okay, great, everyone knows what the Stone Men are, buuuuuut I sure don't. When it was finally explained towards the end, it made some things from earlier in the book make more sense, but I wish it had been explained earlier. Trying to figure out cryptic stuff while *also* bouncing between a bunch of plot threads just makes it that much harder, and made the book just that much less enjoyable to me.
That said- once I finally started figuring out what on Mars was going on, it was a good story.
That said- once I finally started figuring out what on Mars was going on, it was a good story.
November 29, 2016
Just could not bring myself to get through this book. The constant shifting between the two different times slowed the book down and then the chapters that really had nothing today with the plot at all but give you a quick look at what life became on Mars just grinder the book to a dead stop. The shifting between times to bring the store to one important event is a good idea but it didn't work here. At least not for me anyways. I alway try to make a point to finish a book considering one that I paid for.....but it's not going to,be any time soon for this one.
October 21, 2017
I kept putting this one down because I was confused by it. Now that I have finished it, I am still confused. It has something to do with time and multiple dimensions and AI but I still am unsure which and how much and how they interrelate. I don’t know exactly what the author was trying to depict and where it was supposed to take me or how it ended. Maybe I missed something but I had hoped at the end it would all make sense and it didn’t. Good luck to other readers
April 17, 2018
I did not care for this book at all. It combined a good science fiction story with a complicated fantasy tale, juxtaposed as if it were a bad tennis match, back-and-forth and back-and-forth, from sci-fi to fantasy, back to sci-fi, ad nauseam. I gave it 2-stars instead of 1-star because the sci-if saved it.
April 1, 2018
Half way through .still not sure where it's going
December 28, 2020
It took a while to get into this story, but once I figured out the flow, it was much smoother. It's a tale told from both ends of history: in the early 22nd century, Dr John Holland is a scientist studying the remains of Mars' native life, before the terraforming effort wipes it out; while in the far, far future, Mars is dying a second time and the disgraced champion Yoechakenon and his spirit lover Kaibeli are tasked with finding the long-lost Great Librarian of Mars to save it. We also have chapters that cover the future history between these two time periods, as we jump further and further into the future, and see how the two are linked.
I really liked the tone of the piece. I liked that the voice of the near future was so different to the far future. The near-future stuff was no-nonsense hard SF, while the far-future felt much more mythic and grand in scope, reminding me of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom.
The novel is also concerned with AI and how it will co-evolve with us over the millennia in a symbiotic relationship. Add to that a form of human immortality, as a person's memories are recorded at death, and later returned (to some degree) to other, newborn bodies at some time in the future, and we have the makings of a love story that spans the ages, as an AI spirit follows the one she chose across time and space.
I'll confess that I wasn't sure it was all going to come together, but it did so in the last few chapters, as it tied the whole story together and links Holland's time to that of Yoechakenon. So a lot of good ideas and some writing that's very enjoyable to read. It can be a little clunky at times, but I found it worth persevering.
I really liked the tone of the piece. I liked that the voice of the near future was so different to the far future. The near-future stuff was no-nonsense hard SF, while the far-future felt much more mythic and grand in scope, reminding me of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom.
The novel is also concerned with AI and how it will co-evolve with us over the millennia in a symbiotic relationship. Add to that a form of human immortality, as a person's memories are recorded at death, and later returned (to some degree) to other, newborn bodies at some time in the future, and we have the makings of a love story that spans the ages, as an AI spirit follows the one she chose across time and space.
I'll confess that I wasn't sure it was all going to come together, but it did so in the last few chapters, as it tied the whole story together and links Holland's time to that of Yoechakenon. So a lot of good ideas and some writing that's very enjoyable to read. It can be a little clunky at times, but I found it worth persevering.
February 21, 2019
Excellent story; distracting progression
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel of a Mars that is, was, and will be again. The stories of current and "historic" conflicts and intrigues; romance across the ages; and the evolution of AI interweaving through it all made me stop reading many times to give them life in my own imagination.
However my imagination wasn't the only reason it took me several months to finish this book. The author chopped the several stories into multiple chapters and then mixed up the chapters so the stories are not progressive. I'm just a simple "one book a month" guy. I found it very distracting and discouraging that I couldn't follow the progression of each story across the chapters nor identify if or how the different chapters of each story are related to the other story's chapters. Then the Goldenman, who gets introduced at the very end of the novel, claims he's the main character and that these others we have been following are only pawns in his schemes. WTF? But at that point I wasn't going to go back and re-read the entire book for clues about this guy.
I loved the different stories but for me they would have been much more enjoyable as 2-5 separate novellas.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel of a Mars that is, was, and will be again. The stories of current and "historic" conflicts and intrigues; romance across the ages; and the evolution of AI interweaving through it all made me stop reading many times to give them life in my own imagination.
However my imagination wasn't the only reason it took me several months to finish this book. The author chopped the several stories into multiple chapters and then mixed up the chapters so the stories are not progressive. I'm just a simple "one book a month" guy. I found it very distracting and discouraging that I couldn't follow the progression of each story across the chapters nor identify if or how the different chapters of each story are related to the other story's chapters. Then the Goldenman, who gets introduced at the very end of the novel, claims he's the main character and that these others we have been following are only pawns in his schemes. WTF? But at that point I wasn't going to go back and re-read the entire book for clues about this guy.
I loved the different stories but for me they would have been much more enjoyable as 2-5 separate novellas.
April 2, 2018
Fairly interesting concept of human and souls (Artificial Intelligence) evolution after the terraforming of Mars.
The plot was sometimes hard to follow. You go back to the beginning of one man's attachment to a particular female-identified android to the current time where the Emperor has summoned the Champion to find the Librarian, and you see the man and AI again through several incarnations. He always is human (his personality is archived in the Great Library for relife). She is usually AI although sometimes opts to come back as human. How that is possible is never explained, but the Great Library is where everyone is kept between lives. The Librarian has been missing for thousands of years, and the Emperor sends the Champion to find him in order to stop the next war with the evolved AI and the extermination of the human species.
Although I found the plot interesting, I didn't find myself caring all that much about the characters. I did find I cared a little more about the android than the man. Curious.
The plot was sometimes hard to follow. You go back to the beginning of one man's attachment to a particular female-identified android to the current time where the Emperor has summoned the Champion to find the Librarian, and you see the man and AI again through several incarnations. He always is human (his personality is archived in the Great Library for relife). She is usually AI although sometimes opts to come back as human. How that is possible is never explained, but the Great Library is where everyone is kept between lives. The Librarian has been missing for thousands of years, and the Emperor sends the Champion to find him in order to stop the next war with the evolved AI and the extermination of the human species.
Although I found the plot interesting, I didn't find myself caring all that much about the characters. I did find I cared a little more about the android than the man. Curious.
April 6, 2018
Apparently this is supposed to be reminiscent of the Mars trilogy and the Martian, but that wasn't the connection I made - Dan Simmons Mars series was far closer than these others (but not too close). In particular, the allusions to Greek mythology, and the use of quantum multiple reality in association with Mars seemed to coincide.
I liked half of this one but was lost in the other. The near present made sense and was interesting to read, but the future I found a bit confusing and less enjoyable. Of course the link between the two contributed to the intrigue of each - the cause and effect providing the plot pull.
There is more driving this story than story, however. In amidst it all, there's some philosophy and physics being explored. But it was a long way round in getting to the point. The grand enemy in the story, and the lead to these bigger themes, was left too obscure I thought, leaving the conclusions with less zing that they might have otherwise had.
I liked half of this one but was lost in the other. The near present made sense and was interesting to read, but the future I found a bit confusing and less enjoyable. Of course the link between the two contributed to the intrigue of each - the cause and effect providing the plot pull.
There is more driving this story than story, however. In amidst it all, there's some philosophy and physics being explored. But it was a long way round in getting to the point. The grand enemy in the story, and the lead to these bigger themes, was left too obscure I thought, leaving the conclusions with less zing that they might have otherwise had.
February 8, 2025
It's ambitious to start with a postmodern take on Dying Earth and Barsoom--Clarke's Law and all that--and then posit vignettes describing the path to that point, much of which is in a hard science _The Martian_ mode of the near future (aside: don't necessarily read this because you liked that, they are not the same) and reveal that the whole of it is hung on the skeleton of a bogglingly long-lasting romance. And that ultimately the meaning of this romance is not what you thought.
I use the word 'romance' but not in that mushy cozy Hallmark-extruded movie sense. This is a devotion and a promise spanning lifetimes and tragedies. Think _Beren and Lúthien_ and I think with a bit of effort one could map parallels.
I use the word 'romance' but not in that mushy cozy Hallmark-extruded movie sense. This is a devotion and a promise spanning lifetimes and tragedies. Think _Beren and Lúthien_ and I think with a bit of effort one could map parallels.
February 21, 2019
Nope, not my favorite.
While parts of this book were enjoyable, the problem was that it was served in too many parts. The narrative was so disjointed as three major threads played out that it was a constant mystery as to what the heck was happening. Parts were just frustrating as they didn't seem to make sense in any context.
Things get sort of pulled together at the end but I'm still not sure what the end was all about.
I've been reading science fiction for over 50 years and this, if I had found something like it years ago, would have killed my interest in the genre.
While parts of this book were enjoyable, the problem was that it was served in too many parts. The narrative was so disjointed as three major threads played out that it was a constant mystery as to what the heck was happening. Parts were just frustrating as they didn't seem to make sense in any context.
Things get sort of pulled together at the end but I'm still not sure what the end was all about.
I've been reading science fiction for over 50 years and this, if I had found something like it years ago, would have killed my interest in the genre.
February 7, 2024
A book which at first captured my attention as a crisp sci-fi book contained to one story. I read it to the end to figure out the threads that connect all these different plots. Certain stories especially the ones from the closest to present to the kind of Star Wars like Space Opera parts were interesting and fun to read. But the late age stories which form half of the novel seem difficult to envision and airy which interrupted my enjoyment. The ending was also airy so I was left with wanting something more concrete.
April 17, 2019
It started well, but progressed somewhat slowly, and was a bit confusing as it slipped from timeline to timeline. But the last quarter of the book was exciting, and overall it's well-written. I would recommend it to any SciFi fan.
November 15, 2019
A Meaningful Journey Through Time
It could have been. It could be. We know Mars has a past, and we know there is a spirit in the machine. Our own spirit. Here is a way is can all become a whole.
It could have been. It could be. We know Mars has a past, and we know there is a spirit in the machine. Our own spirit. Here is a way is can all become a whole.
August 23, 2017
A better than average summer scifi read. Interesting weaving together of multiple story lines. I found the multidimensional stuff too weird to be compelling, though.
May 24, 2018
Seems to bounce around, a tangents never come together. Not sure what the point was about the boy coming of age of remembrance. Lots of loose ends..
October 16, 2018
This was a very well written book, very intricate and involved... just not my kind of book.
June 20, 2019
Worth the time
Was difficult to keep all the characters in the book on the right story line. That being said I did finish the book and have decide to read more by this author.
Was difficult to keep all the characters in the book on the right story line. That being said I did finish the book and have decide to read more by this author.
August 7, 2019
Enjoyed it eventually as difficult to get into. Different.
January 4, 2018
You can read the full review over at my blog:
https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...
Shadowhawk reviews Guy Haley’s latest, a novel that spans time and delves into the mysteries of the Red Planet.
“One of the most compelling novels of the year, Champion of Mars is a fine example of Guy Haley’s quirky and other-worldly narrative style that was the hallmark of his Richards and Klein novels.” ~Shadowhawk, The Founding Fields
After I finished reading the novel a few days ago and had a few moments to think, I finally hit upon the reason why I’ve liked Guy Haley’s works so far, including Champion of Mars: his overall style and the feel of his narrative reminds me very strongly of Ben Counter’s various for Black Library. Ben’s Grey Knights novels are some of my favourites, as are some of his other works such as the short story Sacrifice and two of his Soul Drinkers novels: Crimson Tears and the more recent Phalanx. Ben’s work is extremely quirky and otherworldly, especially when he is writing about the Chaos Powers that lord over the Warp, an alternate dimension in the Warhammer 40,000 universe which is used for interstellar travel, is the source for all psychic powers/sorcery and is the realm of souls. And it is that style that Guy echoes in his own way when he is writing his novels, be it the Richards and Klein novels or Champion of Mars.
So in a way, it is quite fitting and immensely exciting for me personally that Guy is going to be writing stories set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe in the coming years. Surprised? So was I!
Champion of Mars is set in the same alternate near future as Guy’s Richards and Klein novels and in a way, it is tangentially both a prequel and sequel to those two novels. Setting it in the same “world” has given Guy the liberty to make use of existing concepts and characters and theories while still maintaining that originality in the novel. New readers to Guy’s work need not worry because a knowledge of what happens in the Richards and Klein novels is not necessary to understand Champion of Mars because any references to events therein are kept to a bare minimum. Yet, for those who have read them, there are ample references to put a big grin on your face with all the tantalising hints. For me, it made the novel very complete and I enjoyed comparing my understanding of those references with Guy himself.
The novel is divided into two concurrent narratives: divided between two different eras with different characters. The first half of the narrative is from the perspective of the titular hero thousands of years into the future: the Champion of Mars known as Yoechakanon Val Mora and his love interest Kaibeli. The second half is from the perspective of a scientist less than a century from now: Dr. Holland who is visiting Mars for the first time as part of a colonisation effort and the Androd Cybele he has to work with. This approach to the novel really aided in the immersion process but at times it did come across as a little weird because initially I was under the impression that Yoechakanon’s (Yoe) tale is set in Mars’ past rather than its future. Other than that though, Guy really pulled it off and we get two really contrasting images of the Red Planet and I have to say that both visions of Mars are equally breathtaking and evocative./
https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...
Shadowhawk reviews Guy Haley’s latest, a novel that spans time and delves into the mysteries of the Red Planet.
“One of the most compelling novels of the year, Champion of Mars is a fine example of Guy Haley’s quirky and other-worldly narrative style that was the hallmark of his Richards and Klein novels.” ~Shadowhawk, The Founding Fields
After I finished reading the novel a few days ago and had a few moments to think, I finally hit upon the reason why I’ve liked Guy Haley’s works so far, including Champion of Mars: his overall style and the feel of his narrative reminds me very strongly of Ben Counter’s various for Black Library. Ben’s Grey Knights novels are some of my favourites, as are some of his other works such as the short story Sacrifice and two of his Soul Drinkers novels: Crimson Tears and the more recent Phalanx. Ben’s work is extremely quirky and otherworldly, especially when he is writing about the Chaos Powers that lord over the Warp, an alternate dimension in the Warhammer 40,000 universe which is used for interstellar travel, is the source for all psychic powers/sorcery and is the realm of souls. And it is that style that Guy echoes in his own way when he is writing his novels, be it the Richards and Klein novels or Champion of Mars.
So in a way, it is quite fitting and immensely exciting for me personally that Guy is going to be writing stories set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe in the coming years. Surprised? So was I!
Champion of Mars is set in the same alternate near future as Guy’s Richards and Klein novels and in a way, it is tangentially both a prequel and sequel to those two novels. Setting it in the same “world” has given Guy the liberty to make use of existing concepts and characters and theories while still maintaining that originality in the novel. New readers to Guy’s work need not worry because a knowledge of what happens in the Richards and Klein novels is not necessary to understand Champion of Mars because any references to events therein are kept to a bare minimum. Yet, for those who have read them, there are ample references to put a big grin on your face with all the tantalising hints. For me, it made the novel very complete and I enjoyed comparing my understanding of those references with Guy himself.
The novel is divided into two concurrent narratives: divided between two different eras with different characters. The first half of the narrative is from the perspective of the titular hero thousands of years into the future: the Champion of Mars known as Yoechakanon Val Mora and his love interest Kaibeli. The second half is from the perspective of a scientist less than a century from now: Dr. Holland who is visiting Mars for the first time as part of a colonisation effort and the Androd Cybele he has to work with. This approach to the novel really aided in the immersion process but at times it did come across as a little weird because initially I was under the impression that Yoechakanon’s (Yoe) tale is set in Mars’ past rather than its future. Other than that though, Guy really pulled it off and we get two really contrasting images of the Red Planet and I have to say that both visions of Mars are equally breathtaking and evocative./
January 24, 2015
I won this book through the GoodReads First Reads program in exchange for an honest review.
Now while I'm more of a fantasy fan, every now and then the engineer in me cries out for some science fiction. Now I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book, especially given the rather well endowed woman on the cover (probably a bunch of guys in spaceships blowing each other up and hanging out with weird alien females?) but it certainly wasn't what I got.
What I got was one of the most complex and engrossing narratives I've ever read. You begin in the far future, ten's of thousands of years from now. In the next chapter you find yourself in the near future, maybe only a century away. And then the third chapter is somewhere in-between. And the cycle continues, bit by bit tying the past, the present and the future together. Even the writing style differs between chapters, making the far future feel more alien (well, guess I should say "evolved" since we're still talking humans here).
I must admit there were times I was thoroughly confused, particularly about the Stone Kin, because each moment of time takes certain things for granted, and only snippets of information are given out to the reader. Like mystery, you need to piece all those pieces together, and you can only really do that by reading the entire book. And it was fascinating to see how the world evolved, from the names of places, to the events of the past that go from fact, to legend, to outright forgotten. To me one of the most important aspects of a scifi or fantasy book is the world building, and Haley's imagination, and ability to get it across, was without bounds.
So I got my science, eleven dimensional beings which are frankly bizarre to behold using our four dimensional senses, omnipresent but not omniscent AI, and the ability for a person's "soul" to be stored in a library and be reborn again and again. But unlike some science fiction that tries to use nothing more than cool technology to keep the reader interested, this novel is really built around characters, a pair of characters really, a unique love story spanning millenia.
Now while I'm more of a fantasy fan, every now and then the engineer in me cries out for some science fiction. Now I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book, especially given the rather well endowed woman on the cover (probably a bunch of guys in spaceships blowing each other up and hanging out with weird alien females?) but it certainly wasn't what I got.
What I got was one of the most complex and engrossing narratives I've ever read. You begin in the far future, ten's of thousands of years from now. In the next chapter you find yourself in the near future, maybe only a century away. And then the third chapter is somewhere in-between. And the cycle continues, bit by bit tying the past, the present and the future together. Even the writing style differs between chapters, making the far future feel more alien (well, guess I should say "evolved" since we're still talking humans here).
I must admit there were times I was thoroughly confused, particularly about the Stone Kin, because each moment of time takes certain things for granted, and only snippets of information are given out to the reader. Like mystery, you need to piece all those pieces together, and you can only really do that by reading the entire book. And it was fascinating to see how the world evolved, from the names of places, to the events of the past that go from fact, to legend, to outright forgotten. To me one of the most important aspects of a scifi or fantasy book is the world building, and Haley's imagination, and ability to get it across, was without bounds.
So I got my science, eleven dimensional beings which are frankly bizarre to behold using our four dimensional senses, omnipresent but not omniscent AI, and the ability for a person's "soul" to be stored in a library and be reborn again and again. But unlike some science fiction that tries to use nothing more than cool technology to keep the reader interested, this novel is really built around characters, a pair of characters really, a unique love story spanning millenia.
September 19, 2016
Unique and extremely ambitious. Misses the mark just barely, but still worth reading.
December 28, 2016
I bought this book when one of those daily specials ran across my screen with a tempting offer. Not much risk, I thought, and maybe something to add to the lore of Red Mars and The Martian.
It took me far beyond.
Guy Haley constructs a magnificent future for mankind on Mars, beginning with an early exploration into the lava tubes of Ascraeus Mons and moving across history to the end - or salvation - of mankind. The constant throughout is the man who with his many-formed companion will come to be the planet's battle-champion.
Haley's writing is reminiscent of Dan Simmons at his Hyperion best. Like Simmons, Haley takes unimaginable spaces and imagines them in clear and often soaring prose, alternating through vastly different world-constructs. Nor does he spoon-feed, but invites you to think past people and events to figure out the central mysteries of his world. He leaves enough muddy canvas that you can tramp through with your own imaginings, but never too much or too little. Every character is so perfectly constructed that like that ship you yearn to to take one more flight.
I didn't read this in one sitting, though I could have, easily.
It took me far beyond.
Guy Haley constructs a magnificent future for mankind on Mars, beginning with an early exploration into the lava tubes of Ascraeus Mons and moving across history to the end - or salvation - of mankind. The constant throughout is the man who with his many-formed companion will come to be the planet's battle-champion.
Haley's writing is reminiscent of Dan Simmons at his Hyperion best. Like Simmons, Haley takes unimaginable spaces and imagines them in clear and often soaring prose, alternating through vastly different world-constructs. Nor does he spoon-feed, but invites you to think past people and events to figure out the central mysteries of his world. He leaves enough muddy canvas that you can tramp through with your own imaginings, but never too much or too little. Every character is so perfectly constructed that like that ship you yearn to to take one more flight.
I didn't read this in one sitting, though I could have, easily.
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