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Mars #1
The Empress of Mars: A Novella
"There were three Empresses of Mars. The first one was a bar at the Settlement. The second was the lady who ran the bar; though her title was strictly informal, having been bestowed on her by the regular customers, and her domain extended no further than the pleasantly gloomy walls of the only place you could get beer on the Tharsis Bulge. The third one was the Queen of England."
110 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2003
5 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
About the author
Kage Baker
162 books356 followersBorn June 10, 1952, in Hollywood, California, and grew up there and in Pismo Beach, present home. Spent 12 years in assorted navy blue uniforms obtaining a good parochial school education and numerous emotional scars. Rapier wit developed as defense mechanism to deflect rage of larger and more powerful children who took offense at abrasive, condescending and arrogant personality in a sickly eight-year-old. Family: 2 parents, 6 siblings, 4 nieces, 2 nephews. Husbands: 0. Children: 0.
Prior occupations: graphic artist and mural painter, several lower clerical positions which could in no way be construed as a career, and (over a period of years for the Living History Centre) playwright, bit player, director, teacher of Elizabethan English for the stage, stage manager and educational program assistant coordinator. Presently reengaged in the above-listed capacities for the LHC's triumphant reincarnation, AS YOU LIKE IT PRODUCTIONS.
20 years of total immersion research in Elizabethan as well as other historical periods has paid off handsomely in a working knowledge of period speech and details.
In spare time (ha) reads: any old sea stories by Marryat, the Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brien, the Hornblower books, ANYTHING by Robert Louis Stevenson, Raymond Chandler, Thorne Smith, Herman Melville (except Pierre, or the Ambiguities, which stinks) Somerset Maugham, George MacDonald Frasier.
Now happily settled in beautiful Pismo Beach, Clam Capital of the World, in charming seaside flat which is unfortunately not haunted by ghost of dashing sea captain. Avid gardener, birdwatcher, spinster aunt and Jethro Tull fan.
http://www.sfwa.org/2010/01/rip-kage-...
Prior occupations: graphic artist and mural painter, several lower clerical positions which could in no way be construed as a career, and (over a period of years for the Living History Centre) playwright, bit player, director, teacher of Elizabethan English for the stage, stage manager and educational program assistant coordinator. Presently reengaged in the above-listed capacities for the LHC's triumphant reincarnation, AS YOU LIKE IT PRODUCTIONS.
20 years of total immersion research in Elizabethan as well as other historical periods has paid off handsomely in a working knowledge of period speech and details.
In spare time (ha) reads: any old sea stories by Marryat, the Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brien, the Hornblower books, ANYTHING by Robert Louis Stevenson, Raymond Chandler, Thorne Smith, Herman Melville (except Pierre, or the Ambiguities, which stinks) Somerset Maugham, George MacDonald Frasier.
Now happily settled in beautiful Pismo Beach, Clam Capital of the World, in charming seaside flat which is unfortunately not haunted by ghost of dashing sea captain. Avid gardener, birdwatcher, spinster aunt and Jethro Tull fan.
http://www.sfwa.org/2010/01/rip-kage-...
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 18, 2025
*cue the western themed music and tumbleweeds**
This novella follows an older woman trying to eek oht a living on one of mars few settlements. But life isnt easy, after the company ejected her and with no money to return home, she gets creative and opens a bar, the only one on mars. But soon fateay take that away from her unless she can do something about it….
This book had an undeniable wild wild west theme. I highly recommend it.
Readers of the strange may like this one.
This novella follows an older woman trying to eek oht a living on one of mars few settlements. But life isnt easy, after the company ejected her and with no money to return home, she gets creative and opens a bar, the only one on mars. But soon fateay take that away from her unless she can do something about it….
This book had an undeniable wild wild west theme. I highly recommend it.
Readers of the strange may like this one.
November 11, 2014
This was an edition of 500 copies.
April 29, 2010
Kage Baker recently died, and will be sorely missed -- and not just for her ability to write long series of wonderful novels, as her eight Company books proved. She could also write stand-alone novels, though this one comes with a twist: it’s an expanded version of her award-winning 2003 novella, “The Empress of Mars.”
To make it simple, Baker also calls this one “The Empress of Mars” (Tor, $25.95, 304 pages), and it’s an old-fashioned space opera about pioneers on Mars who try to coax a living, and survival, out of the inhospitable Red Planet. It’s not exactly subtle, and it does stretch the bounds of probability, but it’s a whole lot of fun.
Those who read the novella probably don’t need to go back over the same ground, but for newbies like me it was a treat. “The Empress of Mars” isn’t going to eclipse The Company series in terms of quality and impact, but for those of a certain age who grew up reading about plucky pioneers battling alien elements and the bad guys with spare parts and pure hearts, it’s a wonderful reminder of just how much fun that kind of story can be.
To make it simple, Baker also calls this one “The Empress of Mars” (Tor, $25.95, 304 pages), and it’s an old-fashioned space opera about pioneers on Mars who try to coax a living, and survival, out of the inhospitable Red Planet. It’s not exactly subtle, and it does stretch the bounds of probability, but it’s a whole lot of fun.
Those who read the novella probably don’t need to go back over the same ground, but for newbies like me it was a treat. “The Empress of Mars” isn’t going to eclipse The Company series in terms of quality and impact, but for those of a certain age who grew up reading about plucky pioneers battling alien elements and the bad guys with spare parts and pure hearts, it’s a wonderful reminder of just how much fun that kind of story can be.
August 19, 2009
A quirky look at the perseverance of the human spirit when faced with the hardships of life on Mars. Highly skilled scientists and technicians find a way to eke out a living on the planet that they have come to call home while establishing a society among the misfits that have been brought in as settlers and battling the unfeeling bureaucracy that has abandoned all of them in the name of profit. Replete with oddly appealing characters and imaginative solutions to age-old problems, The Empress of Mars refers both to an establishment and its main character, a resourceful algae scientist named Mary Griffith who manages to provide alcohol and shelter to a memorable cast of characters.
April 14, 2011
This book is the epitome of why I love novellas! It is imaginative, cheeky, fast-paced and more daring than any self-respecting full length book could be! Please find the time to read it. I promise you'll fall head over heels in love with Mary, Empress of Mars!
July 22, 2017
I'm aware Ms Baker expanded this novella into a full fledged novel, but it's been ages since I read a short form fiction piece, so I wanted to check out the original, shorter version first.
I learned of its existence from a Doctor Who trivia article (about an episode of the same title, which, nevertheless has nothing to do with this novella), and thought it sounded pretty interesting.
And indeed, it was! Very enjoyable.
I liked its tone which was somewhat...humorous, but without being "quirky".
I used to read short stories - esp. "genre" ones - quite a lot in my childhood. A good short story, or a novella can carry a memorable story, or create a powerful image as well as a novel, but it saves you time. Bradbury was a master of this. I think The Empress of Mars would easily have fitted among his collections. It's certainly more female - Baker created a wonderfully complex and vital central female character which I suspect my dear Bradbury probably wouldn't have been able to - but other than that, the vibe of this story and the way in which it was written certainly reminded me of his work.
I think the characters featured in this novella were certainly engaging enough for me to be interested in reading the novel one day.
Thumbs up!
I learned of its existence from a Doctor Who trivia article (about an episode of the same title, which, nevertheless has nothing to do with this novella), and thought it sounded pretty interesting.
And indeed, it was! Very enjoyable.
I liked its tone which was somewhat...humorous, but without being "quirky".
I used to read short stories - esp. "genre" ones - quite a lot in my childhood. A good short story, or a novella can carry a memorable story, or create a powerful image as well as a novel, but it saves you time. Bradbury was a master of this. I think The Empress of Mars would easily have fitted among his collections. It's certainly more female - Baker created a wonderfully complex and vital central female character which I suspect my dear Bradbury probably wouldn't have been able to - but other than that, the vibe of this story and the way in which it was written certainly reminded me of his work.
I think the characters featured in this novella were certainly engaging enough for me to be interested in reading the novel one day.
Thumbs up!
March 24, 2019
This was one of the weirdest stories I've ever read.
September 13, 2019
Fun, slightly predictable but well-paced.
March 23, 2020
Su Marte ci sono una donna combattiva e le fragole.
Tempo di lettura 3 ore e mezza.
Tre stelline:
1 per la trama
1 per la protagonista
1 per il gioco di rimandi.
Tempo di lettura 3 ore e mezza.
Tre stelline:
1 per la trama
1 per la protagonista
1 per il gioco di rimandi.
June 1, 2023
I personaggi ci sono, l'ambientazione c'è, la storia pure, ma le novelle non fanno per me.
https://unnecessarypixels.it/2023/06/...
https://unnecessarypixels.it/2023/06/...
December 21, 2009
The Empress of Mars is most certainly an experiment in expectations. Having read Baker's The House of the Stag (and loving it, by the way), and being wholly unfamiliar with her Company novels, I had expected The Empress of Mars to be another adventurous, incredibly internalized story, only with spaceships and other science fiction furniture instead of magic and half-demons. Only, that's not what I got. Instead, The Empress of Mars provided me with more of Baker's ability to craft character and a strangely vibrant vision of a Mars that just might be, without the need for explosions and laser pistols to keep things interesting.
The Empress of Mars takes place on, well, Mars, obviously, and follows Mary Griffith, a worshiper of "the Goddess" and owner of a seedy bar called The Empress, practically the only thing she owns, and a business she is struggling to keep afloat. There, she and her daughters, and a ragtag group of unwanted men and women who have come to Mars for the chance to make a life for themselves, eke out a meager living under the stern hand of the British Arean Company. Mary has had a hard life, too, with the BAC breathing down her neck, but unable to do anything about her, and all manner of unsavory characters wanting to see her pushed off the planet for good. After a string of good luck, however, Mary finds herself the target of the BAC's legal rumblings and business acumen. Now everything rests on Mary's shoulders: her business, the fate of Mars, and, most importantly, her family.
Baker's pension for character is certainly a feature of this installment in her Company series. Mary Griffith is one of a set of astonishing array of unique characters, all with powerful motivations, wonderfully realized dialogue, and Baker's own flare for creating fascinating black and white figures on both sides of the coin. You still hate her bad guys, but you at least understand why they do what they do and disagree with them either because you hold different beliefs or because their tactics are unacceptable. Her good guys have similar problems, and this makes her story incredibly character-driven, because as the story moves along, Baker creates for us a long string of flawed, but endearing figures that you can't help but love, even if you disagree with aspects of their lifestyles. There are no wooden characters here.
Pacing and world-wise, The Empress of Mars doesn't leave too much to the imagination. Some might conceive of this as a flaw, considering that much of Baker's novel is not at all unlike what we might see going on today: legal blunders, corporations overstepping their bounds, bitter attempts to steal land from underprivileged people, etc. The plot does take some time to get moving, but once it does, Mars comes to life as a clear, but somewhat exaggerated (and necessarily so) reflection of our present. Everything is laid out for the reader, bringing focus to the characters and their struggles with what is going on around them and de-centering the wider struggle of mankind; this creates isolation in plot and world, providing ample space for Baker to develop the scenery and history of the Mars colonists. Only in the end do things move a little too quickly, and some questions are left unanswered, but perhaps for good reason (the supernatural might have played a welcome--or unwelcome, depending on your perspective--hand in the overall story, but that's up for the reader to decide on his or her own).
Beyond a somewhat lingering plot, Baker's imagining of religion seems to have a stronger connection to exoticism than realism. I feel as though the insertion of the mostly-pagan worship of the Goddess was inconsistent with what actually might be true in our own future. Mary's relationship to "the Goddess," while interesting, reflects more of the old, somewhat absurd early renderings of Mars in science fiction. Granted, I have not read her other Company novels, so perhaps there are some clear and powerful motivations for the changes in religion and social dynamics that I am unaware of in reading The Empress of Mars, but regardless, this seems a somewhat absurd complaint to have when the overwhelming majority of my thoughts about this particular novel center on my love for Baker's writing and her ability to create memorable characters.
If everything up to this point hasn't indicated whether or not I liked this book, then I'll clarify now: while The Empress of Mars is not perfect, I found myself thoroughly engaged by the characters and once again loving Baker's writing style. This novel may not be for everyone--after all, it is not about galactic wars or spaceships or many of the more explosive and action-packed elements of the science fiction genre--but it will certainly appeal to many readers, particularly those who enjoy stories centered on the characters, rather than on the shininess of the setting.
The Empress of Mars takes place on, well, Mars, obviously, and follows Mary Griffith, a worshiper of "the Goddess" and owner of a seedy bar called The Empress, practically the only thing she owns, and a business she is struggling to keep afloat. There, she and her daughters, and a ragtag group of unwanted men and women who have come to Mars for the chance to make a life for themselves, eke out a meager living under the stern hand of the British Arean Company. Mary has had a hard life, too, with the BAC breathing down her neck, but unable to do anything about her, and all manner of unsavory characters wanting to see her pushed off the planet for good. After a string of good luck, however, Mary finds herself the target of the BAC's legal rumblings and business acumen. Now everything rests on Mary's shoulders: her business, the fate of Mars, and, most importantly, her family.
Baker's pension for character is certainly a feature of this installment in her Company series. Mary Griffith is one of a set of astonishing array of unique characters, all with powerful motivations, wonderfully realized dialogue, and Baker's own flare for creating fascinating black and white figures on both sides of the coin. You still hate her bad guys, but you at least understand why they do what they do and disagree with them either because you hold different beliefs or because their tactics are unacceptable. Her good guys have similar problems, and this makes her story incredibly character-driven, because as the story moves along, Baker creates for us a long string of flawed, but endearing figures that you can't help but love, even if you disagree with aspects of their lifestyles. There are no wooden characters here.
Pacing and world-wise, The Empress of Mars doesn't leave too much to the imagination. Some might conceive of this as a flaw, considering that much of Baker's novel is not at all unlike what we might see going on today: legal blunders, corporations overstepping their bounds, bitter attempts to steal land from underprivileged people, etc. The plot does take some time to get moving, but once it does, Mars comes to life as a clear, but somewhat exaggerated (and necessarily so) reflection of our present. Everything is laid out for the reader, bringing focus to the characters and their struggles with what is going on around them and de-centering the wider struggle of mankind; this creates isolation in plot and world, providing ample space for Baker to develop the scenery and history of the Mars colonists. Only in the end do things move a little too quickly, and some questions are left unanswered, but perhaps for good reason (the supernatural might have played a welcome--or unwelcome, depending on your perspective--hand in the overall story, but that's up for the reader to decide on his or her own).
Beyond a somewhat lingering plot, Baker's imagining of religion seems to have a stronger connection to exoticism than realism. I feel as though the insertion of the mostly-pagan worship of the Goddess was inconsistent with what actually might be true in our own future. Mary's relationship to "the Goddess," while interesting, reflects more of the old, somewhat absurd early renderings of Mars in science fiction. Granted, I have not read her other Company novels, so perhaps there are some clear and powerful motivations for the changes in religion and social dynamics that I am unaware of in reading The Empress of Mars, but regardless, this seems a somewhat absurd complaint to have when the overwhelming majority of my thoughts about this particular novel center on my love for Baker's writing and her ability to create memorable characters.
If everything up to this point hasn't indicated whether or not I liked this book, then I'll clarify now: while The Empress of Mars is not perfect, I found myself thoroughly engaged by the characters and once again loving Baker's writing style. This novel may not be for everyone--after all, it is not about galactic wars or spaceships or many of the more explosive and action-packed elements of the science fiction genre--but it will certainly appeal to many readers, particularly those who enjoy stories centered on the characters, rather than on the shininess of the setting.
September 23, 2009
Kage Baker is one of those author’s that I always mean to read but never get around to doing it. I’ve always been intrigued by her Company novels but intimidated by the prospect of jumping into a new series. The Empress of Mars is listed as being a Company novel, and the cover certainly mimics the the other Company but new readers should rest assured that The Empress of Mars feels like a standalone work and I never felt at a loss for having missed out on other Company novels.
The plot is fairly straight-forward. Mary Griffith runs a bar on colonial Mars, run by the British Arean Company, called the Empress of Mars. The plot is not grandiose but rather almost quaint. I don’t mean that in a bad way but the story of a hardworking colonist struggling against the oversight of an oppressive administration is something quite familiar; especially from the American perspective. Baker manages to imbue that familiar struggle with a vivid originality; I was particularly fond of her use of the Celtic clan structure to increase bonds between colonists and the emergence of a sort of monotheistic Dianic neopaganism as an more widespread religion.
Full review here/
The plot is fairly straight-forward. Mary Griffith runs a bar on colonial Mars, run by the British Arean Company, called the Empress of Mars. The plot is not grandiose but rather almost quaint. I don’t mean that in a bad way but the story of a hardworking colonist struggling against the oversight of an oppressive administration is something quite familiar; especially from the American perspective. Baker manages to imbue that familiar struggle with a vivid originality; I was particularly fond of her use of the Celtic clan structure to increase bonds between colonists and the emergence of a sort of monotheistic Dianic neopaganism as an more widespread religion.
Full review here/
June 11, 2010
A humorous, intelligent science fiction novel for adults. Mars is in the still-young stages of colonization, and all manner of characters think to start over on the red planet. Mary Griffiths, thwarted scientist, runs a successful tavern (the Empress of the title) modeled after an Irish pub, and her daughters, all with different fathers, are responsible for a good bit of the drama in Mary's daily life. The regulars in the pub are more intriguing in their variety and histories. Politics, religious intolerance, and legal wrangles are thriving in this new world as well, and the tavern is almost always in the thick of things. Despite the bleak, inhospitable backdrop of Mars, the characters and their doings reminded me of Alexander McCall Smith or, in places, even a modern-day Jane Austen--everyday experiences adding up to the whole.
July 3, 2016
The Empress of Mars - Kage Baker
Short story in The Company universe; SF; 9/10
This was a fill-in story to Baker's Company series, showing the creation of the situation on Mars that is seen in The Life of the World to Come (at least, I think it's that book). It was a short, neatly told tale with a pleasant cast of characters (at least some of which I'm pretty sure were cyborgs doing their part to set things up as required). I enjoyed it a lot and I'm glad I got hold of it and got to fill in that bit of Company history. I think I heard somewhere that Baker is expanding it into a full novel and I'll be interested in that too, when it comes out.
Short story in The Company universe; SF; 9/10
This was a fill-in story to Baker's Company series, showing the creation of the situation on Mars that is seen in The Life of the World to Come (at least, I think it's that book). It was a short, neatly told tale with a pleasant cast of characters (at least some of which I'm pretty sure were cyborgs doing their part to set things up as required). I enjoyed it a lot and I'm glad I got hold of it and got to fill in that bit of Company history. I think I heard somewhere that Baker is expanding it into a full novel and I'll be interested in that too, when it comes out.
December 15, 2011
While I enjoyed reading this book I would be hard pressed to say what it was about. Sure, things happen to the characters in the book, but I'm not sure that I would call a series of things happening to people a plot. I must say I enjoyed reading a science fiction book with an unconvential heroine - they're hard to come by in this genre. This book is popcorn though. Delicious, unconventional popcorn.
March 3, 2010
When Mary Griffith was fired from her job as xenobiologiest on Mars, she refused to take her three young daughters back to Earth. Instead she opened a bar--The Empress of Mars-- and served "home brew" to the assorted characters who pioneered the tough life.
She collects quite a family around her and becomes something of a legend on the planet. Griffith reminds me in someways of the PeeTayBee matriarchs by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Scarborough.
30.6
She collects quite a family around her and becomes something of a legend on the planet. Griffith reminds me in someways of the PeeTayBee matriarchs by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Scarborough.
30.6
January 5, 2015
Marte
Frontiera
E birra
Davvero, se avete bisogno di altro, anche se c'è un sacco di altro nell'affresco di personaggi che animano l'imperatrice di Marte, avete un problema voi.
Una novella che va via in una sera, e che riconferma la Baker come una delle penne migliori che abbia mai trovato, e purtroppo perso troppo presto, anche al di fuori del ciclo della compagnia.
Frontiera
E birra
Davvero, se avete bisogno di altro, anche se c'è un sacco di altro nell'affresco di personaggi che animano l'imperatrice di Marte, avete un problema voi.
Una novella che va via in una sera, e che riconferma la Baker come una delle penne migliori che abbia mai trovato, e purtroppo perso troppo presto, anche al di fuori del ciclo della compagnia.
March 28, 2010
My first foray into Baker's writing, and her Company novels, as a tribute to her life. I found it difficult to get into (what the heck was this about?) but once I sat to read without interruption I found I enjoyed the odd ride.
June 30, 2009
I enjoy Kage Baker's Company novels quite a bit. This novel, while set in that world, does not require an intimate knowledge of its workings, though it does add to the enjoyment. Plus! A Mars part-populated by Celts and cows. There's no resisting it.
November 26, 2009
This is another very entertaining Kage Baker story full of her usual colorful characters. There are some engaging plot twists before all gets resolved in the end. It's not Anna Karenina but it is a lot of fun.
October 27, 2010
This was a very entertaining book. I really liked the format, reminded me a little of Saroyan. The Empress of Mars - a tavern on Mars and all the people who come and go, likable memorable characters, and the underlying conflict between The Company and the regular folks.
March 29, 2016
Ottimo racconto lungo di space opera marziana, con un tocco di humor estremamente gradevole. Ho scoperto un aspetto della Baker, che conoscevo per i romanzi della Compagnia, assolutamente nuovo e molto interessante. Un libro da consigliare!
August 16, 2009
Damn the Man, save the Empress!
September 13, 2009
This is one of those books where everyone is wacky and wacky stuff happens. I don't like very many of those books. This one wasn't horrible, but it didn't get me to read past the first chapter.
December 25, 2009
No new themes - decent writing, but not a great book.
December 31, 2009
An amusing mashup of Bradbury, Varley, and Spider Robinson settings, but with Baker's strong characters and snarky wit sweetening the pot. Fun.
Read
January 9, 2010Fictionwise multiformat ebook
Want to read
October 30, 2010I couldn't find this book at my library. I can't stand starting a collection of books in the middle!
February 16, 2011
I just read the award-winning novella, but now plan to get the novel. Lots of fun in this story.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews