Mercury Rising

First Planets #1

by R.W.W. Greene

Alternative history with aliens, an immortal misanthrope and SF tropes aplenty

Even in a technologically-advanced, Kennedy-Didn’t-Die alternate-history, Brooklyn Lamontagne is going nowhere fast. The year is 1975, thirty years after Robert Oppenheimer invented the Oppenheimer Nuclear Engine, twenty-five years after the first human walked on the moon, and eighteen years after Jet Carson and the Eagle Seven sacrificed their lives to stop the alien invaders.

Brooklyn just wants to keep his mother’s rent paid, earn a little scratch of his own, steer clear of the cops, and maybe get laid sometime in the near future. Simple pleasures, right? But a killer with a baseball bat and a mysterious box of 8-track tapes is about to make his life real complicated…

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Aliens, Alternate History, Speculative Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

378 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2022

About the author

R.W.W. Greene is the author of "The Light Years" (Feb. 2020)," "Twenty-Five to Life" (Aug. 2021), "Mercury Rising" (May 2022), and "Earth Retrograde" (Oct. 2023), all from Angry Robot Books. Member of SFWA.

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real Rating: 4.75* of five (rounded down because the w-bombs! the w-bombs!)

I PRACTICALLY HAD TO BEG THE AUTHOR FOR A DRC. I *THOUGHT* WE WERE FRIENDS. MY FEELINGS ARE STILL HURT.

My Review: No, really. Mortally wounded that this wingèd not my way until I groveled. *sniff* (And seriously NO MORE W-BOMBS. Cut that crap out, dirty-old-man-in-training!) I was calmly enjoying the mental soundtrack, the 1970s jukebox that's permanently cued up in my head, when *wham* another revolting w-bomb.

But about that jukebox...would we, in fact, have the precise same pop-cultural artifacts in a world that didn't slow down its climb to the stars? The 1968 Cougar, well, okay, that was already on course from 1958. The planning window of a car in those days was five years...so the 1958s wouldn't've been much altered from our world, as I understand the timeline, which diverges first in the middle 1940s and so those cars can be explained. Pop culture spins on a nailhead. Elvis electrifying the country is one example, the Beatles knocking off his cool-cat cap is another, but both of those came in response to specific cultural stimuli. Wouldn't the world be more law-and-order oriented when the Oppenheimer Nuclear Drives are dangling before the lust-drenched gaze of every young testosterone factory? Can't get in one of those unless your nose is clean.

Which, of course, our PoV character (Brooklyn Lemontagne) flouts. But the reason he's able to flout that social control mechanism is simple: Invaders from Outer Space! The ultimate Golden Age of SF trope. This time they're Mercurians, the patent absurdity of whose existence gives even the Hero of the piece (who apparently dies early on) some pause. Can't argue with the presence of stonking hostile warships and evaporated cities, can you.

This takes place among Americans! Of course you can! The whole planet pulls together to combat the Enemy from Beyond...and there are ignorant goofballs talking conspiracy theories, there are hemi-hippies rebelling against the controlling hand of the grown-ups. This is the world, and honestly I agree with Author Greene's take on it. I quibble with some details, but I believe he's exactly correct that even an existential threat with ample death and destruction to demonstrate its reality won't create more than a façade of unity among the irredeemable mass of humanity. (Look around, tell me, and him, we're wrong.)

So I buy the premise. So I consent to set aside my niggling nuh-uh generator. I'm in for the ride.

There is more, should you wish to visit my blog to read all the progress notes.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
When I try to describe this book, the word that comes to mind is… cool.

This is an alternative history science fiction novel. I didn't know how much I love this subgenre until I read this book. Why is this such an undeserved subgenre?

While this is set in the past, this alternative history explores futuristic ideas surrounding space travel and aliens. The characters and worldbuilding are just plain cool. I mean, this book opens with a character named Jet!

The tone of the story is lighter, which fit the story, but held this one back from being a five star read for me. This book was certainly fun, but I personally need stories with more emotional depth in order to fully connect with the narrative.

I read and loved this author's previous novel, The Light Years. I enjoyed both novels but they are very different from each other. The author has a fantastic range within his work. I would definitely love to read more by him.

I would recommend this one to readers who are looking for a unique story that blends together the past and future into a fun space romp.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard-ish, retro-alt earth, dystopian, space opera. On a 1961, alt-Earth they put aside the Cold War to defend the planet when aliens dropped very big rocks on it. Decades later, a hard-case, young man joins the UN Extra-Orbital Forces (EOF) to stay out of prison. A few years after that, he saves the planet.

January 27, 1961. "Victory an aging long-range fighter with third-gen Oppenheimer Atomic Engines. The modification increased the fighters’ straight-line range and speed, while maintaining their inherent toughness and maneuverability."

My author signed dead tree copy was a short-ish 364 pages with a US 2022 copyright.

R.W.W. Greene is an American, Science-Fiction Writer, Recovering Journalist, and Teacher. He's the author of four novels of science fiction in series and standalone. I have read a few of the author’s books. The last being The Light Years (my review).

TL:DR

1961. On alt-Earth, an alien attack originating from Mercury dropped asteroids on major cities. It brought the Cold War to a halt. It also turbo-charged the already advanced space technology of the times. An alien fleet was barely defeated short of orbit by a collation of: Russian, US and Chinese Space Forces. Humanity on a war-footing, uneasily: unites, arms, and disburses to: Luna, Mars, The Belt, and the outer planet moons. The war devolves into a low-intensity conflict for almost the next two decades.

1975. Brooklyn Lamontagne was living in Queens, NY and payed his widowed mother’s rent. In the US war society there were few opportunities for poor young men. However, he was inherently: tough, smart and clever. He was also a punk with hustle. Till he got caught. He took the 10-year, military option. In the EOF he flourished sandbagging as a Moonbase computer tech and dealing in the lunar black-market. That was until, he was transferred from his cozy gig to a patrol vessel, and ended-up captured by aliens.

2025. A story of the adventures of a not completely charming rogue, written in a wry, satirical manner with Space Race and 1970’s nostalgic references. The story had good bones, with a disorienting start, and an equally disorienting mid-story transition. It wrapped with a melodramatic ending, acting as an intro to the remainder of the author's First Planets series.

The Review

This is the third book by Greene I’ve liked. All of Greene’s stories are dystopian. All of his books have hard-ish tech. Many of them are space operas. Go figure?

Full disclosure, I'm a fan of the rarely occurring genre of hard-ish, space opera. In addition, I'm a fan of dystopian science fiction. Both of these genre’s together are underrepresented in modern sf. In this book Greene garnishes them both with mid-1970’s nostalgia and some WTF.

Greene is a polished author. The book was written in the smooth-style of the card-carrying MFA scribbler. It was characteristic, right down to its outlandish and artistic flourishes. The writing was technically good. Prose was written in a clear fashion. I did not find any typographical or grammatical errors and only a few repetition errors.

There was a single POV throughout, Lamontagne’s. Very artistically, the POV was in the simple past tense, with the exception of the dialogue.

Having read several of the author’s books, I found it unusual that the main character was a man. Previously, I thought he had had a hard preference for female protagonists.

Both dialog and descriptive prose were good. Dialog was vaguely “period”, although I don’t recall how folks spoke in the late 1970’s any longer. In places I found the story amusing in the snort or chuckle manner.

The descriptive narrative was good. Still, I did note some hand-waving and several technical errors. Although, you’d have to have a keen interest in: space science, astronomy, and related fields, i.e. be a Spacey to notice it. For example, the problems of: moon dust, radiation exposure, vehicular and suit heat dissipation in a vacuum, and the vastness of space were subject of authorial legerdemain. I get it. Most contemporary sf readers are fans of the less technically rigorous Standard Sci-Fi Setting . They've been trained to consider Earth-Moon travel to be at worst like flying on a red-eye flight across the continental United States (in coach).

As in Greene’s other book’s, I really liked the dialog and descriptive prose. It was: wry, savvy, technical, and also profane. I particularly like the Lamontagne character’s. He used the F*Bomb, in lieu of “very” and “really” quite correctly. Thankfully Greene didn’t try to phoneticize the New Yorker's speech. “Noo Yawk” (New York) would have been hard for me. I did note technical errors in the (space) naval military jargon. “Hatches” sometimes became lubberly “doors”.

While I thought the book started-out strangely, I had liked what I read. Then, it picked-up. It added stranger subplots, and at the end sprinted toward a peculiar melodramatic ending. The transitions in the book were brutal and outlandish. The themes of: first contact with aliens, crime, survival, and personal growth I got. That the humor, social commentary, alongside adventure, took what started as speculative fiction into the realm of fantasy in the final acts-- I had problems 'getting that'. I reluctantly checked my suspension-of-belief at the airlock hatch to finish the story.

I went into this book with my eyes wide open. “Its Chinatown Serial Fiction, Jake Charles.” This was also a moderate-sized book at less than 400 pages. The average length of a contemporary SF novel now being >400 pages, I was thankful for the HFN-ending. I knew there were at least another 700-pages in two books to go. However, I think that if Greene had had a better editor, this book would have hewed closer to its retro-science fiction beginning and not hared-off to its actual graphic novel-like fantastical ending?

The protagonist Lamontagne, was a young, petty criminal. He was: smart enough, clever enough, introverted enough to do well in the criminal vocation he’d stumbled into. He'd taken an unsuccessful stab at being a regular guy with a girl he'd loved-- and failed. It was his good luck, to get caught early enough to avoid becoming too inculcated in criminality. In a prison vs. military service choice he thought space was a better career opportunity, although the food would be poorer. The EOF didn’t so much make a new man of him, as him successfully disguising himself to look like he belonged. (Lamontagne was adaptable.) It was a sweet gig for him. He was an unsupervised, Mr. Fix-It, leveraging what he’d learned in the EOF and the Mob to create a nest egg through the black market. Then the War snuck in. It upended his EOF-gig, and set the long-term series plot of Lamontagne needing to adapt all-the-time.

The antagonists were the: aliens, EOF, and the war society. The war society stymied societal growth and development. This sets up for the dystopian conditions on-planet, particularly with regard to folks who were not already wealthy or ‘connected’ in some way when the war started. There were not as many opportunities as in the real 1960’s society. The EOF was a corollary of the war. It’s something that Lamontagne had to work against to be a hero. The EOF doesn’t like heroes. It tolerates their successes. It prefers consistency and predictability, especially after 25-years of war. The aliens were the bad guys. All the bad things that happened to Lamontagne were either directly related to them, or rippled through the war society or the EOF to affect him.

The story contained: sex, drugs, and rock'n roll in an agreeable amount and form. Lamontagne was a straight. Although, there was a strong LQBTQ+ presence in the story. He had sex irregularly with a small, but interesting number of partners. All the sex was tastefully done, and of the fade to black dim light variety. Alcohol, and retro-drugs were consumed. Lamontagne was an EOF renowned, vacuum-distiller of connoisseur-grade, black-market vodka. Soft and hard drugs, including misappropriated pharma were used and abused. (I had to look-up what a “Quaalude” was.) Music references were sublime. Greene puts more thought into the music aspect of his world building than most authors of speculative fiction. In his retro-alt Earth, the progression of bands and performers, their songs and albums, from real-Earth marched on. As Lamontagne matured, so did his taste in music. Dead Flowers by the Rolling Stones was Lamontagne’s theme song through the story. Green puts the song on The alt-Rolling Stones' Blistered Fingers album of 1971. (On real-Earth, it was the excellent Sticky Fingers album of the same year.) Previous novels by Greene have been similarly endowed fine examples of contemporary music or “Classic’ rock.

Violence was: physical, futuristic firearms, and military-grade weaponry. Lamontagne takes a drubbing early in the story. That changes later when he becomes much more resilient. Wounds, wounding and death were not graphic. Body count was high, due to a war being fought.

Locations of the story were: New York City; a Bumphuck TX EOF bootcamp; a cook’s tour of the American rustbelt, including the Cleveland Crater; Moonbase Freedom, and the lunar surface; EOF shipboard, and subterranean Venus. For a <400-page book, there were a lot of locations. American locations that I’m personally familiar with lacked verisimilitude. For example, I dated a woman from Queens, and have spent weeks in Brooklyn, New York. Their description was very “blurry”. I’ve also worked in Cleveland, but there wasn’t anything left of it in the story.

This story was a vague techno-fest. Mid-to-Late 20st century tech with some tweaks abounded. I remembered 8-track tapes , and recoiled in horror at using them for data storage. The space tech was scaled-up and out Apollo-program vintage. Atomic propulsion for space exploration being the notable alt-innovation. Still, without 21st Century computational technology and materials science, I think the human mortality rate associated with space travel would have been prohibitive. However, in general Greene's alt-futurism was somewhat credible. In particular, his retro-fitting contemporary planetary and space science back into the 20th Century.

A problem I had was Greene’s, on-again off-again adherence to actual orbit mechanics. I’ll give him the peculiar tactical aerial combat occurring in outer space of the book’s prologue. (That’s artistically explained.) However, he should have spent more time with KSP to appreciate his choices in creating an authentic space setting. Even with third-gen Oppenheimer Atomic Engines reaction mass is gas? Those choices started out really well, and then entered a decaying orbit.

Summary

This story was a retro-space opera with several sources, some of which remained obscure (at least) to me. It reminded me of the television series For All Mankind (2019-2026) , but with alien bad guys. Book-wise, it also reminded me a John Scalzi ’s The End of All Things , Sylvain Neuvel ’s The Themis Files , Ernest Cline 's Armada (without the games), and Marvel Comics Deadpool.

I liked most of it. The retro-space opera using late 20th Century aerospace technology with a few credible tweaks was the best part for me. Folks having an interest in space travel that reeks of STEM and space flight technologies that continually rear their ugly, atomic heads will like it.

That the main character in the story was an anti-hero. I’m OK with that too. That jives with the dystopian war society. Previous wars of the 20th Century had fostered an American collective spirit, leading to post-war booms after the sacrifices made during the conflict. In Greene’s American society, they experienced significant changes. However, a strong sense of community and resilience despite hardships didn’t develop. After 25-years of a war footing American society was fracturing.

The more I like a book the more critical I become. I liked the first half of the book, but that led to disappointment in the end. The plotting of this book, wasn’t completely logical to me. However, I decided, “WTF?”. I went with the flow as Greene took his retro-sf into the fantastical, and adopted almost a graphic novel-type style. The change from the front to the back of the book was jarring.

However, if you’ve grown tired of space operas embedded in the Standard Sci-Fi Setting written by authors who all watch the same television shows and films—this is not like that. It’s also dystopian, at least on the home front. Greene is a journeyman author, re-treading, trad sf themes (like the Space Race) and blending them with contemporary ones (like graphic novel heroes). This story was hip, dense, and technically solid in most places. It has something for hard sf readers as well as EdgeLord younger readers.

I’m in for the second book, Earth Retrograde. Recommended.

[Steph ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't read a great deal of sci-fi, and usually when I do, they're few and far between. But I've read 3 in a 2 and a half week window, two of which had the same narrator for the audiobook, so I feel like I started to zone out a little bit with this one. Which is a shame.

I liked it overall, enjoyed Brooklyn as a character and Andy as well, even though she came in to the story in the last half, I liked her character a lot. This does end on quite the cliff-hanger, but I worry I might have missed some important bits while zoning out and may need to reread this at a later date if I'm considering picking the next one up.

Overall, I was excited to pick this one up, but didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. Again, that could be on me.

[Athena (OneReadingNurse) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much to Angry Robot for the free digital arc of Mercury Rising by RWW Greene in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own!

Overall, this was a quick and pretty engaging read.  I had trouble getting started with the alternate history portion since it was also super technologically advanced and that threw me off, I guess I am too used to these types of books occurring in the future.  Once the book got going with Brooklyn ending up in jail and then the military, I couldn’t put it down!

Brooklyn is an interesting character, one of those who doesn’t really want to be a hero at all but rises to the circumstances pushed upon him.  I also liked pretty much all of the characters on Venus – especially the doctor.  Throw in a medical mystery or two and this girl is on board!

Speaking of characters, there is an entirely gay spaceship and the astronauts are mostly pretty funny.  I liked seeing how they interacted with the straight guy (Brooklyn) and put him in his place without entirely dismissing his concerns. It was an eye opening experience for Brooklyn and his very gay roommate from military training.   I would have liked to know what happened to the ship and the rest of the crew after Brooklyn’s departure.

Plot wise – this one definitely kept moving.  It was interesting to discover the aliens and their motivation for initiating contact with the Earth and military.  The best part was that I really had no idea what was coming at the end.  The other best part was that Greene really focused on Brooklyn’s story while letting the others be heroes at the end.

There is a bit of an open ending that I did like, although the author alluded to there being more writing coming in Brooklyn’s world.  With no spoilers – the book does absolutely work as a standalone, but there’s definitely room for a sequel too.

Overall – It took a while to get going for me but I can definitely recommend this one for fans of the genre!

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story begins in an alternate Earth, in 1957, and astronauts from the US and Russia scramble to meet an alien attack in space, launched from the innermost planets. In this alternate world, the space race has far outstripped ours, and with the powerful Oppenheimer drives, humans are no longer confined to Earth.

The attack is seemingly thwarted; though we find out later that Cleveland was destroyed when we meet Brooklyn Lamontagne in 1975. He's a lazy ne’er-do-well, always looking to his next money-making scheme. Brooklyn eventually makes one bad decision too many (involving some weird eight-track tapes and a murder), and ends up in jail. When given the chance, he joins the UN's Earth defense (EOF).

After successfully making it through training, he ends up on the moon, maintaining computer software and hardware (e.g., punch cards, cassette tapes, wiring, and clunky big machines). He’s happy enough, as he’s not in dangerous situations, and he’s running a black market operation selling high quality vodka that he’s made.

Somehow, despite all his efforts, Brooklyn ends up on a ship, then kidnapped to a really odd place, where he begins to find out there’s much more going on with the aliens and humans’ place in the solar system than he ever wanted to. And that he’s developed some unusual abilities as a result of an unsanctioned experiment.

R.W.W. Greene's alternate past Earth is such a fascinating mix of high tech such as space flight, computers, and communication between space and Earth, mixed with such things as eight-track tapes and horrible cars like the Pacer.

This is such a fun melding of Golden Age alien invasion stories with the story of a guy who just wants to make sure his mother can live comfortably, and he has enough good vodka to drink. For all his aversion to adventure, Brooklyn keeps getting dragged into situations that call on him to do more, and be more.

It's also a bit of a commentary on humanity, where, despite huge, terrible danger threatening all of the planet, there will be goofs spouting conspiracy theories about aliens, hippies just floating through life, and people not pulling together or supporting each other.

I enjoyed this book a lot, and liked Brooklyn, forever the reluctant hero but finding he's capable of more, and even doing it, sometimes. Can't wait to see where Greene takes Brooklyn next.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Angry Robot for this ARC in exchange for my review.

[Shannon Miz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mercury Rising was such a unique reading experience, I hardly know how to start this review. I suppose I will take you through my journey while reading it, as there were a few distinct parts. I was enthralled from the start, where we meet a astronaut captain in what is clearly an alternate timeline. He's been sent up this particular time because there seems to be a threat from... well, who knows, right? It's tense and exciting and then...

We meet our main character, who is not at all an astronaut hero. His name is Brooklyn, and he's kind of a mess. The antithesis of the aforementioned astronaut hero, if you will. And I won't lie, I found it a little jarring, perhaps even underwhelming at first. At first, I said, no worries! Because while I will say there were a few chapters early on where I was unsure if I'd be digging this story after all, that quickly vanished. All of a sudden, I found myself so completely immersed in the whole story that I lost track of time. I don't know when, where, or how the change occurred, but one minute I was mildly interested, and the next I had straight up forgotten I had other stuff to do in actual life.

This is my second R.W.W. Greene book, and wow, can he pull me into a story! Like Twenty Five to Life, this story had me wholly invested in the world and characters. The world itself is beyond compelling- imagine, if you will, that Kennedy was never killed, that the space race was on steroids, and that we as a society were just so much more technologically advanced.  Also, aliens. Obviously we are going to be interested in that world, yeah? I sure was! There are a lot of very cool space shenanigans that occur during the story too, that I am leaving vague so you will have the delight of experiencing them for yourselves.

Now, the characters. At first, like me, you may think Brooklyn is a real letdown after Jet Carson, SpaceHero™. And I mean, I guess he kind of is at that point in his life. But we can't all come out of the wombs as heroes, right? And frankly, I think Brooklyn's journey ends up being far more satisfying because of how he started out, not in spite of it. There is a great cast of secondary characters to love as well, but to tell you about virtually any of them would give away plot points that I don't want to, so. Just read the thing, yeah?

As I got to the end of the book, I was a bit worried- how exactly are we going to wrap everything up, there is so much to explore in this world! Well, good news on that front, this is not supposed to be a standalone! I am thrilled, because this world is bananas, in the best possible way. I love the way the author is able to deliver smart commentary about past and current events in so many ways, and I can't wait for more!

Bottom Line: Mercury Rising managed to be so many things at once: clever, heartfelt, entertaining, and so, so enjoyable. I cannot wait to dive back into this world and see what else it has to offer!

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

[Beth O’Halloran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story takes its time to get started but it is so, so worth it! This is my second read published by Angry Robot books following The Splendid City, which I picked up a couple of months ago. Set in an alternate 1970s where the space race has taken off at a much faster rate than it did in our timeline, the unique concept of Mercury Rising already appealed to me. Midway through the novel, however, the narrative definitely wades into the "WTF" territory as promised by the publisher - and I mean that in the best possible way! This story was so much fun!

The back of this book promises a sequel, which I will be picking up in a heartbeat when it comes out!

[Genevieve Grace]

DNF @ 37%

The main character was unprepossessing. The language and prose was annoying, like a mix of trying too hard to be old-timey and just straight up obnoxious. The mystery of the Mercurians should have held my attention, but didn't. I felt zero desire to keep reading, so I didn't.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The nitty-gritty: Low-tech and futuristic space travel combine in surprising ways in this entertaining series opener.

Last year I thoroughly enjoyed R.W.W. Greene’s Twenty-Five to Life, and so I jumped at the chance to read his latest book from Angry Robot. Mercury Rising is just as compelling but in a different way. Where Twenty-Five to Life focuses on characters who still live on Earth, Mercury Rising is set mostly in space and takes place in the past—the 1970s—although this is not our past, but rather a world where Kennedy wasn’t shot and space travel has made great strides as early as the 1950s. I absolutely loved the unusual mix of retro-technology, space travel and alien invasion, and the casual "hippie" lifestyle of the characters made for an interesting contrast.

In this alternate version of the U.S., the invention of the Oppenheimer Nuclear Engine in 1945 has allowed for an accelerated space program. Decades later in 1961, a crew of U.S. and Russian astronauts die trying to stop an alien invasion. From this first encounter, other disastrous attacks have happened on U.S. soil, including the destruction of the city of Cleveland in 1972 by an asteroid. These events have had a catastrophic effect on the economy, and many people have left Earth for colonies on the Moon and Mars.

The story begins in New York and follows a man named Brooklyn Lamontagne, who is drifting through life without much purpose. That is until he agrees to help a friend steal some 8-track tapes and things go horribly wrong. Brooklyn’s friend David winds up dead, and Brooklyn is arrested as a suspect. Even though he didn’t commit the murder, things don’t look good for him, so to avoid going to prison, Brooklyn agrees to join the EOF—the Extra-Orbital Forces—for a ten year term of service.

And so Brooklyn’s adventures in space begin, first with a “boot camp” in Texas followed by a rigorous and dangerous training stint in the Arctic. To his surprise, Brooklyn passes everything with flying colors and is sent to the Moon to work as a computer expert, but later a new assignment takes him deeper into space, where he learns some shocking truths about the aliens. When a new threat emerges, Brooklyn is called upon to help stop it—the most important assignment of his life.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced, plot driven story, you might want to look elsewhere, but don’t let that stop you from reading this book. Yes, the pace is a bit meandering, and Brooklyn’s journey has many stops along the way. But I was so engrossed in each part of that journey and fascinated by Greene’s unique world-building that the slow pace didn’t bother me at all. Brooklyn is front and center throughout, and along the way he meets new people who add lots of nice layers to the story. He mostly takes things in stride, agreeing to new assignments without complaint, making friends wherever he goes, willing to jump into dangerous situations at the drop of a hat. I enjoyed his casual view of the world and his optimistic attitude. To be honest, it was refreshing to run into a character who isn’t dark and angsty.

Greene’s world-building was refreshing as well. At first I didn’t know what to make of the odd combination of 1970s technology and futuristic space travel. You have people living on the moon and space ships traveling to Mars and Venus, but computers are stuck in the 60s and 70s and people still listen to music on 8-track tapes. But this combo really worked, and it was one of my favorite parts of the book. And I loved the references to music. Brooklyn and his friends listen to K.C. & the Sunshine Band and other bands and musicians from the era, and I could almost hear a soundtrack playing along as I was reading. Greene captures the political sensibility of the 1970s with real life people from history, and even imagines a world where conspiracy theories are alive and well, including one where Nixon instigated the attack on Cleveland in order to be reelected. It was all a lot of fun, and Greene gives his readers plenty of food for thought.

And while the story takes its time getting to wherever it’s going, at about the sixty-percent mark Greene throws in a very cool twist and the pace and tension pick up considerably. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say that Brooklyn finds himself in yet another new location and meets one of my favorite characters in the story, a woman named Andy. Andy is the key to everything that follows, and I absolutely loved the relationship that develops between the two. This won’t make sense unless you read the book, but they were pretty adorable together! Greene even ties up some loose ends by circling back to the stolen tapes and the murder at the beginning of the story. It’s at this point that the author introduces some fascinating concepts about the origins of the human race and how we ended up on Earth—and who may have been there before us. Some of his ideas were simply mind boggling, and days after finishing the book, those ideas are still rattling around in my head.

The satisfying ending harkens back to an earlier plot point where Brooklyn meets a rather sketchy doctor aboard one of his ships, a doctor with a nefarious agenda, and I thought it was a great way to wrap things up. This is never explained, but I suspect it will be in the sequel. Because yes, I was thrilled to discover that Mercury Rising is the first book in a trilogy.

R.W.W. Green continues to surprise me, and he’s undoubtedly one of the most unique writers working in the SFF field today, at least in my humble opinion. Readers looking for something different in science fiction need look no further. Grab this book as soon as you can!

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

[Seriesbooklover · Rating 5 out of 5]

In an alternate history, earth’s space technology is much more advanced with the Oppenheimer Atomic Engine. Aliens from Venus destroyed cities in the USA and the USSR but Eagle seven and their Russian equivalent manage to stop them from invading Earth. Eighteen years later in 1975, Brooklyn ends up serving in Earth Orbital Forces (EOF) to avoid going to prison and despite his best efforts ends up in spaceships and space battles with a whole load of strange people.
Review
Can I just say how much I loved the opening chapter? The first chapter could be a short story in itself -from the initial tense standoff between the aliens and Earth to the epic space battles to Jet’s (an astronaut) final sacrifice to save Earth.
I received a copy of this book for a free and unbiased opinion.
This is a book of many, distinct parts that all fit together at the end to form a complete story. Some parts may seem a little out of place (and I must admit I wasn’t sure why these chapters were there) but these small details made sense by the end of the book.
The main point of view character is Brooklyn who is one of the most realistic characters I have come across in science-fiction. A young man who at the start of the book isn’t driving his own story- a reluctant hero who has to be dragged into doing the right and who is rightly scared in the situations he finds himself in. But we see his character develop through the book, so when he steps up in a desperate attempt to save Earth, it’s no surprise- we have seen his journey to become a hero.
The plot slowly ramps up in the latter half of the book, featuring space battles and fights, conspiracy theories and aliens.
The author creates an interesting world both on Earth where Nixon has been re-elected following an alien attack on Cleveland and in space where there are space colonies with hotels and spaceships manned by a gay crew.
All plot threads are resolved by the end of the book.
Content warning
Medical Experimentation
Perfect for fans of
Anyone who enjoys reading about astronauts, space and aliens.
I enjoyed this book and I hope there are more books set in this world.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so powerful and inspiring that it dragged my butt off my couch and threw me back into my home office to restart writing my own novel. It's that inspiring. I cannot wait for the next book in this series.

Are there better, more technically sound novels out there? Yes. Is there a bit of an issue with the way the hero ends the book? Yes. Is it probably actually a four star book? Yes. So why do I give it five stars?

Because it inspired me to love space again. To think of all the possibilities out there. I think Rob's use of the Alt-History backdrop reminded me of the excitement that space used to be for all of us, and certainly for me. It's what the early books of The Expanse did for me so many years ago now. Yes, by george, it's that good.

It's not perfect. Without giving away a spoiler, there is one small issue at the end that could have been tightened up, but didn't affect the overall aim and arc of the book. The move to a different planet as setting was a bit "jolt-y" as well.

The characters, however, were 100% spot on. Maybe some of the best characterization I've seen in science fiction since I've been podcasting (little over two years). The foundation of the plot is really sound and really cool. I haven't seen something so original in awhile. This is just a really good book.

[Bill's Chaos · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Mercury Rising” by R. W. W. Greene is an entertaining read that feels reminiscent of Golden Age and Classic science fiction, but with a modern sensibility. The book doesn’t delve too deeply into the science, technology, and philosophy behind its story, making it a good choice for readers who want an engaging tale without getting bogged down in details. The world-building is not overly complex, as the story is set in an alternate version of our world. One interesting aspect of the book is its frequent references to 70s music. Overall, if you’re looking for a fun and enjoyable science fiction story, “Mercury Rising” may be just the book for you.

I received a review copy from Angry Robot.

The review given above was generated by an AI using my outline of what I wanted to say.

[Chris Panatier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book for a potential blurb. Loved it.

"Mercury Rising charmed and fascinated me. Greene has taken an absolutely wild premise and somehow made it fit like a puzzle piece into our own history and knowledge of the greater universe. It is unexpected and clever, heartfelt and funny, with big, conceptual penny-drop moments that hit the reader as hard as they hit the novel's weary protagonist, Brooklyn Lamontagne."

Highly recommend. A completely new kind of sci-fi story carved out of the old.

[Peter Baran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took me a while to get a beed on Mercury Rising - which is very much on purpose from Greene. It starts with a ludicrous space battle, which we latterly discover to be the film version of an actual supposed space battle - Earth against the aliens back in 1957 where Jet Carson died saving the world. Yep, that's right, Jet Carson. And yes 1957. This is alt universe space opera, but its also alt-universe pulp - it reads, and want to read, like stuff out of Amazing Science Fiction from the fifties. At least it wants to up to a point, because the main storyline, which start in New York in 1975, is also a touch Blackspoitation. The lead character is called Brooklyn after all, this is a book which isn't doing subtlety on the surface. Under the surface, that's a different matter.

Mercury Rising romps through ideas and tropes like a kaiju stomping Tokyo. And yet from fitting up its hero, to making him a space jockey, to its tales of space station treachery to an ultimate encounter with alien intelligence, it is always about a Black experience in a genre that hasn't always been generous to that demographic. Now part of this is possible due to its alternate history status, but isn't really that interested in "what if aliens attacked us - would we be less racist". Rather it imagines its reality to be not that dissimilar structurally to ours, and its everyman character thrust into a world he didn't make is a Black New Yorker.

That all makes it sound extremely worthy, but fundamentally Greene is having a lot of fun playing in the sci-fi pulp sandbox.From his lone secret agent, to the underground caverns of Venus, the book is as relentlessly entertaining as it is scientific hokum. That's fine, it is part of its pulp pastiche and something the book allows you to swing with pretty quickly (it after-all has its own fiction within a fiction to poke fun at). The end is left open for a sequel which I not convinced it needs, but I found Mercury Rising to be a consistently entertaining and original read and with enough read world grit it is day-glo pulp satire too.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what to make of this book - I enjoyed it - it's a slow moving story and I liked the hero (Brook) and the 70's vibe in the story. The author did a great job of mixing the 70's timeline with the space travel/aliens/science fiction. But like I said, the story moved slowly and I was a bit confused by the ending...Andy goes to Earth to tell everyone about the First and Second - the Second are the bad guys and the goal is to stop the destruction of Earth. But both the First and Second are taking over Earth anyway and people are leaving Earth for a live on/in/underground on Venus? And is Brook human? Wasn't that doctor a Second- and injecting him with all sorts of stuff - did that change Brook or was he already something else? Also, I didn't realize when I started this that it's going to have a sequel published sometime in 2023...why wasn't that made more clear from the start? I am never going to remember what happened enough to read the sequel and don't want to re-read this again -even though I enjoyed it...

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review
Author R.W.W. Greene created an alternate history works that I wouldn’t mind exploring in more depth.
The threat of an alien menace builds as the main character joins the EOF (America’s Space Force). After a great look at some of the differences in this world (something I enjoy a lot in an Alt History novel) the book seemed to slow somewhat just after the halfway point as it transitioned into a new setting that took me a while to get used to.
This book kept me interested in reading it for the most part, but there were also times where I could easily stop reading it for a couple of days.
That said, I had a lot of fun with the Alt History aspect of the book and will definitely be looking for more from Greene in the future.

[Reid Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

RWW Greene continues to refuse to be boxed into one small corner of SF; Mercury Rising is markedly different from his other novels, but let that be in no way a deterrent. Blending more traditional SF (think Heinlen, Burroughs and Clarke) into alternate history, Greene has written a fantastic novel full of worldbuilding, humor, examination of humanity and more. The story unfolds with an introductory scene that sets the stage, and follows with the main protagonist's experiences in the world resulting from that first scene. Throughout the novel, Greene's hints and drops at changes to that timeline from ours can be both poignant and humorous, as the repercussions ripple through 70s culture and society. I've been a voracious reader of anything Greene puts out since The Light Years, and if he continues to craft at this level, I will continue until he stops writing.

[Shrike58 · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, I found this exercise to be more interesting than engaging, as Greene gives you an epic slice of gonzo alternative history with a two-bit schlub as his main character. However, as someone who can remember the 1970s, Greene's alternative 1970s has the same shabby quality as ours did, where one is experiencing the backwash of the grand promises of the New Frontier, which only resulted in the Rust Belt and a justified sense of betrayal.

Seeing as this appears to be mostly one half of a long novel, I'm somewhat suspending judgement on the hero's journey of Brooklyn Lamontagne. Maybe it will be a case of close, but no cigar, or maybe I'll wind up being very impressed. The jury is still out.

Actual rating: 3.5.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve tasked myself with trying new fiction authors this year. Like music, I can find myself only seeking out those that I’ve already vetted when I’m tired. Wide awake, its the serendipity that is addicting. Here is a new author (to me) that I found through a newsletter. The premise of the book sounded fun, an alternate time line where 50’s sci-fi became real. Some of it is fun, with 8-track tapes all the rage. But it ends up being dull.

The dullness is due to the main character. He isn’t all that interesting. A guy that hustles and does small time crime. We get to see the results of a space defence focused economy has on the USA, with the hollowing out of the cities. It is a standard path from getting caught in something bigger, being forced to join the military to avoid jail time, going through basic training and finding himself involved in a number of plot points.

There were times where the plot was dull and a new twist reset my internal interest timer. This happened several times. The twists were more slight deviations. There seemed to be more going on in the background that would have been better to explore than following the main character setting up yet another still.

I really wanted it to be a fun book. But the main character was more concerned with the hustle than anything else. It may lend some weight to his journey as a character, where street kid goes on to save the world, but it didn’t work for me.

[Meredith Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm always a fan of reluctant hero/anti-hero stories, which is why I picked up Mercury Rising, the story of Brooklyn Lamontagne, a man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up in prison for it. Instead of staying in prison, he volunteers for a ten-year term in the Earth Orbital Forces (EOF). Earth has united against aliens (the Mercurians), and all Brooklyn wants to do is serve out his decade as a computer technician. But, as it goes for reluctant heroes, he ends up right in the middle of the action despite his best efforts to avoid it.

I found this book a little hard to get into, and very long. Greene certainly left doors open for future stories in this universe, and the reader is left with loose ends untied. Overall 3.25/5 stars, but would probably rate higher if you're a die-hard sci-fi fan.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[BlurbGoesHere · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Blurb goes here]

The story starts with what I can only describe as a vignette from an old sci-fi TV show. Galant heroes named Jet, a common ground between enemy nations who fight together against a massive threat. I loved it. Then it goes on to recount the misadventures of a low life. A low life that you hate at first, that is, until he becomes a hero.

I think this book is well worth your time.

Thank you for the free copy!

[Tom Bookbeard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Synopsis

It has been 18 years since Jet Carson kicked the Oppenheimer engine of his ship Victory into overdrive and defeated the Mercurian vanguard fleet to save Earth.

Brooklyn Lamontagne isn’t so concerned about alien invaders, but some guy outside the bar just blew a hole in his best friend’s chest and now Brooklyn is doing time for murder. Brooklyn has a choice: wait out a long stretch inside or join the military and go to space.

Brooklyn signs up and spends his time upgrading computers, slinging hooch and camping in an inflatable. It’s not long before he’s called up to a space faring vessel The Baron for crawl spaces and spacewalks.

It wouldn’t be so bad but there is still talk of an alien invasion and Brooklyn soon finds himself getting closer and closer to the epicentre.

Review

Greene’s 2021 sci-fi road trip Twenty-Five to Life was one of my top books of last year so I had high hopes for Mercury Rising. Damn, did this one deliver.

Space Guy

Greene confesses to being a space guy and Mercury Rising is a true reflection of that. In a reimagining of history where Lee Harvey Oswald missed his shot at Kennedy, Greene pulls together so many threads from classic sci-fi stories and the space race that all space fans will be beaming.

The action kicks off with a Top Gun meets Independence Day feel in the book’s cinematic opening sequence. Jet Carson is the all-American hero pilot boosting shoulder-to-shoulder with the Soviets in space against an alien menace. It’s absolutely cool.

The tone and protagonist then shifts away from the all-action Carson sequence with Brooklyn Lamontagne, a greaser from Brooklyn who just wants to keep his ma in her digs. Brooklyn is a real unspectacular character. He’s in with a bad crowd, he’s pretty lazy and he tends to approach many situations by saying “fuck outta here”. As such he’s great fun to follow over the shoulder.

We follow Brooklyn on a road trip, mushroom trip, lunar camping trip, space trip and … it goes on. It’s hard to explain Mercury Rising other than to say saddle up and enjoy going wherever the plot takes you next. I liked Brooklyn a lot because I felt like he just wanted to be a normal guy. Although that really doesn’t happen for him at any point!

What Greene best delivers in MR is the characters we meet along Brooklyn’s journey. Even characters who appear for only a few sentences feel like they have an extensive backstory and contribute to the plot. The pacing and the tone are so easy to get to grips with. The plot hops Brooklyn from character to character, lingering just long enough each time to grin at the excellent dialogue at every stop, it is Roddy Doyle-like. If I had to pick out just one character as a favourite it would be the genetically-modified Andy, described as “a green Julie Andrews”, who crops up late on.

The book certainly asks a lot of questions to the reader with its look on an alternative history. Is a world where nations can collaborate against a greater threat attainable, and what would that look like? Would anything necessarily change? Perhaps Greene’s characters are a study of how humanity may well just always be the same no matter how advanced we get. There’s always something on the horizon ready to glass us be it our own making or some evil space squids dropping a meteor on us …

ZARK!
Mercury Rising is addictive and fun. The prose took me on a tour of all that’s great about classic sci-fi tropes and if you want to do some reference spotting, this book has you more than covered. It’s a neo-retrofuturistic fest that looks at humanity through a curious lens while an alien menace has guns that go ZARK! I can’t emphasise enough how good this book is.

[Richard Derus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real Real Rating: 4.75* of five (rounded down because the w-bombs! the w-bombs!)

The Publisher Says: Alternative history with aliens, an immortal misanthrope and SF tropes aplenty

Even in a technologically-advanced, Kennedy-Didn’t-Die alternate-history, Brooklyn Lamontagne is going nowhere fast. The year is 1975, thirty years after Robert Oppenheimer invented the Oppenheimer Nuclear Engine, twenty-five years after the first human walked on the moon, and eighteen years after Jet Carson and the Eagle Seven sacrificed their lives to stop the alien invaders.

Brooklyn just wants to keep his mother’s rent paid, earn a little scratch of his own, steer clear of the cops, and maybe get laid sometime in the near future. Simple pleasures, right? But a killer with a baseball bat and a mysterious box of 8-track tapes is about to make his life real complicated…

I PRACTICALLY HAD TO BEG THE AUTHOR FOR A DRC. I *THOUGHT* WE WERE FRIENDS. MY FEELINGS ARE STILL HURT.

My Review: No, really. Mortally wounded that this wingèd not my way until I groveled. *sniff* (And seriously NO MORE W-BOMBS. Cut that crap out, dirty-old-man-in-training!) I was calmly enjoying the mental soundtrack, the 1970s jukebox that's permanently cued up in my head, when *wham* another revolting w-bomb.

But about that jukebox...would we, in fact, have the precise same pop-cultural artifacts in a world that didn't slow down its climb to the stars? The 1968 Cougar, well, okay, that was already on course from 1958. The planning window of a car in those days was five years...so the 1958s wouldn't've been much altered from our world, as I understand the timeline, which diverges first in the middle 1940s and so those cars can be explained. Pop culture spins on a nailhead. Elvis electrifying the country is one example, the Beatles knocking off his cool-cat cap is another, but both of those came in response to specific cultural stimuli. Wouldn't the world be more law-and-order oriented when the Oppenheimer Nuclear Drives are dangling before the lust-drenched gaze of every young testosterone factory? Can't get in one of those unless your nose is clean.

Which, of course, our PoV character (Brooklyn Lemontagne) flouts. But the reason he's able to flout that social control mechanism is simple: Invaders from Outer Space! The ultimate Golden Age of SF trope. This time they're Mercurians, the patent absurdity of whose existence gives even the Hero of the piece (who apparently dies early on) some pause. Can't argue with the presence of stonking hostile warships and evaporated cities, can you.

This takes place among Americans! Of course you can! The whole planet pulls together to combat the Enemy from Beyond...and there are ignorant goofballs talking conspiracy theories, there are hemi-hippies rebelling against the controlling hand of the grown-ups. This is the world, and honestly I agree with Author Greene's take on it. I quibble with some details, but I believe he's exactly correct that even an existential threat with ample death and destruction to demonstrate its reality won't create more than a façade of unity among the irredeemable mass of humanity. (Look around, tell me, and him, we're wrong.)

So I buy the premise. So I consent to set aside my niggling nuh-uh generator. I'm in for the ride.

There is more, should you wish to visit my blog to read all the progress notes.
***
Re-read before reading #2.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the mid-20th century, humanity's started to colonize the solar system thanks to the development of the Oppenheimer Nuclear Engine. It's also already gotten in a war with an alien race dubbed the Mercurians. The official story is, they managed to beat them back. But, as the 60s turn into the 70s, people are still in fear of attacks that have already wiped out a few cities. Some think it's all a hoax, and Brooklyn Lamontagne is one of them, until he gets caught up in a crime that may be connected to alien invaders but leaves him holding the bag, and his decision to join the military in lieu of his sentence.

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. The alternate history aspects intrigued me, and the start set up a potential storyline to help advance and explore that, involving audio tapes being recovered by an alien agent. Except then it pretty much does nothing with that plot setup except provide an excuse for the main character to get into the military and... well, we get the basic training section. We get a section where he's on leave wandering America. We get a section where he's posted somewhere. We get a section he's posted somewhere else. For most of the book, the main character just passes from group to group, only occasionally even thinking about the situation that got him into it, and with only a little bit of exploring the alternate history aspect. Finally, in the last part we get a decent explanation of who the aliens are and what their interests are... and it's actually kind of cool, conceptually? I'd happily read a book if that were the core premise instead of underutilized background (except for that last section where it's essential background to a plot section I'm not too interested in).

Mostly, it seems like the author just wanted an excuse to write a pulpy military-based SF story, from recruitment-to-heroism, set in the 70s with the tropes of 70s SF, and with a more enlightened attitude to race and sexuality (it's not totally modern, but having much greater acceptance of homosexuality sidesteps some of the worst pitfalls of writing characters of an era like that). And that's fine, I guess, but not really what I was interested in? I wanted to do a deep dive into how the changes impacted society with an engrossing plot, instead I spent most of the book waiting for the plot to actually start, a few cool ideas but also a bunch of tropes that I might have otherwise been more into if I was more engaged in the overall plot, but as it stood just added to the "pulpy feel" when I wanted a bit more of a serious SF vibe.

I didn't hate it, or even dislike it to any significant degree, it had some decent character work (at times, anyway), moved at a good pace... I just wanted it to be more than it was. There is apparently a sequel, set in the 80s, and I'm not really sure I care enough to want to check it out and follow the few cool threads I was into. 3 stars.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.5 of 5

Earth, 1975 ... but with a different history than the one we currently know. It's been 25 years since man first walked on the moon, and 18 years since a space fleet stopped an alien invasion.

Enter Brooklyn Lamontagne. A 20-something unskilled dude floundering through life. To avoid a prison sentence for a stupid crime of 8-track tape theft that went wrong and left one man dead, Brooklyn agrees to join the EOF (Extra-Orbital Forces) for a ten year stint. Little does he know what he's in for. From bootcamp in Texas to special training in the Arctic, to the moon for computer work, to deep space on a ship where the entire crew are gay men, to being a pin-cushion for a mad-scientist doctor experimenting on expendable men, to being shot and presumed and left for dead in space, to being prisoner and sent to work in a camp on Mercury.

It is there, on Mercury, that Brooklyn learns about the aliens who invaded decades earlier and, more importantly, of potential plans for a new invasion. But what can he do, as a prisoner in a place so remote that even fully-loaded weapons are cut into scrap metal because there is no one to use a weapon against.

This was solid, wall-to-wall action, a thrilling space opera - perfect for readers who don't want to spend too much time getting reflective or deeply into relationship building.

We get just enough of Brooklyn's back story to recognize that he's on a down-ward spiral and he's going to be that character who doesn't have much to lose, making his choices for action that much simpler to make. And in this, author R.W.W. Greene doesn't disappoint. Brooklyn 'grows up' through the course of the book and he's kind of fun to follow. And because Greene keeps the action moving so rapidly, we never really get the chance to sit back and reflect, which is probably good because we'd probably realize how thin the plot actually is.

The end comes about leaving waaaaay too many questions unanswered. In fact, the last quarter of the book seems to be building to something and just as we get there, the book comes to end. Meaning this is the first in a series and by itself an incomplete book. I've noticed some people writing that this works as a stand-alone, but I disagree, given how many questions remain unanswered.

Looking for a good book? Mercury Rising by R.W.W. Greene is an exciting space opera but the plot points remain unresolved at the close of the book, which is too bad. The writing itself would have me wanting to read the next volume, I didn't need an incomplete book to try to lure me to the next volume.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Chris Monceaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

***Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for providing a copy of the book. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

I ended up loving this book. I didn't really have many expectations going into it, but I was immediately sucked into this brilliant alternate history where the space race went into overdrive and radically changed the technology and timeline of the mid twentieth century. It was fascinating and a bit weird to read the language and pop culture of that time period alongside the spaceships and colonization of the moon and Mars. The book tackled a lot of important themes/ideas, including environmentalism, homophobia, racism, globalism, mental health, and economic inequality to name a few, but it did so in ways that were entertaining and felt true to the overall story being told. There were also plenty of great sci-fi elements sprinkled throughout with an increasing emphasis on those aspects as the story played out, and I loved the way it all came together in the end to show that the aliens and their conflicts were always driving the story, even during the points of the book where they weren't quite as obvious. My favorite thing about the book, though, was the main character, Brooklyn. He was such a relatable character in so many ways, and his growth was immense. I love stories with flawed, reluctant heroes, and Brook fit that mold really well. A great deal of this book was spent building up his character before diving head first into all the sci-fi craziness, and I appreciated the decisions Brook made at the end even more because of it. Overall, this was a fascinating story with a great balance of plot and character focus. If you like sci-fi or alternate history stories (or even if you don't), this is one that is not to be missed. Therefore, I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

See more of my reviews and other bookish content here!

[A Bridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up about 40% of the way in. There is a ton of potential in the idea, but the execution was uneven, to put it nicely.

The main character is sort of dragged through the plot, with twists being telegraphed well in advance. I don't mind a passive main character, but I never got the feeling that he was growing or being challenged or doing anything besides being the reader's eyes as the plot happens around him.

I had the general sense that most of the interesting stuff was happening "off screen". Pacing was slow, and not to the benefit of world or character building. Lots of ink is wasted on superficially introspective interactions with bit characters or strangers at a random bar/strip club/therapist office/whatever. I guess it adds to the character, but it hit diminishing returns after the 3rd or 4th time.

On occasion, the historical context is well imagined. More often, it feels like Current Year behaviors and sentiments unnaturally shoehorned into a historical setting. Generally, it feels like a sci-fi reimagining of today, but with some 70s songs, politicians, and technologies being namedropped to anchor it in the 70s. The socio-political stuff that comes up is a caricature and serves as yet another aspect where ink is spilled without plot being driven, world being built, or characters being developed.

Overall, the main character isn't interesting enough to support the pacing and plot development, and the pacing and plot aren't interesting enough to support the (lack of) development of the main character. I was uninterested in continuing.

[futureboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some people call him the space cowboy...

Note: This is a review for both Mercury Rising and Earth Retrograde, the second book of the series.

Brooklyn Lamontagne isn’t exactly doing well: In 1975 New York, he is secretly contributing to his mother’s rent with money made on the lowest rungs of organized crime while reminiscing about his former girlfriend Carmen, who left him after he almost burned down their apartment. When an attempt to collect debt for his boss goes terribly wrong, he ends up in prison and sees only one way out: He will join Earth’s Orbital Forces (EOF) - the world’s defence force against an alien invasion from Mercury.

In Mercury Rising and Earth Retrograde R.W.W. Greene explores a history very different from our timeline: After the end of the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer has continued his atomic research and has invented the Oppenheimer Engine that has jump-started humanity’s exploration of near space with the US putting the first man on the moon in 1950. In 1961, space is turning into a battlefield when aliens attack earth with multiple meteors turning several cities into giant craters. In this world, Kennedy is not assassinated, Jimmy Carter wins the presidency in 1976 with Jessie Jackson as his running mate, Bob Dole is elected US president in 1980, and the US and the Sovjet Union have (mostly) pooled their space forces to defend earth against a seemingly invincible enemy.

It is against this backdrop that Brooklyn Lamontagne joins the EOF as a computer specialist in Mercury Rising, taking him on missions across the solar system that gradually turn him into an accidental hero - a journey continued in the second book Earth Retrograde. Combined, both volumes follow Brooklyn over a period of 25 years during which he is being pushed around by friends and enemies alike.

Brooklyn isn’t exactly a likable guy: If it was up to him, he would much rather live a quiet life fixing computers, listening to old tapes (CDs don’t seem to have been invented in this timeline), distilling booze, and getting drunk. But over the years he assembles a fine crew of friends both human and non-human that help him through his travails which take him from Venus all the way out to Mars and beyond. And ultimately, when thrown a challenge, Brooklyn seriously tries to do right by his friends and humanity at large.

This isn’t a high concept book series - more than anything else this is a story about an ordinary guy trying to find a place in space. Yet it is a series that has enough plot twists to keep the reader engaged and enough curious detail to make for highly entertaining moments. Episodes in the book sometimes appear slightly out of context. This isn’t helped by Brooklyn’s partial amnesia: Events are frequently eluded to, but where Brooklyn doesn’t remember details, they aren’t revealed to the reader either.

Probably my biggest gripe is that R.W.W. Greene under-utilizes the alternate history element of the book. Alternate history can be a powerful plot tool that allows authors to draw out a lot of what-ifs. Especially when authors change just one or two key moments, alternate history stories can readers to better understand the past and the fragility of history. In Mercury Rising and Earth Retrograde, however, a different path of history really is a just background for an entertaining story. Too different is Brooklyn’s timeline to make meaningful observations about the past or to engage the reader in what-if thinking about actual history. This is a bit of a missed opportunity, but then Greene clearly isn’t trying to write a “Plot against America” (Philipp Roth) type of story.

In the end, this is an enjoyable read - just don’t expect too much.

For more sci-fi reviews, check out my Futureboy Substack

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Angry Robot and Netgalley for the ARC.

3.5/5 stars.

We follow Brooklyn, a guy down on his luck who chooses to join the EOF (Earth Orbital Force) to escape his criminal past and oh, protect against alien invasion. We’re in an alternate time line of the 1960/70’s where aliens from Mercury have made themselves known and are a threat to humanity. As a new recruit, he’s shipped around to different posts throughout as a technician, and encounters a cast of characters all with their own predilections.

I enjoyed the opening scene as Jet Carson, American ace-astronaut rallies his forces to strike out at the Mercurian fleet, and how this story was revisited later with different takeaways. This fight sequence was appropriate as it set the tone of the story - a no-nonsense mans’ man action hero doing the necessary.

This introduction and tone felt fitting for the time period it is set it in - except for some hints at modernity and the outright acceptance of a ship of gay astronauts, this story felt like it could have been published decades earlier. This is both a strength and weakness - the mostly formulaic story structure with little nuance makes it an easy, enjoyable read, but doesn’t push beyond that envelope.

Perhaps a strange identifier, but I would describe the prose as being “muscular”- not a lot of fat on the bone in turns of phrase, strong themes or resonant meaning, but rather has a driving force to push the plot forward.