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Born Under Mars
Ace Books, paperback. 3rd printing from 1977 (unstated). Brunner's novel was first published in 1967. Interplanetary intrigue.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
127 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
5 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
About the author
John Brunner
572 books480 followersJohn Brunner was born in Preston Crowmarsh, near Wallingford in Oxfordshire, and went to school at St Andrew's Prep School, Pangbourne, then to Cheltenham College. He wrote his first novel, Galactic Storm, at 17, and published it under the pen-name Gill Hunt, but he did not start writing full-time until 1958. He served as an officer in the Royal Air Force from 1953 to 1955, and married Marjorie Rosamond Sauer on 12 July 1958
At the beginning of his writing career Brunner wrote conventional space opera pulp science fiction. Brunner later began to experiment with the novel form. His 1968 novel "Stand on Zanzibar" exploits the fragmented organizational style John Dos Passos invented for his USA trilogy, but updates it in terms of the theory of media popularised by Marshall McLuhan.
"The Jagged Orbit" (1969) is set in a United States dominated by weapons proliferation and interracial violence, and has 100 numbered chapters varying in length from a single syllable to several pages in length. "The Sheep Look Up" (1972) depicts ecological catastrophe in America. Brunner is credited with coining the term "worm" and predicting the emergence of computer viruses in his 1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider", in which he used the term to describe software which reproduces itself across a computer network. Together with "Stand on Zanzibar", these novels have been called the "Club of Rome Quartet", named after the Club of Rome whose 1972 report The Limits to Growth warned of the dire effects of overpopulation.
Brunner's pen names include K. H. Brunner, Gill Hunt, John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Ellis Quick, Henry Crosstrees Jr., and Keith Woodcott.
In addition to his fiction, Brunner wrote poetry and many unpaid articles in a variety of publications, particularly fanzines, but also 13 letters to the New Scientist and an article about the educational relevance of science fiction in Physics Education. Brunner was an active member of the organisation Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and wrote the words to "The H-Bomb's Thunder", which was sung on the Aldermaston Marches.
Brunner had an uneasy relationship with British new wave writers, who often considered him too American in his settings and themes. He attempted to shift to a more mainstream readership in the early 1980s, without success. Before his death, most of his books had fallen out of print. Brunner accused publishers of a conspiracy against him, although he was difficult to deal with (his wife had handled his publishing relations before she died).[2]
Brunner's health began to decline in the 1980s and worsened with the death of his wife in 1986. He remarried, to Li Yi Tan, on 27 September 1991. He died of a heart attack in Glasgow on 25 August 1995, while attending the World Science Fiction Convention there
aka
K H Brunner, Henry Crosstrees Jr, Gill Hunt (with Dennis Hughes and E C Tubb), John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Keith Woodcott
Winner of the ESFS Awards in 1980 as "Best Author" and 1n 1984 as "Novelist"..
At the beginning of his writing career Brunner wrote conventional space opera pulp science fiction. Brunner later began to experiment with the novel form. His 1968 novel "Stand on Zanzibar" exploits the fragmented organizational style John Dos Passos invented for his USA trilogy, but updates it in terms of the theory of media popularised by Marshall McLuhan.
"The Jagged Orbit" (1969) is set in a United States dominated by weapons proliferation and interracial violence, and has 100 numbered chapters varying in length from a single syllable to several pages in length. "The Sheep Look Up" (1972) depicts ecological catastrophe in America. Brunner is credited with coining the term "worm" and predicting the emergence of computer viruses in his 1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider", in which he used the term to describe software which reproduces itself across a computer network. Together with "Stand on Zanzibar", these novels have been called the "Club of Rome Quartet", named after the Club of Rome whose 1972 report The Limits to Growth warned of the dire effects of overpopulation.
Brunner's pen names include K. H. Brunner, Gill Hunt, John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Ellis Quick, Henry Crosstrees Jr., and Keith Woodcott.
In addition to his fiction, Brunner wrote poetry and many unpaid articles in a variety of publications, particularly fanzines, but also 13 letters to the New Scientist and an article about the educational relevance of science fiction in Physics Education. Brunner was an active member of the organisation Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and wrote the words to "The H-Bomb's Thunder", which was sung on the Aldermaston Marches.
Brunner had an uneasy relationship with British new wave writers, who often considered him too American in his settings and themes. He attempted to shift to a more mainstream readership in the early 1980s, without success. Before his death, most of his books had fallen out of print. Brunner accused publishers of a conspiracy against him, although he was difficult to deal with (his wife had handled his publishing relations before she died).[2]
Brunner's health began to decline in the 1980s and worsened with the death of his wife in 1986. He remarried, to Li Yi Tan, on 27 September 1991. He died of a heart attack in Glasgow on 25 August 1995, while attending the World Science Fiction Convention there
aka
K H Brunner, Henry Crosstrees Jr, Gill Hunt (with Dennis Hughes and E C Tubb), John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Keith Woodcott
Winner of the ESFS Awards in 1980 as "Best Author" and 1n 1984 as "Novelist"..
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
September 2, 2016
Brunner is an overlooked author, IMO. He managed a very tight mystery with some really interesting tech & social issues in our space faring future. Great conspiracy theory, too. No skimming allowed, though. He makes ever word count. The social issues, schisms in society brought on by our expansion, were a bit of a stretch, unfortunately. Still, that was just one detail I had to swallow & everything else fell into place well.
November 20, 2017
John Brunner (1934-1995) was a British science fiction writer who wrote some of the best stuff in the field. One of my favorite of all SF books is one of his-"Times Without Number"- which got me interested in alternate history. This one is from 1967 and like the best of Brunner deals with ideas. I like his ideas-and his writing style--but the universe he builds here is very undeveloped. After all, it's short -127 pgs. in the ACE pb edition. It made for a super-fast read, but, really, left me wanting more. Ray Mallin is the hero of our story, born in the struggling underground colony of Mars. Humanity has gone on to colonize the stars-but the human race has divided. One wave of colonists went to Centaurus and another to Ursa Major and Polaris. They have become known as the "Centaurs" and the "Bears." The Centaurs have an autocratic society, while the Bears are more anarchic. Mars and Earth are neutral in the rising conflict between these two branches of the star-spanning colonists. However, Mallin finds himself caught up in the struggle between agents of both sides. Moreover, he just might be the key to the future resolution of the conflict. Again, some good ideas here that need to be developed, so only a ***. Besides, as the Centaurs are such nasties, it should be a no-brainer to back the Bears!
February 11, 2020
Not John Brunner's best. Too much exposition for my liking but still made me think
October 26, 2021
This is a short novel and my first introduction to John Brunner’s writing style.
I wasn’t sure where this story was going until about the halfway mark. The plot reveal at around the 2/3 point was riveting and really caught my attention. The whole reveal sequence makes this book worth reading.
Brunner has created an intriguing society for Mars and the other worlds involved. A lesser writer might stretch this to a whole trilogy, but for a talent like Brunner it is no big deal and he delivers a short but sweet novel. There are enough ideas here to justify expanding the story, but this is a standalone.
The aforementioned plot reveal and the life and times of our protagonist are classic science fiction.
Unfortunately I lost interest after the early plot reveal climax. My takeaway is that Brunner is a literate, thoughtful sci-fi writer and I will eagerly come back to his other works soon.
I wasn’t sure where this story was going until about the halfway mark. The plot reveal at around the 2/3 point was riveting and really caught my attention. The whole reveal sequence makes this book worth reading.
Brunner has created an intriguing society for Mars and the other worlds involved. A lesser writer might stretch this to a whole trilogy, but for a talent like Brunner it is no big deal and he delivers a short but sweet novel. There are enough ideas here to justify expanding the story, but this is a standalone.
The aforementioned plot reveal and the life and times of our protagonist are classic science fiction.
Unfortunately I lost interest after the early plot reveal climax. My takeaway is that Brunner is a literate, thoughtful sci-fi writer and I will eagerly come back to his other works soon.
November 29, 2022
The best thing about this book is that it's 157 pages long. Aside from that, it doesn't have much to recommend it. It reminded me of the Bene Gesserit breeding program in Frank Herbert's Dune, but on a smaller scale. A little bit too much "eugenics is good" for my taste, though to be fair it was written in 1967. Lots of writers were playing around with the theme at the time. Butt hat wasn't its only, or even the biggest drawback. The characters were bland and forgettable, the plot played out thru first person narrative, mostly as the protagonist tried to pick his way through a minefield of spies, counter-agents, and even a kidnapped baby. Alas, this is the first John Brunner novel I didn't enjoy.
August 10, 2021
I have mixed feelings about this one. I think it's my first Brunner book and while I know that he's fairly revered in the scifi world, I struggled to enjoy this one fully. I normally enjoy extended conversations between characters--moral debates and stuff like that--but here there was a lot of front-loaded exposition, which made a lot of the dialogue feel unnatural as a result.
That said, the core concept Brunner works with here--the future universe broken into factions, warring in the shadows over the birthright of a supposedly genius child--is interesting. The very obvious contrasts between Martian v. Bear v. Centaur societies were well-drawn, if a bit too on-the-nose, and I really enjoyed seeing Ray navigate the associated tensions as a mixed Earthling-Martian. I was rather surprised that it took over a hundred pages for someone--Yetta--to remark that, Hey, using a baby like a piece in some political chess game is kind of messed up!
On the back of that, this idea of genetic superiority is troubling. It's never contested by the characters, which I suppose is just a symptom of the current state of things: everyone is hyper-fixated on genealogy, on what makes a "superior" human, on where people belong, so to speak, depending on that genealogy... The whole discussion is uncomfortable and immoral at base-line. Which is *sort of* acknowledged at the end of the book, but not in a way that satisfied me personally. Then again, the book was published in '67, and prevalent ideas about genetics were...different. I just think Born Under Mars would have benefited from some kind of discussion about whether or not geneaology actually matters. The whole "revelation" about the Old Temple seemed to be hinting at that idea--that the lies we tell ourselves about our history are somehow true; that everyone is human and therefore no more or less valuable than humans on another planet--but Brunner shies away from it in favor of highlighting Martian superiority as derived from their age-old exploration of the universe.
I dunno. I'm rambling. But I got mixed messages from this book, and they dampened both the plot and themes that would have been enriched by a slightly more thoughtful dissection.
That said, the core concept Brunner works with here--the future universe broken into factions, warring in the shadows over the birthright of a supposedly genius child--is interesting. The very obvious contrasts between Martian v. Bear v. Centaur societies were well-drawn, if a bit too on-the-nose, and I really enjoyed seeing Ray navigate the associated tensions as a mixed Earthling-Martian. I was rather surprised that it took over a hundred pages for someone--Yetta--to remark that, Hey, using a baby like a piece in some political chess game is kind of messed up!
On the back of that, this idea of genetic superiority is troubling. It's never contested by the characters, which I suppose is just a symptom of the current state of things: everyone is hyper-fixated on genealogy, on what makes a "superior" human, on where people belong, so to speak, depending on that genealogy... The whole discussion is uncomfortable and immoral at base-line. Which is *sort of* acknowledged at the end of the book, but not in a way that satisfied me personally. Then again, the book was published in '67, and prevalent ideas about genetics were...different. I just think Born Under Mars would have benefited from some kind of discussion about whether or not geneaology actually matters. The whole "revelation" about the Old Temple seemed to be hinting at that idea--that the lies we tell ourselves about our history are somehow true; that everyone is human and therefore no more or less valuable than humans on another planet--but Brunner shies away from it in favor of highlighting Martian superiority as derived from their age-old exploration of the universe.
I dunno. I'm rambling. But I got mixed messages from this book, and they dampened both the plot and themes that would have been enriched by a slightly more thoughtful dissection.
February 27, 2020
I quite like the work of John Brunner. This is no exception. It's not his best work, but it is better than average. The basic story is a whodunnit. It starts with the hero, Ray Mallin, being tortured with a nerve whip. The interrogator wants to know what Mallin knows, which is nothing, and Mallin is dealing with it by retreating into the philosophy of Thoder. Mallin is eventually discarded and left to die. He doesn't, but he does want to know what it is all about. And that's where the plot starts in earnest.
We go through all sorts of plot twists and turns to learn that, through a combination of selective breeding and good luck, a superior being had been born. The two protagonist states - the Centaurs and the Bears - both want possession of the child. In the end, neither has it. Eventually, the child is taken into the custody of it's grandparent, Thoder, who happens to be a Martian.
The basic plot doesn't sound that interesting, but the story is told in such an engaging way that we find interest in it. At one level, this is a simple yarn with a bit of suspense, a bit of mystery, and a bit of action. In that regard it is much like a John Buchan story. You could almost expect Richard Hannay to come into the picture at any time. Although you couldn't because it is set on Mars and the narrative is adjusted to allow for that. Hannay would be too heavy and too breathless on Mars.
I used this book as bedtime reading. It was just right for that. The story is engaging, well written and flows well. I quite liked the characters. I especially liked the philosophy of Thoder. It's an invented canon, but I liked it nonetheless.
I would recommend this book as worth reading. My copy came to me via a charity second hand book shop, although it can still be purchased through Amazon. If you get a chance, give it a try.
We go through all sorts of plot twists and turns to learn that, through a combination of selective breeding and good luck, a superior being had been born. The two protagonist states - the Centaurs and the Bears - both want possession of the child. In the end, neither has it. Eventually, the child is taken into the custody of it's grandparent, Thoder, who happens to be a Martian.
The basic plot doesn't sound that interesting, but the story is told in such an engaging way that we find interest in it. At one level, this is a simple yarn with a bit of suspense, a bit of mystery, and a bit of action. In that regard it is much like a John Buchan story. You could almost expect Richard Hannay to come into the picture at any time. Although you couldn't because it is set on Mars and the narrative is adjusted to allow for that. Hannay would be too heavy and too breathless on Mars.
I used this book as bedtime reading. It was just right for that. The story is engaging, well written and flows well. I quite liked the characters. I especially liked the philosophy of Thoder. It's an invented canon, but I liked it nonetheless.
I would recommend this book as worth reading. My copy came to me via a charity second hand book shop, although it can still be purchased through Amazon. If you get a chance, give it a try.
February 25, 2013
review of
John Brunner's Born Under Mars
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - February 25, 2013
This is the 5th Brunner bk I've read & reviewed in quick succession. The 1st 4 were The World Swappers ( http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23... ), Times Without Number ( http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63... ), The Whole Man ( http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/86... ), & The Long Result ( http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31... ). I've gone from being someone who was vaguely interested in his work to someone intending to read as much of it as I can find (affordably, ie). Given that he wrote something like 97 bks, that shd keep me busy (as if I'm not already busy enuf, eh?!).
This was the shortest one I've read so far & the tautest one. [atmospheric interpolation: It's 6AM as I write this, this is the beginning of the 6th day of a juice fast, & I'm listening to Tony Scott & Shiniche Yuize & Hozan Yamamoto's "Music for Zen Meditation" - did you know that Yuize studied w/ Henry Cowell?!!] It had the descriptive detail that I've come to expect from Brunner: "It was a faint peevish resentment at the drag of obsolete habit: the notion of calibrating oxygen partial pressure in terms of another planet's atmosphere after literally centuries, in modern times when the heralds claimed to be able to trace upwards of twelve Martian-born generations within a single continuing family. We might have trimmed it to a bare number - two, five, ten - but the old qualification still stood in black symbols across the face of every pressure meter on the planet: "Thousands of feet above sea-level." And how many millions of miles from any sea?" (p 22)
I have 2 bks near my bed that I started to read before I got distracted by other things: Iannis Xenakis' Formalized Music & my friend Anna McCarthy's Ambient Television - both eminently worthy & ponderous tomes.. &.. yet, I'm reading pulp science fiction.. wch I love. Why is it a 'guilty pleasure'? Brunner, certainly, is both visionary & entertaining. & I agree w/ his politics. But I agree w/ the politics of Philip K. Dick too (mostly) & I thoroughly enjoy watching the movie Total Recall - but it was made starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, a man who became a Republican Governor of California. Do I TRUST Schwarzenegger?! Certainly not! Why wd Schwarzenegger make a movie based on a story by a notorious 'leftist' SF writer? B/c it's good business.. & it's escapism. People enjoying Total Recall can put even more money into Schwarzenegger's pocket & then go back to their normal wage-slave lives. In other words, BEWARE of leading a life of passive escapist fantasy. [atmospheric interpolation: I'm listening to Andre Szervanszky's "Szerenád klarinétra és zenekarra" (1950) ("Serenade for Clarinet and Orchestra") now - on the great Hungaraton label - from one clarinetist to another.] But it's not always so bad - right now it's helping distract me from financial woes & keeping me in a more-or-less good mood.
IS this a review? Well, yes, also a bit of a personal memoir. Some day, my total deterioration into a turtle will be quasi-documented here. [OK, I'm just 'seeing' if you're paying attn.] Given that I have the highest respect for creative people who come up w/ dramatically new ideas for every work, I was a tad disappointed that Born Under Mars recycled ideas already prominent in The Long Result: viz: the eventual desire to break from free from Earth's control by colonists of another planet, in this case Mars, coupled w/ 2 conflicting philosophical tendencies, in this case the Bears & the Centaurs, in the case of Born Under Mars the Starhomers & the Viridians. But, what the hey!, it's a common & major conflict in life & one worth revisiting. I can relate, I was raised by staunch Republican Missionary Robopaths & I'm a natural-born Anarchist. These things happen.
"I'd cling dogmatically to the principle that no Martian should take sides between Centaur and Bear, especially not to copy the standard Earthside prejudice; how I'd assigned my own preponderant preference for working in Bear space to the Bears' own greater willingness to hire Old System crewmen. It was doubtless true that all human beings were human, but how they behaved made a hell of a lot of difference. bears tended to be happy-go-lucky, individualistic, great improvisors, and keen gamblers. Centaurs were formal, disciplined, great organizers, and used even their leisure time to improve themselves, studying or engaging in elaborate well-analysed games designed to encourage intellection." (p 31-32)
But the only Centaur characters we 'meet' are just cruel & dysfunctional brutes. There's not much "intellection" there. & we don't get a much better taste of the Bears. & this is part of Brunner's point. Still, while the Bear & Centaur characters of underdeveloped as secondary to the Martian ones, there's still interesting analysis of their cultures:
"Hmmm . . . In a cockeyed fashion this ancient symbolic language could be extremely informative. No wonder the Centaurs, with their emphasis on kinship and their vast network of patronage, had taken it up in such a big way, And, come to that, no wonder the Bears tended to look on it as silly. They were so completely the reverse of the Centaurs. Why, I was sure that half the children of my Bear friends weren't the offspring of their mother's husband, and nobody gave a damn. A child was a child was a child, to Bears. Paternity was more or less irrelevant." (p 71)
"I added another to the list of distinctions one could make between Centaur and Bear culture: Centaurs were shame-oriented and didn't basically care what they did provided they could do it without others finding out and their social standing being undermined, whereas Bears constituted a guilt-culture and carried their own moral standards around in their consciences." (p 100)
&, while I won't give it away, there's a romantic ending that shd clinch it for tear-jerkable heteromantics like myself. All in all, a great bk - but don't get addicted! There're better things to do in life than read Sci-Fi. & worse things.
John Brunner's Born Under Mars
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - February 25, 2013
This is the 5th Brunner bk I've read & reviewed in quick succession. The 1st 4 were The World Swappers ( http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23... ), Times Without Number ( http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63... ), The Whole Man ( http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/86... ), & The Long Result ( http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31... ). I've gone from being someone who was vaguely interested in his work to someone intending to read as much of it as I can find (affordably, ie). Given that he wrote something like 97 bks, that shd keep me busy (as if I'm not already busy enuf, eh?!).
This was the shortest one I've read so far & the tautest one. [atmospheric interpolation: It's 6AM as I write this, this is the beginning of the 6th day of a juice fast, & I'm listening to Tony Scott & Shiniche Yuize & Hozan Yamamoto's "Music for Zen Meditation" - did you know that Yuize studied w/ Henry Cowell?!!] It had the descriptive detail that I've come to expect from Brunner: "It was a faint peevish resentment at the drag of obsolete habit: the notion of calibrating oxygen partial pressure in terms of another planet's atmosphere after literally centuries, in modern times when the heralds claimed to be able to trace upwards of twelve Martian-born generations within a single continuing family. We might have trimmed it to a bare number - two, five, ten - but the old qualification still stood in black symbols across the face of every pressure meter on the planet: "Thousands of feet above sea-level." And how many millions of miles from any sea?" (p 22)
I have 2 bks near my bed that I started to read before I got distracted by other things: Iannis Xenakis' Formalized Music & my friend Anna McCarthy's Ambient Television - both eminently worthy & ponderous tomes.. &.. yet, I'm reading pulp science fiction.. wch I love. Why is it a 'guilty pleasure'? Brunner, certainly, is both visionary & entertaining. & I agree w/ his politics. But I agree w/ the politics of Philip K. Dick too (mostly) & I thoroughly enjoy watching the movie Total Recall - but it was made starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, a man who became a Republican Governor of California. Do I TRUST Schwarzenegger?! Certainly not! Why wd Schwarzenegger make a movie based on a story by a notorious 'leftist' SF writer? B/c it's good business.. & it's escapism. People enjoying Total Recall can put even more money into Schwarzenegger's pocket & then go back to their normal wage-slave lives. In other words, BEWARE of leading a life of passive escapist fantasy. [atmospheric interpolation: I'm listening to Andre Szervanszky's "Szerenád klarinétra és zenekarra" (1950) ("Serenade for Clarinet and Orchestra") now - on the great Hungaraton label - from one clarinetist to another.] But it's not always so bad - right now it's helping distract me from financial woes & keeping me in a more-or-less good mood.
IS this a review? Well, yes, also a bit of a personal memoir. Some day, my total deterioration into a turtle will be quasi-documented here. [OK, I'm just 'seeing' if you're paying attn.] Given that I have the highest respect for creative people who come up w/ dramatically new ideas for every work, I was a tad disappointed that Born Under Mars recycled ideas already prominent in The Long Result: viz: the eventual desire to break from free from Earth's control by colonists of another planet, in this case Mars, coupled w/ 2 conflicting philosophical tendencies, in this case the Bears & the Centaurs, in the case of Born Under Mars the Starhomers & the Viridians. But, what the hey!, it's a common & major conflict in life & one worth revisiting. I can relate, I was raised by staunch Republican Missionary Robopaths & I'm a natural-born Anarchist. These things happen.
"I'd cling dogmatically to the principle that no Martian should take sides between Centaur and Bear, especially not to copy the standard Earthside prejudice; how I'd assigned my own preponderant preference for working in Bear space to the Bears' own greater willingness to hire Old System crewmen. It was doubtless true that all human beings were human, but how they behaved made a hell of a lot of difference. bears tended to be happy-go-lucky, individualistic, great improvisors, and keen gamblers. Centaurs were formal, disciplined, great organizers, and used even their leisure time to improve themselves, studying or engaging in elaborate well-analysed games designed to encourage intellection." (p 31-32)
But the only Centaur characters we 'meet' are just cruel & dysfunctional brutes. There's not much "intellection" there. & we don't get a much better taste of the Bears. & this is part of Brunner's point. Still, while the Bear & Centaur characters of underdeveloped as secondary to the Martian ones, there's still interesting analysis of their cultures:
"Hmmm . . . In a cockeyed fashion this ancient symbolic language could be extremely informative. No wonder the Centaurs, with their emphasis on kinship and their vast network of patronage, had taken it up in such a big way, And, come to that, no wonder the Bears tended to look on it as silly. They were so completely the reverse of the Centaurs. Why, I was sure that half the children of my Bear friends weren't the offspring of their mother's husband, and nobody gave a damn. A child was a child was a child, to Bears. Paternity was more or less irrelevant." (p 71)
"I added another to the list of distinctions one could make between Centaur and Bear culture: Centaurs were shame-oriented and didn't basically care what they did provided they could do it without others finding out and their social standing being undermined, whereas Bears constituted a guilt-culture and carried their own moral standards around in their consciences." (p 100)
&, while I won't give it away, there's a romantic ending that shd clinch it for tear-jerkable heteromantics like myself. All in all, a great bk - but don't get addicted! There're better things to do in life than read Sci-Fi. & worse things.
December 18, 2018
Another wonderful example of why John Brunner is my favorite Sci-fi author. Not only was this story actually interesting it painted my minds image of each character so clearly without much detail. Which is weird considering the lack of details actually worked for me. If I was a better artist I'd try drawing them myself but in my mind the martians are a cross bread of Ebony Maw (Marvel) and art style of clone wars. Which is interesting to me because neither of which I've really taken much interest in.
As for story, I didn't know where it was going until it finally clicked with the child. I like how they kind of made destiny like without it being too cliche. Also the ending was perfect, exactly what I wanted for our main character.
Also, this was another 1 day read. Took about 3 hours, if anyone is looking for a good book to kill some time.
As for story, I didn't know where it was going until it finally clicked with the child. I like how they kind of made destiny like without it being too cliche. Also the ending was perfect, exactly what I wanted for our main character.
Also, this was another 1 day read. Took about 3 hours, if anyone is looking for a good book to kill some time.
March 21, 2017
I had little in the way of expectations for this book and it managed to exceed these. This isn't a long novel, but it still managed to feel stretched out in various places. The first half of the book is the much better half, as a space engineer from Mars returns home under less than ideal conditions and suddenly finds himself a wanted man merely because of the ship he worked on - or so it seems. We have a mystery here that managed to disappoint in the second half of the work. This is mostly a future society interplanetary political conflict type of story with all sorts of little bits thrown in as the story evolves. For me the best parts of the book are the descriptions of future Mars and living and adapting to the conditions there. I'll rate this an OK read on the low end, but not one I'd recommend. Not quite a 3 star read.
March 3, 2020
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"I have still yet to find in Brunner’s early pulp-ish novels any solid indication of his future brilliance that manifests itself so poignantly in his great novels of the late 60s and 70s (Stand on Zanzibar, Shockwave Rider, The Sheep Look Up, and to a lesser degree The Jagged Orbit).
That is not to say that Brunner’s [...]"
"I have still yet to find in Brunner’s early pulp-ish novels any solid indication of his future brilliance that manifests itself so poignantly in his great novels of the late 60s and 70s (Stand on Zanzibar, Shockwave Rider, The Sheep Look Up, and to a lesser degree The Jagged Orbit).
That is not to say that Brunner’s [...]"
March 12, 2025
Quite readable, but multiple aspects of the story and the world-building just did not pass the suspension of disbelief test. I could not turn of that little critical voice in the back of my head: "I am not buying this".
May 6, 2020
This is a short novel, and, to be honest, is the right length for the story. The characters are good, if a little one dimensional, and the story is intriguing. A nice, quick read.
January 31, 2023
It was 157 pages long, it made my brain hurt.
June 20, 2024
2.5 stars
April 13, 2023
Raumfahrer Mallin vom Mars war auf einem Planeten am Arsch des Universums fast gestrandet, schaffte es dann aber doch noch auf ein Schiff zum Mars, als Triebwerks-Ingenieur. Es ging wohl was Illegales ab, aber egal, Hauptsache, er kam weg. Zurück auf dem Mars muss er feststellen, dass die Marskolonie am Vergammeln ist, alles verfällt. Dann wird er entführt und gefoltert, seine Peiniger wollen wissen, was auf dem Raumschiff los war.
Echt miese Goodreads-Bewertung. Für meinen Geschmack hat es (zumindest anfangs) etwas mehr Niveau und Realitätssinn als viele besser bewertete Bücher. Nur die Story ist dann leider halt so verwurstelt und verkopft und überhaupt nicht überzeugend. Gegen Ende wird es so letztendlich doch ein ziemlicher Käse und die schlechte Bewertung ist doch gerechtfertigt
Echt miese Goodreads-Bewertung. Für meinen Geschmack hat es (zumindest anfangs) etwas mehr Niveau und Realitätssinn als viele besser bewertete Bücher. Nur die Story ist dann leider halt so verwurstelt und verkopft und überhaupt nicht überzeugend. Gegen Ende wird es so letztendlich doch ein ziemlicher Käse und die schlechte Bewertung ist doch gerechtfertigt
July 24, 2023
A lone Mars-born man gets entangled in a multi-faction drama, from sheer luck.
I like the ideas of the factions. And the idea behind the plot. But it felt like there could have been more depth to the story. The danger was trivialized early in the book, and that dulled the drama.
I liked the style of writing, and it sounds like other books by this author are worth checking out.
I like the ideas of the factions. And the idea behind the plot. But it felt like there could have been more depth to the story. The danger was trivialized early in the book, and that dulled the drama.
I liked the style of writing, and it sounds like other books by this author are worth checking out.
March 4, 2009
An easy read, but with a dated feel, and not as much humour as some of Brunner's work. The underlying premise on genetics and societal evolution is disappointing.
Had previously read, but sieve-like memory forgot the plot.
Had previously read, but sieve-like memory forgot the plot.
December 10, 2010
Quick read, but really surprisingly involving. The focus here is on the cultural differences between two branches of humanity, with a citizen of Mars being the 'man in the middle'. Not one of his best books, but even so, mediocre Brunner is better than some other writer's best work.
December 29, 2011
I don't know what to make of this book. Not a bad story, but nothing outstanding. Couldn't really identify with the characters which might not have helped. I think its was okay about summed it up for me.
September 22, 2014
This book is definitely a creature of its time. It bears all the hallmarks of 1960s science-fiction magazine fiction. I don't know whether it started out that way or not but I know that Brunner did a lot of magazine writing. The style shows it.
August 8, 2009
Pretty good. Some of Brunner's stuff didn't have a lot of adventure in it but this one did.
March 12, 2011
Grade D-
July 22, 2011
the only thing interesting about this novel was the cover. i have the early edition. thank mars it was only 127 pages.
April 17, 2013
Brunner's obviously competent but this political Sf leaves me cold
June 13, 2020
Ray Mallin, born and raised on Mars, gets caught up in a conflict between 2 branches of humanity that had colonized different star systems.
December 21, 2007
read 05.02.84
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April 30, 2019I have the german edition: Im Zeichen des Mars
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