Book Review: Mars Life
I was offered a review copy of Mars Life by Ben Bova — it’s the first time I’ve agreed to review something sight-unseen. I don’t read as much hard-sf as space opera, so this will be a bit different than most reviews I plan for future posts, but hey, I’m game….
Mars Life concludes the saga started by Mars and Return to Mars, but explains itself well enough from the start that it can easily be read on its own. As the title suggests, the plot revolves around the controversial discovery of ancient, now-extinct intelligent life on Mars, and how this discovery impacts (and is impacted by) religious and political movements back home. The author earnestly expresses his opinions in the book, and as such, it may not be for all fans. Since the plot deals with very current hot-points, I have a feeling people will either love the religious and political angles, or find them profoundly offensive.
The setting is what I call “plausible future” — respecting physical/natural constraints, technology has clearly advanced, yet nothing mentioned strikes the reader as particularly far-fetched. The Moon is its own nation, with permanent colonies; a base has been established on Mars. The book has a lot of science in it, but doesn’t overload the reader with jargon.
One aspect of Mars Life I find particularly intriguing is how the governing of Mars is handled. According to the Outer Space Treaty, “outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.” If a nation wishes to claim exclusive use of a celestial body, however, they can do so, and their claim will be maintained as long as at least one citizen of that nation is in residence — no idea if this is a genuine legal loophole, or one fabricated for the purpose of the story. Mars exploration, therefore, is governed by the Navajo nation, fully ratified by the international community. A fascinating choice — and an appropriate one, in the context of the story! (I presume the other two books expand on how Mars came to be Navajo-governed.)
My stylistic issues with the book are expressed by one reviewer (covering a different book in the Grand Tour series), who complained of “too many characters with too many agendas.” If I could add, “in too many locations”, that would about sum it up. It must just be part of the author’s writing style; the tumult of people and places was overwhelming at times.
I admit, I did not enjoy this book. The author’s portrayal of Western religion is deliriously misinformed by opinions clearly based on the most extreme fundamentalist views. These opinions do not intersect reality. Beyond that, the author lacks sufficient knowledge in the beliefs he lambasts — believers may find themselves questioning their faith at any point in life, but to have an elderly priest asking why God is mean to people is unrealistic at best. A minimal amount of research yields ample explanation for that basic question. (Had he done so, he could have picked something more appropriate?) Christians are referred to as “psalm-singing sons-of-bitches” repeatedly in the text; I’d be interested to see evidence of the scientific community being similarly attacked, to give rise to such grossly offensive slurs?
Unfortunately for the reader, Mars Life’s sole purpose is to deliver the author’s view of current affairs in the United States, especially conflicts between the scientific community and Christianity (intelligent design, global warming, Darwin, etc.) As such, the book is a conceit, and I have little appreciation for conceits. Mr. Bova writes for a very specific audience, and it’s clear that audience doesn’t include me.
September 10th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
to have an elderly priest asking why God is mean to people is unrealistic at best.
God is such a big meanie! The question of human suffering has been answered, and answered, and answered, and answered. An elderly priest, even one with weak faith, has the opinion of centuries of theologians to fall back on. This is the problem with somebody who has no respect for religious belief trying to write religious characters. They think they know all about us (because we’re simpletons, right?), and end up knocking down the same strawman that’s been knocked down a million times. Then they think, “Wowsie! I’m the first guy to think of this one!”
September 11th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Reading your review brings to mind the Soviet propaganda film The Battleship Potemkin. The 1925 movie is best remembered for its highly emotional Odessa Steps sequence, but less discussed is the presentation of a crazed, grotesque orthodox priest (bad) who is slain alongside ship’s officers by mutineering sailors (good). I’m not necessarily accusing Bova’s tale of proposing a cultural revolution but am seeing his approach as a conjectural celebration of Man and His glorious achievements and as a reminder of how “superstition” and “stupidity” can throw a wrench into those conjectural, extraterrestrial, magical machinations. The 21st century zeitgeist is that Christianity is the worst thing that’s ever happened to humankind, or at least that’s the mantra of the legion self-appointed philosopher kings (who are perhaps still burning a candle for Galileo and his ill treatment). Bova couldn’t get away with having religion’s representatives dispatched as was the priest on board the Potemkin (which is not to imply that he wanted to do so), so ridicule, which gets lots of play these days, is a tool he chose to employ (read: talk show host takes non-intellectual low blow at harmless target and audience laps it up and whoops it up).
September 11th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Methinks it’s time to re-read Lewis’ Space Trilogy.
September 11th, 2008 at 10:04 am
This is the problem with somebody who has no respect for religious belief trying to write religious characters.
@Lenneth: I couldn’t agree more. If you’re going to write about something, at least have the courtesy to research it a little. Or if you can’t stand to do that, kindly refrain from writing about it?
The 21st century zeitgeist is that Christianity is the worst thing that’s ever happened to humankind
@Brian: Amazing, isn’t it? Of course, I bet people have been saying that since A.D. 50….
And yes, I’ve been meaning to go through the Space Trilogy again, I never made it through the last book and I’ve heard that’s the best of the bunch.
September 11th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I was actually referring to myself when I mentioned re-reading the adventures of Dr. Ransom, but the more reading the merrier!
Perelandra is my favorite of the three books, but each time I read the trilogy it seems some new tidbit emerges and I enjoy the books even more than the reading before. That’s especially true of the last and largest of the three. I once owned a copy of The Dark Tower, the unfinished/abandoned sequel to Out of the Silent Planet, but I loaned it to someone and she never returned it. No matter. It seemed an ill fit, and since it was unfinished I never planned to read it again.
September 11th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
It seemed an ill fit, and since it was unfinished I never planned to read it again.
The provenance of The Dark Tower has been questioned by some, but I don’t know enough about it to say how much strength there is behind the arguments against Lewis’s authorship. It’s one I haven’t read yet.
My favourite is That Hideous Strength. Many, many of my favourite Lewis quotes are from that book. :) I’d join you two in reading it but my huge To-Be-Read stack beckons. *ashamed*