Moonrising

Moonrising by Clare Barner, 320 pages

Not too many years in our future, genetically modified crops are clearly the way to provide food for an ever-growing human population, though many people don't trust them, thanks to some poorly regulated crops causing widespread illnesses in the science's earlier days. But that's not keeping Dr. Alex Cole from continuing to fight for GMOs, even if there are ecoterrorists threatening her life at all times. When her latest funding request is denied, Alex is forced to accept a position creating a functioning farm on the new moon colony. When she arrives, however, she learns that some of the first consumers of her new crops will be the ultrawealthy tourists who come to stay at a planned moon hotel being built by Emirati billionaire Mansoor Al Kaabi — not at all the people who she wants to help with her science. However, Alex finds Mansoor a surprising ally, and when sparks begin to fly between them, nobody is more surprised than she.

Given that this is supposed to be a science fiction romance blend, one would hope that the science would be solid and that the main characters would be likeable. However, some of the science seemed particularly hand-wavy and convenient, and I found it REALLY hard to root for a billionaire who unrepentantly admits to manipulating and buying off U.S. politicians to benefit his own pocketbook. Nah.

Exiles

Exiles by Mason Coile, 224 pages

While a few robots have gone ahead to prepare the space, the first three permanent human inhabitants of the new Mars colony are finally on their way. But when they arrive, they find half the base destroyed and one of the three robots missing. Following protocols, the three astronauts must interrogate the remaining two robots, who have developed identities and personalities in the absence of human input, and determine what happened, and if the humans are safe to stay — not that they have a way to get home, but at least if they solve the mystery, they can be reasonably assured that they're not going to have a rogue robot kill them in their sleep.

This is an odd mix of locked-room mystery and space horror, all tied up in a fairly short but insanely creepy book. I wish the author had taken a couple more pages to flesh out some of the backstory. The "logic" of the robots didn't always make sense, and I feel like the author may have used robotic logic only when it was convenient to the story. Still, if you'd like a good Mars-based scare, give this one a whirl. It's a quick read.

Network Effect

 Network Effect by Martha Wells, 350 pages.

Murderbot is branching out, taking an escort job after a lot of convincing from its humans. A job that goes very wrong when it ends up kidnapped with one of the more vulnerable humans by forces much more incomprehensible than the average (very comprehensible) corporate nonsense. Then even more wrong when it finds out an old friend is in trouble, and it has to decide how much its willing to risk for a rescue.

I have mixed feeling about this book. On the one hand, it was very nice to see Murderbot being forced to confront emotional vulnerability and do some growing about it. On the other hand, this book has way more technobabble than most of the rest of the series, and a lot of it is plot relevant, which made this novel a little harder to follow for me. I did still enjoy it though, and will continue the series. 

Lady Astronaut Universe #4-4.5

 

The Martian Contingency by Mary Robinette Kowal (2025) 400 pages

Mary Robinette Kowal visited Left Bank Books here locally to promote this fourth novel in the series. I read my signed copy with much excitement. Astronaut Dr. Elma York is in a leadership role on the second Mars expedition. Most of the international crew are couples with professional skills to continue developing the habitat on the surface of Mars. The series of novels is alternative history beginning just after WWII. The events of this book take place in 1970. Kowal is great at details about what it would be like living in space in orbit or on the surface of Mars. The crew works really well together, but Dr. York begins to realize that something very wrong happened on the first Mars expedition. This past problem leads to a current problem in the technologically complex system of a Martian habitat.

"The Lady Astronaut of Mars" by Mary Robinette Kowal (2014) 33 pages

This short story is the first thing Kowal wrote in this universe, featuring Dr. Elma York. Chronologically is takes place decades after the events of book four with Elma and her husband already longtime residents of Mars. It is a sad story as Elma's husband Nathaniel has diminishing health from a nerve disorder. I read it on Hoopla after The Martian Contingency. 

The Lion of Mars

The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm  259 pp.

This junior fiction book is by a very popular author of children's books. Bell is just your average 11 year old boy, except for the fact that he has spent most of his life in an underground colony on Mars. The colony is one of several built as part of an international effort involving multiple countries. Originally all the colonies worked together but an incident involving the death of a member of the U.S. delegation caused the head of the U.S, colony to cut them off from the others. Bell is one of several children in the colony, most of whom are teens. When a medical emergency sickens all the adults it is up to the kids to travel to the nearest colony for help. After that the kids learn how great it is to have other friends and experience other cultures. But once the adults are well, their director once again shuts them off from their new found friends. It is Bell who takes the lead in clearing up the misunderstanding that caused the rift. Much of the technology used in the book is based on actual science. The Lion of Mars is nominated for the 2023-2024 Mark Twain Award. 

bubble

 bubble by Jordan Morris, Sarah Morgan, Tony Cliff, and Natalie Riess, 272 pages.

The city of Fairhaven is a literal bubble of safety in the midst of a hostile alien wilderness known as the Bush. Morgan, who was born in the Bush and has lived in Fairhaven since she was a kid, is still plenty capable of killing any violent imps on her morning jog, but she also quite likes living here with her cozy job and easy access to Frasier (yes, the sitcom). Things get more exciting when her boss (slash pseudo mom figure) asks her to get involved with Huntr, a freelancing app for hunting monsters. Some of the monsters she hunts with her team of friends (who are all great) are super fun (I especially like The Beard, which are three guys melted together to have the worst nerd opinions). Soon a more nefarious plot arises, which is probably pretty predictable in a corporate owned and operated bubble.

This book is described as a "satirical take on the gig economy" which is accurate, but I would say that that's only part of it, and that the plot stands on it's own as an interesting independent story as well. It manages to balance being funny with maintaining  real narrative tension, which in my experience graphic novels going for funny don't always manage. 

Fun Fact: This book is based on a podcast. I tried to listen to the first episode after I read this, but it seems to mostly be a screenplay read aloud, so I think I'll stick to the graphic novel.