I Read Books: Red Dust
McAuley’s novel takes us to a future Mars dominated by Chinese culture where cowboys worship Elvis. This barely makes the top five of the weird things about this novel.
For someone like me who knows slightly too much about fictional Marses (and a fair amount about the real one) the recasting of the usual locations and terraformation into a Chinese context is a fresh twist. The multi-sided struggle (including those who have successfully re-wilded Earth now wanting to export that idea to Mars, which is somewhat more sinister than it sounds) is complex, but no more confusing than the action scenes or the blending of myth, technology and uploaded personalities that makes up much of the story. There’s a grand tour of Mars, of course, canals (very Chinese) high plains, Xin Beijing and of course Tiger Mountain.
Our protagonist Wei Lee has rebelled against his great-grandfather (one of the rulers of the planet now that the Emperor has gone into seclusion). Yet he cannot escape his destiny, which is literally coded into his flesh.
Read This: For a superior, interesting look at Mars, with a powerful twist on using it as a laboratory for science fictional politics
Don’t Read This: If you are Marsed out
Comments