We are just pumping out book reviews this week! It must be all the time we have to read with the nice hot weather out there! Our external reviewer Sara completed another book. This one was called Blood Red Dust by Stuart Aken.
Synopsis: As people struggle to survive in an increasingly hostile climate on Earth, plans are afoot for the preservation of the human race. Mars, already occupied by commercial mining interests, is the only viable option. The Chosen are sent to colonize the new world and germinate the seeds of their new Utopia. But dark forces not only want to halt the plan, but they also want to see the end of all human life, everywhere. If mankind survives the divinely inspired crusade of death from dogma-driven martyrs, will The Chosen’s new Utopia be the real route to salvation?
This novel is about the first settled colony on Mars, which is designed to repopulate the human race on Mars. They soon find out that their colony may be under attack by extremists from Earth, determined to exterminate all life. Earth has become uninhabitable, and the only hope for humanity lies with a few colonies among the stars. The story is told in a report-style format, from a variety of points of view.
One of the unfortunate things about this formatting is that we don’t get very much descriptive text. We don’t get to know very much about our characters or our setting, which is really too bad, as they are specially trained, enhanced humans living in a successful Mars colony. I wish that the book had taken more time to discuss some of these more interesting science fiction aspects than it did.
Unfortunately, I didn’t much enjoy this book. Although the idea is really interesting, I would have loved it if it was more of a science fiction adventure novel than whatever genre this actually turned into. There was also a lot of awkward attempts to include “what had gone wrong with the earth” from the characters’ point of view included in their reports, which felt forced and way too obvious. Apparently, this author really doesn’t like capitalism, as that’s all he could talk about for half the book.
I wish that this idea had been fleshed out with more research and details, to make it feel more like actual reports from a future Mars colony. I feel like I just wanted MORE of everything from this book, and I didn’t get it. Too bad!
Book Rating: 3/5
You can find this book on Amazon and Goodreads.
Disclaimer: This book was sent to us in ebook format by the author to read and give an honest review.
Watch my reactions to people’s assumptions about me!
I’ve read the report-style narrative before in a way it works, but unfortunately I think most of the time you’re right, it just gets in the way of getting to know the characters and setting.
Yea Sara was hoping that it would be more open to descibing the characters and environment but felt that it was just lost in all of it.
I’ve never heard of that kind of narrative either. It sounds interesting but so does this plot. If it didnt work together than I have I hard time believing it could
It’s unfortunate because it had a lot of potential!
Sounds like it
Hmm I may have to give this a read anyway, mostly because you know, Mars colonization but I’ll have to tone down my expectations. It’s unfortunate that even though it’s a neat way to narrate, it takes away from what could have been an awesome
Yea I would still say give it a shot because you may really like it. We all have different preferences and it would be great if you do end up liking it!
It’s interesting to read the thoughts of all reviewers. As the author, I’d like to point out that this was a literary experiment; an attempt to tell the story in an unusual way from the povs of many characters. Of course, such a method won’t suit everyone, but some other readers have loved it. The other two books in the series are written in a normal narrative style, with plenty of character development to get your teeth into.
Thank you, Sara, for an honest review.
Hey Stuart! I will pass this on to Sara. She might be more likely to continue the series knowing that the other books are told in a different narrative style.
Thanks, Erik. That’s very kind. War Over Dust and Return to Dust are presented in a more traditional style.
I have a copy of War over Dust that you sent me so I will pass it on to Sara to see if she wishes to give it a try!
That sounds great. Thanks, Erik.