Book Review: Mars One

Mars One by Jonathan Maberry

It’s been quite a while since I indulged in reading a book in one sitting. This past weekend, however, I let everything be and got comfortable with a really good book; reading till very late into the night. (Yes, Monday morning was a little rough)

Mars One is NY Times suspense author, anthology editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer, Jonathan Maberry’s foray into YA science fiction. I’d say he’s exceeded expectations and in the process has set the bar quite high for his fellow writers. 

Imagine being a 16-yr. old boy and having trained and prepared for the first manned mission to Mars since you were 12. Your mother is an insanely good mechanical engineer and your father is a top notch botanist who will be growing food on Mars for the colonists.  Tristan Hart is no slouch as a mechanic either. Now mix in the normal stuff a 16-yr old boy in love with a girl has to deal with and you start to see how this might be a different adventure. 

The story is very well crafted. And is so much more than boy meets girl and has to leave girl to go to Mars. It asks and manages to thoughtfully answer some very big questions that face humanity. Maberry has created deeply relatable, diverse and intelligent characters who, in a not too distant future, leave behind everything familiar and set out to become the first colonists headed for Mars. 

The science has been meticulously researched and is offered in a very natural way without going over the reader’s head. A treat for a secret space nerd, like me. 

What rounds out this well-written story that follows young Tristan Hart and his parents along with their fellow colonists on their journey, is the depth and breadth of information the author appears to have at his fingertips and is able to blend seamlessly into the narrative: history, philosophy and mythology all fitting neatly in and adding extra layers to the story.

This is an author I would enjoy talking to and learning from over a good meal. The ultimate would be to co-author a novel, but for now I’ll put that in the wish column.