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Red Planet Blues Robert J Sawyer 9780670065776 Books

Download As PDF : Red Planet Blues Robert J Sawyer 9780670065776 Books

Red Planet Blues Robert J Sawyer 9780670065776 Books

Robert J. Sawyer continues to amaze me.

RED PLANET BLUES is a blast to read, an old timey gumshoe-detective story set on Mars, one of those "Who Did It" detective tales that's more "Who's DOING It," as the mysteries keep piling up with almost every chapter.

RED PLANET BLUES is sci-fi, to be sure - it's set in the future, takes place on VERY foreign soil, and about half the characters are "transfers" (robotic bodies into which humans have transferred their consciousnesses). But Sawyer is mostly interested in having fun this time around...his concepts here are not meant to push the edge of the envelope. Rather, consider it a novel that that USES sci-fi to allow that story to be told.

Being a private eye story, it's full of tricky secrets, hidden identities, spurious motivations, criminal shortcuts and ill-gotten gains. Our hero is Alex Lomax, or Double-X, as befitting each name's concluding letter. He's a drinker, a lover (who doesn't mind married or even artificial women), a fighter (who is often outmatched by transfers), and a romantic with a secret past of his own. But, most of all, his real secret weapon is his inherent cleverness that will prove to be more than a match for the labyrinthine twists and turns of a story that is quite literally out of this world.

Mind you, the sci-fi trappings are still there. The small-ish group of colonists on Mars lives within a dome about five kilometers in diameter and about twenty meters tall at its center. The colony exists because of the Gold Rush-like mentality that followed the discovery of Martian fossils, each more precious than the last. A prospector can make a fine living if he finds lithic evidence of early life on the planet, and to make matters worse, there is evidence that a major fossil site had been discovered upon the planet, once, many years ago, and every prospective prospector worth his salt believes he or she can find it.

Thus, the Great Martian Fossil Rush has began. And, while all might be fair in love and war, fossil hunting is downright cruel, and it doesn't hurt to have someone who knows his way around the planet and isn't afraid of a firearm.

And that's where Alex Lomax, Private Eye comes in.

And make no doubt about it: RED PLANET BLUES is a lot of fun. Author Sawyer, who usually writes serious novels about cutting edge conundrums facing us in our near or distant future, has let his creative hair down here. While his stories always are well paced and quick moving, this one really flies by, with a twist or turn in the plot taking place every chapter.

Additionally, the novel is rich in characterization..I really grew to like several characters within, which is usually not a trait of Sawyer, as his focus is rarely on more than the central character and maybe one other. Not so here...his characters are multi-faceted and vital, and there are several I cared deeply about. Alex Lomax is a tough dick with a good heart, and knows how to handle himself. The tale is rich with fistfights, shootouts, double-crosses, and back stabbing.

Science still abounds within this tale: I learned a great deal about the possibilities offered in a low gravity environment, as well as what is possible in Mars' thin atmosphere. (Hint: think airplane--with BIG wings.) As usual, Sawyer thinks out his environment, and his Mars society has life-support tax, airlocks and suit rentals, dune buggies, and a rocket still active decades after it was extremely well hidden.

But more than anything else, this is a fun book. While the author really seems to inhabit the hardboiled detective genre, enjoying his tough talk and muscle-y persona, he particularly displays a real delight with his language, as in "Airplanes on Mars need clear open stretches to touch down, just as they did to take off, and although Isidis Planitia was a plain, it wasn't a plain plain, and landing our plane was going to be a pain."

Another area in which Sawyer's playfulness shines is in his novel's lighthearted use of the transfers, the subject of his rather serious novel Mindscan. It was interesting to see Sawyer have fun with a topic that he had previously plumbed both topically and legally, through an auspicious court case.

To my way of thinking, it's one of the traits that makes Sawyer my favorite sci-fi author. Perhaps he will become yours.


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Red Planet Blues Robert J Sawyer 9780670065776 Books Reviews

The basic premise is one familiar to science fiction readers vulnerable humans can transfer their consciousnesses into durable artificial bodies. It's on Mars, which adds an interesting complication, but so far, nothing too weird, right? Well, Robert Sawyer is justly famous for taking the traditional or at least familiar elements of the science fiction of the 20th century and twisting it through several extra dimensions. It's just that he's more able to follow those "simple" premises of older stories to all the expected and unexpected consequences, and how those consequences interact with one another, and how they all interact with good old-fashioned human nature. His stories are complex, almost amazingly so, but not hard to follow. He takes his time filling in the necessary details, adding plenty of amusement along the way. I love all Sawyer's work, but this one is special even by his standards. How many old-fashioned stories will it remind you of?

The main character is a private detective, there are prospectors (for fossils!), busty tavern wenches, lazy cops, various forms of crooks and liars, and all in a quite believable Martian city.
Despite being relatively young, thanks to my parents and channels like "Turner Classic Movies", I've long since been a fan of the golden age of film, and are familiar with the various clichés and tropes of the 'film noir' genre, thanks to movies like "The Maltese Falcon" and "Casablanca". And more than that, my first love is the genre of science fiction. So when a librarian friend of mine recommended this novel that combined both genres together, I was both intrigued and excited. And what I came away with was nothing short of adventurous, creative, and unique.

Long into the distant future, man has since found a way to not only transfer people's minds into cybernetic bodies (thus granting immortality), but has colonized Mars, with more people coming every day hoping to strike it rich by digging for ancient Martian fossils. With fortune-seeking people desperate for a big break prowling the streets and crime on the rise, it's up to the hard broiled detective, Alex Lomax, to solve the weirdest of cases and keep the peace. When a worried wife comes to him asking to find her missing husband, Alex takes the case...but what starts as a simple murder investigation soon turns out to be more than it appears, and before long, Alex becomes caught up in a heated scavenger hunt for "The Alpha Deposit"---a hidden mother load of rare fossils that can make its finder rich beyond their wildest dreams. And as Alex finds out, anyone from street thugs, to aspiring novelists, to corrupt policemen are willing to go to the craziest lengths to claim the Martian treasure for themselves.

The domed city of New Klondike and this vision of the future is one of the more unique settings I've come across in fiction. Similar to "Firefly", the technology has taken an obvious leap, but not such a huge leap that the world is unrecognizable. This is a world where printed books and smartphones exist alongside spaceships and people who have downloaded their memories into robotic bodies so as to live forever. Not only does it make it easy to mine on the surface of Mars, but to look like the idealized version of what you want to be...leading to more than a few deadly instances of identity theft.

But what makes the story truly stand out is its main character and the way it's told. Alex Lomax is a huge fan of the film noir genre, and as such, his first person narration plays out like something out of a Humphrey Bogart movie. He makes references to all sorts of old films and sci-fi shows that made me smile or chuckle more than once, and his likeable, charismatic personality makes the story all the more fun. And the various characters he runs across, both good and bad, all have memorable personalities and depth to them---Dr. Rory Pickover in particular--Alex's main client and an archeologist who seeks the Alpha Deposit not for fame or money, but rather, to preserve the history of the planet. Though he may seem like a bookish and quiet academic on the outside, he's actually far braver and more adventurous than anyone gives him credit for. And it's this theme of "more than meets the eye" that permeates through the whole book, with unexpected foes and allies popping out of the woodwork, and all sorts of twists and turns that'll leave you guessing up until the last page.

At turns funny and other turns suspenseful, this has fast become one of my favorite novels of all time, and it makes me hope that the book someday sees a movie adaption...in traditional black and white, please!
Robert J. Sawyer continues to amaze me.

RED PLANET BLUES is a blast to read, an old timey gumshoe-detective story set on Mars, one of those "Who Did It" detective tales that's more "Who's DOING It," as the mysteries keep piling up with almost every chapter.

RED PLANET BLUES is sci-fi, to be sure - it's set in the future, takes place on VERY foreign soil, and about half the characters are "transfers" (robotic bodies into which humans have transferred their consciousnesses). But Sawyer is mostly interested in having fun this time around...his concepts here are not meant to push the edge of the envelope. Rather, consider it a novel that that USES sci-fi to allow that story to be told.

Being a private eye story, it's full of tricky secrets, hidden identities, spurious motivations, criminal shortcuts and ill-gotten gains. Our hero is Alex Lomax, or Double-X, as befitting each name's concluding letter. He's a drinker, a lover (who doesn't mind married or even artificial women), a fighter (who is often outmatched by transfers), and a romantic with a secret past of his own. But, most of all, his real secret weapon is his inherent cleverness that will prove to be more than a match for the labyrinthine twists and turns of a story that is quite literally out of this world.

Mind you, the sci-fi trappings are still there. The small-ish group of colonists on Mars lives within a dome about five kilometers in diameter and about twenty meters tall at its center. The colony exists because of the Gold Rush-like mentality that followed the discovery of Martian fossils, each more precious than the last. A prospector can make a fine living if he finds lithic evidence of early life on the planet, and to make matters worse, there is evidence that a major fossil site had been discovered upon the planet, once, many years ago, and every prospective prospector worth his salt believes he or she can find it.

Thus, the Great Martian Fossil Rush has began. And, while all might be fair in love and war, fossil hunting is downright cruel, and it doesn't hurt to have someone who knows his way around the planet and isn't afraid of a firearm.

And that's where Alex Lomax, Private Eye comes in.

And make no doubt about it RED PLANET BLUES is a lot of fun. Author Sawyer, who usually writes serious novels about cutting edge conundrums facing us in our near or distant future, has let his creative hair down here. While his stories always are well paced and quick moving, this one really flies by, with a twist or turn in the plot taking place every chapter.

Additionally, the novel is rich in characterization..I really grew to like several characters within, which is usually not a trait of Sawyer, as his focus is rarely on more than the central character and maybe one other. Not so here...his characters are multi-faceted and vital, and there are several I cared deeply about. Alex Lomax is a tough dick with a good heart, and knows how to handle himself. The tale is rich with fistfights, shootouts, double-crosses, and back stabbing.

Science still abounds within this tale I learned a great deal about the possibilities offered in a low gravity environment, as well as what is possible in Mars' thin atmosphere. (Hint think airplane--with BIG wings.) As usual, Sawyer thinks out his environment, and his Mars society has life-support tax, airlocks and suit rentals, dune buggies, and a rocket still active decades after it was extremely well hidden.

But more than anything else, this is a fun book. While the author really seems to inhabit the hardboiled detective genre, enjoying his tough talk and muscle-y persona, he particularly displays a real delight with his language, as in "Airplanes on Mars need clear open stretches to touch down, just as they did to take off, and although Isidis Planitia was a plain, it wasn't a plain plain, and landing our plane was going to be a pain."

Another area in which Sawyer's playfulness shines is in his novel's lighthearted use of the transfers, the subject of his rather serious novel Mindscan. It was interesting to see Sawyer have fun with a topic that he had previously plumbed both topically and legally, through an auspicious court case.

To my way of thinking, it's one of the traits that makes Sawyer my favorite sci-fi author. Perhaps he will become yours.