Finches of Mars
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- £0.99
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- £0.99
Publisher Description
‘My final Science Fiction novel’ – Brian Aldiss
Brian Aldiss has announced that this book, Finches of Mars, will be his final science fiction novel. And what a way to end one of the most illustrious careers in the genre.
Set on the Red Planet, it follows a group of colonists and the problems they have in setting up a new society. Life can be sustained but new life will not prosper – the women on the planet only ever give birth to stillborn children.
Exploring many of the author’s classic themes, this is a landmark novel in any genre.
Reviews
‘It’s a terrific yarn, but more than that; as Aldiss casually throws out ideas and speculations, it’s a reminder of why he’s one of the giants of the field.’ SFX Magazine
‘A must-read for science fiction fans with the potential to be a modern classic.’ We Love This Book
‘Brian Aldiss is one of those writers who can stand back and look out across the vast fictional landscape of sciences fiction, and consider himself both a creator and a destroyer of worlds; a mortal God if you will.’ Starburst Magazine
‘Once again he demonstrates the power of his imagination.’ Daily Mail
'This grandmaster of the genre, who has laid down many a milestone in his 60-year career, including classics such as Hothouse, Greybeard and the Helliconia trilogy, is retiring on a high note.' Financial Times
‘The titan of science fiction.’ Telegraph
‘Brian Aldiss is one of the most influential – and one of the best – SF writers Britain has ever produced.’ Iain M Banks
‘The best contemporary writer of science fiction.’ Guardian
‘One of our best novelists.’ William Boyd
About the author
Brian Aldiss, OBE, is a fiction and science fiction writer, poet, playwright, critic, memoirist and artist. He was born in Norfolk in 1925. After leaving the army, Aldiss worked as a bookseller, which provided the setting for his first book, The Brightfount Diaries (1955). His first published science fiction work was the story ‘Criminal Record’, which appeared in Science Fantasy in 1954. Since then he has written nearly 100 books and over 300 short stories.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Those expecting a feather in the cap of Aldiss's long and distinguished writing career will be disappointed by the utter failure of this disjointed series of vignettes, set in a vague near future. It's meant to tell the tale of a major problem facing a Martian colony: the colonists' inability to produce live offspring. As a narrative, it lacks cohesion, jumping back and forth between Earth and Mars and among characters with little apparent point. Aldiss belabors the tragedies of the stillbirths and the seemingly endless wars that have embroiled the entire Earth (but that don't seem to personally affect any of the characters). The story is further clogged by scientifically nonsensical elements with no mention of terraforming, the pressure and outdoor temperatures on Mars are now comfortable and wrapped up with a textbook case of deus ex machina that renders the entirety of the story utterly irrelevant.
