Old Mars - Edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois

Burroughs’s A Princess of Mars. Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles. Heinlein’s Red Planet. These and so many more inspired generations of readers with a sense that science fiction’s greatest wonders did not necessarily lie far in the future or light-years across the galaxy but were to be found right now on a nearby world tantalizingly similar to our own—a red planet that burned like an ember in our night sky . . . and in our imaginations.

This new anthology of fifteen all-original science fiction stories, edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, celebrates the Golden Age of Science Fiction, an era filled with tales of interplanetary colonization and derring-do. Before the advent of powerful telescopes and space probes, our solar system could be imagined as teeming with strange life-forms and ancient civilizations—by no means always friendly to the dominant species of Earth. And of all the planets orbiting that G-class star we call the Sun, none was so steeped in an aura of romantic decadence, thrilling mystery, and gung-ho adventure as Mars.

Join Michael Moorcock, Mike Resnick, , and others in this brilliant retro anthology that turns its back on the cold, all-but-airless Mars of the Mariner probes and instead embraces an older, more welcoming, more exotic Mars: a planet of ancient canals cutting through red deserts studded with the ruined cities of dying races.

My thoughts:

Here are my thoughts then on 15 novellas in this anthology.

Martian Blood by Allen M Steele

There is life on Mars. We invade. I liked this story

The Ugly duckling by Matthew Hughes

A good story about an archaeologist on duh, Mars.

The wreck of the Mars Adventure by David D Levine

Captain Kidd takes his ship and sails to mars. Yes, that was one for the imagination.

Swords of Zar-tu-kan by S.M.Stirling

A kidnapping. A rather meh story.

Shoals by Mary Rosenblum

It started off a bit boring, but then the Martians came and it turned good.

In the tombs of the Martian Kinds by Mike Resnick.

Another one that picked up after a while, and one that I would read more about.

Out of Scarlight by Liz Williams

There had been Martians there once? or not? Good

The dead sea-bottom scrolls by Howard Waldrop

Old Mars. A travel log. meh

A man without honor by James SA Corey

A story entirely in cursive. Whyyyy?

Written in dust by Melina M Snodgrass

I get why there are Martians in every tale. It's old school, before we knew that there are no Martians. Still at least some could live underground or something so I could believe

But hey, still good story about memories, I got off track.

The lost canal by Michael Moorcock

Note to self. Do not stop reading in the middle of a short story, it's hard to get back into it.

THE SUNSTONE, by Phyllis Eisenstein

Another archaeologist finds his way. Good.

KING OF THE CHEAP ROMANCE, by Joe R. Lansdale

A girl finding danger on the ice. Weird old Mars

MARINER, by Chris Roberson

How unlucky can a man be? Ok

THE QUEEN OF NIGHT’S ARIA, by Ian McDonald

Finally a bit of war. We have been way too friendly so far, and humans are not that nice.

Conclusion:

Some good ones, some I wanted more of, some ok ones. You know, the usual find in an anthology. There are always styles you like, styles you do not care for, and styles you did not know you would enjoy, and did.

These are not about Mars now. Instead we have to believe that we knew less about Mars, back to the time where Mars could have held all kinds of wonders. Martians, cities, you name it.

Interesting read, and well, I am all Marsed out now.

Paperback, 512 pages
Published September 25th 2015 by Titan Books (first published October 8th 2013)
Anthology, Science fiction
For review

Review: The Dervish House - Ian McDonald

Genre: Sci-fi/fiction
Pages: 576, PB
Published: July 14th 2011 Golllancz

It begins with an explosion. Another day, another bus bomb. Everyone it seems is after a piece of Turkey. But the shockwaves from this random act of 21st century pandemic terrorism will ripple further and resonate louder than just Enginsoy Square. Welcome to the world of The Dervish House; the great, ancient, paradoxical city of Istanbul, divided like a human brain, in the great, ancient, equally paradoxical nation of Turkey. The year is 2027 and Turkey is about to celebrate the fifth anniversary of its accession to the European Union; a Europe that now runs from the Arran Islands to Ararat. Population pushing one hundred million, Istanbul swollen to fifteen million; Turkey is the largest, most populous and most diverse nation in the EU, but also one of the poorest and most socially divided. It's a boom economy, the sweatshop of Europe, the bazaar of central Asia, the key to the immense gas wealth of Russia and Central Asia. The Dervish House is seven days, six characters, three interconnected story strands, one central common core--the eponymous dervish house, a character in itself--that pins all these players together in a weave of intrigue, conflict, drama and a ticking clock of a thriller.

My thoughts:

I do not know how to review this book because it was so well-written, and the imagination of it all, and the knowledge of the city showed that he really had aspired to learn as much as much as he could. And even if I liked it, it was still too confusing for me to really get lost in it.

There is so much going on, and there are a lot of characters.  Adnan is a trader with a get rich scheme with his buddies. His wife Ayse owns a gallery and buys religious art. She is hired to find the mellified man, a man who became honey after his death (do not get me started, it has to do with how he lived on honey and became mummified.) Georgios, an old Greek who is a professor in Economics, Can who is nine and who with his robots uncovers a terrorist plot and won't let go. Leyla who wants a job in marketing and later has to hunt something down for her new job. Necdet who after being caught in a suicide bombing starts seeing djinn.

The thing is that it would all have worked for me if it had not jumped so much. I was reading about Adnan and turned the page and suddenly I was reading about Can. For me it was just too jumpy and I got confused. I did not know who was who and what they were doing. It took a really long time for me to get into the book and understand what was going on. Even then I have no idea what Adnan was up too. But then his plot was just too complicated.

This book has a lot going on. Hidden relics, trying to find terrorists before they strike again, people not wanting to be a part of the EU. A hot summer where gas is wanted. People who see djinn and other things that should not exist. And it is interesting.

The best part is the new world he has built up. Where nanos are inserted into our bloodstream to make us concentrate better, and everything you could imagine. Where we can see what is happening on our retina, like a computer. It is a new world but at the same time an old world, and the changes are not big, instead they are believable.

It is a book to read slowly. That is my advice.

Conclusion: 

Even if the book was not for me I was impressed by the science fiction parts and how these lives came together like a puzzle.

Rating:

Not for me. But maybe for you.

Cover: 

meh