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lilyn_g's review
4.0
“Existence on Mars can serve as a failsafe for our species.”
John Andrew Karr, Detonation Event
Mars is the subject of countless sci-fi books and movies, and I think John Andrew Karr puts the reason why at it’s simplest in the above quote. Lots of people – scientists and laymen alike – are fascinated with the idea of terraforming the red planet. However Karr’s Detonation Event is the only book I’ve read where the objective was to try to actually restart the core and bring Mars back to life.
The idea fascinated me. Terraforming the surface and scraping by in domes that could be punctured at any time tends to get a bit old. But restarting the core? Yay! (No surprise since The Core is one of my favorite ridiculous movies.) Full disclaimer: Part of me was expecting/hoping for something very similar to the movie, except just set on Mars. That’s not what happened at all. The restarting of Mars’ core is not actually a huge focus of the book. Instead it focuses on politics, intrigue, suspense, a potentially world-changing microbe, and of course the hero trying to save the day.
Detonation Event is a good book. Nothing world-shaking, but it’s mostly well-written and nicely paced. (However, it is not one you want to think too hard about because then it starts losing some of its ability to make you suspend disbelief.) Its a book that could easily be adapted to the big screen (in fact it might be more entertaining that way).
Overall, I really liked some of the concepts and the writing was decent. Even though I wasn’t over-the-moon with this book, I’d be interested in checking out the next one in the series.
Disclaimer: I've received a copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration.
John Andrew Karr, Detonation Event
Mars is the subject of countless sci-fi books and movies, and I think John Andrew Karr puts the reason why at it’s simplest in the above quote. Lots of people – scientists and laymen alike – are fascinated with the idea of terraforming the red planet. However Karr’s Detonation Event is the only book I’ve read where the objective was to try to actually restart the core and bring Mars back to life.
The idea fascinated me. Terraforming the surface and scraping by in domes that could be punctured at any time tends to get a bit old. But restarting the core? Yay! (No surprise since The Core is one of my favorite ridiculous movies.) Full disclaimer: Part of me was expecting/hoping for something very similar to the movie, except just set on Mars. That’s not what happened at all. The restarting of Mars’ core is not actually a huge focus of the book. Instead it focuses on politics, intrigue, suspense, a potentially world-changing microbe, and of course the hero trying to save the day.
Detonation Event is a good book. Nothing world-shaking, but it’s mostly well-written and nicely paced. (However, it is not one you want to think too hard about because then it starts losing some of its ability to make you suspend disbelief.) Its a book that could easily be adapted to the big screen (in fact it might be more entertaining that way).
Overall, I really liked some of the concepts and the writing was decent. Even though I wasn’t over-the-moon with this book, I’d be interested in checking out the next one in the series.
Disclaimer: I've received a copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration.
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