Reviews

Retrograde by Peter Cawdron

ashablue's review against another edition

2.0

This was recommended to me because I enjoyed The Martian. I was with it until the villain is revealed and then I felt it became less interesting. The prospect of the colony dealing with the politics they thought they left behind on earth in the wake of being cut off from earth. That would have been a more interesting and meaningful story than the one that overtook those elements, for me anyway. It quickly spiraled out into less science more fantasy category for me with the killing robots and the like. This is very much I think a personal preference and not a general flaw int he book or anything. It was well written and I liked the characters. But it's really not much like The Martian, except that there's Mars involved and the science bits are close-ish to reality.

pronkbaggins's review against another edition

5.0

5.0/5.0 stars

Well, this book took a turn I didn't expect it to! I love sci-fi, but I always get intimidated when I pull a book off my shelf and it looks like it may be harder sci fi than my brain can understand. This one had some great character building and shockers at the outset. I thought it was going to be a space exploration book, but it turned out to be so much more. Highly recommend!

gingernutpup's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

ajlewis2's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

This is an mysterious and exciting tale about a group of around 100 astronauts from various countries in a habitat on Mars. The environment and characters are very well drawn out. It's realistic and engaging. I did enjoy Andy Weir's book, but I think I liked this one even more. 

rustman's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

_james_'s review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

robotcommander's review against another edition

4.0

5 stars for the first half 3 stars for the 2nd half

meganac's review against another edition

3.0

I'm a bit torn by this book - I liked it, but it was a slow-starter and I didn't begin to enjoy it until the last 100 pages. The first 150 felt like one gigantic infodump about everything. Mars, the mission, the crew, how everything worked, the main character's relationships with everyone else, analysis of everything that was said (vocally and with body language).

I appreciated the science and the premise, and it was worth the read, but it wasn't a mind blower.

nachocab's review against another edition

5.0

Richer than The Martian by Andy Weir. If you liked one, definitely read the other one as well.

weee's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25