By Joseph Robert Lewis
Joseph Robert Lewis (2011)
Kindle Edition; Print length: 50 pages
Rated 3 stars of 5 possible
This short anthology contains a series of three inter-linked short stories that provide a prelude to the novel, Heirs of Mars. These three stories from three unique perspectives describe life on Venus, Earth, and Mars in the years and days before the novel begins. Following the three short stories, there is an excerpt from the novel, Heirs of Mars.
Taken one-by-one, the short stories don't reveal much, but togther they build toward the opening of the novel in a way that grabs the reader's interest. None of these stories turn out as the reader might expect, yet the latter two seem at least predictable in some ways. The first, to me, seems the best of the lot - perhaps because the characters were better developed and/or the plot more planned than the latter two stories.
The second story builds a bit toward an ironic ending in which the main character gets exactly the kind of life from which she is attempting to escape... nice suspense builder, but I find that I couldn't care for the characters much.
The third story, which is also ironic, also failed to make me care for the main character; but his family... well, if the story were longer, and if I was given the chance to understand them better...
These shorts can be skipped or you can read them after the novel as well as before. There's nothing here that's required reading before you read the novel, and no major spoilers either. The choice is up to the reader...
This review has been simultaneously published on Dragon Views, Library Thing and Amazon.com as well as wherever else might be deemed appropriate by me.
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