Mars One - Charlotte Robinson

MARS ONE

CHARLOTTE ROBINSON

****

ONE SMALL STEP. ONE FATAL MISTAKE.

On the barren plains of the Kazakh Steppe, Alyssa Wright stands on the brink of the most ambitious space flight in history: a one-way mission to Mars. But when disaster strikes, she begins to uncover a conspiracy that threatens her life - and the lives of everyone on board.

In Hong Kong, a coder vanishes from his home, leaving nothing behind but a cryptic warning and his cat. Pursued by violent forces, his sister finds herself on the run, in possession of the one thing capable of saving him.

Amidst a dark vacuum of nothingness, as the Argo spaceship hurtles toward Mars, the crew realise that someone is sabotaging the mission from the inside. Every second brings them closer to catastrophe, and time is running out.

Across Earth and space, three stories collide in a breathless thriller that asks: what is the price of progress, and who must pay it?

MY REVIEW

****

I love reading standalone sci-fi and Mars One had a compelling blurb, so I was excited to get started.

An ambitious mission to Mars funded by a TV company who seem to thrive on the drama – what could possibly go wrong?

Mars One was actually very different from what I assumed it would be – it’s less of a sci-fi and more of a thriller. I saw a comparison to a Dan Brown book in another review, and I think this is quite accurate. The narrative splits between Alyssa - a comms expert and commander of the mission, Jia – a woman on the hunt for her missing coder brother who has disappeared without a trace and Rubio – an astronaut on the mission with a secret. The chapters alternate but we do stay with one perspective for a few chapters if the action warrants it, which I think is a great way to do this technique, so we don’t feel like we are rushing over chapters to get back to an interesting bit!

The story is very action packed and there is a certain amount that you have to suspend your disbelief for. It did have me hooked though and I finished it in just a few sittings. I was initially excited about the tv show element of the story, but this did take a bit of a step back to a more political storyline. I enjoyed Rubio’s perspective which deals with addiction and even though he was in space, his point of view felt the most realistic of the three. Possibly because of the action-packed nature of the other narrators, I did feel like some of his storyline felt repetitive and dragged in places, but the payoff was worth it. The conclusion may divide readers as it was deliberately left very open and ambiguous. I think a few more chapters would have been appreciated though, as it did feel like it ended rather abruptly.

Overall, Mars One is more a thriller than a straight sci-fi, but it’s a gripping, action-packed and fast paced read. Thank you to NetGalley & Random House UK – Transworld Publishers – Bantam for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

LINKS TO BUY

Amazon UK

Waterstones