The year is 2128. For the people of Rubicon, Mars is Home – hostile and unforgiving – but still Home. When Rubicon is taken by surprise by an unexpected and deadly threat, it’s a race against time and a desperate fight to stay alive. Jax and Dana, Ridley and Chuck, Lenny and Maliyah all stand on opposite sides of a class divide, battling passions and tensions in equal measure. But can they work … equal measure. But can they work together to avert a disaster? Could the fundamental differences between them be the key to their survival, or to their destruction?
To make matters worse, unsettling events on Earth put the entire Mars Mission at risk and Rubicon – with little choice left – declares its independence. The news of this is not welcomed by powerful politicians that devise dubious plans to shelve the settlement, once and for all.
Mistakes are made, allegiances shift and lives hang in the balance. No one can be trusted as allies become enemies and the true nature of life on Mars is revealed – One wrong move, and it will be your last.
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We Are Mars, by Cheryl Lawson, is a story of what happens when scientific achievement and exploration meet the grim reality of the Twitter generation, one too distracted to pay attention to what the senior echelon is up to.
This story starts a little over fifty years after the settlement is established and is home to thousands of souls. Here, conditions are deteriorating because supplies from Earth are less bountiful than before.
From there, the author introduces a varied and memorable cast of players. A core group of characters get the spotlight giving you a unique insight into their thoughts and emotions, an aspect that I found to be compelling. As the story develops, alliances are made and broken as tensions reach critical.
Lawson really does an excellent job of mixing in theoretical and emerging science into the story, lending credibility to the tale and giving it an overall authentic feel.
Overall, if you are into series, I’d say that it’s worth reading!
I don’t normally read space sagas, but this one drew me in early and kept me there all the way through. The plot moves at a good pace, slowing down long enough to set you up for a new plot twist. I liked that all the characters had foibles and there was more going on under the surface.
The culture was an interesting one, with some serious thought of how human interaction works. The science was believable with just enough technical jargon to have it make sense
One was left with a satisfying end, while thinking “crap. It can’t end now!”
Cheryl Lawson is a sci-fi author based in Alaska. We Are Mars is the first book in the Rubicon Series and tells the story of the first major settlement of Rubicon which is beset with major survival issues on an unforgiving planet, starting with a deadly viral outbreak. Lawson writes her books concentrating around the major characters in the book, who are all engaging and believable.
What I instantly loved about this sci fi thriller set on a Mars colony was the way author Cheryl Lawson managed to dig down to the human side of the story. The interesting technical details of life on Mars were well researched and sucked me in from the start, and like any good sci fi book, this asks lots of good “what if” questions from genetic modification to class divides between the g-mods and non-gen. If you’re stuck waaaay out in space a long way from Earth and resources are scarce, what happens if unauthorized pregnancies occur? The class systems and way this dug into parallels that could apply even back home on Earth were great.
And then disaster strikes and all the slow build from the beginning goes into hyperdrive as everyone is racing to deal with a threat none of them anticipated. I loved the way the remoteness of being so far from supplies, help or any promise or rescue added to the tension as things unfolded. This was a terrific first book in the saga and I look forward to more!
Cheryl Lawson paints a believable and exciting vision of Mars in her debut novel, We Are Mars. It’s clear to see that she’s done her research on the red planet, but also doesn’t let the techno-babble get in the way of compelling and well written story. Her writing style has an exuberance to it that you can feel emanating off of the pages, in even the most tense scenes. The book’s ending leaves you wanting for more, and I can’t wait to read more from this author!