Kage Baker (1952–2010)

I'm not sure how to describe this book. I enjoyed it a lot. I purchased it new not long after it was published and shortly before the author's untimely death. I didn't realize it was a children's book because the author had been writing fantasy and science fiction for adults. I set is aside not intending to wait 14 years before reading it!

I'd guess this is written with a ten year old audience in mind, but I certainly enjoyed it as an aging adult and think it is one of the sweetest children's books I have read in a very long while. An adventure story with a treasure hunt, and very memorable characters. It has many pen and ink drawings which took me a while to appreciate. Nice short chapters that let me read this easily at my leisure. Recommended… (meer)

This is a weird one. The general format is chapter-long episodes of "be careful what you wish for... you'll get it," but instead of gradually going to hell, things actually get better as plot bumps along. Increasingly complicated, but better.

Easily the best part of this book is the setting. The entertainingly and lovingly dysfunctional Martian colony manages to toe a narrow line between the hackneyed utopian-or-dystopian space colonies of other sci-fi.

The elements of magical realism kicking in at the end didn't come out of nowhere, but they were unexpected and didn't do it for me. I think I'd have to go back and reread the whole book through that filter for it to work.… (meer)

This was one of the best books I read in 2010. I think Baker did a marvelous job of creating plausible details of what colonizing Mars would be like, tackling the economics behind such an endeavor (at least better than anyone else I've read), and sketching out likable and believable characters. If I ever re-read this (and I think it is likely I will do so), I will revise my rating to 5 stars.
Update (3/29/2013) - So, I re-read it and gladly give it five stars. It was every bit as enjoyable the second time around as it was the first. But my enjoyment was tempered by the knowledge of Baker's death, and regretting that there will never be a sequel.… (meer)