I hate the idea of giving a one star review to a Brian Aldiss book, but this was truly awful. If it had been written in the 1950s, I would say it had aged badly. But it was written in 2012. Not a great note for such a great writer to end on. Four hours of my life that I won't get back. And yes, I know, I should have just stopped reading when it became very obvious that it wouldn't get better (about 1 or 2 very short chapters in).

The premise is a Mars colony set up by the brightest and best from the "United Universities". Unfortunately the nod at diversity fails completely due to some clumsy ethnic stereotyping. And by "brightest and best", he means "atheist and agnostic" only. I did wonder whether Aldiss meant this ironically. Like maybe this was the "new atheism" taken to its ultimate and absurdist conclusion, with the Mars colony as a logical positivist Hell. But no, apparently not.

There was a glimmer of a clever twist in the penultimate chapter, before it descended into B-Movie hokum as the colony's enlightened descendents travel back in a time ship for no obvious reason. Sorry did I give away the end? Just be amazed that I got that far.

Time to blow the dust off the Helliconia trilogy and remember happier days. ( )

I am thoroughly disappointed.

There are a few parts of the novel that I can latch onto and say, "Yes, this snippet seems fairly interesting," but they are too few and far between, suffering from either a lack of imagination or a serious review of what good authors have already accomplished over the last two decades when dealing with the familiar topic of Mars colonization.

Even that might have been forgivable if the common thread tying each snippet had been strong enough to make me want to keep reading. It could have been anything; perhaps a strong or interesting protagonist, maybe a triggering and unusual idea or possibly a striking image, or failing that, a few better poems beyond those that were painstakingly reproduced in the novel. (I strongly suspect is Mr. Aldiss's own, but I haven't made any attempt to confirm this supposition.)

Unfortunately, I came to a very, very late conclusion that yes, indeed, this novel's point was that we need to get our brightest off the damn planet and start again elsewhere. Unfortunately, this was told to me explicitly in the appendix, and I didn't have the pleasure to come to this conclusion on my own during the main reading. Instead, I was subjected to a sub-par Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear, but only including the population of Mars, a sub-par Mars only slightly as interesting as Greg Bear's Moving Mars and far, far behind Kim Stanley Robinson. There are other examples I could have made, but make up your own mind: How interesting is a colony of six towers representing different parts of Earth, fully dependent on supplies coming from Earth, and watching them be forced to flounder as all the Earth falls apart from it's own inadequacies? Does it sound like a pared-down version of everything else you might have read? It does to me.

As for characters, the most interesting, and I am loathe to admit that they are anything like interesting, is a snot-nosed punk who got his mother pregnant, and the mother was prematurely praised for having produced the first viable child born on Mars. I thought to myself, "Is this going to be the thread that keeps this disjointed and rambling narrative going?" The answer is, fortunately or unfortunately, "No."

The people are varied and variously semi-likeable or not at all likeable, and few of them have much time on the stage, and almost none of them have anything very important to contribute to the narrative.

If I had come into this hoping just to read a book of pessimistic slice-of-life vignettes that watched humanity's eventual implosion, even that could have been accomplished with a great more aplomb. I wouldn't, therefore, have wanted or expected a miraculous time-traveling visit from the colony's distant descendants offering miraculous tech and seeds that would turn Mars into something life-supporting and therefore ensuring their own eventual survival.

I don't care how many times we get the idea from the astronomers that the universe is more wild and varied and connected strangely. I would have wanted a LOT more foreplay from that direction before I got slipped that.

I don't generally give out reviews for books that I haven't liked, because I generally do a lot of research before I pick up a book. This case was a bit different for one reason. I was given the opportunity to read it through Netgalley, and the other novel I had recently reviewed for Mr. Aldiss kicked serious ass and I want to praise it to the moon. Literally. On a spiderweb.

This novel simply felt like there was no love driving it, or that it was produced like a bunch of scraps thrown together in hopes that the reader would see something brilliant in it that doesn't really exist. And perhaps there might have been, assuming that strong thread I mentioned had kept a hot and burning fire running through it, and a decent editor to quash that freaking ending and demand a rewrite.

According to the author, this is his last novel. He has been writing for a long time, and many people have praised him. I've praised him with my limited knowledge of his works, and I was perfectly willing to give this novel the benefit of the doubt because he earned a great deal of leeway with Hothouse.

This novel hasn't squandered all my goodwill, either. I'm most definitely going to read some of his other earlier works and be sure I have a truly decent sample to judge the author by. After all, I am one of those people who absolutely adored the movie A.I., and it was only recently that I finally grokked the fact that Mr. Aldiss wrote the short story on which it was based. I can go by the fact that two out of three is still a winner, and this novel is probably an outlier.

That being said, I've got to be honest: I did not like Finches of Mars, but I'm also not assuming this is a truly characteristic sample of his work. At least, not yet. If you're new to him and want to read his stuff, just please, please don't read this one. There's simply too little to recommend it. ( )

This is not an easy book.

Humans have established a colony on Mars. It's driven and funded by an international consortium of universities--the United Universities, or UU. The colony consists of six towers, of which the West, Chinese, and Sud-Am towers figure most prominently in the story. The colonists have been chosen for atheism and emotional stability. It's not altogether clear that they succeeded on the second point. Among the odd choices made is that the colonists get assigned computer-generated names, meaning nothing, to symbolize having cut their ties to Earth. It's as if they've established a sixties commune, more than a colony on Mars, in some respects.

The big problem haunting the colonists is that, ten years in, they've had a long series of miscarriages and stillbirths and horribly deformed babies that didn't live even five minutes, but no successful live births. The colony seems doomed.

Most of the action, which mostly consists of conversation and interior thoughts, is on Mars, but we also get interludes on Earth, where we learn that the colonists are probably in even more trouble than they realize. Earth is sinking into s growing series of wars--which include a successful invasion of eastern North America. The UU is getting tired of supporting a colony that seems doomed anyway.

It isn't just the tough subject matter that makes this book hard to enjoy. It's clear that Mr. Aldiss dislikes, if not the human race, at least the 21st century. There are items called "screamers" which, in context, appear to most likely be cell phones. Some other items are called "shriekers," which might be tvs, or maybe something else. It appears that "partners" has completely displaced "husband/wife," which might imply an adoption of gender-neutral terminology, but no. The man in a couple is called the "partner," while the woman is the "partness." There is not one single likable, admirable, compelling, or even especially interesting character in the book. All the interest comes from their circumstances--though it can't be denied that a colony striving to survive on Mars is a pretty interesting circumstance.

I do want to be clear that none, or at least very little, of this is a failure of writing. Aldiss hasn't lost it. This book surely has an audience, and audience that will think I am a nut with low tastes.

I'm just not that audience.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

Review Originally Posted At: FictionForesight

In accordance with current FTC Guidelines, please let it be known this book was received through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

At first glance, The Finches of Mars seems to be riding the wave of popularity from other near-future space exploration books like Andy Weir’s The Martian. In the first few chapters it becomes clear that this is not at all the case. Author Brian W. Aldiss is a long-standing giant in the world of science fiction and this, his terminal science fiction work, encompasses the vast worldview of an elderly and accomplished writer. If you are looking for a concrete story with believable characters and quick wit, you’ll have to look somewhere else. What you’ll find here is a partially developed glimpse into a social philosophy, with some space and exploration to round it out. Finches of Mars is the story of Earth’s early efforts to fund and support a colony on Mars. A coalition of universities send a population consisting of erudites and hermits to start a new world. Ideally this new civilization, forged from only the brightest and skeptical minds, will be free of prejudice, violence, and social inequality. Unfortunately, the mission is just as flawed as any existing human effort and the colonists begin to struggle.

I will say, this novel is not for the science fiction initiate. It lacks any coherent structure as a story, and follows not a singular protagonist but a host of characters with difficult names. There is little to connect us to these characters except for the occasional vignette of life story, and keeping their roles separated is not easy. Much of the narrative jumps between Earth and Mars, and skips to different points in the timeline without much guidance. It is, at best, difficult to follow. Aldiss seems to spend a good deal time elucidating on humanity’s faults and playing out various consequences to existential short-sightedness, rather than building a compelling speculative story. His language is rife with self-importance and pretension – the word “umwelt” is frequently bandied about.

As preachy as Finches of Mars is, I still found it to be manageable and interesting enough to finish. It is less of a story and more of an exposé on the true meaning of “civilization,” and how different facets of humanity – religion, art, language, sex, the pursuit of knowledge – are expressed and shaped by the greater environment. The “umwelt,” if you will. While it discusses these themes, it also explores a reasonable future for human civilization, and how the downfalls of society manifest themselves in a new world. It was interesting in itself to see an established science-fiction voice implant the “classic” tropes of time travel and extra-terrestrial ideals in a near-earth, near-future scope. Aldiss explores that missing link between human evolution and the universe beyond – the human timeline between The Martian and Asimov’s Foundation. It is most definitely not for everyone, but it speaks to a specific few who prefer a broad, loose exploration of ideas rather than a presentation of facts.

(www.FictionForesight.com) ( )

Years ago, when I was still learning what science fiction is, a Bulgarian publisher decided to translate and make available the Helliconia Trilogy. I loved it. It made me appreciate what Aldiss can do when he puts his mind to it.

Unfortunately he seems to have forgotten how to do that. The story should have been a good one - humanity made it to Mars, made colonies and is surviving. And all would have been great if babies could be born - but all of them die - most before birth, some after birth. But they never survive - and without it, the world really do not belong to the humans.

There are passages that hint at what Aldiss can do and the story is heart-breaking. But far more often, it is disjointed and alogical, sounding more as an exercise or a rough draft. How exactly that could happen in such a novel is beyond me. The saving grace of the whole book are the ideas - they are there, underdeveloped but still visible. And the high expectations for the last SF novel of one of the best authors did not help - a lot of my frustration was because of this - I would have accepted some of it from a new author that is still learning the craft - or at least I would have accepted it a bit better.

I think I need to go and reread the Helliconia Trilogy - I really do not want to have "Finches of Mars" as my last memory of Aldiss. ( )