Okay, okay, I know I’m late to the party with this one. The book came out in 2011 and the movie in 2015. But I have a good excuse. I have way too many books in to “to be read” pile.

And a quick note here before I discuss the book – I watched the movie, first. It’s not necessarily a controversial opinion, but I always prefer the book version of a story to the movie. Books are more descriptive, more immersive. Movie versions are often good (Harry Potter, The Shining, etc), but they still don’t give the same experience as words on a page…and having it play out in my imagination is far more fun than sitting in a theater.

At this point, I assume almost everyone has seen the movie or read the novel, or is at least familiar with the story. Basically, a group of astronauts are on Mars, there’s a sandstorm, they flee to the escape module, but one of them is hit by debris, considered dead, and left behind. Unfortunately, he’s only injured and is now stuck on the planet by himself with limited food and water and no way to get back to or contact the Earth.

Since the story is already out there, I want to instead focus on the writing, the narrative, and the way the story is structured. Basically, looking at it as a writer instead of a reader.

Andy Weir, the author, definitely did his homework with this. It’s science fiction with real science, which I adore. I mean, I love speculative and futuristic sci-fi where the writers come up with all sorts of amazing ideas for technology in the future or in alien civilizations. But when it’s real science, it makes the story more grounded for me. But Weir doesn’t overwhelm the reader with science and math. It wasn’t like reading A Brief History of Time (boy, was THAT a challenging read!). I’d describe it as conversational science and math. Like having Bill Nye or Neil deGrasse Tyson explaining it to me.

The other thing I really loved about this book was the narrative. Weir has the protagonist, Watney, tell the story as journal entries, beginning immediately after he regains consciousness and realizes his situation. The majority of the book is written this way. It has a conversational tone, uncensored. Watney is telling his story as if writing a letter to a friend. He’s self-deprecating, cusses like…well, like an astronaut, and admits his mistakes and failings. It made his character all the more real. I could feel his frustration, his fear, and his longing.

The story switches back to NASA and follows a handful of characters there in a conventional, third-person POV. I think it was a good choice by Weir. It breaks up the narrative, changes the pacing and makes it more interesting for the reader. At least, it did for me.

The other interesting thing he did was, at several points in the second half of the book, switch to a third narrative voice. It was the omnipotent narrator describing something happening to Watney that neither he could tell us or the characters back on Earth could see or explain. These passages were brief and, again, I think were a good decision by Weir.

Of course, I’m always impressed when an author goes out of their way to research their topic. Luckily, Weir is already a nerd. He’s a programmer by trade, but has a love of physics and science. The background was already there and he used his knowledge to keep everything in the story grounded in reality. As I mentioned above, the science and math are real. Yes, it is possible to create hydrogen using chemistry and ingenuity. It’s also possible to grow potatoes in a hostile environment with just a handful of useful bacteria and a shitload of botany experience. And, well, a shitload of shit.

This was probably one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve had. The story is incredibly fast paced, easy to read, and simply a fun adventure. Plus, astronauts. I’m a huge fan of the space programs, all of them, but especially NASA. Astronauts have always been heroes of mine, and I’ll admit that I teared up a few times when reference was made to their bravery and ingenuity. There’s one part where two NASA administrators are talking about a potential way to rescue Watney, but it’s extremely dangerous to the other astronauts. When one of them asks what the rescuers would think about the danger, the other admin replies, “Well, their astronauts”, insinuating that they don’t care. It’s all about the mission. To hell with the danger.

Yeah, this book could double as a NASA recruiting tool. Sign me up!

If you’ve only seen the movie, please, pick up a copy of the book. It’s so much better than the movie (not that the movie wasn’t great). I promise, you’ll enjoy the ride.

RB

If you grew up in the U.S. back in the 1970s and 1980s, you probably read To Kill a Mockingbird in school. Harper Lee’s coming-of-age story was mandatory reading when I was in eighth grade, but the book left an impression on me and I re-read it when I was a sophomore in high school.

Go Set a Watchman was originally touted as a sequel to Mockingbird. Later, it was revealed that Watchman was actually the original story that Lee wrote and submitted to her publisher. From what I read, the publisher liked the story, but thought it would be more interesting to focus on the younger version of the protagonist, so Lee went back and rewrote the entire novel. That’s how we ended up with Mockingbird.

However, Watchman still works as a sequel. The basic premise is that the protagonist, Jean Louise (Scout), returns home to Maycomb, Alabama for her annual visit. What she ends up discovering, however, is that her small-town world isn’t what she grew up thinking it was, nor are the people she grew up with. The book follows as she learns these hard truths and tries to come to terms with them.

The first half of the book is mostly set up. For those who haven’t read Mockingbird, this is fine because it introduces the characters and the dynamics of the cast. For someone like me who read and fondly remembers the first book, it was somewhat tedious, but later I was glad that Lee went through the trouble. What I remembered was young Scout’s views on things and how she interacted with her friends and family. Seeing things from her adult point of view was helpful, especially in light of the changes she has to deal with.

The second half of the book…well, I’ll admit I had a hard time getting through it. This isn’t because of the writing or the story, but because of what Jean Louise has to go through, the hard truths she discovers. The story in Watchman takes place not long after Brown vs Board of Education is decided (desegregating public schools), and seeing as how the story takes place in rural Alabama, you can imagine how well things are going.

Jean Louise was always strong-willed and saw everyone as equals. She wasn’t one to judge a person on skin color, which already made her an oddity in her small town. After spending several years living in New York, her views are even more at odds with her friends and family back home.

And sadly, the race issues covered in this book are still timely. It’s unfortunate to see how some things have changed, but so many other things, like ignorance and prejudice, haven’t changed a bit.

But the story isn’t just about race, it’s also about growing up and learning that our parents aren’t who we think they are. Many people grow up thinking their parents know what they’re doing, have all the answers, know what to do in every situation. But at some point, we have this epiphany and realize that they are just as clueless as we are. We learn they are human.

Is Go Set a Watchman as good as To Kill a Mockingbird? No, I don’t think so. Is it a worthwhile sequel? Absolutely. I think it’s an important conclusion to Jean Louise’s journey to adulthood. Having read a story about her as a child, I think it was a nice bookend, seeing her finally grow up and learn what it takes to be a good person, well, it resonated with me.

However, I feel I must warn you that the language in the second half of the novel can be tough to read. I don’t think it’s any worse than what you might read in Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn, but it can still be jarring.

I recommend Go Set a Watchman. It may not be the best novel you’ll read, but I think it’s an important one, especially if you’ve read To Kill a Mockingbird.

RB

One of the great things about being a part of the #WritingCommunity on Twitter is discovering new authors. It’s one thing to wander through a bookstore and browse titles, but during a pandemic, wandering through Twitter posts and perusing titles is the next best thing.

My latest discovery is the novel Where Demons Dance by Emma Briedis. I picked up a copy on Amazon after interacting with Ms. Briedis online and finding her to be warm and insightful when it comes to the topic of writing. As usual, I didn’t read anything about the book before I dove in…no synopsis, no reviews. I’ve mentioned this in previous reviews, but I find going into a story blind makes the journey far more enjoyable than if I’d read reviews and formed preconceptions.

Interestingly enough, Where Demons Dance is outside my usual reading area, meaning, it’s historical fiction. I don’t think I’ve read anything in this genre prior to this book, so it was a fascinating experience.

The story takes place in the late 1800s and focuses on the Mormon community of Utah. It begins with a murder and then follows several separate storylines and characters who are all caught up in the repercussions of this violent act. The main characters are Penelope and Ava, two women who follow the rules be aren’t exactly happy with their situations. I wouldn’t say they are feminists, especially considering the time period and the culture they’re living in, but they are independent in thought and, in my mind, cut from the same cloth.

When Penelope discovers her husband has been murdered, she sets out to find the reason behind it and the people who did it. Her storyline runs somewhat parallel to Ava’s. The latter is a young woman being raised in a Mormon household with her brother, but she questions the validity of her situation.

I don’t want to allude to too much here. It would be too easy to drop spoilers. However, I can tell you that the storylines of all the characters dovetail nicely into a satisfying conclusion. The characters are all well-conceived. They feel like they’re real people dealing with mysteries and unanswered questions. I also felt that Ms. Briedis did a fantastic job of weaving the different paths together and the way she handled the perceived mental illness of one of the characters.

In fact, this is one of those wonderful stories that swept me away. What I mean is, reading this story didn’t feel like reading, it felt like I was an extra watching from the sidelines. Ms. Briedis has such a delicate touch with the narrative, never pulling me out of the story with a fumbled sentence or awkward plot point.

Overall, this is a fantastic novel that uses an actual historic event as a catalyst. In fact, please be sure to read the Afterword. Ms. Briedis provides some additional insight into where the story came from, as well as all the hard work she did to research for historical accuracy.

I highly recommend Where Demons Dance. Be sure to add it to your reading list.

RB

For the traditional readers out there, the paperback version of my latest short story collection, Reflections in Blue Water and Other Stories, is now available at Amazon.