The Empress of Mars

Though not setting the world on fire,this book was a pleasant read with quirky,engaging characters.It reads as a frontier western transplanted to Mars,as Baker herself frequently points out.The setting may be a bigger wilder desert setting,but the people are the samerugged misfits,downtrodden and defeated clinging on to a last resort,on the edge of desperation,as you can see from the extract above.But its fun rooting for these people,especiallyMary and her little bar and numerous ways of scratching an independent living.

All good fun,but I am longing for the day when I come across a book which actually IS about terraforming Mars,and not just about conflicts with greedy conspiracies or grasping consortiums ruthlessly attempting to take over for selfish purposes.