A quickly read science fiction novel set mostly on Mars in the 23rd century, I believe. Six groups have been sent to colonize Mars and have been lost. The government of (East) United States and the UN have decided to send another group. Luckily for them, some of those living in the asteroid belt have decided to help those colonists survive this time.

However, it just isn't that cut and dried. The (East) United States is now a dystopian country led by ambitious businessman and a figurehead president. Politics lead to Marines being sent to Mars; not really for humanitarian reasons. Our colonists, plus their Pallatian allies, are determined to make a go of their colony, so serious stuff occurs.

I enjoyed the novel overall. Since this was an ARC, I'm hoping some issues will be corrected before final publication. If not, the most distracting part of the book is that some information is repeated a number of times (sometimes in the same chapter) and this became tedious. But the basic story is entertaining.

I liked the story well enough enjoyed the dystopian elements of life on Earth and on Mars (I would have liked more of the Eastern and Western United States material, but the the book is titled "Ares", so that was probably never going to happen). I wasn't a fan of the "quotes" at the beginning of each chapter (and yes I get why they are there. I'm just not a fan of it in fiction in general). The obligatory sex scene was thankfully tamer than in other books of the genre, but I still found it unnecessary.

Not sure a sequel is in the planning stages, but it would be interesting.

Rating: 2.5/5

What drew me in? The title, the cover. Mars. Since I read KSR’s Mars Trilogy, I’m an easy target for stories set on Mars—and I had decent hopes for this one, which TL;DR was a nice diversion.

It’s mostly about the political tensions between Earth, and Pallas, where humans have created a new society. Those tensions come to a head over Mars, which Earth (specifically, the Eastern United States, which are run by terrible people, causing the Western United States to separate into their own region) keeps trying to colonise. Pallas intervenes in the form of four siblings who cross Space to save the latest hapless colonists (they keep getting stuck on the planet and dying).

Thing is, this is a book about libertarianism, and it isn’t ever shy about it. It’s a book that goes on—at exhausting length—about knives and guns, presumably because this is a book about libertarianism, and a book that glorifies frontier life, and knives and guns are important to frontiersmen and women.

The women. Sigh. It tries really hard, but frontierswomen are mostly there to make babies, right? It’s all a little gross even when it’s trying 😦

I didn’t not like this book; it was diverting, and I like all of its sci-fi ideas. I even liked reading about the chaos in what used to be the US; and it’s important as it’s the foundation for what’s happening out in Space. But this is probably a book that will be enjoyed most by libertarians, as it serves to confirm that libertarianism is the correct political choice—even though it’s nominally a sci-fi book mostly set on Mars. Fair enough: SF is for exploring ideas about human society and culture, and this one does that. The fact that I found it all a bit much shouldn’t put off any other readers really; I have political views that come from my own perspective (a Black, southern African woman), and those have coloured my interpretation of everything that matters in this book—from the treatment of gender, to race, to the glorification of weapons. It’s not egregious; it just didn’t really suit me in the end.
Many thanks to NetGalley and to Arc Manor/Caezik for access.

I love science fiction that offers original and imaginative storytelling. Ares, by L Neil Smith, meets that standard. Earth has become a stagnant planet, people have moved to the asteroid belt. The asteroid belt is thriving. People start to move to Mars and problems start.

Thanks to L. Neil Smith, ARC Manor, and Netgalley for access to the advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nice story on colonizing Mars while the earth is under political turmoil. The story is well told and moves quickly. The characters are likeable and engaging. For me, this was old school science fiction – which is a good thing.

Review posted manually on Goodreads due to technical issues with using the link:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6248916443

I chose this because I am always up for a story about space colonies (the one here is on Mars). I won't spoil but this covered a lot in a relatively short page length. A billionaire is shadow-running East America (he literally hand picked the President). It is a bleak world. There have been six missions to Mars and each has ended terribly but a seventh is on the cusp of failure. The super-wealthy Ngu family that terraformed an asteroid and led a community really become the stars of this story as they mount a huge operation to avert disaster on the most recent Mars mission. Julie, a former sex worker who begins the story dispensing with the pimp who abuses her sister, joins the Marines to get off Earth. She's resourceful and wiley and those qualities come in handy on Mars. As does her penchant for helping the mistreated with bad odds. Rounding out the big players is a formerly Chechen couple who really shine. My favourite aspect of the story was seeing how things would turn out when the Martians decide they will have self-determination. What the powers on Earth do in response is no surprise and I really liked how that resolved itself in the end. I should also mention, this story had some brutal moments (probably to be expected given the situation) but if such situations bother you, just be aware.

There's a lot of world-building and politics which sometimes wasn't terribly exciting reading (some felt like info dumps but vivid) but I liked understanding the place and how characters fit or didn't, in the world. This one will stay with me for a while. In book-likes this reminded me of Red Mards of The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. That's a good thing.

This was my first read by Smith and I would read another.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgally for the Advance Reader's Copy. My thoughts are freely given.

L. Neil Smith http://www.lneilsmith.org/ is the author of more than a dozen novels. Ares was published in mid-December. It is the 115th book I completed reading in 2023.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence, I categorize this novel as R.

The United States of (East) America launches a colony ship to Mars. This is their seventh attempt at establishing a foothold on the red planet. Their earlier attempts ended in utter failure. The government of (East) America is a sham. The real person in charge is Industrialist Richfield Chan.

On the asteroid Pallas the Ngu family leads the very independent local population. Four of his eight children, Billy, Mirella, Brody, and Teal, don’t want to see the 50 new colonists die like their predecessors. With the help of their father, they secure a ship and head to Mars to rescue the colonists. With the ship they have, they know the trip will be oneway. The supplies that the four bring should enable the colonists to survive. Feeling abandoned by (East) America, the colonists rally to the Gnu children.

Julie Segovia is 17 and barely surviving in Newark. Her older sister is in the hospital. The result of a beating by her pimp. Julie avenges her sister and goes on the run. She ends up joining the Marine Corps to hide out. The skills she learned surviving on the streets of Newark set her apart from the rest of the cadets. She is sent to OCS to become an officer. Before she even finishes her training, she is assigned to a special company of Marines. They are sent to Mars to suppress the ‘rebellion’.

The independence of the colonists is seen as an outrage in (East) America. The (East) American government will go to whatever ends are necessary to bring the colonists back under control. Even returning Mars to its previous lifeless state is seen as a better solution than letting those on Mars think for themselves.

I enjoyed the 7.5 hours I spent reading this 271-page science fiction novel. I do like the selected cover art. I give this novel a rating of 4 out of 5.

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