The Mars House: A Novel

Natasha Pulley is my favorite author so I had extremely high expectations for the Mars House. Even they were exceeded! The Mars House is at heart a love story in the purest sense. The love and trust that can grow between two people, between groups of people united for a common goal of survival, and what really makes a family. January Stirling, principal dancer, must flee London when it floods and becomes unlivable for good. The only place willing to offer a place to live is a settlement on Mars. But Mars is not some glowing paradise either. The residents of Mars have been genetically altered to live in the lower gravity of Mars and regard humans straight from earth as dangerous because of their greater strength. On Mars, Earthstrong humans must wear cages to keep from accidentally hurting their lighter-gravity counterparts and are very much second-class citizens. Unless of course they’re willing to undergo experimental surgery and other treatments designed to naturalize them to Mars. This has many drawbacks, including loss of mobility that may be permanent, and one big benefit: citizenship and healthcare and universal basic income. One of the loudest voices for making naturalization mandatory is Senator Aubrey Gale, who was injured in a protest that turned into chaos and a riot by, you guessed it, an Earthstrong person. So when they and their publicity department tour the plant that January must do manual labor in just to survive, an off-hand remark January is goaded into saying leads to him being imprisoned for hate speech and when he’s finally freed his choices are bleak. Senator Gale’s political opponent from a rival House points out that they casually destroyed a man’s life for a sound bite and they’ve had no idea and given him not a second thought. Aubrey’s solution is literally the last thing anyone would expect. They propose a marriage of convenience to January for the next five years, and at the end of it, January will be free and wealthy, and not need to naturalize and give up the ability to dance. The catch? His entire life will be broadcast constantly to all of Mars. The Senator is terrified of all Earthstrong people. Oh, and the last fiancé went missing along with the Senator’s twin. What could possibly go wrong? Just about everything, and that’s just the beginning. But along the way, can Audrey and January forge a friendship and true partnership out of their sham marriage? And yes, if you’ve been reading Natasha’s social media, I can confirm that there are in fact mammoths. Along with a giant husky named Kasha. Please read this wonderful story!

Sci-fi with different gender norms providing the setting for the story, along with humans genetically modified to exist on Mars. Tension exists between normal earth humans and the mars residents for very varied reasons; but the underlying theme is about the commonality of humanity…. There’s a bit of mystery and perhaps some parallels to current events.

I am often guilty of abandoning books when pronouns depart from standard usage, but thoroughly enjoyed this read and recommend it to anyone tired of fluffy SF

I recommended this book to a friend, and she read the description and said it sounded pretty intense and dark. Objectively speaking, probably so. But I found myself really enjoying how the main character liked people, and was so caught by whimsy and the sheer quirky oddities of life. His perspectives and moments of joy leavened what could have been a weighty and grim story. The footnotes were also so much fun…

In addition, I liked how this book made me think about language and how it evolves, and how it reflects a culture. It also made me think about strength and power. And it made me consider how complacent we are in our first world countries with our many advantages and protections against dangers others less fortunate are exposed to constantly. Made me shift uncomfortably to imagine a time when we might be the third world, disadvantaged people.

Highly recommend.

This story works on so many levels.

The world-building is thorough and unique - what would Mars be like 200 or so years after human settlement dominated by Chinese ex-pats? How would 7th generation 'natural' Martians adapted to 1/4 Earth gravity deal with a steady influx of 'Earthstrong' folks too strong for many people's own good and still acculturated to collapsing cultures on Earth? And what if the dominant culture had eliminated gender (but Earth hadn't)?

The central story can be over-simplified as an unexpected partnership-turning-romance (?) between two vastly different humans (each truly unique, and wonderfully drawn), amid rising political and cultural disruption. With plenty of good moments and many delicately foreshadowed plot developments and twists. And with very thought-provoking takes on immigration, gender, and conflicting cultural loyalties.

No book is perfect, but this one's wonderful, and a must read for anyone heavily drawn to any of the themes above. I'm pushing this on all my SF fan friends, and on younger folks adamant about gender and empowerment in the Real World.

I don't know what I was expecting when I picked up The Mars House, but a political intrigue, queer slow burn romance, dystopian climate disaster, fake marriage, sci-fi refugee story was everything I didn't know I needed to read!

The book follows January, who lives in climate-ravaged London. When flooding hits and everyone must evacuate, he is faced with a decision: with Earth overwhelmed and dying, he agrees to immigrate to the terraformed Mars colony of Tharsis.

Once there, he's what's known as an "Earthstronger." Gravity on Mars makes immigrants far stronger than humans born on Mars. As a refugee, his options are limited and he faces discrimination (I love how good sci-fi can take relevant issues and tweak them to make them accessible).

To make matters worse, he's humiliated Senator Gale when cornered into an interview. Gale is campaigning to require all Earthstrongers to naturalize, a dangerous medical procedure to make them "less dangerous." January loses his job because of the interview and is now in even more dire straights. This leads to an arranged marriage to help Gale save their campaign.

What follows is a political mystery involving crooked politicians, dogs who see ghosts, and mammoths who can communicate with humans!

January was such a pure, well written character. Having survived disaster after disaster, he maintained the belief that most people are good. His self-depreciating humor and willingness to stand his ground for what is right made him true "hero" material. And Gale! Born into money and power, Gale rose to every challenge with grace and pragmaticism even if they would rather have been attending linguistics lectures or conversing with mammoths.

The author's writing style felt unique in a good way. Pulley writes descriptively, and in a way that shows she's done her research. Having a main character studying the etomology of languages was a clever way to add realness to the mixed languages spoken on Tharsis. While I tried to appreciate the use of footnotes to help explain some of this, I found it took me out of the story and would have preferred it included in the text. Maybe it would feel different with a physical copy as opposed to the ebook.

Overall, this was a fascinating read that kept me engaged. I hope it finds its audience, as it is unique and well-deserving of attention.

I received this eARC from netgalley and publisher Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review.

The Mars House: five star reading experience with three star themes. I was invested in everything on the page and as long as I didn't think too hard about it, it was pretty perfect. First, some basics: this is hard science fiction. Earth is a flaming garbage heap, and there are climate refugees who need to escape their homelands. Some of them immigrate to Mars. Martian society was founded eight generations ago and has its own culture, adapted to the higher radiation and lower gravity of life on that planet. "Earthstrong" refugees are stronger and faster on Mars, although their life expectancy is lower; Martian "Naturals" are taller, slimmer, and have been genetically modified for the Martian climate. Earthstrongers don't know their own strength, making them a danger to their Natural neighbors.⁠ They can "naturalize," a process of acclimatizing to the Martian environment, but it's a difficult process that leaves even the luckiest with some kind of nerve damage. Without naturalizing, they can work only the most menial jobs, where their strength is an asset.⁠ ⁠ It's in this setting that we meet MC January, an Earthstrong refugee. In his former life, he was the principal of the London Ballet. On Mars, he barely ekes out a living in a water factory. His dry British humor lands him in jail for threatening the life of a Senator. When he gets out, he's surprised to be offered a political marriage of convenience to that same Senator. January's only other choice as a convicted felon is forced naturalization, so he reluctantly agrees ... only to find himself falling for Senator Gale, who might be a "Naturals First" politician, but who's also ... really nice?⁠ ⁠ Like I said, reading this book was a real pleasure. It might be lengthy, but I loved reading about Martian society, January's conflicted feelings about his place in it, and the slow (slooooow!) burn romance between him and Gale. It made me tear up at several points. After finishing it, though, I had to sit with my feelings and really think about what the book is trying to say. ⁠ ⁠ Look, here's the thing: Gale is a right wing, immigration zero politician who marries January for the optics. I feel like Pulley is working with themes she's not sure what to do with. Speculative fiction is supposed to be fun, but it's also supposed to make you think. You know how some monster romance can end up using problematic images and themes without really meaning to? That's what it feels like here. For example, Earthstrong immigrants are truly dangerous to the Martian population. Gale is justified in being afraid of these immigrants - they lost a leg in an Earthstrong riot. If this is translated into today's world, are we meant to read this through the lens of European countries actually being at danger of losing their culture by accepting refugees from other parts of the world?

But like I said, I was soooo invested in this romance and this world. I blew through this long book in two days. I cried at the end. I just don't know if I can fully enjoy it in the way I like to enjoy my books. (I love when my critical thinking center is engaged, and if I let that happen here, it will just be critical.)

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

Pulley is without a doubt a talented writer, but I'm not quite sure what to make of this novel. I'm even less fond of this one than I was of Valery K, which was already a large step down from her previous work.

Other reviewers have already addressed the plot and the, uh, attempt at romance, so I'm just going to leave a few remarks here about the issues that stand out to me. (Spoilers follow.)

1. Unless I wildly miss my guess, Pulley has read Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles and feels a persistent need to include a Francis Crawford clone in all of her books. She mostly succeeded with Kite (Kingdoms is my favorite of her novels), but she needs to branch out and create some different sorts of characters at this point. River is the (morally dodgy) Lymond clone in this one. They didn't work for me as a real person. At all.

2. Aubrey is even worse, in that they are a completely incoherent character. They are presented as a dissolute individual, addicted to multiple substances, someone who will reliably identify the easy way out of any situation and then take it. Then they get mad at River and... basically turn into River. Aubrey would have been completely incapable of spending a year stalking anyone, as this required a level of determination and self-discipline they would not have possessed. And in all that time spent creeping invisibly around the house, not one craving for anything they'd previously been addicted to? Sorry, no, that's not how addiction works.

3. Maybe I'm paranoid and losing my mind, but this is the kind of world we live in now, so.... This book and Pulley's last one give me the strangest feeling that she's writing Queer Romance Fiction for NATO Enthusiasts. She maligns Russians as beastly rapist/murderers and Little Mengeles in Valery K, and in this novel it's the grasping, malicious Chinese government we're supposed to dislike. Maybe her next book will be a historical one set in India back when the British East India Company was rampaging through the place, but I doubt it. Look, all systems of government/control can and should be criticized, but when it's only the Official Enemies of the Great and Glorious West that are getting this treatment, I start to get a little twitchy about an author.

So those are my thoughts, having just finished the book. I like January. He is also a mess, but a relatable one, and he belongs in a better novel.