After six months
of gravity-free travel, Anna finally arrives. Yet before she’s even settled
into her new quarters, she finds a note warning her against the base’s
psychiatrist. As if that wasn’t strange enough, the note seems to have been
painted by her, using her supplies which were in the cargo bay with her the
whole time. Desperate to believe that her new colleagues are playing a prank on
her, and that she is not going mad, Anna must continue her work while deciding
who she can and cannot trust.
Before Mars may be the third book in a trilogy, but (as I
discovered), reading the first two books is not necessary – Anna’s story is just as
haunting and perplexing without additional background. The narrative switches
skillfully between her recollections and memories and present struggles, creatively
blurring the line between her reality and fantasy, making the unusual occurrences
and prevailing sense of déjà vu all the more disturbing and all the more
delicious. Emma Newman is extraordinarily talented, seamlessly stitching
together a science fiction thriller with a pervasive sense of unease and
distress, making this book near on impossible to predict, or to put down. In
addition to a tense and intriguing plot, Anna deals with the suffocating
emotions of not being enough – lacking as a wife, mother and friend, making her
plight relatable and yet taboo.
Before Mars is refreshingly original amongst a barrage of
interstellar science fiction currently doing the rounds – despite being in
space, Anna’s problems and experiences are relatable Earth-bound and mesmerizing.
Also in Newman’s favour is her impressive ability to tell a tale of such depth
with such addictive yet easy-to-read prose – she is without a doubt a master
wordsmith.
Before Mars by Emma
Newman is published by Gollancz, an imprint of Orion Publishing, and is
available in South Africa from Jonathan Ball Publishers.
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