Interesting yet different from what I expected

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elena l. Avatar

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VAGABONDS revolves around a group of young delegates that are sent to Earth after the Martian war of independence. Back to home, they found themselves in a different reality and search for where they truly belong.

I have mixed feelings about this book: the writing is exquisite and Jingfang builds a rich and complex world set in the future. The beauty and culture of Mars can well be the reality that people imagine for the humanity's future. Having said that, the story begins with plenty of characters that I found hard to follow and as I was digging into the story, I was expecting more action or something bigger to happen.

Instead, this novel is a character-driven story that explores a huge variety of perspectives around ideology and politics of Mars' institutional system. The author tackles with massive descriptions themes of consumerism, commerce, arts, philosophy, individual and society's freedom. While it was interesting to read about the construction of Mars and its dispute with Earth, I wished more mystery and some parts felt like it was about careless teenagers. In addition, I wanted to read more about Eko, since he was heavily mentioned at first but throughout the story he was almost forgotten. Even though this book was longer than necessary, the last 100 pages were very engaging and a lot is explained.

Vagabonds is a slow burn book that readers have to gradually digest and will offer a unique experience.