So when I first got this book I was actually terrified of how big it ended up being. I must have read the page count wrong because I was convinced it was going to be more like 250 pages than 600. I’ve read bigger books before, it’s just the fact that this was science fiction by an author I’m unfamiliar with...set in space. None of that is my typical genre, and I was pretty intimidated to start it. But eventually I did, and I could not have been more wrong.
Vagabonds is a novel primarily set on Mars—you know, the planet—176 years in the future. After originally being settled by Terrans (people from Earth), a war broke out between the two civilizations. Mars was still dependent on Earth for immediate needs, like food or water, and Earth wanted to retain control of Martian technology, which was being innovated at a much faster rate by their scientists. Now, a hundred years after the war, a group of teenagers are returning to their homes on Mars after being sent to Earth as part of a delegation. They’re caught between the two cultures: the place they were born and raised, & where they spent their formative years.
There’s so many topics touched on here. Individualism vs collectivism. Communism vs capitalism. Arts vs science. It’s a story set in space, but it’s really about humans and humanity. Being on Mars doesn’t erase the problems that people have, just puts some distance between two evolving sects. I love what both Hao Jingfang and Ken Liu did with this book. The language is perfect, descriptive enough but not bogged down in sci-fi terminology. It could have been a little less long, but I didn’t want to stop reading at any point. Just make sure to allow yourself enough time to fully appreciate the work here.
Vagabonds is a novel primarily set on Mars—you know, the planet—176 years in the future. After originally being settled by Terrans (people from Earth), a war broke out between the two civilizations. Mars was still dependent on Earth for immediate needs, like food or water, and Earth wanted to retain control of Martian technology, which was being innovated at a much faster rate by their scientists. Now, a hundred years after the war, a group of teenagers are returning to their homes on Mars after being sent to Earth as part of a delegation. They’re caught between the two cultures: the place they were born and raised, & where they spent their formative years.
There’s so many topics touched on here. Individualism vs collectivism. Communism vs capitalism. Arts vs science. It’s a story set in space, but it’s really about humans and humanity. Being on Mars doesn’t erase the problems that people have, just puts some distance between two evolving sects. I love what both Hao Jingfang and Ken Liu did with this book. The language is perfect, descriptive enough but not bogged down in sci-fi terminology. It could have been a little less long, but I didn’t want to stop reading at any point. Just make sure to allow yourself enough time to fully appreciate the work here.