Finches of Mars - Softcover

Thought-provoking . . . Stimulating . . . Genuinely haunting . . . [Aldiss is] a major figure in world SF . . . Whatever else Aldiss may be, predictable he is not. "The Guardian"
I have been reading Aldiss s work with intense delight for something over forty-five years. . . . "Finches of Mars" certainly does not disappoint, and in fact shows Aldiss at the top of his game. . . . [This book is] full of incident and history and character. Paul Di Filippo
A science fiction story of ideas . . . "Finches of Mars" is a thinking person s SF novel which wants to engage with the reader, to compel you to reflect on the nature of existence, what it is to be human and our relationship with our home planet Earth as well as our place within the universe. "Starburst""

"Thought-provoking . . . Stimulating . . . Genuinely haunting . . . [Aldiss is] a major figure in world SF . . . Whatever else Aldiss may be, predictable he is not." --"The Guardian" "I have been reading Aldiss's work with intense delight for something over forty-five years. . . . "Finches of Mars" certainly does not disappoint, and in fact shows Aldiss at the top of his game. . . . [This book is] full of incident and history and character." --Paul Di Filippo "A science fiction story of ideas . . . " Finches of Mars" is a thinking person's SF novel which wants to engage with the reader, to compel you to reflect on the nature of existence, what it is to be human and our relationship with our home planet Earth as well as our place within the universe." --"Starburst"

Thought-provoking... Stimulating... Genuinely haunting... [Aldiss is] a major figure in world SF... Whatever else Aldiss may be, predictable he is not. "The Guardian" I have been reading Aldiss s work with intense delight for something over forty-five years.... "Finches of Mars" certainly does not disappoint, and in fact shows Aldiss at the top of his game.... [This book is] full of incident and history and character. Paul Di Filippo A science fiction story of ideas... "Finches of Mars" is a thinking person s SF novel which wants to engage with the reader, to compel you to reflect on the nature of existence, what it is to be human and our relationship with our home planet Earth as well as our place within the universe. "Starburst""

Compelling... A suspenseful genre-bending combination of straight SF and mystery. Consider this required reading. "Booklist," starred review Thought-provoking... Stimulating... Genuinely haunting... [Aldiss is] a major figure in world SF... Whatever else Aldiss may be, predictable he is not. "The Guardian" I have been reading Aldiss s work with intense delight for something over forty-five years.... "Finches of Mars" certainly does not disappoint, and in fact shows Aldiss at the top of his game.... [This book is] full of incident and history and character. Paul Di Filippo A science fiction story of ideas... "Finches of Mars" is a thinking person s SF novel which wants to engage with the reader, to compel you to reflect on the nature of existence, what it is to be human and our relationship with our home planet Earth as well as our place within the universe. "Starburst""

"Compelling . . . A suspenseful genre-bending combination of straight SF and mystery. Consider this required reading." --Booklist, starred review

"Thought-provoking . . . Stimulating . . . Genuinely haunting . . . [Aldiss is] a major figure in world SF . . . Whatever else Aldiss may be, predictable he is not." --The Guardian

"I have been reading Aldiss's work with intense delight for something over forty-five years. . . . Finches of Mars certainly does not disappoint, and in fact shows Aldiss at the top of his game. . . . [This book is] full of incident and history and character." --Paul Di Filippo

"A science fiction story of ideas . . . Finches of Mars is a thinking person's SF novel which wants to engage with the reader, to compel you to reflect on the nature of existence, what it is to be human and our relationship with our home planet Earth as well as our place within the universe." --Starburst

Colonists on Mars fight to prevent their own extinction in “a suspenseful genre-bending combination of straight SF and mystery” (Booklist, starred review).

Doomed by overpopulation, irreversible environmental degradation, and never-ending war, Earth has become a fetid swamp. For many, Mars represents humankind’s last hope. In six tightly clustered towers on the red planet’s surface, the colonists who have escaped their dying home world are attempting to make a new life unencumbered by the corrupting influences of politics, art, and religion. Unable ever to return, these pioneers have chosen an unalterable path that winds through a landscape as terrible as it is beautiful, often forcing them to compromise their beliefs—and sometimes their humanity—in order to survive.
 
But the gravest threat to the future is not the settlement’s total dependence on foodstuffs sent from a distant and increasingly uncaring Earth, or the events that occur in the aftermath of the miraculous discovery of native life on Mars—it is the fact that in the ten years since colonization began, every new human baby has been born dead, or so tragically deformed that death comes within hours.
 
The great Brian W. Aldiss has delivered a dark and provocative yet ultimately hopeful magnum opus rich in imagination and bold ideas. A novel of philosophy as much as science fiction, Finches of Mars is an exploration of intellectual history, evolution, technology, and the future by one of speculative fiction’s undisputed masters.