Saving Mars: Book One in the Saving Mars Series
by Cidney Swanson
Jessamyn is a young Marsian woman who has been studying to be the best pilot she can be in preparation to be selected as one of the few to raid Earth for rations. The raid occurs once every twenty annums, Martian years, or roughly forty Earth years since relations between the two planets ceased. The term Marsian has been adopted as a form of solidarity among the abandoned to starve colonists.
Back to the protagonist, Jessamyn, who behaves much like any late-stage teenager. She has her withdrawal zone, plenty of opinion and a lack of consideration for the opinions of others. Since she values the goal of being a raid pilot so much this condition puts her in jeopardy of losing her goal.
This novel is an excellent beginning to the series and I hope the remainder of the volumes will be this well produced. Plot and world building are very well done as are some of the supporting characters. The dystopian picture of Earth and its system of maintaining peace will need to be fleshed out in the series in order to keep most readers engaged but the dose of back story here was enough to carry the novel.
Though I have trouble feeling any empathy for the protagonist I know a lot of readers will so I have not let that detract from my four out of five star rating. The one star minus has to do with the never empty power sources used in the book.
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