Heirs of Mars (Special Edition) [Formato Kindle]

It's the middle of the 22nd century, and humans have been occupying space on Mars for well over a century. For as long as anyone can remember, the war between man and machine has been a integral thread to life on Mars and there is no end in sight. Human birth rates have fallen on Mars, and cloning becomes the most logical option to allow the collective intellect of humans live on. Meanwhile, the Cartesians, or "mechs," are programmed to follow "Mother's" orders to wipe out the human race, and cloners are at the top of the list. Asher is one of those cloners who is part of an underground rebellion. Haunted by his past, he's trying to strive for a future that will allow him some peace and give all humans hope. With the help of Claudia, a local Martian celebrity, Asher comes up with the idea to create the perfect weapon against the machines. No one will be the same when the Martian dust settles on this battle of clones, humans and machines. One way or another, this war will end, but who will be around to see the results?

Joseph Robert Lewis has written a compelling book that follows the lives of 6 sentient beings during the days leading up to the end of the war. Each chapter tells a piece of the adventure from one of those beings' reference points. The chapters are clearly marked, and I found this to be a very effective way to give us a more complete picture of what was going on in the minds of the humans, clones and machines involved in this war. The premise of the story was really intriguing, and brought up some interesting concepts; cloning people minutes before they die to save their knowledge, machines that seem almost human and yet they're not, Mars being a viable habitat for people when Earth is not enough. With the changing viewpoints and the engaging concept, this was an easy book to get into.

In addition to the main theme of hope and redemption, there were several underlying themes. For example, what qualifies one to be a person? Seeing the individual thoughts and feelings of three different types of beings, the question is raised- what makes someone (or something) a person? With their synthetic bodies and brains saturated with the memories and experiences of another, are clones closer to humans or machines? Are machines who make choices independent of their programming more like humans than machines? Is it possible for all three types of beings to coexist, and are their goals really all that different?

I found this to be an interesting read. Although the story moves along at a fairly good pace, I found the ending to be somewhat abrupt. When I saw the epilogue, I wondered if I'd missed something in the story. When I turned the last page of the epilogue, I was expecting more. I had taken the journey through the last part of the war, and I wanted a little something else at the end to give me more closure. I'm honestly not exactly sure what form that would have taken, but I felt a bit letdown by the ending. Some of the transitions and relationships between characters were a little difficult for me to follow at times as well. I'm not sure if that's because we were following so many characters (each of the six characters had at least one or more partners associated with them), or because of a lack of development in the writing of the characters. It wasn't a major flaw of the story, and just a minor complaint on my part.

Overall, a good read for anyone who likes speculative science fiction, and for anyone who thinks about the future of machines and clones, and what it will mean for the human race.

4 /5 stars @ MotherLode blog

Asher Radescu was the last man to emigrate to Mars. On this harsh world, he has lost virtually everything that held meaning for him at the hands of rebellious, sentient robots or "mechs." A mech attack claimed the life of his daughter and also exposed his wife to a lethal dose of radiation that spell her imminent doom (and moved her to drive him out of her life). Yet Asher presses on alone as a "cloner," one of an elite group of scientists who transfer the memories and psychological wiring of talented (but dying) humans into synthetic beings to serve the needs of the colony and live among the humans.
The colony, its buildings, and vehicles are imaginatively created by the author as a setting for a conflict that sweeps the reader into the action as Asher and a courageous but unlikely heroine, Claudia Cruz, choose to fight the murderous mechs when the colony's organized leadership cannot.
The reader is challenged to consider what defines humanity and life in a world where machines and clones have the memories and skills, but not the personalities, of their donors or creators. Even the humans of the future have an increasing measure of synthetic replacement parts. If we have synthetic knees, hips, heart valves, and cloned skin and organs today, is it so far off that the fraction of original parts will decline markedly?
The author's glimpse into the future, the ambiguities we are shown about life and humanity, and the riveting action make Heirs of Mars a compelling and exciting read.

Disclosure: I was given this novel by the author through another web site.

I have one caveat to my review below: I believe it's critical to read Heirs of Mars: Prelude before reading Heirs of Mars because the storyline will be much harder to follow without the context of those character studies and back stories.

Quite a few authors have envisioned what it could be like when men eventually colonize Mars. Some of those visions are a utopian fantasy. Heirs of Mars is not one of those visions. Joseph Robert Lewis takes a hard, gritty look at how colonization might realistically look given Mars' harsh environment, given how governments like to cut corners, and given how humans react to their environment and unknowns.

People always fear what they don't understand, and those biases and prejudices often lead to inhumane behavior. That is likely to be just as true on a planet that's colonized as it is on Earth, which Heirs on Mars demonstrates all too realistically for its human/non-human population segments. In addition to other issues this novel addresses, for me the big question that has to be examined in a world with clones and AIs is, "What is humanity and what defines someone as human?"

This novel kept me riveted from the beginning. It's as much an excellent fast-paced action/adventure as good science fiction and will likely appeal to both kinds of readers. I became as invested in the lives of clones, like Selene, and "good" AI mech/robots, like Holm, as I did humans like Asher and Claudia Cruz.

A note for non-science oriented readers: The AI/robotics/technology is not heavy-handed in this novel, and is very easy to follow. The novel is about personalities and plot, not scientific theory; however, it has enough AI technology in it to also please AI and tech junkies - a very nice balance!