The Big Red Buckle

by Matthew Alan Thyer, Jeffrey Witty (Illustrations)

Humanity has survived environmental and atmospheric calamity and begun to move out into the stars. Sport still plays a vital role in our day-to-day affairs. The Big Red Buckle recounts an episode of a single-stage endurance race held between two shield volcanoes on a Mars that is slowly being terraformed. Participants must run and soar over 1,500 kilometers while the solar system watches. For Marco Aguilar, just being at the starting line represents the culmination of two years of careful preparation and training. He aims to win the Grand Martian Traverse, and take home The Big Red Buckle for himself and for native Martians.

84 pages, Paperback

Published December 4, 2013

About the author

Matthew Alan Thyer is an independent author writing hard-science fiction with a twist. Currently publishing a series of stories which share the theme “sports in space.” He is an Army veteran who served as a signals intelligence analyst. Prior to finding his voice as a writer he worked as an operations engineer, wildland firefighter, backcountry ranger, kayak guide and river rat.

Matt’s hobbies include trail running, backpacking, skiing, mountaineering, bicycling, and paragliding.

Reviews

[J.R. Tompkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found a teaser for this story while wandering around Wattpad.

It read, “Backcountry ranger Jack Isen has had a bad year at school. He is anticipating some time alone, working the back country of the Flat Tops Wilderness. Something strange happens and he finds much more isolation than he was planning for.” It was so really nice to find something other than misspelled fan-fiction on that site, so I eagerly read the “partial version of the whole short story,” and found it a fresh breeze of mountain air. I like stuff with a strong sense of place, so I hopped on over to Amazon and plunked down my virtual pennies to download it to my virtual Kindle, laced up my virtual bootstraps and found the spot in the story where the preview had left off.

I had read 37% of the entire book.

I was disappointed; I already wanted more. Matthew Alan Thyer’s descriptions of getting into wilderness were as welcoming as the anabatic breezes rustling through the aspens. And anybody whose publishing company is called Feet For Brains Publishing has got to have something going on, I thought. Still, I sighed, I’ve got 63% left to enjoy, and read onward.

One problem I had getting into the story, though, was that I felt like I was going in without a map. I had no idea where he was taking us. I would have liked a little more explanation of where this was taking place on the face of the earth, and perhaps a lot more of a description about wherever that other place was....

Without giving away any spoilers, I also had no idea going in that this was going to be something with a science fiction twist. I should have read his GoodReads bio first, I guess, but there was absolutely no mention of that aspect in the descriptions on Amazon or Wattpad.

There were a few misspellings, including, oddly, the author’s name on the cover image, that were minor distractions, and several references to something called A Tale of the Long Earth, which were never fully explained in this short book.

I really wanted to like this one more. The first part I found to be an exhilarating hike, but one that left me just a little lost. If he writes anything more in the vein of the getting-into-wilderness experiences of the first half of the story, I’d love to go off hiking with him again.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. Mat does a wonderful job of placing the reader in the action, and the action is exhilarating. The story takes place on the surface of Mars, and the protagonist is a native born endurance athlete; his specialty being para-sailing. The thrust of the story is a trans-world event, a major race that includes athletes from Earth, and first generation Martians. I appreciated the visual experiences that Mat's writing allowed me. A very real character in the story is the Martian air. It is both sparse and toxic, but can be relied on once a skilled sailor accommodates its ways. During parts of the story I could really 'see' the air, its movements and varying temperature, as a dynamic entity to be dealt with. Speaking of air, I could detect a whiff of the rarefied writer's air of people like Kim Stanley Robinson or James Salter in this story. I am looking forward to more stories from Mat.

[Tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives the reader a different experience of Mars than many others in the genre. It's not about first steps on a new planet (traveling there or colonizing it), but rather focuses on a specific aspect of life when humanity is already fairly comfortable in the new environment. I particularly like how the main character, a native-born Martian, approaches problems differently than his competitors, who are mostly Earth-born. The race, for which the Big Red Buckle is the prize, provides an entertaining foreground, but the character motivations and sociopolitical undercurrents give this story depth.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Novelette

The first point I want to make here is that Matthew Alan Thyer is one terrific writer. You can check him out on Wattpad for a collection of short fiction, and his short stories have appeared in the Galaxy Chronicles collections. You can't go wrong by reading him.

Marco Aguilar is determined to be the first native Martian to win the Grand Martian Traverse, and take home The Big Red Buckle for himself and for native Martians. Earthlings have the advantage of strength and endurance in the lighter gravity of Mars, but Aguilar has what the Earthlings don't--a native's knowledge of the winds of Mars and the foundation of Martian culture: Martians do it together.

[Carol Fitzsimons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win this in the Goodreads Giveaway.

This was another book that as I started reading I thought "mm not sure I'm going to like this" but at the same time I could not put it down and I soon found myself getting very engrossed in the storyline and the two main characters. This is quite an easy to read story that goes at a nice pace. It is based around a futuristic sport, it is more about the determination of two people who come together for a common goal. It is a short story which would make an ideal read for on holiday.

[Jemilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun little story and quite enjoyable to read.
Great characters, great setting, and great writing.
Look forward to seeing more from this author :)
The short story in the back was a lovely little bonus.

I received this book for free as a First Reads giveaway.

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the unexpected and this was right up my alley, both with a novel premise and never becoming predictable. It kept me interested throughout.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this. Not one I would have picked out for myself, but very good quality, and interesting to read. My younger cousin adored it.

[Alan W. Harwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

Science Fiction in the wilderness

I was greatly surprised to discover this read to be a long science fiction short story rather than a personal experience event of one in the wilderness. Naturally I was very disappointed.

[Whatisadrexel · Rating 5 out of 5]

great introduction for Matthew Thyer. I look forward to his next offering.