The Martian Ambassador

Blackwood and Harrington #1

by Alan K. Baker

London, 1899. It has been six years since the discovery of intelligent life on Mars, and relations between the two worlds are rapidly developing. Three-legged Martian omnibuses stride through the streets and across the landscape, while Queen Victoria has been returned to the vigour of youth by Martian rejuvenation drugs. Victorian computer technology is proceeding apace, thanks to the faeries who power the 'cogitators', while the first Æther zeppelins are nearing completion, with a British expedition to the Moon being planned for the following year. Everything seems to be going swimmingly, until Lunan R'ondd, Martian Ambassador to the Court of Saint James's, dies while attending a banquet at Buckingham Palace. The discovery of strange, microscopic larvae in his breathing apparatus leads Queen Victoria to suspect that he may have been the victim of a bizarre assassination. The Martian Parliament agrees, and they are not pleased. No Martian has ever died in such suspicious circumstances while on Earth. An ultimatum is if Her Majesty's Government cannot solve the crime and bring the perpetrator to justice, the Martians will! Enter Thomas Blackwood, Special Investigator for Her Majesty's Bureau of Clandestine Affairs. Along with Lady Sophia Harrington, Secretary of the Society for Psychical Research, Blackwood is charged with the task of solving the mystery of Ambassador R'ondd's death, before the Martians take matters into their own hands, possibly igniting an interplanetary war in the process!

Genres: Steampunk, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Alternate History, Fiction, Mystery

350 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

Reviews

[Francis · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick, fun, melodramatic read. However, the prose is functional at best, and in places embarrassingly bad. The dialogue never rises above risible, more or less exclusively composed of exposition and dumbass questions designed to provoke yet more exposition, all of it wooden.

The plot hinges on stupidity, and makes zero logical sense. Early on in the book it's revealed that there is an agent provocateur trying to start a war. Both sides know this fact, and who is responsible, yet for some reason act like the war is inevitable despite this. So stupid.

I'd recommend this to any fans of the genre who have forgiving personalities and need some light entertainment for a medium-haul plane or train journey.

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I've decided to err on the positive side and rate this higher rather than lower.

I didn't like parts of this book, so let's get that out of the way. So many times after a fast-paced scene that desperately needed a proper resolution you got a long-winded description of one thing/person/place or another or the characters are like 'the world is ending, let's sit and talk'. Then, you have some unnecessary detailed explanations for the things that are quite obvious. Oh, even though there is a comment or two about other nations or empires, it seems that the only one that's important is the British one.
The motivation of one of the villains is hilariously simple.

However, all that combined couldn't make a dent in the awesomeness of the ideas in this story. They alone could have made this story worth one's reading time. Not because they are original, but because of the way they are combined and presented.

Years ago, Nikola Tesla sent a message into the space and humanity got an answer. The Martians replied. The diplomatic relations are established. The Martians are technologically superior, but they are not hostile. They are a peace-loving race. That could all change unless our two protagonists solve the mystery of the murder of their ambassador.

The Martian Ambassador is worth the time if you like science fiction or steampunk, H.G. Wells, Algernon Blackwood, even Lovecraft. And that's just some of it.
The heat rays are used in the book. There is a story within a story about the Wendigo. There are even tentacles and a hint of a cosmic horror that is creeping around the edges of our solar system. I hope that will be explored further (you only get a taste from Blackwood's memories). And maybe there is a promise of romance. I think the good outweighs the not so good in this case.

[Charlotte (Buried in Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off fantastically well, but the ending let it down quite a bit.

I've come across The Martian Ambassador several times on Goodreads, I was intrigued by the idea of the book but was also a bit nervous. Because The War of the Worlds is one of my favourite books of all time and I don't want anything to spoil my enjoyment of that book.

There were some very nice nods to the original - the explanation of the cylinder landing on Horsell Common was a nice touch. The heat ray was ominous on it's first appearance. The author has embraced the original material and put their own spin on it.

This is London, but not as we know it. Because in this story the Martians came in peace - they waited until we were ready for them - only then did they respond to our calls across the stars. They brought their technology to earth - their walking machines being used as trains etc. Queen Victoria has benefited as well, becoming younger (no-one knows how, they only know the Martians are involved).

As I said at the start of this review, this story starts off fantastically well. Thomas Blackwood is asked to investigate the apparent assassination of the Martian Ambassador (by an infestation of parasites which suffocated him). Sophia Harrington is investigating a series of attacks by Spring Heeled Jack, the two investigations collide (with the two central characters taking a liking to each other), when it becomes clear that Spring Heeled Jack is also involved in the assassination.

The aim is to start a war between Mars and Earth and this is where things start to go off the rails for me. Because there's just too much thrown at the story. You have dark magic (Blackwood is nearly killed by as Djinn), you have Faeries (one of whom turns out to be Oberon), then you have the real culprits behind the whole thing - the Venusians (who look so horrific it scares animals away), who - having virtually killed their planet want to invade both Mars and Earth.

The bad guys are dealt with far too easily and it's all a bit twee. My main problem though is Blackwood and Harrington themselves - because it's been done before (this type of detective coupling) and it's been done better. Newbury and Hobbes are (for me) a much better team.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like reading science fiction/fantasy but this is my first venture into the realms of steampunk I was curious to see for myself what all the fuss was about in this revitalised genre. However, I seem to be in the minority in my opinion but I have to say I was disappointed - I thought it started out strong with great ideas and interesting characters I liked Thomas and Sophia they made a nice combination, I am a fan of Star Trek so enjoyed the idea of Mars and Earth joining forces and sharing technology. However, mid-way through it began to lose its way and by the the time we hit faerieland I was disengaged and bored. It tried to pack too much in, too many ideas. Who was responsible was revealed too early so the suspense was lost for me. Reminds me somewhat of the Quatermass/War of the Worlds but lacks the nostalgia element that I feel when watching them despite the language "You'll swing for this, you filthy bounder!" But may I say if you like Dr Who then this will be right up your street.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find the book enjoyable. There's enough twists and sci-fi elements to keep you entertained. Some of the 'Victorian-woman-aint-need-no-man'-parts felt a bit cliché to me and the dialogue was at times a bit cluncy, especially duing action scenes. Yet, as a science-enthausiast, I never get enough of the what-iffing in science ficion.

[Willem van den Oever · Rating 2 out of 5]

Borrowing heavily and entirely without shame from H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds”, “the Martian Ambassador” takes place in England of 1899 where, after first contact, Martians are now living among men. The extra-terrestrials in this book are a peaceful race, and being technically more advanced, have helped humanity to make great leaps forward in the fields of technology, transport and science.
But the delicate partnership is put under stress when the Martian ambassador in London dies while attending a banquet, and people quickly start to realize his death might have been murder. It’s up to Special Investigator Thomas Blackwood and Lady Sophia Harrington from Her Majesty’s Bureau of Clandestine Affairs to solve the crime, before the Martians take matters into their own far more powerful and threatening hands.

All sorts of sci-fi, faerie, steampunk and mystery elements are thrown together over the brief course of “the Martian Ambassador”. And while genre-blending has led to some great novels by the likes of Douglas Adams, China Miéville, Susanna Clarke or Margaret Atwood, Alan K. Baker is less successful in his endeavor here. Most of this is caused by two critical errors.
Baker throws all these elements into his story without any sort of logic or reasoning. Some of the steampunkish contraptions moving across the Victorian landscape are there because of the combined efforts of Martian and human engineers. But by far the most supernatural, magical or weird bits are simply there, without explication. There’s no world-building, critical in this kind of genre in order for the reader to immerse and enjoy this new reality presented on the page, and because of that, Baker’s Victorian England feels disappointingly dull and flavorless.

But even more damaging to the overall experience is the narrative and prose of the book. “The Martian Ambassador” is a quick, but very poorly balanced and awkward read. This is Baker’s first novel and sadly, it shows.
Exciting though familiar action scenes are cut short time and again for overlong passages of unnatural, wooden dialogue which mostly consist of exposition. None of the characters come alive or become memorable enough to warrant emotional investment in them, never mind enough enthusiasm to look forward to any of the following Blackwood & Harrington mysteries in the series.
And the plot itself is not mysterious, nor does it make any sense. Fairly early on, the true villains of the plot are already unmasked to the reader; but while both sides (Mars and Earth) know this fact, and who is truly responsible, no preventive action is undertaken and interplanetary war remains inevitable despite this. It’s head-scratchingly nonsensical and awkward like this throughout.

Fairly early on in the book, before it started to try eating my brains, “the Martian Ambassador” reminded me of Mark Hodder’s excellent “the Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack”. In many ways, that book is similar, but better, in almost any way compared to Baker’s work here. Even better still is H.G. Wells’ original, which is still worthy of being read time and again.
Fact remains, that in the overly satiated steampunk-genre, there’s really very little need to dig into “the Martian Ambassador”.

[Moloch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Il genere fantascienza non mi è mai interessato granché: l’unica eccezione, per quanto ricordo, è stata la Guida galattica per autostoppisti e seguiti, che comunque considero abbastanza “sui generis” (oh già, e anche il Ciclo di Eymerich: anche lì tuttavia ad attirarmi da principio era stata l’ambientazione medievale). In ogni caso, è stato principalmente merito del titolo, bello e curioso, se ho deciso di dare una possibilità al libro di Alan K. Baker.

In realtà questo romanzo appartiene più al genere dello “steam punk”, e cioè (la definizione è ricavata dalle mie conoscenze con l’aiuto di Wikipedia) l’autore immagina un “passato alternativo” (generalmente l’epoca vittoriana) con corrispondenze con gli eventi realmente avvenuti ma in cui sono introdotte tecnologie simili a quelle odierne, realizzate con i materiali e le fonti di energia del tempo (del genere: computer che funzionano a vapore; steam significa infatti “vapore” in inglese).

Siamo nel 1899, a Londra: sono ormai sei anni che è stato stabilito un contatto fra la Terra e Marte, e le relazioni fra le due civiltà si sviluppano pacificamente. I marziani, immensamente più progrediti, hanno benevolmente condiviso le loro scoperte scientifiche e le loro strabilianti tecnologie con i terrestri. Ma questo stato di cose rischia di essere irrimediabilmente turbato dalla misteriosa morte dell’ambasciatore marziano a Londra, quasi sicuramente avvenuta per cause non naturali. Sulla vicenda viene chiamato a investigare Thomas Blackwood, dell’Ufficio Affari Clandestini di Sua Maestà, che deve cercare di capire se qualcuno non stia cercando di avvelenare i rapporti fra i due pianeti per scatenare una guerra galattica. Contemporaneamente, Londra è anche scossa da una serie di cruenti attacchi di un criminale noto come “Jack il Saltatore”, della cui natura, umana, aliena o demoniaca, nessuno sa capacitarsi, e sul quale indaga Lady Sophia Harrington, della Società sulle Indagini Psichiche (o qualcosa del genere).

Questo romanzo ha avuto la “sfortuna” di capitare in un periodo di “stanchezza”: il giorno in cui l’ho iniziato, avevo prima aperto e messo via insoddisfatta altri quattro libri. Prima di iniziare L’ambasciatore di Marte, inoltre, ero stata “turbata” da due elementi: ho scoperto, credo da qualche commento su Goodreads, che in effetti il romanzo è pensato per un pubblico di adolescenti (o Young Adults, per usare la terminologia in voga) e che è il primo di una serie. Ora, sicuramente il genere Young Adults comprende anche bellissimi titoli, che sono letti e apprezzati anche da adulti, ma a me non interessa; inoltre, il fatto che ormai sia quasi “obbligatorio” pensare ai libri in termine di serie e non di storie autoconcluse mi ha un po’ stufato. Insomma, tutto questo per dire che, già prima di cominciare, l’entusiasmo iniziale era diminuito di molto e sono partita un po’ prevenuta.

In effetti, qua e là si vede che è un romanzo “per ragazzi”, perché la prosa non è eccelsa: abbastanza piatta, semplice, si limita a illustrare gli eventi, non mostra grande originalità (per fare un esempio, la coprotagonista, Sophia, è “la donna più bella che [Thomas] avesse mai visto”: quante volte abbiamo letto questa frase?) e le spiegazioni sulla realtà alternativa in cui ci troviamo vengono inserite senza preoccuparsi troppo di evitare l’effetto infodump (ma, a ben pensarci, questo non è comunque un difetto solo dei romanzi Young Adults, anzi!), i dialoghi praticamente servono solo a rimpallarsi informazioni o a riassumere la situazione per il lettore. La trama contiene una nutrita serie di stereotipi narrativi, e qui di seguito elenco quelli che più mi hanno irritato (quelli che si configurano più apertamente come spoiler li nascondo, per visualizzarli evidenziate il testo): i due filoni di indagine che si incrociano quasi subito, lui & lei che si ritrovano a investigare insieme (e stavolta il pretesto è davvero molto tenue), lui & lei che si innamorano (e non si capisce perché, visto che l’unico argomento di cui parlano, o quasi, è il caso su cui stanno investigando; ma oh, attenzione, pur essendo evidente, il romanzo si conclude senza un’esplicita “dichiarazione”, perché, suppongo, c’è tutta una serie da tirare avanti su questa romantic tension), l’indagine che va avanti con una facilità estrema perché a ogni passo i protagonisti si trovano servito su un piatto d’argento l’indizio successivo (davvero, sarei riuscita a scoprirlo anch’io un “complotto” occultato così maldestramente), una serie di difficoltà apparentemente insormontabili che però vengono risolte all’istante dal deus ex machina (i nostri sono in pericolo? Ecco che il deus ex machina interviene a proteggerli. Il pericolo si fa più severo? Non c’è problema! Il deus ex machina attuerà una protezione più potente. Non c’è più modo di impedire che il cattivo porti a termine i suoi piani? Ma no, il deus ex machina qualcosa si inventa! Naturalmente, alla domanda “se il d.e.m. è così potente, perché non la risolve direttamente lui la faccenda?” viene risposto nel tipico modo usato per liquidare in fretta questa incongruenza narrativa: perché non vuole immischiarsi direttamente nelle faccende degli uomini, è bene che se la cavino da soli). L’autore forse ritiene il suo pubblico scarso di memoria perché, una volta capita la chiave del mistero, la natura e gli scopi del piano criminale, questi ci vengono ripetuti almeno tre volte (dall’investigatore protagonista, dal Parlamento marziano in riunione, nonché naturalmente dal supercattivo che come al solito si sente in dovere di illustrare tutte le sue mosse e il suo movente – che poi è terribilmente banale e indefinito: potere e ricchezze, wow – al personaggio che è caduto nelle sue mani). Oltre tutto, forse io avrò ormai sviluppato una certa forma mentis data dalla lettura di mystery e gialli, ma non capisco che gusto ci sia nel seguire un’indagine se a metà libro si sa già benissimo chi è il “cattivo”.

Inoltre, se non ho capito male le opere steampunk dovrebbero rappresentarci un mondo mai esistito ma comunque “plausibile”, in cui le differenze con la realtà storica hanno presupposti “scientifici”, senza elementi fantasy: invece qui alcune invenzioni sembravano quasi “magiche” (ad esempio: perché il cogitatore, che sarebbe, in modo piuttosto trasparente, l’equivalente ottocentesco del computer e della rete Internet, funziona perché al suo interno ci sono degli “omini”? Che provengono dal Reame Fatato? Non è troppo “fantastico” tutto ciò?). E, se c’è un genere che mi stuzzica anche meno della fantascienza, quello è il fantasy. (Per non dire nulla della bizzarra e allucinante “parentesi” che si apre più o meno all’80% del libro, una specie di trip psichedelico nel mondo delle fate che, ovviamente, vivono a contatto con la natura, gli alberi eccetera, che fosse almeno stimolante dal punto di vista immaginativo, invece l’autore la risolve con una serie di dichiarazioni su quanto sia ineffabile la magnificenza di tutto ciò, risparmiandosi la fatica di entrare nel dettaglio).

Soprattutto, a parte i riferimenti inevitabili come la regina Vittoria, Westminster o le carrozze, non si “avverte” che siamo nella Londra dell’800, sia pure in un universo alternativo: poteva anche essere un romanzo di fantascienza “classica”, ambientato nella New York del 2300, e poco sarebbe cambiato; d’accordo, in parte ciò sarà dovuto al fatto che l’autore vuole trattare temi attuali o universali (la corsa sfrenata al progresso che rischia di esaurire e distruggere le risorse del nostro mondo, la paura e la diffidenza di fronte a civiltà diverse), e quindi tende a sottolineare le somiglianze, più che le differenze con la nostra realtà: ma così si perde buona parte dell’originalità dell’ambientazione.

Insomma questo tono “semplicistico” e “giovanilistico” mi ha stancato presto, più che rendermi la lettura facile e divertente e poco impegnativa: purtroppo non potevo fare a meno di pensare “eh, se questo non fosse un romanzo ‘per ragazzi’ magari sarebbe scritto anche meglio, sarebbe più intrigante, meno scontato, più sottile, meno approssimativo…”. Faccio di tutta l’erba un fascio, probabilmente, e forse avrò beccato io un esempio non eccelso del genere Young Adults, o forse semplicemente non riesco a essere coinvolta da questo piacere della ricerca del temps perdu, per cui gli attuali lungometraggi della Walt Disney non mi suscitano lo stesso entusiasmo nostalgico dei miei coetanei, o per cui ricordo con tanto affetto i libretti della serie Vampiretto, e tuttora li conservo accanto al letto, ma non mi metterei mai a rileggerli ora… perché mi sembrano puerili, appunto. C’è a chi piace, non lo metto in dubbio: a me no.

Oltre tutto, annotazione secondaria: il traduttore non si è preso la briga di convertire le unità di misura nel nostro sistema; è una scelta effettivamente legittima, anzi leggo (su Wikipedia) che per le opere di narrativa è addirittura preferibile, per preservare la “cultura” dell’originale. Però io se sento parlare di lunghezze in “pollici” e in “piedi” non ci capisco niente, non riesco a immaginare nulla e mi indispongo.

Bella comunque la trovata della regina Vittoria che, nel 1899, quasi alla fine della sua vita (secondo la storia “normale”), riesce ad avere un aspetto sempre giovanile grazie a “droghe” marziane di cui finisce per essere dipendente (spunto che, peraltro, non viene sviluppato, o forse sarà sviluppato in un successivo romanzo della serie, a questo punto di sicuro senza la mia partecipazione); insomma, un’idea interessante e promettente che si risolve in un pasticcio incredibile, banalotto, scritto maluccio.

2/5

http://moloch981.wordpress.com/2013/1...

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Repost from http://drying-ink.blogspot.com/2011/0...)
Steampunk? Love it. However, that doesn't always apply to the books with those trappings. Unfortunately, The Martian Ambassador falls into this category. However, it still manages to be a decent read, and would definitely be better for a YA audience.

The Martian Ambassador manages the description 'an eclectic read' in a whole new way: a steampunk detective tale - with, uh, space travel, aliens and faeries. Imagination isn't at fault here, and thankfully, we're rapidly introduced to the scope of this world - Blackwood tries out a steamy, semi-magical 'Cogitator' in the first scene! The Martians also play well - as Blackwood relates, we can quickly envisage an alternate world to Wells' in which Martian tripods are used for public transport (fun, eh?). Setting, at least immediately, works well.

Enter the mystery - in which Thomas Blackwood and Sophia Harrington attempt to discover the truth behind the apparent murder of the Martian ambassador. And it soon becomes clear (well, when isn't there a larger scope?) that there's more at work, with an apparently mythical villain stirring up the city. So - what goes wrong? It's not the beginning, which is deftly executed. The characters, however... Aren't quite so good. Unlike (for example), the very nicely done period characters of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (which I love), Sophia and Thomas' relationships just don't quite manage to cross beyond the predictable, and they fail to muster the kind of interest that John Taylor or Harry Dresden can.

The story also suffers from the lack of a more sympathetic set of antagonists - and a very early escalation from mystery into chase, which quickly became tiresome. There's also a particularly silly set of twists using the faeries, which just seemed deus-ex-machina to me (as well as a tad twee). Unfortunately, that's the danger with such elements - it's very easy to stray into the predictable or cliched, and for me, this was just a step too far. Though younger readers might well enjoy it if they haven't read widely in the genre.

Altogether, The Martian Ambassador is a competent read with a fantastic beginning. It's just a shame for me that the latter half didn't manage to fully exploit the better mystery elements of the first. Would I recommend it? To younger readers, yes. For YA readers new to either the steampunk subgenre or SFF as a whole, definitely - it works. However, for more experienced readers, this rarely steps out of the predictable.

[Karl Stark di Grande Inverno · Rating 2 out of 5]

Prima parte ok, seconda così così.
Comincia bene, poi si perde strada facendo.
Lati positivi: ambientazione evocativa, linguaggio utilizzato per i dialoghi forbito ed affascinante, idee profuse a piene mani, personaggi che all'inizio sembrano attraenti.
I problemi vengono fuori un pò più avanti nella lettura: innanzitutto svelare subito il cattivo a metà del romanzo non è una mossa saggia, perchè toglie appeal al romanzo stesso.
In secondo luogo i personaggi non vengono approfonditi più di tanto, nè quelli principali che hanno una psicologia piatta, nè quelli di contorno (il Nonno, la Regina Vittoria, l'ispettore De Chardin) che avrebbero invece dovuto beneficiare di un'introspezione maggiore, migliorando il romanzo.
La narrazione non rispetta la regola dello "show, don't tell" anzi, e a lungo andare ovviamente la cosa annoia il lettore.
Le buone idee non sono completamente sfruttate nel loro potenziale: troppe cose buttate nel calderone, senza troppo criterio.
Da ultimo, le descrizioni ridondanti: è tutto troppo decompresso, le cose succedono con una linearità disarmante, ed in questo senso l'autore non deve trattare il lettore come un completo idiota, rimarcando e riassumendo ogni poche pagine lo schema generale delle cose, e il perchè e il per come degli accadimenti. Se lo avessero sforbiciato di un 50 / 60 pagine, il romanzo ne avrebbe giovato.
Si lascia leggere, ma non è nulla di memorabile.
Infine, una nota sull'edizione italiana: ho scoperto solo alla fine della lettura che il target di riferimento è adolescenziale, perchè il libro è classificato "young adult"; alla luce di questo, in effetti, molte cose acquistano un senso. Sarebbe stato carino da parte dell'editore italiano avvisare di questo, invece di spacciarlo per uno steampunk "adulto" (alla Paul Di Filippo, per intenderci), cosa che evidentemente non è.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho trovati molto gradevoli le commissioni di generi, dallo steam punk alla fantasy, il tutto ben radicato nell'immaginario del xix secolo. I personaggi sono abbastanza ben delineati e di e, per chi ama Verne, Wells, Conan Doyle e Lovecraft, le citazioni sono sempre gustose. Attenzione: è l'inizio di una serie di cui non mi sembra siano stati pubblicati gli altri volumi in Italia.

[Federica Lup · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tante idee interessanti che purtroppo potevano essere sviluppate in maniera più ampia e convincente.

[Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this is a jolly romp. It's written in the style of H.G.Wells and/or Arthur Conan Doyle and is (once you get used to the slightly eccentric - or is it dated? - style) good fun. The Martian Ambassador has been murdered and our noble hero, Blackwood, has been instructed to investigate. This is really James Bond in the Steampunk era; zeppelins and tripods go hand in hand with faeries, magik and aliens.

[Simon Gosden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grand stiff upper-lip steam punk adventure set in 1899, six years after the discovery of intelligent life on Mars. Sadly, the Martian Ambassador is found dead, presumably murdered and it's up to Thmoas Blackwood and the ever-so delightful Lady Sophia Harrington to find out what the deuce is going on.

[Nahhan Fisal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just a very 3 star book. Plot was interesting, predicted some of it, but it caught my attention. What I didn’t like was how Sophia just seemed like a damsel in distress and Thomas was her knight in shining armour. Very annoying.

[Yani · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever encountered a book so in need of a good hard going over by a talented editor before. And I don't think I've ever read a book where I wanted to remove two whole chapters for not adding a damn thing to the story. Especially when the second chapter in question completely strips all the momentum of the story and is such a complete and total slog to get through.

This book didn't start well for me... the first chapter is mostly pointless, I understand why it's there, but you really don't want to start a book about Martians and assassination and Victorian London with a chapter about a man who is confused by "technology". And I put it in quotes because this is another problem that this book suffers from... Too Many Conflicting Ideas Syndrome. You have the Martians, you have Victorian London. This should have been more than enough to make the whole book work. But no, we need to add in "Faerie" (as in the land of the faeries), "Arabian Star Magick" (summoning demons/djinn essentially), and *it would be spoilers if anyone actually cared, but don't ever read this book* the Venusians.

Too much. Way too much to be honest.

The book somehow manages to turn the conclusion into a ponderous slog rather than the action packed switching between several scenes that it thinks it is. To be honest, I gave up completely on this book during the second unnecessary chapter, the Martian Parliament scene (which is so pointless that the whole chapter is then summed up and rendered pointless in a single line of dialogue in the following chapter), but by the end I just wanted the damn thing to be over. I didn't care about switching between the two lead characters and the villain, as instead of ramping up tension and installing a ticking plot clock, it just draaaaaaaaaaaaags the story out.

Baker also has an obsession with including a minutia of details about items that are either completely pointless or just bogs down the story by repeating the details in two different ways (instead of discarding the first description and keeping the second for example) or both.

I now absolutely understand why the second hand bookstore I bought this from had relegated it to their annual cheap book sale... and I will absolutely be sending it back to them as soon as I can.

Urgh.

[Rob · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, to put it bluntly, this one was a dud. I tried my best to keep going, hoping it might rescue itself, but it just got more infuriating as it went on, so I called it quits at page 113. Not exactly the best start to a new year.

I read the first chapter of The Martian Ambassador as a sample and was completely charmed by it. I enjoyed the language, the setting and even the slightly off-kilter fantasy element. I noticed how virtually all the reviews on Goodreads were less than favourable, but I prefer to make up my own mind by reading a book myself. Just because others don’t like something doesn’t mean I won’t. Unfortunately, the masses were correct in this case.

The best part of reading is wonder, a writer intentionally gives us cause to wonder why that just happened, what will happen next, who really is the bad guy? Unfortunately, the more I read this book, the less I felt there was to wonder about. The author explains every little aspect as we go along, even the most obvious things there is no need to put into writing, leaving me nothing to do but read the words. I felt as though I was being talked down to, as if the writer considered me so unintelligent that he had to spell everything out for me, in the most formulaic and wooden way possible.

There was also zero characterisation. Every individual on the page was completely flat. Our main character, I can’t even remember his name and I just put the book down thirty minutes ago, is supposed to be a top investigator of some years, but comes across as thick as a brick.

It’s a real shame the writer’s technique in this was so disagreeable to me because I really think he had something good here. The era, the elements, the sci-fi fantasy mix, all felt unique and unusual enough to be most intriguing.

[Richard Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

**Warning: this text may contain spoilers** Steampunk generally starts by assuming a kink in the - usually Victorian - development of science, and then imagines what might happen. At its best, as in Gibson Serling's 'The Difference Engine', it asks 'What if Babbage had built his calculating machine and ushered in the computer age a century early?' At its worst we get 'The Martian Ambassador' where all pretence of logic is thrown to the wind and the author, who seems to have no idea of physics at all, just invents whatever he needs to resolve the ludicrous situations he's got his protagonists into. There are so many 'With a bound, Jack was free!' moments: 'How do I get my hero into a spaceship?... I'll have the faery king open up a portal!'

The book starts with a nice idea: "What if the Martians had made contact rather than invade a la 'War of the Worlds'?" but, in seeking to bring every penny-dreadful trope into play, insists that the reader suspend any sense of reason in the actions that follow. (Our hero manages to use an arm in which both forearm bones are broken! Knowing an attack is imminent the British government allows it to proceed so as not to seem weak.) Add to all this the risible dialogue, which seems to have been borrowed from every ripping-yarn but is used without humour or irony and you have a truly ridiculous book. (As a previous reviewer notes it might appeal to fans of Dr Who, which has a similar tendency to ignore internal logic.)

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

As another reviewer pointed out, very little is mysterious in this book. Everything is spelled out in excruciating detail. The characters are exactly as they appear on the surface (well, except for one). When we are privy to their thoughts, they don't think anything that would add depth to what we already know about them. The relationship between Earth and Mars is exactly as it is reported to be (peaceful). The villain is exactly as he appears to be (evil). His identity, plans and motives are revealed fairly early on.

That leaves very little for the reader to look forward to, except the villain's inevitable defeat in 300 pages. But first, one must read through the meandering chase, mostly consisting of interviews with people who tell us things we've already figured out, all in chipper, erudite, 19th-century British dialogue that feels a bit too trite. The author has a robust vocabulary, but the book is full of descriptive exposition, which weighs it down. I'm usually not a person to say "this book needs less talking and more explosions," but I was glad to finally get some action scenes at the end, although by then it was too late to save the book for me.

In summary, I found this book boring. Though the characters were affable, I was annoyed that they never did or said anything surprising. And though the premise was promising, the plot was threadbare in its believability. Good concept. Mediocre execution.

[Maura Heaphy Dutton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great idea, grindingly slow writing. Author is of the school who believes that every move a character makes must be chronicled, in painful detail. ("Lady Sarah ascended the steps to the door. She turned the knob, opened the door and crossed the threshold. She walked across the marble floor to the reception desk ..." That's not a direct quote, but it's not far off.) This was very disappointing, because I loved the concept: the author has fun with references to "War of the World," Sherlock Holmes, Springheel Jack and other late Victoriana. Some lovely steampunk touches, including a rejuvenated Victoria, "cogitators," powered by leprechauns and a Martian tripod public transportation system. (I WANT ONE!!) But an example of a book that really needed a firm editor.

[John Sklar · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was an odd book, but good. Interesting premise in the late 1800's the human race and the Martians make contact. The world is just slightly different than our history and makes for a fascinating story told in an old style that is charming and quite honestly, engrossing. The adventure is a bit far fetched but still fun to read and the book has a wonderful allusion to climate science. If we ruin this world, do we have one to go to? That is the dilemma faced by one group in this story.

[Chris Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look into life in an England where the Martians of HG Wells come in peace instead of war.

The story is interesting and the mystery reads like something from a Sherlock Holmes novel.

The only thing that kept me from fully enjoying the book is that the author couldn't decide if the heroine should be a damsel in distress or a bad ass. Sometimes changing themes in the same scene.

Hopefully things change with the next book.

[Rik · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bizarre combination of steam punk and fantasy, though the Fairy angle eventually pushed it a little too far into the realm of silly. The dialogue seemed a little stiff, though this is set in Victorian England, so maybe it fits, along with the stiff and very proper tentative relationships. The fun combination of ideas made this light reading.

[Steven Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Treading familiar ground (Victorian era, Steampunkified, airships, a male/female investigatory partnership) .. but actually it made me laugh out loud several times and was well written and went into unexpected directions (not giving anything away, but I did go and listen to Jeff Wayne's 'War of the Worlds'. There's enough of interest to rise out of the ordinary "Steampunk novel" field.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really a fan of Steam punk.

There, I said it.

Actually, there's few x-punk genres that click with me.

And the writing in this book isn't superb. I mean, the bad guys weren't very interesting.

And yet, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Even with it's flaws.

[Jan Lissens · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a few chapters to get used to the setting of the book, but it is a superb book. Good plot, good references to other classics in a world where Lovecraft meets HG Wells. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

[Paolo Nardi · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://speloncalibro.blogspot.it/2014...

[Fernando · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was Steampunk sprinkled with a little fairy dust.
Not as dark as some other steamers I've read. Looking forward to the next book.

[Arthur Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever and witty

Excellent first novel in, currently, a trilogy. Victorian Britain in peaceful relations with Mars! Intriguing backstory and very interesting characters.

[marcin · Rating 4 out of 5]

an interesting mix of sci-fi, fantasy and sort-of steampunk.

Fairly enjoyable.

[Ronronia Adramelek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entretenido. Hay marcianos de Marte y fairies dentro de los ordenadores.