Martian General’s Daughter

Science Fiction and Fact Concatenation on Theodore Judson’s The Martian General’s Daughter:

This is a very entertaining novel, both amusing and intelligent with excellent prose and endearing characters. The ‘Golden-Age’ feel is both set-up and enhanced by the lovely cover illustration by Sparth. This is a fairly short book (by modern standards) and would be easily gulped down in a single sitting but, by the same token, would also recommend itself for re-reading. Either way it is an impressive addition to Pyr’s list and, like many another title, bodes well for their future output. Recommended.

Tomas L. Martin has reviewed Theodore Judson’s The Martian General’s Daughterfor SFCrowsnest with the intriguing description that it is “worthy sequel in spirit to The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”Which it is, as the book serves, as he says, as a”a strong, dynamic analysis of what happens when a nation grows too far and collapses under the pressure of its ambition.” And there is a large part of the narrative that is a retelling of the history of Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodius (who will be somewhat familiar to fans of the film Gladiator,yes), only that all this history is seen through the person of Justa, the daughter of the title. To me, her voice and her personal story are more powerful than the history she witnesses, which while it has a lot to say about the fall of empire (and, I believe, our own recent efforts at empire-building), is a vehicle for a very personal look at family. My two cents.

Update: Ah, and here comes a review on Neth Space that is the third one to use that word “compelling”when referring to Justa. They echo a little of what I’m talking about when they say, “The story gains new dimensions as it moves forward – becoming as much the story of Justa as the general. We slowly learn bits and pieces of Justa’s past as she relates the story of her father. As an empire decays, we feel that Justa thrives and grows. In the end, we have three stories in one – the death of empire, the biography of a great general, and the growth a young woman.”

Update 4/17/08: Jeff Vandermeer opines at Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog that, “this slim but satisfying novel is often willfully didactic in the way it treats political/military issues–but it works because of the context. These are the issues the characters are dealing with, this is the way they would talk about them. It’s rare that a book will make you think and make you feel in quite this particular way.”

Sandy Amazeen reviews Theodore Judson’s The Martian General’s Daughteron Monsters & Critics. She writes that “This is not a fast-paced action tale but a more cerebral sci-fi that follows the corruption that comes with absolute power and one man’s attempt to live through it on his own terms. Justa delivers the tale with a strong, compelling voice that belies her lowly status as she moves from an embarrassment to trusted advisor. Certainly this could be taken as a cautionary tale for, as it has been observed, ‘Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.'”

Meanwhile, I see the book is already shipping from Amazon, I’ve gotten my copies (gorgeous!), and I expect it will be in stores soon. Get ’em while they’re hot!

Update: Booklist‘s Regina Schroeder says, “Judson’s handling of the fall of empire is most remarkable, given the slimness of the volume, and in Justa he forges a character compelling enough to keep readers from getting lost in the detail.”

There’s that word “compelling” again.

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Publishers Weekly, on Theodore Judson’s forthcoming The Martian General’s Daughter:

“Despite its pulpish title, this erudite and intriguing novel is more in the tradition of Robert Graves than Edgar Rice Burroughs. …Judson (Fitzpatrick’s War) chronicles the last glories of the empire as viewed by Black’s illegitimate daughter, whose own rise from unwanted embarrassment to valued adviser and aide parallels her father’s career. The story might be familiar to today’s readers from the film Gladiator, but the parallels it draws between Roman and American cultures are both perceptive and disquieting.”