Title: A Sidekick of Mars
Author: Garth Nix
In: To Hold the Bridge (Garth Nix)
Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Science fiction
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: It was Indians that done this, leastways one particular Indian.

Mars might get all of the credit, but his sidekick helped him conquer worlds again and again.

This short story kind of reminds me of Firefly – cowboys and spaceships.

Lam’s unique way of initially travelling between planets was kind of confusing. Although, that may be more due to his incredibly different voice. Normally, I love stories written in the first person. After all, what better way to immerse yourself in a character? But, there was something about the jumpy, pithy way in which this story was narrated that was both really enjoyable and incredibly frustrating. The tone was fantastic and satirical. But the actual tale in itself was kind of…meh. For lack of a better word.

One thing that this story did leave me feeling was the fact that there are so many worlds beyond our own. And it is such a weird, wonderful and just different place to explore. No wonder places like Mars have inspired so many writers (of both stories and film).

Image source: Goodreads