[Spotlight Post] Geoffrey A Landis – Mars Crossing
Today’s spotlight is on a future FenCon GOH – Geoffrey A. Landis… or at least his book, Mars Crossing. I’m in the middle of this book, so it’s not a complete review… it’s more of a set of impressions.
[asa]0812576489[/asa]
Landis will be our Science GOH for FenCon X this October. I do attempt to read something by our GOHs before they come in so I have something to talk with them about. And I admit I was hesitant about this book – it’s big. Landis is an honest-to-goodness NASA scientist. It’s hard science fiction. I was afraid it was going to be hard-core, dense science that would leave me looking for a dictionary and wishing I’d taken more science classes.
It’s not. It’s much more character driven than I was expecting, which makes me very happy. Don’t get me wrong, the science is there. The space program is there. The accuracy that’s going to make the story I’m currently writing look very silly – oh, it’s there.
I don’t normally like very short chapters – sometimes only about a page long – but somehow in this? It totally works. I guess it feels a bit more natural to me NOW than it might’ve in the past because it is doing the jump between “present†and “pastâ€. Giving you back story that impacts what’s going on in the present. Much like how Once Upon A Time jumps back and forth without it being jarring or disruptive. Maybe because of things like Once Upon A Time I’m now more used to it? Or maybe Landis is just that good. Or… both since he’s won many awards.
I’m looking forward to finishing the book and find out if they get off Mars or not – no spoilers! But until then, I’m enjoying the journey and looking forward to working with Dr. Landis in October.