MARS HIGH SCHOOL - BOOK 1

Sandrock’s debut YA novel—the first installment of his Mars High School saga—features a group of high schoolers on the red planet who are faced with solving an ancient mystery.

Set in the year 2354, the narrative largely revolves around Andie Ellis, a high school junior who lives with her father under Mars’ Olympus Mons, the “tallest volcano in the entire solar system.” When a major seismic event—a “Marsquake”—rocks the sprawling underground city and its inhabitants, Andie and her small group of friends believe that a mystery involving an ancient portal they discovered deep in the mountain could help them understand how to aid humanity. As crowds of people race to evacuate the city, Andie—accompanied by her friend Aiyana and a cat named Ares who somehow has abnormal intelligence (which is never explicitly explained)—explores subterranean labyrinths filled with wonders, racing against time and a massive volcano that could erupt at any second. Issues abound with this inaugural series entry, namely the paper-thinness of the characters’ depth—Andie is the only character with any kind of complexity. Aiyana is the stereotypical neglected kid from a bad family, and other friends (Ric and Reillee) are so poorly developed they’re essentially NPCs. Additionally, the narrative has a directionless feel to it. The intensity and energy of the primary arc (a looming disaster) is diluted by a myriad of tangents, like a Knowledge Bowl between high schools and a trip to a haunted house, that add very little to the overall reading experience. The humor is a positive, though, giving the narrative a decided levity. References to Andy Weir’s iconic red planet hero Mark Watney will bring smiles to SF fans.

This SF saga kickoff is hampered by cardboard characters and a surfeit of unnecessary tangents.