Mars has declared its independence from Earth. But building a country takes more than a new flag, an arena-worthy anthem, and naming Pluto the donkey the national animal. As the Red Planet spirals into political upheaval, Flip Buchanan—the irreverent, reluctant son of the most powerful man on Mars—stumbles through two tumultuous decades of alien discoveries, killer clones, and the chaos of a new nation still working out the kinks.
Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free audiobook was provided for an honest review.
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| January 2026; jk lawlz LLC; 9798999639035 audio (11h 9m), ebook, print; science fiction |
In little more than 11 hours, this book takes the reader through most of the major events in American history, except that it occurs in the new nation on Mars. Colonization of Mars has occurred, and now the colony on the planet wants independence, and a revolution occurs. We also see parallels to U.S. history in the enslavement of clones, which leads to a civil war, a civil rights movement, a war because AI robots are putting humans in concentration camps (WWII), a virtual/multiverse technology that leads to an unpopular war that echoes the protest of the Vietnam War. All of these events are the backdrop for the main character's coming-of-age journey.
Needless to say, a lot is going on in this book.
I don't usually read satire, but I do love a good space adventure. Unfortunately, this book didn't really work for me. I just couldn't connect with the characters enough to care about them and fully engage in the story.
The story starts with a group of kids - the 2nd generation to be born on Mars. They want to go on the roller coaster-style ride that serves as orientation for newly arrived immigrants to Mars. It also serves as the introduction to the world Korell created. Why some of it was fun and interesting, it was just an info dump. It felt like the author just wanted to describe the world-building and then start the story instead of weaving the world-building subtly through the story.
One of the reasons I don't typically read satire is that the author is too subtle, and I'm not exactly sure what point the author is trying to make. That isn't a problem with this book. It is abundantly clear which moments in history Korell wants the reader to recognize. It is almost too obvious. Since so many historical events are packed into this novel, I feel that the author missed the opportunity to dig deeper into the ideologies that each event represents. I just took away that the author wanted to point out that human history repeats itself and that we will push other people down if that means we rise to the top. (There is a lot of emphasis on being first and not second.)
I think the biggest problem I had with the novel, and why I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped, is that it read too much like a young adult novel. Flip, the main character, is a young adult and therefore dealing with all the issues that come with transitioning to adulthood. Perhaps if I were a decade or two younger, I would have enjoyed his journey more. (I'm pretty sure I would have, as I remember loving similar coming-of-age stories in my twenties and early thirties.)
I wasn't expecting a young adult book, so I wasn't in the right mindset. (One of my favorite space adventures is a young adult series, but I knew that going in, so my expectations were different.) If you love young adult coming-of-age stories, then this is a book you should read.
I liked Korell's writing style, and he is good at telling a story. Ted Evans does a great job of bringing the characters to life in the audiobook. I really wanted to love this story and tried hard to, but I struggled with it. I just couldn't care enough about it - I could have stopped listening, and it wouldn't have bothered me not knowing what came of the characters or the world created on Mars.
(I'm not sure if it was a technical issue with the version offered through Netgalley, the Netgalley app, or if it was purposeful, but I had volume issues occasionally that made it too quiet to hear certain parts. If I turned up the volume, it would be too loud when the character speaking switched. This may have also played into not enjoying the book as much as I wanted to.)
There are a lot of good things about this book, which is why I'm sad I didn't like it more. The ending leaves enough room for a possible sequel (it also ends perfectly fine for a standalone novel). If there were a sequel, I would be tempted to try it.
Buy The Second World at Amazon
Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.
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