Mother Go

By: James Patrick Kelly

Narrated by: January LaVoy

She is the clone of a famed space explorer, but Mariska Volochkova rejects her mother and her heritage and wants no part of interstellar adventure. Although she is genetically engineered to hibernate through the interminable decades of space travel, Mariska's home is a habitat on the moon, and there she intends to stay.

But the sweep of interplanetary politics and an affair with a Martian catches Mariska up in a conspiracy to commit a bold theft that will alter the future of space colonization. Mariska must put her life on the line again and again if she is to discover who she is and what her true destiny must be.

In his first new novel in more than 20 years, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award winner James Patrick Kelly has crafted a hard science techno-thriller that never loses its focus on the conflicted emotional life of Mariska, a true citizen of the posthuman 22nd century.

©2017 James Patrick Kelly (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The novel is notable for the economy and clarity of its prose and for the assuredness with which it treats and critiques some familiar SF conventions....what sets Mother Go apart is Mariska herself, not always sympathetic but continually compelling, as she tries to find a way to inhabit the worlds she inherits." (Locus)

"A wonderfully exuberant space opera....January LaVoy... imparts Mariska with a level of dynamism, urgency, and emotion.... a well-rounded and fun trip that harkens back to the optimistic era of golden-age sci-fi." (The Verge)

Great sci-fi

My first audible book in many years and I've enjoyed morning and afternoon commutes and even looked forward too it. Only downside is that it's over. Highly recommended if you're into sci-fi or just want a great story!

Jim Kelly Trapped Me in My Car With This Story.

If you could sum up Mother Go in three words, what would they be?

Fun, heart-wrenching, addictive.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Mother Go?

Without giving too much away, the scene between Mariska and Nathalia on Mars, when they decide to wait and eat breakfast.

Which scene was your favorite?

It's hard to pick a favorite, but I enjoyed the humor in the cleaning the crud from the ship scenes.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, hence the headline. I ended up sitting in my car in the parking lot at work - I had to know what happened during the final action sequence. I couldn't leave my car!

Any additional comments?

This book has something for everyone. It's a coming of age story, a love story, a caper story, and a sci-fi story.

James Patrick Kelly's latest is a GO!

Where does Mother Go rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Mother Go is the best, by far.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Mother Go?

Martians take some getting used to.

Any additional comments?

Mother Go has everything a reader could want from science fiction—space adventure, a heroic quest, humour, suspense, romance, and a classic coming of age story—delivered in the lean, rich prose readers can savour and have come to expect from one of the greatest science fiction writers of our time. Set on the moon, on Mars, and beyond, this story will appeal to folks who love Jack Glass, Growing Up Weightless, Ancillary Justice, and The Expanse. The story follows the adventures of Mariska, a reluctant spacer who gets into more trouble before lunchtime than most people do in a single year. Loveable, immature, brave, fallible—Mariska is so utterly human that you won’t want to hit pause, even after you hear the words “the end.”

complex people problems

Moon girl, clone girl, every girl of a certain age. Compelling story set in space

LOVED this book

What did you love best about Mother Go?

I was completely absorbed by this story. The plot was compelling, the characters nuanced, and the plot twists kept me guessing. I downloaded it to listen to something while I went running but I ended up listening to it in the car, while making dinner, folding laundry...I was so caught up in what would happen next I didn't want to put it down!

What did you like best about this story?

For me, this was the perfect mix of interesting science fiction/future visioning and real character development and exciting plot.

What about January LaVoy’s performance did you like?

For me, this was the perfect mix of interesting science fiction/future visioning and real character development and exciting plot.

Excellent writing & narration!

Really good science fiction. The author is my favourite science fiction writer. He develops the main character from an annoying bratty impulsive totally unlikeable girl at the beginning of the book to a brave heroine that you genuinely root for at the end! The narration is far above average too, a real pleasure to listen to!

“She is NOT my mother!”

Mother Go (2017) by James Patrick Kelly is an entertaining and moving space opera set during the 22nd century, when humanity is just getting ready to explore and spread beyond the solar system. There are space stations, lunar habitats, starships, anti-matter drives, cryo-sleep, a wormhole (made by a mysterious and absent race of aliens called the Builders), printed clothes and foods (“I like my food printed, the way God meant it to be”), neural “mind feeds” (“She’d almost forgotten the tingle it made on her scalp, like her hair was happy”), persona bedrooms, clones, body alterations for different environments, and much more. (But there are no sf weapons or super soldiers or violent action scenes, etc., for it is NOT a military space opera.) Ten human economies compete or collaborate: Mars, Moon, Titan, Sweet Spot, United Habitats, the Belt, and four great corporate states of earth. Complicating those relationships is the cultural clash between Spacers (who want to spread human colonies throughout space) and Firsters (who want to take care of humanity living in the solar system first). All of the above space operatic elements are grounded by everyday concepts like boyfriends, teenage rebellion, and fraught parent-child relationships.

The teenaged protagonist, Mariska Volochkova is, as she puts it, “an immature dumbass” and “a selfish jerk,” living in a habitat on the Moon with Sal, a licensed father under contract to raise her. Oh--and Mariska is a clone of her famous spacer mother Natalya, who before Mariska was “born” left on a long mission through a wormhole into the Galaxy of the Builders and finding a near perfect planet for humanity to colonize. Planet D (for Destination) is now the goal of an ambitious, costly, and controversial mission to which the starship Natividad, AKA Mother, will take crew and frozen colonists, assuming that the politics, economics, and engineering etc. can be worked out.

Mariska wants to find her own identity and life path without being manipulated or interfered with by her “controlling bitch” mother. She doesn’t want anything to do with Natalya, never replying to her communications and snapping “She’s not my mother!” whenever anyone happens to mention her. She sure doesn’t want to join her mother on Mother’s mission: “It's not fair!... she can't drag me off to some stinking rock like a jillion lightyears away!”

There is nothing really new in all this. And I suppose that a few times Kelly cheats by eliding key scenes by taking us right up to a crucial moment (like when Mariska is supposed to give a make or break media conference) and then cutting the current chapter to start the next one after the scene is over, and he makes Mariska’s genetic modification to hibernate (from ground squirrel genes) too iffy, but he excels at getting in the head of a teenage girl and at immersing us in his 22nd-century world of wonders and flawed people, especially Mariska and Natalya and their relationship. It’s a clean, sure story in which to lose oneself for eight hours.

The novel was first released as an audiobook, and the production gets everything right: no music or sound effects, except for a faint echo quality when characters are communicating to each other via mind feed, and occasional laughs or sniffs when a character is amused or smelling something, etc. The reader, January LaVoy, does fine with all the characters’ voices, male or female, young or old, Lunar or Martian, etc. I particularly enjoyed Mariska’s green-skinned Martian boyfriend’s stressed-out gasps while talking (his body was adapted for the thin air of Mars, so when he’s in “normal” environments, it feels like he’s breathing soup).

The ending wraps up the plot while leaving room for future installments in a series. Should Kelly write more, I would probably listen to them.

Hollywood-esque

Despite the central character being an extremely irritating teenager who’s issues one is dragged through, the story is is compelling enough to make it an enjoyable journey.
A touch predictable but not burdened with excessive explanation and with human dis-unity realistically portrayed.

Good story

Good sci fi story. The performance was pretty interesting as well (however when she was imitating martians it was a bit hard to follow)

Fantastic read!

What made the experience of listening to Mother Go the most enjoyable?

If you like complicated parental relationships, plans with limited survival odds, extreme body modification, life on the moon and on mars, and strong female characters, then this is the book for you.