The Empress of Mars

By: Kage Baker

Narrated by: Nicola Barber

When the British Arean Company founded its Martian colony, it welcomed any settlers it could get. Outcasts, misfits, and dreamers emigrated in droves to undertake the grueling task of terraforming the cold red planet - only to be abandoned when the BAC discovered it couldn't turn a profit on Mars.

This is the story of Mary Griffith, a determined woman with three daughters, who opened the only place to buy a beer on the Tharsis Bulge. It's also the story of Manco Inca, whose attempt to terraform Mars brought a new goddess vividly to life; of Stanford Crosley, con man extraordinaire; of Ottorino Vespucci, space cowboy and romantic hero; of the Clan Morrigan; of the denizens of the Martian Motel, and of the machinations of another company entirely - all of whom contribute to the downfall of the BAC and the founding of a new world. But Mary and her struggles and triumphs are at the center of it all, in her bar, the Empress of Mars.

Based on the Hugo-nominated novella of the same name, this is a rollicking novel of action, planetary romance, and high adventure.

©2009 Kage Baker (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Most writers’ alternate universes are fun to visit, but Kage Baker’s is one I wouldn’t mind moving to: the Barsoom of Edgar Rice Burroughs... seen through the eyes of a writer far more poetic, vastly more scientifically literate, and with an infinitely superior sense of humor. Even as science-fictional taverns go, the Empress of Mars is memorable, a joint I hope I’ll be able to return to many times.” (Spider Robinson)

Fun adventure on frontier Mars

Mary Griffith went to Mars as a biologist for the British Aerean Company, but when BAC pulled back from a full on push to terraform and colonize, she found herself out of work. Unfortunately, her severance package was only about half what she needed to cover a trip back to Earth.

So she opened a bar, The Empress of Mars.

The beer isn't great, but it's not just the best beer on Mars, but the only beer on Mars. She and her three daughters, along with a collection of similarly displaced people, earn a decent living running the bar--despite repeated challenges and efforts to shut them down for selling a "controlled substance," i.e., the beer.

This is a very episodic book. I haven't check its history, but it feels a lot like a fix-up, built out of related short stories. Regardless, it's a fun book, with good characters that are fun to get to know. Heroes, villains, eccentric geniuses, corrupt corporate villains, frontier settlers with loose ethics that will be familiar to anyone familiar with westerns, in a book built around the colonization of a cold, dry planet with very thin atmosphere.

Lots of fun. Read it, or listen to it.

I bought this audiobook.

Beer Brewer's on Mars!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

MARS. Going Boldly Where No Brewer Has Gone Before.

Any additional comments?

I loved this stand alone book. It was smart, clever and funny too. That helps when listening to a book. It helps that the Narrator was well spoken and her voice didn't gain high pitches. There are not many book about Mars that are not just straight science fiction. (yes i realize this is one) but it felt plausible. Plus its got beer brewer's! Completely enjoyed this book. I recommend it to anyone with a feel for sci-fi and a sense of British humor.

Reminds Me Of Early Heinlein

Made me nostalgic for some of the first SciFi I read back in my youth.

Better as an Audio Book

Kage Baker is one of the best. I like her longer work better. But this is so silly and so well done. It's about life against the corporate system mixed with Pioneer Go Home. Just lovely.It's also a lovely description of your science club gone geek in space. Just read it. But do it where you can laugh out loud.

Classic... Just Classic

Would you listen to The Empress of Mars again? Why?

This is a wonderful character driven sci-fi that in many ways feels like Heinlein's work. This is a wonderful little novel. Really... this is worth the credit.

Very average

Not a bad book, and somewhat interesting, but not gripping and compelling. I enjoy scifi short story anthologies more, so pleasant but bland stories like this can be easily skipped over.

Worthy peer of Bradbury and Robinson

My first Kage Baker novel, and this is apparently a later entry in her "Company" series, but I found it stood alone just fine. The Empress of Mars is set in an alternate history, where Mars was settled by the British Arean Company, and then mostly left to dry up as unprofitable. A few hardscrabble settlers, emigrating to Mars for the usual reasons that misfits emigrate to backwater frontiers, or else abandoned by the Company when they were no longer useful, are now scratching out a living there.

Although there are multiple story arcs running through this book, it reads more like a collection of linked short stories than a single novel, probably because it's based on a novella (which I haven't read).

The central figure is Mary Griffith, formerly a scientist for the British Arean Company who came to Mars as a single mother with two daughters, and found herself stranded when the company no longer had need of her services. Now she runs a bar, has to contend with Clan Morrigan, a band of homesteaders who are Celtic tribesmen run like a corporation, and the always conniving and grasping antics of the BAC.

A range of interesting characters come to Mars — miners, con men, secret agents, and missionaries from the Mother Church (which in this universe is the "Mother Goddess Church" — Christians are a minority subject to considerable prejudice). The stories weave through years of the life of Mary and the Martian colony, ending with the bankruptcy of the British Arean Company, only to be replaced by another company, just as mercenary, and Mary's attempt to move her bar, the Empress of Mars.

The Empress of Mars inevitably reminded me a bit of Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, and a bit of Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, but Baker's book is more character-driven, and has the added element of that alternate history, for which the point of divergence is never described. I found it to be lots of fun from start to finish, one of those books with a large cast of characters, all of whom become familiar friends by the end.

Short, simple, light-hearted and fun

This is not an overly complex book, and you can kinda guess based on the title and the tone of the story how things are going to turn out, but it's still a fun ride.

It's pretty much your typical story of the people versus The Corporation. The Corporation is the group that started the Mars colony, and the people are the colonists who always get the short end of the stick when the Corporation decides it needs to improve the balance sheets. And first amongst the people is Mary Griffith, proprietor of the only bar on Mars.

The book is also set at some undetermined point in the future where Christianity is on the down and out and Organized paganism is now the popular religion. (Which might seem like a good thing depending on your personal beliefs, but as usual it seems that there's very little good about a religion that getting Organized can't fix.) It seems like there may be some tie-ins to other books she's written, but since this is the first book of hers i've read i can't be certain of that.

It turns out that Organized pagans frown on intoxicants and it seems that beer (and thus bars) are illegal in a lot of places on Earth and aren't looked at too fondly on Mars either.. On top of that as the story progresses Mary and her unusual friends and patrons become more and more of an impediment to the Corporation's goals.

The conflict isn't all light and cheery, there is some drama and tragedy, but one gets the feeling that one way or another Mary is going to come out on top in the end, and the fun is in seeing how exactly that will be accomplished.

As for the performance of the book, it's quite well done. This is one of the few cases where a strong accent for one of the characters seems appropriate, perhaps because the character in question is such an outsider, and yes, because the language difficulties are sometimes used for comic relief.

Highly Imaginative, yet Lacks Excitement

Listening to the author's description of the civilization that was built on Mars is intriguing, imaginative, and interesting. Select citizens of Earth have wound up on Mars for various reasons and are trying to hash out the best lives they can with what they have to work with there - where the environment is lacking what is needed to survive and and the atmosphere is quite brutal. The author conjures up some very detailed images of their establishments and traveling systems necessary for the residents of Mars. This novel was interesting and off to a solid start. However, I just couldn't get into the story. Not a lot was happening and i eventually lost interest in the book. One of the most eventful occurrances mid story was when a farm animal had significant trouble in the Mars travel system (vaguely speaking). This just did not cut it for me. I struggled to get through the majority of this novel. It was well written, had a solid foundation, and a lot of potential, so I am still giving it 3 stars.

Space Western with a woman's viewpoint

What made the experience of listening to The Empress of Mars the most enjoyable?

The humor is delightful and there are plenty of twists and turns in the plot. The characters are a collection of misfits stuck in a place that is a cross between the North Pole and the Wild West.

What other book might you compare The Empress of Mars to and why?

It's a lot like John Scalzi's books, like The Android's Dream or Redshirts, in that there is a futuristic outer space setting, yet what really counts are old-fashioned relationships. And the sense of humor is also similar.

What does Nicola Barber bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her accents are great, she has to do everything from Incan to Nepali to the American West and she does them delightfully.

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

Not really but it was engaging and I could see listening to it again.

Any additional comments?

The audio really brings out the humor.