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Tor, Nov 2003, 25.95, 432 pp.
ISBN: 0765305445
There is bad blood between the earthlings and their Martian colonists so the promotion of the first Martian to a Peacekeeper officer job may be a token action, but one heck of a large token. However, Lieutenant Mike Brogue does not wish to be the Jackie Robinson of peacekeepers; he just wants to do his job and help change a broken system from within.
Mike resolved a potentially nasty situation when Freedom fighters held a mayor hostage with enough dynamite to place the city at risk if an assault occurred. Following that success, Mike travels to the Martian moon Phobos where the Agraria Research Station is under attack by a serial killer somehow residing beneath the surface dust. Mike takes command of hostile earth born Peacekeeper soldiers who resent a Martian in charge. He makes inquiries and learns that the station has made incredible leaps in nanotechnology including developing a deadly artificial life form that someone controls as a killing machine. However, Mike is not any closer to determining who would use murder to drive everyone off the moon or why?
PHOBOS is a great police procedural science fiction tale that that hooks the audience from the moment Mike works the mayoral abduction case until he completes the dangerous moon probe. The story line works for both genres as Mars and Phobos feel genuinely colonized and in dispute with the mother planet while the investigation seeks to uncover the villain behind the homicides. The key cast members whether they are from earth or Mars are fully devolved so that the audience receives a great tale reminiscent of Sean Connery's Outland.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Ty Drago Scholar
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Overall Review
Our unique search engine breaks down books and movies into
dozens of literary elements, all of which are searchable.
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book Descript. of chases or violence - 10% planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30% Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 40%
Tone of book
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- science fiction story
Spying & Investigations
Yes
What is main char. doing?
- finding a killer (criminal)
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Cultural problems, alien culture
Yes
Culture clash-
- one culture tries to impose its culture on another group
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
Age:
- 20's-30's
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- doctor
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Which planet?
- Mars
Not Earth, in Solar System?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
scientific jargon? (SF only)
- some scientific explanation
How much dialogue?
- significantly more dialog than descript
