Book Review: Striking Mars

Striking Mars by Cidney Swanson
Book Five in the Savings Mars series

Amazon Page
GoodReads Page
Author Website

My Review of Saving Mars (book one)
My Review of Mars Burning (book four)

Amazon Summary:

Fleeing for their lives, Jess and Pavel make it to the Moon, narrowly avoiding the attack on Space Station 92-AE. They should be safe and happy, but they discover they are not alone on Tranquility Base. The stranger they encounter seems uniquely qualified to leak their presence to Chancellor Lucca Brezhnaya, especially when the Marsians contemplate airing Lucca's political dirty laundry. But Lucca has already shown she would destroy worlds rather than see her secrets exposed.

My Thoughts:

Many of my blog and review readers are well aware by now that Cidney Swanson is my favorite author. Once again, she does not disappoint.



Striking Mars didn't feel like its own book - it felt like part of the series, like an example of the shining art that is the Mars books. Character development was realistic and strong. There's only one new cast member in this book, and I loved him. The secrets and surprises in store for readers here are perfect, stunning, just brilliant. The writing is exactly the level we've come to expect from our marvelous Ms. Swanson.

Pavel and Jess continue to be my favorite aspect of the series. The serious nature of fugitives, a corrupt world government, and all the other craziness that is life for our favorite Marsian are balanced against quite a few hilarious one-liners. For example: "Why is there a leather couch on the Moon, anyway?" And, of course, Cidney continues to take swearing and give it her own unique, unoffensive, and often very funny twist. For the love of mittens, this book is amazing!

Of course, after all that's gone down between the chancellor of Earth, our group of Marsian fugitives, and a certain charming nephew of hers, this book certainly has its low points emotionally. Tempers flare, plans go awry, and not everyone gets their happy ending. But I can tell you this: Cidney has herself one happy reader!

I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.