{"id":9735,"date":"2025-01-08T22:21:53","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T22:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/books\/the-mars-house-natasha-pulley-the-book-lovers-sanctuary\/"},"modified":"2025-01-08T22:21:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T22:21:53","slug":"the-mars-house-natasha-pulley-the-book-lovers-sanctuary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=9735","title":{"rendered":"The Mars House, Natasha Pulley \u2013 The Book Lovers’ Sanctuary"},"content":{"rendered":"


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In the wake of environmental catastrophe, January, once a principal in London\u2019s Royal Ballet, has become a refugee on Tharsis, the terraformed colony on Mars. In Tharsis, January\u2019s life is dictated by his status as an Earthstronger-a person whose body is not adjusted to Mars\u2019s lower gravity and so poses a danger to those born on, or naturalized to, Mars. January\u2019s job choices, housing, and even transportation options are dictated by this second-class status, and now a xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale is running on a platform that would make it all worse: Gale wants all Earthstrongers to be surgically naturalized, a process that is always disabling and can be deadly.<\/p>\n

When Gale chooses January for an on-the-spot press junket interview that goes horribly awry, January\u2019s life is thrown into chaos, but Gale\u2019s political fortunes are damaged, too. Gale proposes a solution to both their problems: a five year made-for-the-press marriage that would secure January\u2019s future without immediate naturalization and ensure Gale\u2019s political future. But when January accepts the offer, he discovers that Gale is not at all like they appear in the press. They\u2019re kind, compassionate, and much more difficult to hate than January would wish. But as their romantic relationship develops, the political situation worsens, and January discovers Gale has an enemy, someone willing to destroy all of Tharsis to make them pay \u2013 and January may be the only person standing in the way.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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A tender and sweet story that is in part a political thriller, in part a romance, set on Mars in the near future in which the kindest characters have the most objectionable politics. As a political commentary it was, for me, not unproblematic; as a character-driven romance, it was tender.<\/p>\n

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What I Liked <\/h2>\n