The Martian War
by Kevin J. Anderson (as Gabriel Mesta)
science fiction
copyright 2005
read in August 2013
rated 6/10: read to pass the time
Assume that every book written by HG Wells was true and that all the adventures included Wells as a key character. Add a feisty, attractive -- modern stereotype -- woman. Is this a "heartfelt tribute", a "terrific homage" or a rather weak ripoff...
The first half of the book is, I guess, for readers who like to understand the author... to understand Wells, that is. The second half is for readers who enjoy Wells' books. I enjoyed the second half. And found the first half to be a bit boring.
Mind you... What's the point of writing a story which is purely a ripoff of a well known book ? Add a few chapters which show that you have also read the original author's biography -- and you avoid charges of plagiarism.
Hard to please everyone.
The big question is: why does the author use a pseudonym -- and announce it on the cover ? Is it the Rowling effect ?
JK Rowling recently published a book under a pseudonym. It was well received by reviewers but failed to sell... Until the true author was revealed. Did Anderson have the same problem ? No sales -- so the publisher decided to market the book under the better-known name...
Speaking of that better known name... According to the back cover, Anderson has "over 16 million books in print". By my understanding of "in print", this means that Anderson has *written* over 16 million books ! Goodness !
And this has been just one of them.
Perhaps the other 15,999,999 books are more original.
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