The Finches of Mars

Those expecting a feather in the cap of Aldiss’s long and distinguished writing career will be disappointed by the utter failure of this disjointed series of vignettes, set in a vague near future. It’s meant to tell the tale of a major problem facing a Martian colony: the colonists’ inability to produce live offspring. As a narrative, it lacks cohesion, jumping back and forth between Earth and Mars and among characters with little apparent point. Aldiss belabors the tragedies of the stillbirths and the seemingly endless wars that have embroiled the entire Earth (but that don’t seem to personally affect any of the characters). The story is further clogged by scientifically nonsensical elements—with no mention of terraforming, the pressure and outdoor temperatures on Mars are now comfortable—and wrapped up with a textbook case of deus ex machina that renders the entirety of the story utterly irrelevant. (Aug.)