The Mars House

Bestseller Pulley (The Half Life of Valery K) astonishes in this thorny and addictive sci-fi romance. When climate crises force Royal Ballet of London principal January Stirling to seek refuge on Mars, an unexpected array of circumstances takes him from a life of manual labor and poverty to an arranged marriage to the wealthy Senator Aubrey Gale, who favors harsh immigration policies that January disagrees with. The faked relationship is both a political maneuver for Gale and a means of survival for January. Through the societal inequalities of life on Mars due to the differences between “Natural” citizens—those who were born on Mars and have adjusted to its atmosphere, like Gale—and “Earthstrong”—those born on Earth, like January, who don’t know their own strength in the lighter gravitational pull—Pulley introduces some truly complex ethical and political questions. Even better, she refuses to offer black-and-white answers, and never loses sight of her characters’ empathy and humanity. The worldbuilding is carefully considered, linguistically nuanced, and technologically fascinating. The unlikely love story between January and Gale, who, like all Natural Martians, is genderless, is the cherry on top. Their romance is touching in its simplicity—stripped of all the politics and advanced technologies involved, they are two people who find themselves drawn closer together as they realize that, though their opinions may differ, their core belief in human decency is the same. With dark humor and a gift for making the complex accessible, Pulley gives readers much food for thought. Agent: Jenny Savill, Andrew Nurnberg Assoc. (Mar.)