A funny, heartfelt, sci-fi coming-of-age story about friendship, family, and growing up on Mars.
Growing up is messy. Growing up on Mars is even messier.
The Second World follows Flip and his friends, the first generation of children raised on Mars, as they navigate friendship, family conflict, and a series of chaotic adventures that are equal parts funny and dramatic.
The heart of this humorous and dramatic space adventure isn’t the interesting science fiction or the creative fantasy, nor even the thought-provoking yet unpretentious themes about war, power, and equality. The real heart of the story lies in the friendships that survive the trials of growing up through a series of chaotic and life-changing events.
The meta humor and first-person narration create a strong sense of connection to the characters, especially Flip. Ted Evans’ narration adds subtlety to the emotionally charged moments and dry wit to the scenes that made me laugh out loud. The narration was well paced and the characters were easy to distinguish.
My favorite part of this book was the contentious relationship between Flip and his parents, and how Jake Korell kept the emotions realistic even through dramatic events.
The story arc is creative and unexpected, and the plot lines weave together nicely. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for people who like humor with their science fiction and fantasy novels. If you like Dungeon Crawler Carl, Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy, or any of the Yahtzee Croshaw novels, you will enjoy The Second World.
4 out of 5 stars.
Thank you to “jk lawlz llc” for providing this audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley.
