I'm pretty sure this book is a psyop designed to demoralise a generation of starry-eyed dreamers. It is obviously written by the same people who told us not to land on Europa. A malignant energy designed to limit the scope of human ambition and thwart our plans to colonise the universe.
The problem is, I can't find fault with any of their logic.
The Weinersmiths make a compelling case that space is much harder than any of the propagandists are willing to admit. Even if it were faster, safer, and cheaper - there's still very little point. Any of the technologies we could point at the skies would be infinitely more useful (and profitable) pointed back at our pale blue dot.
Along the way they take in biology (is it even possible to breed in space?), legality (OK, but what jurisdiction will it be under?), and moral philosophy (will we actually become more enlightened beings?)
And yet, space is cool. I know that "because it is there" isn't a logical argument; but it is a hell of an emotional pull. In amongst all their (justified) snarky cartoons are occasional pearls in the rubble:
As with the cathedrals of Earth, those of us who cast the first few bricks may not be around to see the spire placed on top, but we might nevertheless want to start building.
They excel at making the dull delightful. There are a lot of big and serious facts to get through, but they have a gift for communicating them simply and eloquently. I just wish they'd've come to a different conclusion.
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ISBN: 9780141993348
6 thoughts on “Book Review: A City on Mars - by Dr. Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith”
@Edent allegedly in the 1930s or so a leading physicist was lecturing on light speed, relativity, how far away everything is, all that. Someone from the audience angrily asked "well how do you expect us to get to the stars, then?" And the physicist just shrugged; he didn't make the rules, he just explained them.
Similar sort of vibe, I think (although I too enjoyed A City On Mars, and I too wish things were other than they are.)
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@Edent heh, having poked around, I imagine I picked this up from Bruce Schneier in 2001 (https://web.archive.org/web/20011005070428/http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-0108.html#7) although he doesn't say who the (likely apocryphal) scientist was either
Counterpane: Crypto-Gram: August 15, 2001
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Eddy Viscosity
As someone who spent their whole career in human spaceflight ops, I have to agree with both them and you. It's much harder than most people think.
I still think human exploration is worth doing at some level. But not colonization.
@Edent
I went to add this book to my list, and found it already on my list.
Thanks for the reminder!
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Really appreciated this review: shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/07...
Not a lot of people are this able to dissociate their emotional reaction from reasoning. Though, I'll still argue our book is completely consistent with a Star Trek future. There's just a lot of work to do.
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I'd characterize the book differently. I don't think Kelly and Zach were at all trying to demoralize those of us who dream about humans in space. I think they dream of it, too. They just want to be smart about doing it, or, better, more realistic than a lot of today's loudest proponents.
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Really appreciated this review.
Not a lot of people are this able to dissociate their emotional reaction from reasoning. Though, I'll still argue our book is completely consistent with a Star Trek future. There's just a lot of work to do.