The Martian General’s Daughter
Theodore Judson
Pyr
ISBN: 978-1-59102-643-3
Fiction, Science Fiction
Reviewed by Chris Gerrib

I recently finished reading The Martian General’s Daughter, a new novel by Theodore Judson.  It was an interesting and unusual read, which I enjoyed.

I have to admit that I’m such a Mars geek that I bought the book based on the title alone.  About the only bad thing I can say about The Martian General’s Daughter is that the title is a misnomer.  The General in question, Peter Justice Black, was posted to Mars, but other then as a place to escape from, Mars doesn’t play into the book.

The real story of the book, narrated by the General’s illegitimate daughter Justa, is that of the collapse of the Pan-Polarian Empire in the closing days of the 23rd century.  The empire grew out of the old United States, but by the time of the story, had moved its capital to Mexico City, renamed Garden City, and has fallen under the control of Luke Anthony, a Caligula-like boy Emperor.  Judson does play a bit with history - his Nero comes before Caligula and fiddles while Washington burns.) At the same time, the empire is under attack from various metal plagues, both viral and nanotech in nature, that are rapidly destroying its technological basis.

Told in a mixture of “present” and flashback, the plot is that of how General Black, certainly the last honest general in the Empire if not quite the last honest man, struggles to survive and do his duty while the Empire crashes down around his ears.  Towards the end (chronologically but in chapter 1) Black becomes a claimant to the Imperial purple. 

The book is dystopic story of collapse, but it’;s an entertaining and interesting.  I haven’t been able to find much of an Internet presence for Theodore Judson, the author, so I don’t know when his next book is due, but I will be keeping an eye out for it.