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Title/Author

The Worst Man on Mars

Mark Roman & Corben Duke

Average Review Rating Average Rating 8/10 (1 Review)
Book Details

Publisher : CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Published : 2016

Copyright : Mark Roman & Corben Duke 2016

ISBN-10 : PB 1-5369-3097-0
ISBN-13 : PB 978-1-5369-3097-9

Publisher's Write-Up

Hero. Legend. Role model. He’s none of those.

Flint Dugdale, blunt Yorkshireman and reality TV show winner, has used his large frame and ‘persuasive personality’ to take charge of Britain’s first mission to Mars.

Little does he know that the base – built by an advance party of incompetent robots – is not quite finished and has no food, water or doors. Worse, the ship’s scanners are picking up strange signals from the surface.

There is life down there. But will it be pleased to see him?

A laugh-out-loud science fiction comedy that's a cross between Red Dwarf and The Martian.

'Duke and Roman inspire much laughter in their first book … With humor that ranges from slapstick to the macabre, this story reveals the absurdity that might ensue if technology is endowed with too much personality.'

Publishers Weekly

'Some parts of the book had me laughing so much I had to literally put it down and step away.'

SFcrowsnest magazine

'It’s true, if the Brits launched a mission to Mars absolutely anything could happen.'

Dave from the corner shop
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Reader Reviews

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Review by Nigel (311017) Rating (8/10)

Review by Nigel
Book Source: Author
Rating 8/10

The Worst Man on Mars is the story of the first manned mission to Mars, and a British mission at that. Due to some unfortunate events en route Flint Dugdale, the title character, finds himself Mission Commander. What follows is a very funny British farce* in every sense of the word. Nothing goes to plan from the incompetent base building robots to the ‘landing’ on Mars and the welcome that awaits the intrepid colonists.

After meeting Flint for the first time you can see where his character is going and you start to wonder how he could possibly be on a mission to Mars let alone become Mission Commander. We soon learn his inclusion was due to funding issues necessitating the sponsorship of Stallion Lager Ltd and Flint winning their reality TV show Who Wants to Go to Mars; don’t scoff, remember the Bart to the Future episode of the Simpsons in 2000… not so funny now.

All the characters, particularly those of the robots, are given enough flesh to keep you interested as the absurdity escalates to the final chapters and we learn the fate of the participants, including death by being partially digested by a chicken – see, told you.

The problem with a book like this, however good, is that the market is limited. That said for its target audience it is a real gem that will have you grinning inanely a lot as well as laughing out loud at inopportune times. Being a fan of David Langford’s The Leaky Establishment and Alan Dean Foster’s Darkstar, as well as the work of Tom Sharpe, I felt right at home. The opening chapter reminded me of Wilt teaching his disinterested construction apprentices at Community College it took me right back to when such books were very popular.

A great bit of literary (to be fair not in the Man Booker sense :) entertainment for those who like a laugh but aren’t too serious about their incredulity. As the tag lines say, fans of Red Dwarf will eat it up. Highly recommended.

*Not for Americans unless provided with a Babel fish.
Nigel (31st October 2017)

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