From the Bookshelf of SpecFic Buddy Reads…

Arabella of Mars (Adventures of Arabella Ashby, #1)

David D. Levine

Why we're reading this: Featured Buddy Read - March 2017
[close] Featured Buddy Read - March 2017

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Feb 28, 2017 Philip rated it liked it

Shelves: ya, 2016-releases, steampunk, sci-fi, author-man, historical-fiction

3.5ish stars.

This is a very fun YA steampunk that intelligently circumvents some of the most annoying tropes of YA in a way that makes it feel appropriate for both younger young adults as well as non-young-adult adults. :)

In a clever alternate 1800s history when space travel takes place in airships that sail between planets there lives a respectable, intrepid heroine named Arabella, born to English parents on Mars. We get to follow the story across several settings including the Red Planet, Eng ...more

76 likes · Like · see review

Mar 12, 2017 Lindsay rated it really liked it

A clever mash-up of a Regency England period piece with the sort of solar system imagined by early writers in SF. We get sailing ships in space plying the trade routes between Earth and Mars during the Napoleonic Wars along with a Mars with Martian natives and canals. (Also a Venus with swamps and jungles and lizardmen, but unseen here). And all of this with our viewpoint character, the wonderfully capable Arabella, raised on Mars where the native women are warriors and chafing under the restric A clever mash-up of a Regency England period piece with the sort of solar system imagined by early writers in SF. We get sailing ships in space plying the trade routes between Earth and Mars during the Napoleonic Wars along with a Mars with Martian natives and canals. (Also a Venus with swamps and jungles and lizardmen, but unseen here). And all of this with our viewpoint character, the wonderfully capable Arabella, raised on Mars where the native women are warriors and chafing under the restrictions on women in Regency society.

Arabella is a 17-year old girl raised on her family's wood plantation. She and her brother Michael have been undergoing training under their Martian nanny which goes far beyond the sort of activity expected of a young Englishwoman. This raises the ire of her mother who packs Arabella and her sisters back to Earth and away from Arabella's beloved father and his passion for automata that Arabella shares.

When a plot to steal her family's wealth comes to light Arabella needs to get to Mars in a hurry and so she takes employment in male disguise on a merchantman traveling there. What follows could be lifted from any set of sea adventure novels set during the Napoleonic Wars but with the added twists of her hidden gender and the ships-in-space thing.

I enjoyed this mashup with each part of the book being enjoyable separately. Arabella's Martian life, her banishment to England and flight away from her cousins, to the time on the Diana and her return to Mars. There are elements of how the English treat the Martians that gloss over aspects of colonialism however. This is deftly sidestepped by having Arabella being familiar with the Martian culture and apparently free from prejudice, but prejudice is everywhere in Regency society, so it's difficult to avoid and this book doesn't really criticize the status quo at all. There's also a low-key romance going on here, and I'm intrigued how that will play out in the ongoing story. It's hard to see how Arabella can function as she wishes when even her relatively enlightened love interest acts quite patriarchal at times. ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Feb 28, 2017 Denise rated it liked it

Predictable in many ways but still a cute story. I particularly liked the beginning when the author explained the workings of the ship.

4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 15, 2015 Christina Pilkington rated it liked it

I so wanted to like this book more than I did! I really enjoyed the overall concept of the book: a girl who grows up on Mars, journeys down to Earth and the finds herself going back to Mars again, all while riding an airship and set in the Victorian era.

I found myself bogged down with the writing and details. I frankly was bored most of the time during the scenes aboard the airship. And I didn't particularly connect with the main character either. Unfortunately, I don't think I will continue wi ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 29, 2017 Lata rated it liked it

Shelves: sf-f-h, x2017-read, steampunk

3 - 3.5 stars. A light, fun adventure story that had me thinking of Jules Verne and Horatio Hornblower, but with a resourceful, determined female main character, Arabella Ashby. There is a lot of action, and the story moves quickly from the Ashby plantation on Mars, to England, then back to Mars. There are a number of elements to the story that I enjoyed: girl masquerading as a boy, airship battle, on board politics, automata, scheming relatives. One other interesting aspect of the book I was ac ...more

15 likes · Like · see review

May 04, 2016 Candace marked it as to-read

Jun 06, 2016 Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jul 24, 2016 Chris Haught marked it as to-read

Shelves: fof-reads

Jun 05, 2022 Di Maitland marked it as to-read

Group Home Bookshelf Discussions

Photos Videos

Send invite Members Polls