Red Dust

Despite the science fiction setting Red Dust is basically a quest, with hero Wei Lee seeking to achieve his destiny and discover what happened to his long-lost parents. The story takes place on a Mars colonised by the Chinese, and McAuley depicts this transplanted oriental milieu with style and considerable gusto. There are some striking scenes (Matrix-like fights and Yankee whalers hunting on seas of dust) yet there is not much depth to this imagined world, and Wei Lee is rather too passive to be a convincing hero. Faults notwithstanding, I enjoyed Red Dust and found it an entertaining read.

This book took me longer to read that any other recently, mostly because every chapter or so everything seem to change - new characters etc..). Lots to digest - thoroughly enjoyable... J

McAuley combines hard SF detail with an ambitious picaresque tale for a novel that feels unique. Very satisfying