The Second World
On Mars, the fight for independence grows in the satirical science fiction novel The Second World, which focuses on an unlikely hero who’s not used to winning.
Jake Korell’s amusing science fiction novel The Second World is a coming-of-age story about a man on Mars who struggles to succeed.
Flip’s family history is categorized by coming in second place, dating all the way back to Buzz Aldrin and the United States’ moon landing. Flip and his ragtag group of friends, including his complex love interest Pepper, grow up in the midst of massive changes; Flip denounces his authoritarian father, also named Buzz, and sparks a rebellion, leading to decades of political strife. When competing forces begin to take over on Mars and the fight for independence grows, Flip and his found family experience profound grief over the loss of loved ones, the polarizing political atmosphere, and the coming civil war.
Brimming with humorous descriptions, the bulk of the worldbuilding is satirical. Flip and his friends have a birds-eye view of the colony when they infiltrate the absurd “orientation rollercoaster,” revealing Mars’s inner workings, but they also vomit on Mars’s citizens in the process. Later, after an underground expedition, Buzz informs Flip that he relocated some of the Martians to new “holes” to live in, saying they could live among the humans as long as they “make a point to learn our language and customs, and don’t demand additional street signs in Cavernese.” Such interjections are situating and offer reprieve from the book’s otherwise grim situations.
People are most often characterized in terms of their connections to Flip: He and his father are locked in constant power struggles; he and Pepper graduate from being childhood friends to having conflicts over their personal ideologies and allegiances, though Flip’s respect for Pepper remains constant. But this is a busy story, flush with a variety of turning points, and it moves with speed through its action scenes and lighthearted, entertaining ones. During a dangerous underground mission, for example, tension builds over multiple pages as a group discovers an important substance. The pace relaxes right after this, when Flip and a friend share an endearing kiss. Later, Flip and his mother experience a pivotal shift in their relationship; next, he leaves Mars to compete in the Summer Olympics.
Some discursions also occur, as with a peek into the future to address the influence of AI. Indeed, the book is at its most centered and involving when it focuses on Flip and his absurd experiences of Mars’s political upheaval and destruction. It moves toward a touching ending that refocuses on Flip’s friendships and devotion to seeing Mars become free.
In the entertaining science fiction novel The Second World, a man searches for love and interspecies peace on colonized Mars.
Reviewed by
Jennifer Maveety
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
