The novel “Red Planet Blues” by Robert J. Sawyer was published for the first time in 2013.
Alex Lomax is the only private investigator on Mars and is tasked by Cassandra Wilkins with finding her husband Joshua, who has disappeared. The case is complicated by the fact that the man no longer has a biological body because he transferred his mind into an artificial one. This means he may have sneaked out of the New Klondike colony, taking advantage of the ability to tolerate the conditions on the Martian surface.
The investigation seems to take a positive turn when Alex Lomax finds Joshua Wilkins’ artificial body damaged beyond repair, giving the impression that he committed suicide. However, the examination of the remains indicates that the man’s mind was never transferred into that body.
In 2006, Robert J. Sawyer published the novella “Identity Theft”, a tribute to hard-boiled and noir works, particularly in the opening section, in which Alex Lomax is tasked to find Joshua Wilkins by his wife Cassandra.
The author already explored the theme of transferring a human mind into a computer or an artificial body. He uses it in “Identity Theft” not to explore the social consequences of this technology, but rather as a method of concealing one’s identity. This is because, after the transfer, a person can no longer be identified in the usual ways. Who can guarantee that a transfer, meaning a person in an artificial body, is truly who they say they are?
Alex Lomax solves the case of the missing transfer, but Robert J. Sawyer continued his story in what became the novel “Red Planet Blues,” which further explores a theme introduced in “Identity Theft”: that of Martian fossils and their enormous value. For this reason, in this version, paleontologist Rory Pickover gains importance and works closely with Lomax. The original novella makes up about a quarter of the novel.
My problem is that lengthening the story gave me the impression that it became convoluted, with a tendency toward repetitiveness in certain situations. This ended up stressing certain negative aspects, including the protagonist’s. What began as a tribute to noir and hard-boiled fiction, with a detective with a dark past, becomes almost a parody of these works and almost a parody of the original novella.
Alex Lomax makes several references to old movies, not just noir and hard-boiled ones, and this is mostly funny because pop culture references are typical of Robert J. Sawyer, and he handles them well. The problem is that Lomax constantly praises the women’s attractiveness, whether they’re biological or transfers, in a manner more typical of a teenager than of an old-style detective.
In the end, in my opinion, the parts connected to the Martian fossils are definitely the best in the novel. Robert J. Sawyer imagines that life emerged and evolved quickly on Mars, with a diversification comparable to the Cambrian explosion that occurred when Mars was still young and similar to the Earth. A fossil deposit in an exceptionally preserved state comparable to the Burgess Shale becomes central to the novel.
I usually find Robert J. Sawyer’s novels highly enjoyable, but I have to say that I struggled to finish “Red Planet Blues” due to its flaws. For this reason, I have decidedly mixed feelings about this novel. Readers who enjoyed “Identity Theft” might not be interested in a longer version, unless they find the theme of Martian fossils compelling. It’s available on Amazon USA, UK, and Canada.
