First published 2007
Mars hits the road with an indie rock band ready to break into the mainstream. The tour becomes a journey through a landscape where musical expression carries both sexual power and genuine danger. In one world, authorities strictly regulate what musicians can play, demanding absolute loyalty to established works over creative freedom. Mars navigates these tensions as the band pushes toward success, discovering that original music can unleash forces both thrilling and perilous. Meanwhile, other characters confront their own struggles with control and liberation. A woman named Jane wrestles with questions about pain and what it means to be human, finding unexpected sources of hope. Musicians face impossible choices between artistic integrity and survival in systems that punish deviation from approved sounds. The stories explore how people respond when their deepest forms of expression become battlegrounds, and what they risk to preserve their authentic voices in hostile environments.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, adventure, music
Vibes: lyrical, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: artistic-integrity, found-family
Setting: Mars
Period: 21st-century
255 pages · Paperback · Aqueduct Press
Content warnings: violence