Non-Fiction

Arguing that human settlements off Earth will be technologically difficult and extremely unpleasant places to live, at best, A City on Mars is well researched and presents a compelling case for waiting another few centuries before getting too serious about off planet migration. However, the Weinersmiths' narration, which initially sounds refreshingly irreverent, slowly becomes annoyingly glib. Yes, they can find humor in explosive decompression, but after a while that loses it's charm. I'm two-thirds through it and beginning to wonder how much further I'll read. It is informative, in a "Yeah, that's pretty obvious when you think about it," sort of way. Living in claustrophobic habitats where somebody else owns the air, surrounded by instantly fatal conditions, will be hard and unforgiving. That's the one sentence synopsis without the pervasive glibness.