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Haydn Of Mars by Al Sarrantonio
01/12/2006 . Source: Darren Cadapen 
pub: Ace. 262 page paperback. Price: $ 6.50 (US), $ 9.99 (CAN). ISBN: 0-441-01236-1. Buy Haydn Of Mars in the USA - or Buy Haydn Of Mars in the UK  check out website: www.penguin.com
Of all the places a cat would want to live, Mars must be fairly low on the list. There's no fish for a start, balls of string are in short supply and there are certainly no trees from which to be saved by flying men in capes. However, Al Sarrantonio's vision of a feline civilisation inhabiting the Red Planet not only manages to suspend disbelief but also imbues his heroic cast with a surprisingly touching humanity that belies their whiskery ways.
Sarrantonio's breed of Martian moggies are far removed from our modern day meow-makers. They talk, walk upright, have built societies, established laws, crowned monarchs and fought wars.
Haydn is a princess, stoically living in a loveless marriage to preserve the Republic that her father died to create. She is forced to go on the run after her arch-nemesis Frane enthrones herself as the queen of a new and brutal monarchy. Frane's kingdom is soldiered by the bloodthirsty F'rar race who are under orders to hunt down and slay Haydn, the rightful yet reluctant heir to the throne. Smuggled away to safety by a small band of warriors loyal to her late father, Haydn is thrown into a theatre of war that will see loved ones murdered, friends betrayed and lives sacrificed for a princess to claim the throne that she never wanted.
Haydn is the jewel of the novel. A reluctant monarch she may be but a feeble character she is not. She glows with humility and shines with self-sacrifice. As the conflict escalates, her integrity in the face of lawlessness vindicates those who willingly die in her name. Haydn is a princess with whom it is impossible not to fall in love, simply because she refuses to love herself.
Her endearing naiveté also makes Haydn the ideal tour guide as both reader and protagonist experience the diverse landscapes, cultures and peoples of this exotic planet for the first time. What we discover is an intriguing world of nomadic inhabitants restlessly searching for place and purpose. Some seek the answers in religion, others in science, still others in themselves, but the truth remains elusive. Insecurity and mistrust darkens relations between the planet's many tribes and Sarrantonio slyly introduces the Baldies, a fearsome race of hairless thugs ruled by animal instinct, to draw parallels with a civilisation that belongs to a more familiar, more bluer planet.
The essence of the novel thrives in its joyous lack of compromise, with numerous twists that heartlessly pull the rug out from under our feet. Sarrantonio is not scared to be different, indeed the fearlessness of the author flows through every character to command full respect and admiration. Bold, original and passionate to its last breath, 'Haydn Of Mars' is an unexpected gem.
Darren Cadapen
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