I just read …But Then, Why Mars Really? by T.E. Mark. I have to say I didn’t see this one coming. Ever seen the movie The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? It is kinda like that. It runs on the premise that the universe is made up of high-tech idiots. Which makes it hilarious.

First thing I noticed was that Mark is English. Like English English. I didn’t know or care really were he was from but figured it out quick. American English has a bit of a different sentence structure and some words like colour are spelled different.

The book’s main character is a book store owner who migrates to Mars after he is found undesirable enough to be kicked off the planet Earth. He then gets a job changing literature aimed at immigration, as we find out that other planets don’t want these people either. A problem through out the galaxy is out of control immigration, putting stresses on the economy and the indigenous population.

Meant mostly for young adults, I would recommend this book if you want to laugh your ass off as an idiot is employed by an idiot, then captured by idiots, then allowed to run amok on politics with a powerful computer installed by an idiot.

With few swear words but a lot of them taking the name of their god in vain, this book is a bit of science fiction and fantasy. It ignores scientific fact like the freezing temperatures in space (mostly), runs off the same lies told back in the days of the “new world”, breaks the bounds of the third (or is it fourth?) wall and is a riot right up to its whimsical end with characters not knowing if it is real life, a movie or a book.

Mark even makes lists interesting. That’s not easy to do.