Shadow of Phobos - Ken Catran
Book 3 in 'The Solar Colonies.' Preceded by 'The Ghosts of Triton.'
Elise and I (along with Ezekiel) have just returned from a two-week holiday/church ministry time in Australia, visiting friends in Tasmania and Melbourne. It was a great trip, with lots to unpack, but one without a lot of time for reading. Also, the main book I've been working my way through - Moby Dick - is in a big omnibus, which would have weighed too much to justify taking on the plane.
So, instead, I took two books with me that were a little bit smaller, one of which - Fear and Trembling - I was already part of the way through, and the other - this one - a book that I knew was an easy read to unwind with in the little bit of downtime I would find. Both were finished while in Australia, but this one (the easier read) was the first I completed.
Both of the two Solar Colonies books I have read have had a different cast of characters entirely, only sharing the world-building. They are set in the 'distant future' (in this cast, 2052), when Earth has colonised the asteroid belt and Mars with genetically modified humans that have had their skin colour changed to be easily identified. These 'Tints' (as Earth-people call them derogatorily) are able to withstand the lower pressures etc of their local environments, and are in theory supposed to be working for the good of the dying mother-planet, Earth. In practice, the Solar Colonies are becoming more independent from Earth, and beginning to resent the control that Earth still tries to assert over them.
This book follows Cela, a blue-skinned Martian girl, and Telesforo, an Earth-boy, who end up inadvertently trading places, with Cela trapped on Earth and Telesforo trapped on Mars. For a good portion of the book, Telesforo also has a case of amnesia, meaning he cannot recall why he was trying to get to Mars in the first place. The only clue that either Cela or Telesforo has is the word 'Phobos', which Telesforo had written in the condensation of his life-pod.
Cela and Telesforo's stories play out almost entirely in isolation to each other, but both are connected to the bigger mystery that is at play, and both have to face moments of danger, where unknown assailants are attempting to kill them. Both also face some prejudice from those around them, though Cela has the more obviously 'racist' antagonists, which is standard for this series (from what I can tell).
In terms of theme, this book has quite a strong emphasis on deception, with a number of characters not being what they seemed at the start. Earth itself is even a deception of sorts, with Cela being led to believe that the planet is healthy and well to begin with, only to learn just how sick it is at a later point.
Written for children or young adults, Shadow of Phobos is an easy read, with a few twists and turns, in an interesting sci-fi setting, and by a New Zealand author.
Decent.
Completed 28 June 2025.
('The Solar Colonies' series)
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