Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang #BookReview

In 2096, the war of independence erupts when a colony of people living on Mars rebel against Earth’s rule. The war results in two different and mutually incompatible worlds. In 2196, one hundred years later, Earth and Mars attempt to initiate a dialogue, hoping a reconciliation is on the horizon. Representing Mars, a group of young delegates are sent to Earth to study the history and culture of the rival planet, all while teaching others about life on Mars.

Narrated from two perspectives: Luo Ying, an eighteen-year-old girl from Mars who has spent the past five years on Earth, and Ignacio, a filmmaker in his late twenties from Earth on a job to document the delegates from Mars. Both Luo and Ignacio are trapped between worlds, with critics all around, and always under suspicion, searching for where they truly belong.

Title: Vagabonds| Author: Hao Jingfang| Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press | Pub. Date: 14 Apr 2020| Pages:: 640 | ISBN:9781534422087 | Genre: Science Fiction| Language: Translated into English| Starred Review: No | Source: libro.fm

Vagabonds Review

Set way in the future (2096-2196+), Humans are living on Mars and Humans are living on Earth. A group of kids are sent to Earth from Mars as ‘delegates’, after a War of Independence lasting approx. 100 years. On their return to Mars, said kids find themselves stuck between the two worlds. Earth and Mars are ‘ran’ in two completely different ways, with humans pitying the Martians, believing them to be treated as slaves. With the Martians knowing no different, they find themselves trying to understand their place in the world and undergoing a slight ‘identity crisis’.

Vagabonds is told from two different perspectives. The first, Luo Ying, an eighteen-year-old girl from Mars who has spent the past five years on Earth, and the second Ignacio, a filmmaker in his late twenties from Earth on a job to document the delegates from Mars. Their lives entwine, as they try to understand and determine who they really are.

Vagabonds is incredibly slow-paced, thought provoking and introspective. It’s not an incredibly easy book to read, it’s genre-bending (which I like), but also fairly deep in the politics (which I like less).

This book gave me Murakami 1Q84 vibes, but in a unique way, I think that’s one of the reasons I really enjoyed reading it. Vagabonds however, did take me an age to read, and even more of an age to review. It is super long (as is 1Q84, which I still haven’t actually even finished), and it felt at times like quite a hard slog to get through. It didn’t help that I wasn’t in the reading mood for such a long time either, it just meant that short bursts of the novel over probably about 8 months meant it felt like I’d been reading it for 5 years. So I definitely think that impeded my overall star rating of this.

I respect the ideas, the way the story was told and it was written in a beautiful way, but I’ll be honest, I think it would have made an bigger impact on me had it been half the size.

3 stars overall.

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