The Road to Mars: A Post-Modem Novel Kindle Edition

Fun sci fi from a Python

I only rated this as three stars because the overall storyline I felt was really rather weak. If you are an Eric idle fan or fond of Monty Python, this one does have a lot to recommend it. You can hear his voice from time to time in his characters and it is still a fun read. I recommend it, but don't expect anything truly new or startling. It was still fun.

A good read from Eric Idle. Plenty of plot diversions to keep you on your toes - all with a Mona Lisa smile

It's smart, and intelligent. But the author is just trying too hard, if feels forced and flat and repeats itself a lot. He tries so hard to make 'interesting' over-the-top characters but they do not engage. And it's overpriced.

This is a great novel!

The main hook of the book is an attempt to understand the nature of comedy, and that particular quest is not all that interesting. Eric Idle manages some clever word play in this regard, and some pretty far stretches but ultimately this line falls flat. Fortunately it doesn't overshadow the rest of the book, just enough to be tedious in places.As for the story of what's going on around the robot trying to puzzle out the Theory of Comedy, well it starts slow, about 40 pages in picks up, then becomes quite complicated and I considered giving up. But a patient ongoing slog things began to come together for me (gravity, inside joke you'll get if you read this book) and I figured I had the characters straight by then so I kept going hoping for a really good ending that would bring it all home, and it pretty much does.It turns out to be a pretty straight-forward story, one that owes a nod to Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" which you should go read right now if you never have. As for this one, well you could do worse, but it is not great and I think 3 stars is just about exactly right

I just finished TRTM and about a quarter of the way in, I started to see how great a film this would be. It has everything, sci-fi, murder, intrigue, story within a story, love, sex, drama, betrayal, family estrangements, etc etc. Oh yes, and comedy.I (unlike the 1-2 star reviews) went in to this book with no expectations. I notice there are a lot of comparisons to Douglas Adams' infamous Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series. Unfortunately, DA is a comedy writer where EI is a comedy sketch writer. I didn't expect this to be hilarious (I just sorta hoped it would be) but as a long-time 'student' of comedy and things comedy related, even I know that a sketch writer isn't necessarily going to churn out a great novel. Is this book hilarious? No, but is it good? Oh yes, it's FILM good. And what I mean by that is that while it won't win any literary awards, it has enough going on to keep the reader both invested and interested.The problem is that while this is somewhat of a thesis in comedy, you have to realize that's it's hard to be funny when you're 'teaching' comedy. Therein lies the flaw...Idle's underlying attempt to layout Carlton's* thesis of Comedy borders on instructional (I'm currently taking improv and saw several bits of my instructors lesson plan strewn about). But that's also part of what makes the book fun...it entertains and teaches. *(Carlton, btw, is a David Bowie lookalike android and possibly the most interesting character in the book...since 85-95% of the other characters are human, I'm still trying to decide if this is a good thing, but the 'AI striving for humanity' plot line has always been an interesting hook [for me anyway]) :)I understand that this was originally a script idea, so I don't necessarily feel right about subtracting a star for lack of depth....so I'll subtract half a star for lack of character development and half a star for the various plot holes, which I won't go into as what bothers me, may not bother someone else. I've seen some real nitpicking in the less glowing reviews and I can only presume that these people went in with incredibly high expectations. I had no problem with the ending and a group of writers adapting this into a screenplay could easily fill any holes I found, let alone the grueling populace.My advice would be just to approach it as a lunch-time or airport read. It's a great distraction and had no problem getting lost in the storie(s). :-)This book would easily translate into a film....I hope Idle is still shopping it....with the amount of channels springing up, I could see this easily turning up as, at the very least, an HBO special.Cheers!

I'm very much a fan of Eric Idle's, so I ordered this book from Amazon.com the second I saw it listed. *Sigh.* The problem here is that "The Road to Mars" wants to be three things: a comic sci-fi novel, a story-within-a-story and a dissertation on comedy. The blend doesn't work. As a comic sci-fi novel, it clearly wants to follow in the footsteps of the first couple of "Hitchhiker's" books by Douglas Adams. Those first books were adaptations of a radio series. The plots crackled along and the books were hilarious. It was when Adams decided to become a Novelist rather than an Adapter of his radio work that the books became flabby. The story of "The Road to Mars" doesn't hold up as well as the worst of the "Hitchhikers" books. None of the characters acts as a driving force. The plot just becomes tedious. The framework story, about Professor Bill Reynolds, a micropaleontologist seduced by the possibility of fame and fortune if only he can steal the story he's telling, is pretty good. Reynolds is probably the most developed character in the book, which is unfortunate in that he's only the narrator. If Idle had written a book solely about the meaning and history of comedy & comedians, I would have bought that. He obviously has a lot to say on the topic; it just doesn't really mesh with the other half of the book. *And* he proceeds from a faulty premise. He divides comics into two categories of circus clowns: Whiteface and Rednose. He then shoehorns a lot of comedians into the sections and claims that the theory applies universally. "Try it yourself." The trouble is, it *doesn't* apply universally. Circus comedy is divided into four components, not two: the Whiteface, the Auguste (Idle's Rednose), the Tramp and the Ringmaster. The Whiteface is the ringleader, the wiseguy, the troublemaker. The Auguste is a lovable, dopey stooge who usually ends up taking the pie aimed at the Whiteface; he's the poor sap who just can't win. The Tramp is the lowest of the low, but with an innocence that usually deflects any pies aimed at him onto the Auguste (who is the complete fall-guy) or even the Whiteface. Frequently silent, the Tramp is the most childlike Clown and occasionally exhibits magical qualities. The Ringmaster is the Boss, the Enemy, the bombastic official who tries ineffectually to reign over the Clowns. According to Idle, Stan Laurel is a Whiteface. He's actually a Tramp. Oliver Hardy is an Auguste, James Finlayson, Mae Busch, etc. are their Ringmasters and the world is their Whiteface. According to Idle, Phil Silvers (Sgt. Bilko) is an Auguste. Wrong. Bilko is the Whiteface, Ritzik & Grover are the Augustes, Doberman is a Tramp and Colonel Hall is the Ringmaster. Idle can't place Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean -- a silent, resourceful brat of a child. Mr. Bean is a Tramp. Atkinson's first "Blackadder" had three Augustes: Edmund, Percy & Baldrick. The series became much more successful when they changed: Edmund as the Whiteface, Percy (later George) as the Auguste, Baldrick as the Tramp and Queen Elizabeth & Colonel Melchett as dangerously insane Ringmasters. Moe: Whiteface. Larry: Auguste. Curly: Tramp.Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison: Ringmasters. Groucho: Whiteface. Chico: Auguste. Harpo: Tramp.Margaret Dumont: Ringmaster. W.C. Fields (con-man): Whiteface. W.C. Fields (suburbanite): Auguste. W.C. Fields (silent juggler): Tramp. I wouldn't carp so much, but Idle builds much of his comedic foundation on the "Two Clown" theory, and it's an erroneous one... which wouldn't be so bad if the rest of the book were good enough to take up the slack. But Idle seems far more interested in the comedic theories than the story. I am, too, frankly. It would have been a better book if he had left out the plot. Even so, if you have a choice between Steve Allen's pontificating books on comedy (F=TS/56, the theory that everything funny originated on the "Tonight Show" when Steve Allen hosted) and this book, take "The Road to Mars."

No issues

good book!

A truly funny man and a fun read.next, "Hello Sailor".

Great book, and reasonably priced, and prompt delivery. Thank you very much. I now own all Eric Idle's novels ..all two of them lol.

Looking forward to reading this