Helpful Score: 2
Some interesting ideas, some unnecessary sexism, and a "big reveal" at the end which is unrelated to the other issues brought up by the story.
Good science fiction about a project to create a human who can live on Mars. A bit outdated now, but won the Nebula award for best novel when originally published.
A man-on-Mars project, set against darkening threats of global war, that involves removing or replacing most of a human body to create a "Martian" able to withstand alien atmospheric conditions. The first man to submit to this grotesque torture dies in the process; the second is Roger Torraway, dimly starting to realize his wife's unfaithfulness while a team of experts, including her lover, baby him through the complex rebuilding of every sense and data-interpreting function. Meanwhile, another shadowy presence silently monitors the entire precarious project. . . . Pohl, a pro's pro, produces a rapid, slick narrative held together by the finely imagined situation of the bewildered, cuckolded Roger. (Kirkus Reviews)
