They get stipends and have to really take care of themselves. Because there’s no real jobs or money out on Mars, everyone lives by the good graces of the Martian government. Mars focuses their time on technology and the arts. It doesn’t sound like the Earth I want to be a part of, but it’s actually the United States that I am a part of. The steep price is selling and buying and continuing the momentum of making money.

Every country’s adopted capitalism bringing them the freedom to do whatever you want, but at a price. On Earth, the main focus seems to be capitalism. The world that they live in is quite different than the world Earth has become. She’s the only consistent character throughout the novel as people are introduced and then leave while you’re reading. While the back of the book notes another perspective (and there are multiple perspectives in this book), I feel like the only one I truly cared about was Luoying. She’s a young dancer who just spent five years on Earth to study dancing and get a feel of what life is like for the other side. I was anticipating there to be more space travel, but the terra-formed Mars is enough to satisfy my love for science fiction. There’s the one trip from Earth to Mars as the group of students return to Mars, but that’s about as much space exploration in this story. My thoughtsīefore I get into my thoughts, I want to make clear that Vagabonds isn’t about space travel between Earth and Mars. 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. In 2196, one hundred years later, Earth and Mars attempt to initiate a dialogue, hoping a reconciliation is on the horizon. The war results in two different and mutually incompatible worlds.

In 2096, the war of independence erupts when a colony of people living on Mars rebel against Earth’s rule. A century after the Martian war of independence, a group of kids are sent to Earth as delegates from Mars, but when they return home, they are caught between the two worlds, unable to reconcile the beauty and culture of Mars with their experiences on Earth in this spellbinding novel from Hugo Award–winning author Hao Jingfang.

Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang