Martian Spring by Michael L. Williams (1986)

Martian Spring, by Michael Lindsay Williams (1986)

At left: Paperback original (New York: Avon Books, 1986), 277 p., $3.50. Here's the blurb from the back cover:

“Introducing Alcyon Hermes, a nhumbie from Earth. His friends call him A.H. – A.H. likes being a nonhuman – sometimes. When he was a kid, it was nice being faster on quizzes than his classmates, and his telecontacting ability can really come in handy sometimes. But there’s a coolness in his heart and mind that makes him yearn for something different, for something to really touch him. Now A.H. is on the adventure of his life, as a researcher on the Milkrun en route to Mars for an in-depth investigation of the planet’s perplexing thaw. For spring is coming to Mars. And as the great waters recede, A.H. will use his special powers to make contact with the dazzling alien civilization of the Hhronka – where he will discover love, terror, grief, and all the emotions that are every nhumbie’s dream. Or nightmare ..."

The first of Williams' two books, Martian Spring has received some scathing comments. Christine Hawkins’ bibliography is quite blunt, calling it “Possibly the worst Mars book ever written.” Steven Fetheroff’s 1986 review for the Washington Science Fiction Association is slightly less critical. Announcing that “This is an awful book,” Fetheroff concedes that there is “a good SF plot underneath the bad writing.”

F.T.L.: Further Than Life (1987) is the sequel to Martian Spring.