Edward M. Lerner's "Life and Death on Mars"

Edward M. Lerner worked in high tech and aerospace for thirty years, as everything from engineer to senior vice president, for much of that time writing science fiction as his hobby. Since 2004, he has written full-time.

His novels range from near-future techno-thrillers, like Small Miracles and Energized, to traditional SF, like Déjà Doomed and his InterstellarNet series, to (collaborating with Larry Niven) the space-opera epic Fleet of Worlds series. Lerner’s 2015 novel, InterstellarNet: Enigma, won the inaugural Canopus Award “honoring excellence in interstellar writing.” His fiction has also been nominated for Locus, Prometheus, and Hugo awards.

Lerner’s short fiction has appeared in anthologies, collections, and many of the usual SF magazines and websites. He also writes about science and technology, notably including Tropeing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction.

Here, Lerner dreamcasts a screen adaptation of his latest novel, Life and Death on Mars:

Let’s start with the novel itself: near-future adventure set mainly—no surprise, given its title—on and near Mars. The action kicks off with a Space Race to make the Sixties competition with the Soviets seem lackadaisical. Making matters more exciting, beyond American and Chinese expeditions is another, bankrolled by a mysterious cabal of Earth’s billionaires.

And then we have …

The face scarcely seemed human. Scarcely seemed a face.

Bloated, purple-mottled flesh, the swollen lips almost black. Oozing pustules. Tissues peeling and flaking, even to scattered glimpses of muscle and bone. The nose little more than naked, pitted cartilage. Eyes, except for anime-sized black pupils, all blood-red. Had it not been for the snaky, sweat-soaked tresses, languidly adrift like some somnolent Medusa, even to speculate at a gender would have been impossible.

Yet there could be no question who, or where, this was.

Those are only the novel’s opening paragraphs! How can this book not become a movie? Think The Martian meets For All Mankind … with a deadly plague added.

Okay, on to casting.

First comes Alexander (Xander) Hopkins, the NASA engineer dragooned into the crew of the NASA-led mission. He’s something of a smart aleck—and he’d best learn to tamp that down. Just as he’d best figure out why people are dying. Or maybe he’ll join them. Or maybe everyone on Earth will. For Xander, I’d suggest Alan Tudyk (Resident Alien, Dollhouse, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Santa Clarita Diet … okay, what hasn’t he been in?). I’m mainly picturing Tudyk’s cocky pilot character in Firefly and Serenity.

Second is Wang Kai, crewman in the CMSA-led mission. Kai is deflecting from the painful memory of his wife’s recent tragic death as much as he’s blazing a trail to Mars. He’s technically military, because there’s no other way to become a taikonaut. He never expected military training to matter—until his commander is killed and it may have been sabotage. I see Garrett Wang (aka, Ensign Harry Kim of Star Trek Voyager) as Kai.

Maria Theresa (Teri) Rodriquez heads the Mars mission for a plutocratic cabal. Teri is tough as nails and yet vulnerable. That her bosses are seldom candid about their endgame has rendered her life complicated—even before a fatal accident to her team. As Teri I’d cast Michelle Rodriquez (Lost, Resident Evil, Avatar).

Next is Dale Bennigan, presidential science adviser and onetime research microbiologist. Can people set boot on Mars without contaminating possible native life there? Can robots? Can samples be brought to Earth without endangering humanity? Those questions become pressing when ancient traces of life are found. Those questions become personal when the secretive Planetary Protection League takes matters into its own hands. For Dale, I’d cast Amanda Tapping (Stargate SG-1, Sanctuary, Travelers).

I’ll end with a minor (but important and recurring) role: the president herself. For the cynical, calculating Carla DeMille—Cruella to Washington insiders—I see Amy Acker (Angel, Alias, Dollhouse), mainly picturing her star turn as Root in Person of Interest).

Hollywood, are you listening?

Learn more about the author and his work at his website.

The Page 99 Test: Small Miracles.

The Page 69 Test: Fools’ Experiments.

The Page 69 Test: InterstellarNet: Origins.

My Book, The Movie: InterstellarNet: Origins.

My Book, The Movie: Déjà Doomed.

The Page 69 Test: Déjà Doomed.

Q&A with Edward M. Lerner.

--Marshal Zeringue