The concept of this book intrigued me. I haven't read a poetry/science fiction book before and I had high hopes. Unfortunately, I found it boring and hard to get through. I wanted to DNF it, but I pushed through in hopes of it improving. It didn't.

The Martian's Regress is a book of poetry about a single Martian who returns to Earth, focusing on origin stories, future, and the environment. It is split into separate short poems, but it is also a single work exploring the martian's present life and the previous history of his people. This is poetry that tells stories and reflects on the stories told by others, and on how you keep going when alone. The martian's exploration of the now broken and empty Earth is a highlight, as various poems/sections consider the reality of the emptiness.

There are obvious modern themes, from the environmentalism and look at the future of the planet, to the currently weirdly relevant look at being isolated, and the collection has an eerie sense at times, as if you're also with the Martian. At the same time, it can be light hearted, and also shows how poetry and science fiction can come together in interesting ways to create certain atmospheres. It is a book to read all at once, rather than taking in separate poems, to fully immerse in the story and setting.