Sebastian of Mars - 2005 fantasy novel by Al Sarrantonio

Sebastian of Mars (2005), a fantasy novel set on a daringly imagined future Mars, written by Bram Stoker Award-winning horror and science fiction author Al Sarrantonio.

Pictured: Paperback original (New York: Ace Books, 2005) $6.99. Cover art by Matt Stawicki depicts Sebastian of Mars. Here is the promotional piece from the back cover:

Haydn – reluctant Queen of Mars – has been assassinated. Now her son Sebastian rules, aided by a trusted regent. But Sebastian – young, frail, and sickly – sits uneasily on the throne. Unprepared to wear the crown, he is seen as weak and vulnerable, no fit heir to his beloved mother.

The Haydn’s old enemy, the warrior-woman Frane, launches a revolt, and Sebastian, like his mother before him, is forced into exile. Taking refuge in the shadow of the great mountain known to his people as Olympus Mons, he prepares to make his stand.

And there, the boy-king will lose his first love, find his first betrayal – and uncover a secret about the past that may alter the future forever…

Sebastian of Mars was reviewed by Fred Patten in Anthrozine #4.

Sebastian of Mars is the second novel in a trilogy. It was preceded by Haydn of Mars (2005) and followed by Queen of Mars (2006). All three novels were republished as a single hardcover volume, Masters of Mars (Science Fiction Book Club, 2006).