Whew, that was an interesting thread to read through. I'll just hop in and offer forward my few cents of opinion.
On the story itself, I'll admit that it took quite a bit of warming up to. It did seem like a story that I have heard before, and not told in a particularly interesting or masterful way that would make it stand out. However, the ending was ultimately satisfying, as I was pleasantly surprised that the main character, though still the savior of the Martians, had all the joy of that achievement sucked out of him. This mainly stemmed from the fact that I found him painfully boring as the hero of this story. I actually did not view him as stand-offish or arrogant; I don't like the way he talked or thought about the Earth women working with him, but besides that, I failed to notice how he was such a terrible human being. He seemed to treat everyone professionally, and if he was proud of his work, with the information given regarding his poetic achievements, he has every right to be. In fact, I wish the story had focused more on him working and translating, finding a way to show the beauty of Mars and her culture to his people back on Earth. The "love" angle felt quite forced, in a narrative way, and, worse, boring to be privy to.
I also hated the fight scene so much. It was unnecessary and honestly, I rolled my eyes through most of it. It sucked a lot of the tension out of the climax of the story, for me at least. Also had to rewind and relisten to the scene where he jumped off of the cliff. That was weird and confusing.
I do have to give major kudos to the narrator. I loved his voice and felt like he was the only interesting thing for a good chunk of time with this piece.
As far as the length of this story, I actually like longer stories just as much as I like the little guys. I listen while I'm working, so I still get to hear it all in one solid piece, so I may be biased on that note, but I appreciate the variety and choice.
Man, feels good to post again!