Science Fiction

Red Mars

Red Mars

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-12-17 06:51:39
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Kim Stanley Robinson
  • ISBN：0593358821
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Summary

Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel - Discover the novel that launched one of science fiction's most beloved， acclaimed， and awarded trilogies: Kim Stanley Robinson's masterly near-future chronicle of interplanetary colonization。

"A staggering book 。 。 。 the best novel on the colonization of Mars that has ever been written。"--Arthur C。 Clarke

For centuries， the barren， desolate landscape of the red planet has beckoned to humankind。 Now a group of one hundred colonists begins a mission whose ultimate goal is to transform Mars into a more Earthlike planet。 They will place giant satellite mirrors in Martian orbit to reflect light onto its surface。 Black dust sprinkled on the polar caps will capture warmth and melt the ice。 And massive tunnels drilled into the mantle will create stupendous vents of hot gases。 But despite these ambitious goals， there are some who would fight to the death to prevent Mars from ever being changed。

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Reviews

Chris Rust ，

My Kindle says I've read 68%。 I can read no more。Interesting ideas but very disappointing writing。 I was not aware of him before but， when he spoke at COP26， people said he was a great writer of realistic Science Fiction which sounded good。But it's tedious。 Repetitive accounts of repetitive behaviour。 Whole chapters of， "look at me， I know all this Psychology/Space Travel/Geology/Climatology/Younameitology and I'll drone on about it until you've entirely lost the plot。"I have to compare this wit My Kindle says I've read 68%。 I can read no more。Interesting ideas but very disappointing writing。 I was not aware of him before but， when he spoke at COP26， people said he was a great writer of realistic Science Fiction which sounded good。But it's tedious。 Repetitive accounts of repetitive behaviour。 Whole chapters of， "look at me， I know all this Psychology/Space Travel/Geology/Climatology/Younameitology and I'll drone on about it until you've entirely lost the plot。"I have to compare this with writers like Ursula le Guin and Brian Aldiss， who could tackle huge themes deftly and evocatively。 Neither was afraid of difficult theory， LeGuin wrote a whole novel （The Dispossessed） which was famously a practical handbook for Anarcho-Syndicalism but it never read as a political textbook。 Aldiss created a complex imaginary planet completely unlike ours， which you understood very well at a scientific level despite almost all the text being an account of interesting human lives。And why so long？ One third of a trilogy and it weighs like War and Peace。 It needed a less indulgent editor， cut 75% and it might have started to work。And the sex。 Several candidates for the bad sex awards here。 My benchmark for good writing on sex is Ian Dury's line - "What happens next is private， it's also very rude。" There's rarely a need to say more， unless you are serous about writing erotica， which this is not。 。。。more

Henry DeForest ，

Simply put， I really enjoyed this book！ Robinson is a real polymath; he explores the many facets of science and political theory in incredibly rich detail。 I'm on the final book of the trilogy currently， and I feel the need to give Robinson special credit for the groundwork he laid down in this first book。 The characters， while not necessarily the most complex， feel distinct in their identities， and I found myself personally invested in their struggles， both interpersonal and political。 The prim Simply put， I really enjoyed this book！ Robinson is a real polymath; he explores the many facets of science and political theory in incredibly rich detail。 I'm on the final book of the trilogy currently， and I feel the need to give Robinson special credit for the groundwork he laid down in this first book。 The characters， while not necessarily the most complex， feel distinct in their identities， and I found myself personally invested in their struggles， both interpersonal and political。 The primary reason for the gap between four and five stars is the extent to which the book is enriched with scientific detail。 The book can be rather dry at points if you aren't versed in the specific focus of the discussion （as an example for myself， geology）。 That said， if you do know the field of focus for the given section， these explorations can be quite interesting （I myself am a botanist， and find the ecosystem work of Hiroko to be a fascinating thought experiment）。 If you tough out the duller parts of the book， you should likely find yourself not having regretted the read， especially if interplanetary colonization is a particular interest of yours。 。。。more

Emily S ，

I get why this is a classic。 And I liked it！ But boy， it was slow going at times。 Where he lost me was the detailed landscape descriptions。 Great if you are a fan of Andy Weir or JRR Tolkien。

Gabriela Oprea ，

3。5

Ian ，

A hard Sci-Fi classic。

Ángela Santolaya Ruiz ，

Después de medio año intentando leerlo， desisto。 No es que sea mal libro， simplemente no es mi tipo。 Y vale， es un libro del 98， pero ugh los personajes femeninos。

Liz ，

DNF at 80%。 This book is such a slog， I give up。 Despite the title and premise， the book is much more focused on politics than anything sci-fi。 Add to that how unlikeable most POV characters are and how much time and unnecessary detail is spent describing the setting of Mars itself and I'm just too burnt out to finish it。 DNF at 80%。 This book is such a slog， I give up。 Despite the title and premise， the book is much more focused on politics than anything sci-fi。 Add to that how unlikeable most POV characters are and how much time and unnecessary detail is spent describing the setting of Mars itself and I'm just too burnt out to finish it。 。。。more

Phorc Ewe ，

I gave almost 300 pages a try and quit。 Boring is too nice a word。

Willow ，

3。5/5 hard sci-fi focused around political dynamics during early colonization of Mars。 while epic in scope， the book surprised me in how little I cared about the changes happening on mars。the characters were incredibly written though， and I did care for them。

Lori Dajose ，

i have no words？

Graham Kowalski ，

Space politics and sci-fi technology。 Can't go wrong。 Space politics and sci-fi technology。 Can't go wrong。 。。。more

Petermathieson ，

Politics on Maaaaars！ I liked that the characters had depth， complicated motivations and changed over time。 The technical parts of terraforming were not as interesting。 The themes of the chaos of unintended consequences， the battle for control， changing Mars and being changed by Mars were all well done。 But… I don’t know that I’ll continue the trilogy。

Anforgivn Kayıpuçak ，

Just drop it while you still can。。。。

M L ，

Wow！ Me？ Giving a ksr five stars？ Who didn't see that coming！ As usual this started off slow and dare I say boring but then about 100 pages in I remembered why I love his writing so much。 Needless to say， I'm excited to finish the trilogy and get on the short stories 🌠 Wow！ Me？ Giving a ksr five stars？ Who didn't see that coming！ As usual this started off slow and dare I say boring but then about 100 pages in I remembered why I love his writing so much。 Needless to say， I'm excited to finish the trilogy and get on the short stories 🌠 。。。more

Paul D ，

4。5。 fantastic hard sci-fi， but a little slow at times。

Anat ，

In a nutshell: humans about done destroying Earth， moving on to destroy the next planet。Overall a very interesting read and I'll definitely read the next books。 I ran out of gas at some point， and it took way longer than it should have to finish this; I think I would have enjoyed it more if there was at least one character in this large ensemble who was engaging。 Alas。3。5/5！ In a nutshell: humans about done destroying Earth， moving on to destroy the next planet。Overall a very interesting read and I'll definitely read the next books。 I ran out of gas at some point， and it took way longer than it should have to finish this; I think I would have enjoyed it more if there was at least one character in this large ensemble who was engaging。 Alas。3。5/5！ 。。。more

Nik ，

Finally got around to reading this after many years。It is an amazingly well researched book， with long pages filled with expansive descriptions on the how， the what， the where and why of Mars。 How to terraform， How to build shelters， How to extract water。 There's so much information here that it almost gets too technically minded for it's own good， it leaves you feeling like you're walking away from a book about how bridges work。The characters are 'okay'， they go from really in-depth， strong per Finally got around to reading this after many years。It is an amazingly well researched book， with long pages filled with expansive descriptions on the how， the what， the where and why of Mars。 How to terraform， How to build shelters， How to extract water。 There's so much information here that it almost gets too technically minded for it's own good， it leaves you feeling like you're walking away from a book about how bridges work。The characters are 'okay'， they go from really in-depth， strong personality types to carachacures of who they're supposed to represent。 Maya for example， goes from strong independent Russian woman who is a strong matriach 。。。 to a babbling， crying， emotional， needy "Why won't a man solve my problems！" type in a few short pages。 It becomes unreal after a while。 The others are either cold-hearted autistic-types， or just generally have the personality of cardboard。 Gets frustrating。There are some pages that are just descriptions of Mars。 Which is awesome。 Except describing Mars is like driving across the Sahara and trying to describe each sand-dune uniquely。 It gets tedious， quickly。 Characters lives aren't really followed correctly beyond their relationship to each other。 Their life and death situations come across as stunted and written like someone who's never hit a cross-road in their life。It's a 3 / 5 from me， mainly because of the sheer volumes of research that must have been consumed to write this book。 I'm going to read Green & Blue， but they're going on the 2022 list。 I couldn't stand diving back in to the universe right now。 I'll get detailed to death。 。。。more

Seth ，

A really hard one to rate。 I was carrying through pretty well， and then realized I was really enjoying getting to know the character that the author had already told us was going to die。 After that death， having the killer be the point of view character especially， my progress was much slower。 I still liked the book's technical terraforming stuff， the politics even， and wanted to know what would happen。 But it felt more like reading a future history than a novel and my desire to read flagged a b A really hard one to rate。 I was carrying through pretty well， and then realized I was really enjoying getting to know the character that the author had already told us was going to die。 After that death， having the killer be the point of view character especially， my progress was much slower。 I still liked the book's technical terraforming stuff， the politics even， and wanted to know what would happen。 But it felt more like reading a future history than a novel and my desire to read flagged a bit。 。。。more

Ray ，

Originally read this back when it was first published in the 90s， being a fan of Ray Bradbury and The Martian Chronicles this seemed like a natural fit for me。This is a great modern take on Mars colonization （the science is still pretty solid though naturally Earth history is off seeing as this was written before 9/11 and we are a bit behind in our space program）。 I remember enjoying this trilogy and especially this first book， upon re-reading I'm not disappointed。This novel opens when Mars is a Originally read this back when it was first published in the 90s， being a fan of Ray Bradbury and The Martian Chronicles this seemed like a natural fit for me。This is a great modern take on Mars colonization （the science is still pretty solid though naturally Earth history is off seeing as this was written before 9/11 and we are a bit behind in our space program）。 I remember enjoying this trilogy and especially this first book， upon re-reading I'm not disappointed。This novel opens when Mars is already partially colonized and the first domed city is being commissioned， then flashes back to the voyage of the carefully selected first colonists （hereafter referred to at The First Hundred） and proceeds from there。 Every major chapter is told by a different narrator who is central to the events， a perspective that works very well as there are people with very different opinions on how Mars should be colonized and how Martian civilization should be shaped。The events in this book takes place over the course of about 40 years。 As noted， human history is different as depicted in this novel。 Also the science is somewhat more advanced than ours in terms of robotics， which plays a key role in the colonization - at one point they build a space elevator， which at the time was a concept I'd just heard about， but this novel does a good job explaining; this may seem on the surface far reaching but considering most of the work is done by robots （some of these are the size of small buildings and again far more advanced and autonomous）， it doesn't break the 4th wall。This is a great read。 The characters are interesting and vary greatly in personality and motives， plus towards the end some of the early narrators return but they've changed somewhat over time。 There are some truly wonderful characters here: John Boone， the First Man On Mars from the previous landing who's returned to colonize， his friend Frank Chalmers who is a fierce political player and deal maker， Maya Toitovna a Russian romantic and head of the Russian team， Sax Russel the emotionally cool scientist bent on terraforming， Anne Clayborne the geologist （areologist） who would see Mars preserved until it's secrets are discovered， Nadia Cherneshevsky the mechanic who is more comfortable fixing things， Arkady Bogdanov the outside-the-box revolutionary thinker。。。there really are a wealth of characters！Kim Stanley Robinson's style is not too techy， he explains things but doesn't drown you in dry detail， he always keeps the story moving along nicely。 And like I said you really get to know the narrators， he's great with people。 A fun， brisk read。 。。。more

XO ，

At some point book turns from realistic sci-fi to fantasy。 Story is mostly about the politics of colonizing and terraforming Mars。 Engineers would probably love this book。

Peggy ，

3。5

Amit Rao ，

I got too bored going through this book and had no care for any of the characters

Harold ，

lots of cool ideas… all the terraforming stuff， space elevator， dome citieskinda long and rambly at parts （glad I primarily consumed it as audio） and i didn't always care much about the personal and national politics， though sometimes that was interesting too"the first one hundred" settlers being so much better at everything than everyone else felt elitist/simplistic， but maybe could be realistic I don't knowcurious about the sequels but unlikely to jump on them soon if ever lots of cool ideas… all the terraforming stuff， space elevator， dome citieskinda long and rambly at parts （glad I primarily consumed it as audio） and i didn't always care much about the personal and national politics， though sometimes that was interesting too"the first one hundred" settlers being so much better at everything than everyone else felt elitist/simplistic， but maybe could be realistic I don't knowcurious about the sequels but unlikely to jump on them soon if ever 。。。more

Lane ，

Hard science blueprint for how we can become a multi-planet species and what that expansion will look like。 Full of amazing ideas like: the breast stroke being the most fun way to swim on mars because the lower gravity makes you fly up out of the water， or: the prominent use of gliders and other ultralight aircraft to also take advantage of the low-g。 Simply brilliant with huge dramatic moments like watching a captured asteroid blast into the atmosphere from the slopes of the biggest mountian in Hard science blueprint for how we can become a multi-planet species and what that expansion will look like。 Full of amazing ideas like: the breast stroke being the most fun way to swim on mars because the lower gravity makes you fly up out of the water， or: the prominent use of gliders and other ultralight aircraft to also take advantage of the low-g。 Simply brilliant with huge dramatic moments like watching a captured asteroid blast into the atmosphere from the slopes of the biggest mountian in the solar system。 A revolutionary party view of human expansion。 。。。more

Peter Wright ，

Amazing and written in a way that explains terraforming in an incredibly interesting and detailed way

Meri ，

No te pierdas mi reseña en Youtube！:https://youtu。be/tQahvx2AtVU No te pierdas mi reseña en Youtube！:https://youtu。be/tQahvx2AtVU 。。。more

Shevon ，

An amazing political sci-fi unlike anything I’ve read before。 If we eventually do colonize Mars， this book might serve as an cautionary tale。

Erica ，

Simply put， this is a novel about colonists terraforming Mars。 Most attention is given to the fact-based props， science， and technology that supports the narrative。 But the relationships and storyline were as believable， and they suggest a “test tube” perspective of human nature and politics on another planet。 Several times I was compelled to pause and entertain the existential thoughts that arose。

James ，

I really wish this book received better reviews than it has。 The amount of detail and research in it is astounding， and it genuinely made me care about Mars in a way I didn't know what possible。 The way Mars works， the technology humans use on it， the situations - I felt it was all realistic enough to make me believe it was all possible。 I don't see any reason why the events of this book couldn't take place。 And for those people who say some of the characters are unbelievable， or are caricatures I really wish this book received better reviews than it has。 The amount of detail and research in it is astounding， and it genuinely made me care about Mars in a way I didn't know what possible。 The way Mars works， the technology humans use on it， the situations - I felt it was all realistic enough to make me believe it was all possible。 I don't see any reason why the events of this book couldn't take place。 And for those people who say some of the characters are unbelievable， or are caricatures， etc。 - I don't know who you live around， but the general populace of earth that I interact with are largely ridiculous， and since Covid， have just gotten way worse。 I've seen people act the way the characters do in this book。 Adding the pressure of these situations to their shoulders would certainly cause weird behavior。 I did not expect to care about the politics or people in this story， as that's not typically what I like reading about， but I did， quite a bit in fact。 I do， however， see why this book wouldn't entertain everyone， as its science/terminology/relational heavy。 My only gripes were that I wanted to hear more about Michael and Hiroko's stories， which largely did not get told。 But this book has convinced me to read Green Mars immediately afterward。 。。。more

Brian Harrigan ，

I was quite disappointed， and could only make it halfway through - I was expecting a lot more since according to sci-fi buffs， this was clearly a "classic"。 Was just not engaging， and too easy to get lost in the endless geo-topological references to Martian land features。 Characters were also generally all non-likeable。 I was quite disappointed， and could only make it halfway through - I was expecting a lot more since according to sci-fi buffs， this was clearly a "classic"。 Was just not engaging， and too easy to get lost in the endless geo-topological references to Martian land features。 Characters were also generally all non-likeable。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Red Mars

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Red Mars&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Red Mars&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0