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Red Mars (Mars Trilogy) | 
 enlarge | Author: Kim Stanley Robinson
Publisher: Spectra
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $7.98 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  362 reviews
Sales Rank: 13351
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 592
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0553560735
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780553560732
ASIN: 0553560735
Publication Date: October 1, 1993
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More.
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Amazon.com Review
Red Mars opens with a tragic murder, an event that becomes the focal point for the surviving characters and the turning point in a long intrigue that pits idealistic Mars colonists against a desperately overpopulated Earth, radical political groups of all stripes against each other, and the interests of transnational corporations against the dreams of the pioneers. This is a vast book: a chronicle of the exploration of Mars with some of the most engaging, vivid, and human characters in recent science fiction. Robinson fantasizes brilliantly about the science of terraforming a hostile world, analyzes the socio-economic forces that propel and attempt to control real interplanetary colonization, and imagines the diverse reactions that humanity would have to the dead, red planet. Red Mars is so magnificent a story, you will want to move on to Blue Mars and Green Mars. But this first, most beautiful book is definitely the best of the three. Readers new to Robinson may want to follow up with some other books that take place in the colonized solar system of the future: either his earlier (less polished but more carefree) The Memory of Whiteness and Icehenge, or 1998's Antarctica. --L. Blunt Jackson
Product Description
In his most ambitious project to date, award-winning author Kim Stanley Robinson utilizes years of research and cutting-edge science in the first of three novels that will chronicle the colonization of Mars.
For eons, sandstorms have swept the barren desolate landscape of the red planet. For centuries, Mars has beckoned to mankind to come and conquer its hostile climate. Now, in the year 2026, a group of one hundred colonists is about to fulfill that destiny.
John Boone, Maya Toitavna, Frank Chalmers, and Arkady Bogdanov lead a mission whose ultimate goal is the terraforming of Mars. For some, Mars will become a passion driving them to daring acts of courage and madness; for others it offers and opportunity to strip the planet of its riches. And for the genetic "alchemists, " Mars presents a chance to create a biomedical miracle, a breakthrough that could change all we know about life...and death.
The colonists place giant satellite mirrors in Martian orbit to reflect light to the planets surface. Black dust sprinkled on the polar caps will capture warmth and melt the ice. And massive tunnels, kilometers in depth, will be drilled into the Martian mantle to create stupendous vents of hot gases. Against this backdrop of epic upheaval, rivalries, loves, and friendships will form and fall to pieces--for there are those who will fight to the death to prevent Mars from ever being changed.
Brilliantly imagined, breathtaking in scope and ingenuity, Red Mars is an epic scientific saga, chronicling the next step in human evolution and creating a world in its entirety. Red Mars shows us a future, with both glory and tarnish, that awes with complexity and inspires with vision.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 357 more reviews...
 I'm glad I only bought the first book......... September 28, 2008
I'll make this as short as possible...........like I wish the book would have been. This read was easily twice as long as it needed to be. I got halfway through, and quit. It was so boring. I wanted, (as always), a good story, not a tedious dialog that goes on and on about every little detail involved in colonizing a planet. I can't believe this author is receiving accolades for this work. He can, in no way, be compared to any of the greats in the sci-fi field.
 Intelligent and insightful August 23, 2008
I have to admit I couldn't follow the science here to any great degree, but that really didn't deter me from what I consider one of the best sci-fi novels I've read in a while.
Red Mars is the first of three books dealing with the colonization of Mars. Starting in the year 2026, the story deals with the first 100 men and women selected to go to Mars -- scientists and others known collectively as "the first hundred. " Not all of them see eye to eye on how things should go on the planet -- Some envision it completely terraformed, some see it as an opportunity to launch a new and perfect society, completely Martian, without depending on life being molded in Earth format -- a vision of a new totally Martian existence. To be really honest, I thought the political wranglings to be the best part of the book -- especially warnings about the future of society as big business tries to takes control of everything. Sound familiar? Considering it was written 15 years ago, I'd say he's not too far off the mark.
While not really going into plot here (trust me -- plot synopses are everywhere), let me say that I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy hard science fiction. If you're looking for little green men or other types of monsters, you won't find it here. I would guess that a lot of people will find it too long, so if you want something quick & easy requiring very little thought, you're not going to like this one either. If you're a reader who likes to pause and think, then you'll find a multitude of things to ponder between the covers.
I plan to go on and finish the trilogy, so that should be a recommendation within itself. Be sure you have lots of time before embarking on this book. You'll need it.
 Good idea. Would be better at half the length. July 19, 2008
This book is based on an excellent idea that is mostly followed through on. However, it's difficult to like any of the characters. Their mental stability, social standings and interactions and sex lives are studied tediously over and over. Without some of the nonsense this could have been a thoroughly enjoyable book of half the length and I would not have had to skip pages and pages to finish it. By the way - the skipping of long detailed explanations of individual views of the society did not cause a rift in the story.
 Boring..... June 5, 2008
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book begins with a very inspiring and thought provoking speech by one of the most influential characters in the book (John Boone). After reading it I thought I was in for a great read, however from then on the book descends into a monotonous long winded story of some astronouts gradually growing old on Mars. Literally nothing happens for about 300 pages, until some revolution occurs at the end of the book.
Some of the things in the book that annoyed me the most were:
-The fact that the majority of the people on Mars are potrayed as mindless followers that absolutely revere the old crusty "first 100" colonists.
-Bedouins and Sufis on Mars? Come on! Get real!
-If you are not an expert on space colonization you will have trouble grasping where the protagonists are, are they inside or outside? Technical names for equipment and habitations are used without being explained, what is a "mohole"? what is a "walker"? what is a "tent"? (as it applies to space habitation)??
-The lack of imagination for place names - "underhill" and "Sheffield" are a couple of examples of unimaginitive names for the new planet's cities.
The book had about 3 or 4 moments that I enjoyed, but the rest of it was so boring!
 This epic novel is insanely good. March 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Amazing, amazing book. The depth and breadth of the decades-long plot, the huge cast of vivid and distinctive characters, and the novel's hard science foundation combine make this the best book I have read in years. Many, many years.
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