Blue Mars [Mass Market Paperback]

Also, we "see" (believe me, Robinson's writing can do this) the changing of Vastitas Borealis into a Northern Sea; a channel burned into the surface to release volatiles turned into an actual, open-air canal; tented cities becoming seaside resorts; and the pink and brown sky gradually shift to an actual, Earthlike "sky blue." Out beyond Mars, the asteroids and outer moons are being colonized as a means of relieving population or prison pressures on Earth. And Earth, suffering from the flooding created by the Antarctic Ice Sheet, has space elevators that are so massive they have multiple tether points on the surface. This is world-building writ large, and Robinson makes it all seem marvelous and believable.

Naturally, that's just the technological angle. Politically, Mars is in the process of creating a world constitution. (You can read the full text of this constitution in The Martians.) There are some points about the constitution I don't like, mostly its emphasis upon the judiciary--particularly the environmental and other courts--to become the primary arbiter of power. There are some good things to like in the Martian Constitution system as well (like the "Australian ballot system"), but that's a talk for another day. Suffice to say, once the constitution is formed, life on Mars goes on, in semi-peaceful, matriarchal, environmentally-sensitive fashion.

The Martian matriarchy begins to export its technological products off-world, and in the process extending its political power. Jackie Boone's daughter Zoe (or Zo) is one of the primary matriarchs, and she is completely ruthless in her tactics. The still-ancient Ann Clayborne rightly calls her a "thug." Back on Mars, Jackie has become a power.

The First Hundred themselves are getting old, old, old. They're losing their memories, facing problems not curable by their gerontological treatments, and generally becoming strange. Old Sax Russell is still on hand, however, to apply his relentless intellect to their memory problems. This is where the book starts to slow down. How much information does a reader really need about the chemical process of aging? Other passages get old fast, especially if you're not interested in or an expert on genetic engineering or rock formations.

One cute bit in Blue Mars is the story's connection to the world portrayed in Robinson's The Memory of Whiteness. Obviously, KSR is attempting to make many or all of his stories into one comprehensive narrative. There are some continuity gaps, but you get the picture. Blue Mars completes the cycle of the series, and probably had to be written. However, the first two books make the best points and are much more fun to read.

"Blue Mars" begins just minutes after where "Green Mars" ended, as various factions fight against UNTA and each other in the ongoing outburst of violence. The battles only take up about fifty pages at the start of the book, and that's followed by a segment devoted to the survivors attempting to establish a system of government on Mars. But while "Green Mars" focused almost entirely on the underground movements and the preparations for the climactic revolt, "Blue Mars" tells a more freewheeling story. As the author frequently reminds us, Mars is a big place, with space for a huge number of communities and individuals to explore and develop.

The story told in this book, simply put, is huge. It goes all over the solar system and beyond, looking at how life changes in the future for a gigantic cast of characters. Some of it may seem far-fetched, but all of it is well-written and exciting. There are, as in the previous two books, a lot of passages of descriptive writing, as Robinson tries to help you visualize what he has in mind in terms of setting. In my humble opinion, these passages are the master stroke. They draw the reader into the world that the author creates, making it more real than any other science fiction novel that I can think of. "Blue Mars" is a masterpiece, and a vast improvement over the slower-paced "Green Mars".