Customer Reviews

Red Mars

5 star:		(137)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(41)
2 star:		(33)
1 star:		(44)

 

 

Great research and discription went into this book really enjoyed it. The story on both Mars and discussion on what is happening on Earth are quite realistic. Although sci-fi the dates are not too far off.

There are lots of stories of meetings with strange alien creatures, and battles in space, etc.
This is not one of those books.
Red mars reads like high grade historic fiction, about the future.
The Book is strongly character driven, and manages to surprise without ever feeling planned or contrived. The descriptions are often long and heavy on science, so if you are hoping for a light read with action scenes etc try somewher else. If you are looking for a book that weaves togeather the lives of dozens of distinct and memorable characters, showing both their strengths and weaknesses and how the two are one and the same, with an accurate depiction of physics, history, biology and trust, then this is a book worth reading.
I swear the author must have had at least a dozen PhD's to write this thing.

Sorry, but it does not take a "McCarthyite" to notice the obvious retrograde socialist apologia in KSR's unremittingly tedious "Red Mars" trilogy. KSR's tiresome agenda, featuring one-sided attacks on the West, America, capitalism and libertarians, is presented without logical or honest rebuttal. (The same frothing-at-the-mouth political rants interrupt the narrative of his book "Antarctica.") Here are some examples from the RM trilogy:

"We're in a war between democracy and capitalism..." (John Boone, from RM.) A false dichotomy; there's no inherent conflict between "democracy" and capitalism. KSR should've said, "we're in a war between socialism and capitalism," a more believable conflict. However, it's clear that KSR believes his socialist fantasy IS democracy.

"There was no obvious reason why they [the Martian underground] should all want to become one single thing. Many of them had been trying specifically to get away from dominant powers - transnationals, the West, America, capitalism - all the totalizing systems of power. A central system was just what they had gone to great lengths to get away from." (Green Mars.)

Note this list - the evil "transnationals," "the West," "America," "capitalism" - your agenda is showing, Kim. Yet KSR has the inhabitants of Mars - basically, frontiersmen from earth, whose politics would logically be scattered across the spectrum - vote overwhelmingly to establish a socialist system that's inherently a centralized government. It bans private ownership of land, controls businesses' sizes, forces them to be employee-owned, limits companies to 1000 employees, and bans people from passing on wealth to their children beyond a certain amount, so people can't "accumulate capital." (This leads to a discussion between Sax and Coyote, where Sax notes, quite rightly, that from a biological standpoint, parents want to take care of their children. Whereupon Coyote, with typical socialist elitist arrogance, says, "Maybe there should be a minimum inheritance allowed... enough to satisfy that animal instinct, but not enough to perpetuate a wealthy elite." And who determines "what's too much?" Yep, you guessed it - the ruling socialist oligarchy, who'll enforce their will at the point of a gun.)

In "Green Mars," KSR presents the character of Nadia (Russian ancestry) condemning people who want minimal government on Mars: "...Especially since most minimalists want to keep exactly the economic and police system that keeps them privileged. That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want police protection from their slaves!" This statement, issued without rebuttal or debate, seems to show KSR's true colors: that anyone who wants limited government is an "anarchist." Nonsense! (KSR then seems to completely miss the irony of having Nadia, who becomes Mars' first president, turn into a petty, despotic ruler, despite dozens of pages explaining all the "benefits" of Mars' socialistic system over Earth's. This plot point is simply dropped in "Blue Mars" as inconvenient.)

There were other bizarre anti-capitalist, quasi-Marxist rants sprinkled throughout the book. KSR repeatedly attacks business owners and "managers" as "not doing any real work." This is the typical Marxist mindset - to KSR's type of socialist/statist thinking, it's always 1864, where all "workers" are noble peasants or guys who toil with their hands on assembly lines, while "managers" are fat-cat burghers who sit in their offices, getting up occasionally only to crack the whip. Kim, if I "work" at any profession that earns me money - whether I'm laying bricks or managing a Fortune 500 company - then I am a "worker." This is another false dichotomy - as if those who work with their "hands" are superior to those who sit in offices working only with their "brains." Kind of a hypocritical notion coming from someone who makes his living writing SF stories about Martians, don't you think?

Other weird rants: KSR's idea of "ecologic economics" - a concept that smacks of the ex-Soviets' mantra of "scientific" communism. This theme also recurred throughout the book - that human activities can be reduced to a "scientific" model, and that if only dumb humanity agreed to have scientists plan our society, then everything would be fine. Activities that fail to pay off their value in required "caloric intake" are worthless? (There's that elitist socialist oligarchical arrogance again.) And, what are we to make of the "Red Mars" section heading called "What is to be Done?" - the title of one of Lenin's political pamphlets - and Frank Chalmer's characterization of people as "useful idiots?" (An apocryphal phrase attributed to Lenin of westerners who would stupidly assist the Communists in the West's own destruction.) Could KSR's Communist/socialist apologia be any more clear?

The bottom line is the issue of literature vs. propaganda. As Anthony Burgess stated , a fiction writer should always be in service to the story, first and foremost. If you're presenting a didactic agenda, regardless of whose side you're on, then your work is propaganda, not literature. If the socialist system depicted in the "Red Mars" trilogy had developed organically out of the various characters and situations presented in the books, then if would've been believable. However, KSR forces the characters to become nothing more than ranting mouthpieces for his fantasy ideology.

This agenda then succeeds in committing the worst sin in fiction. Halfway through "Green Mars," I was so worn out by the humorless characters that I realized I didn't care about any of them or their plight (with the exception of Sax, the only sympathetic character in the entire damn trilogy.) Towards the end of "Green Mars," I realized that not only did I not care, I actually wanted most of the characters to be killed, have their revolution fail, and have the transnationals take over. When your political agenda succeeds in actually turning your readers against your protagonists and their struggles, then your story has failed.

Kim Stanley Robinson is far less interested in telling a compelling story about colonizing Mars than he is in propagating a poorly conceptualized, ham-fisted socialist fantasy utopia, full of anti-libertarian diatribes that would be laughable if they weren't so breathtakingly ignorant. Almost every chapter features a character (mouthpiece) chanting KSR's retrograde philosophy:

"There was no obvious reason why they [the Martian underground] should all want to become one single thing. Many of them had been trying specifically to get away from dominant powers - transnationals, the West, America, capitalism - all the totalizing systems of power. A central system was just what they had gone to great lengths to get away from." (Green Mars.)

Note this list - the evil "transnationals," "the West," "America," "capitalism" - your agenda is showing, Kim. Yet KSR has the inhabitants of Mars vote (unrealistically, too) to establish a socialist system that's inherently a centralized government. It bans private ownership of land, controls businesses' sizes, forces them to be "employee-owned" (as if shareholders in a corporation don't help determine company policy), limits companies to 1000 employees, and bans people from passing on wealth to their children (beyond a certain amount, so people can't "accumulate capital." This leads to a discussion between the characters Sax and Coyote, where Sax notes, quite rightly, that from a biological standpoint, parents want to take care of their children. Whereupon Coyote, with astonishing arrogance, says, "Maybe there should be a minimum inheritance allowed... enough to satisfy that animal instinct, but not enough to perpetuate a wealthy elite." And who determines "what's too much?" Yep, you guessed it - the Almighty State. KSR also seems to completely miss the irony of having Mars' first president become a despotic ruler, in spite of all the utopian socialism he desperately spends hundreds of pages trying to justify.

Mix all this laughable, and illogically-presented propaganda with endless discussions of Martian geography, irritating and unappealing characters, and plot points that are introduced, then dropped, and you have one of the most overrated SF series in recent memory. Don't buy it -- pick up Dan Simmons' "Hyperion" or John Varley's "Titan" books instead.

This whole series: RED, GREEN and BLUE, fully explores Mars like we wish we could, but can't afford.

Character development as is usual with Kim Stanley Robinson is great as are the various scientific aspects of the books [you actually learn some actual science ].

Lots of adventure and excitement throughout make it an enjoyable read from start to finish. I've read this series twice now, IT'S THAT GOOD.

Kim Stanley Robinson does a masterful job of realizing a diverse array of characters, not the least of which is the planet itself. I found Ann and Frank exasperating, John and Nadia at times exhilirating and something of a disappointment, Sax and Hiroko equally inscrutable, and Maya making me wish someone would just slap her. I am astonished that anyone can keep track of so many personnae and keep their voices distinct.

Equally, I am astonished by Robinson's command of geology, meteorology, thermodynamics, and even economics. The details read well and ring true. For years, I wondered why no one had covered this sort of project in detail: terraformation, colonization, expansion. Most writers seem satisfied to take these things as read. Robinson shows what a great literary work a little delving (okay, a whole lot of delving) can produce.

On the down side, the details occasionally get in his way. In particular, I found three details more than a little discomfiting.

First, in the personna of Michel, Robinson outlines his personal psychometry of personalities. In doing so, he provides both an oversimplification of human character and an unwelcome glimpse at Robinson's methodology for building characters. Like sausage-making and legislation, perhaps this process would have been better left unexamined.

Second, I think the abundance of water in the substrate of Robinson's Mars is more than a tad optimistic. I realize that having to bring in water ice from the asteroid belt and Saturn's rings would have slowed the development quite a bit, but considering what a wealth of story Robinson typically finds in the details, I think this obstacle would have made for even more excellent writing opportunities.

Third, in a move that appears nothing more than a technique to allow character continuity, Robinson introduces the deus ex machina of a revolutionary new genetic longevity treatment. With no foreshadowing or side-plot leading to it, the main characters suddenly have a chance to live for a thousand years. My, how convenient. This device left he second guessing the author's motives through the rest of the series. I love the books, but I don't think this was a necessary addition. As the principal plotline of this first book readily demonstrates, key characters can die without compromising the story.

Everyone keeps talking in their reviews about how Robinson wanted to appear so clever, so smart in these books. I wonder if it ever occured to any of them that maybe they are just too stupid to understand. That's clearly the case in my opinion. I found the inclusion of all the technical details very informative and interesting. If you want to read moronic escapist garbage go to your local book store's sci-fi section, close your eyes, and pick the first book your hand lands on. Have a great trip!

Red Mars was initially assigned to my utopian studies class at Concord College. While I neglected to finish the book on time, I found myself reading each night none-the-less, as the author had created a very real, very exotic world to become immersed in. The characters are varied and polarized, bringing necessary conflict and interest to the novel, while lengthy explanations of political, social, scientific, and environmental processes tend to add to the book's ability to capture the imagination. Sure, this book isn't laden cover to cover with lazer battles or other such cliche Martian filler, but the book still maintains an excellent medium of what can only be described as a cross between science class and some late night television drama.

The main appeal of this book isn't action, and it certainly isn't a quick read, but it is excellent sci-fi for those interested in a more thoughtful, not to mention politically and socially provocative, book.

I thought that this book was really great, but it was above my age level. I am an eight grader, and when I got to a part of the book when a phyciatrist, one of the characters, was explaining his theory I was lost. When I showed my teacher to ask for a little help, she was lost to. I was still able to follow the story, but be warned its a complicated, large-word book.

Robinson's "Red Mars" is a comprehensive and complete book on man's colonization of Mars. It is full of scientific, political and economic consequences of human settlement on Mars, and arguments from both sides are presented in detail through the opposing perspectives of different characters within the book. In addition, the book is full of symbolism, such as the "elevator" that is built, only to be pulled down by the hands of the revolution destroying much of the Martian surface and dispersing humans in a manner that made me think of the Tower of Babel.

The story begins on a spaceship of the "first hundred" people that are off to begin life on Mars. All of them are scientists, which of course makes for a less than complete representation of human kind, although full of intellectualism and nutty personalities. The mission is meant to be representative of the world's nationalities, dominated by American and Russian teams. Each group of scientists have their own tasks, whether it is flying the space craft, cultivating food, construction once on Mars, ecologists to study Mars, terraformers, biologists, physicists, and even a psychologist.

The 8 month journey to Mars is enough to drive some people crazy, and Maya, the Russian leader thinks that she is hallucinating when she unwittingly spots a man whom she does not know onboard the spacecraft. People develop relationships and hatreds, and their true personalities start to come out after hiding most of their peculiarities from the selection committee to be able to go to Mars.

Robinson follows different characters for each part of the book, and this makes it a more interesting and in-depth read, as we get different viewpoints on how the people see Mars and what they want from the planet. Some, like Ann, oppose its terraforming, whilst others, such as Sax, can think of nothing but. Hiroko suddenly disappears with a small group of the first hundred and no-one can find them. John and Frank hit heads about how the planet should be run, and one day John is murdered - a shock to everyone.

Politics starts to play an important role as the first hundred decide they will do whatever they want on Mars rather than be controlled by Earth. They are free. Only, they really aren't. Before they know it, waves of immigrants from Earth, sponsored by transnational corporations begin to live on the planet. But Mars is not its own nation and does not have a cohesive political or police structure. Problems quickly rise to a peak and the first hundred realise they are no longer in control.

A revolution begins and is chaotic and uncontrollable. Infrastructure collapses as it is sabotaged. Finally, Nadia the engineer, after finding out that her lover Arkady who began the revolution has been killed by it, decides that enough is enough and she blows up Phobos in an attempt to stop Earth and transnational control and interference. The first hundred realise that they will be seen as ringleaders of the revolution and that they must escape - will they be rescued by Hiroko's detachment?

The book is so complete and full of facts that it is a must for anyone with a passion for Mars and science. It is also a must for those that would think to colonize Mars in the future - as a guide of how not to do it.

A very realistic perspective, well thought out, and a foresight of consequences that gives me goose bumps.