danburn's review against another edition
3.0
The first book in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy is turning out to be an interesting read. I read the Years of Rice and Salt a few years ago and was blown away by how good it was, but I wasn't sure what to expect with this one. It's clearly the work of someone fascinated by Mars, who loves the planet and the potential for a new society it brings - and this is both a good and a bad thing.
Written in the 1990s, it's extremely up-to-date on our knowledge of Mars, though there is a fair bit of fictional science in there. The downside to Red Mars is that it's a book that really just wants to explore ideas - it's pretty clear that if Robinson could have made a living just writing a giant wiki about Mars and potential societies that might evolve there, he would have been happier doing that than having to saddle his ideas with characters and a plot. Most characters seem to be archetypes, placeholders for an idea rather than real people. There is an awful lot of infodumping happening - I know quite a bit more about the geology of Mars than I did six weeks ago (unfortunately, I don't know how much is based on real world observation and how much is Robinson's wishful thinking). The space elevator bits were fascinating.
I did enjoy Red Mars, and I'm now reading book 2 of the trilogy; but it feels like a series that many folks who are less science-nerdy than myself might not get a lot out of.
Written in the 1990s, it's extremely up-to-date on our knowledge of Mars, though there is a fair bit of fictional science in there. The downside to Red Mars is that it's a book that really just wants to explore ideas - it's pretty clear that if Robinson could have made a living just writing a giant wiki about Mars and potential societies that might evolve there, he would have been happier doing that than having to saddle his ideas with characters and a plot. Most characters seem to be archetypes, placeholders for an idea rather than real people. There is an awful lot of infodumping happening - I know quite a bit more about the geology of Mars than I did six weeks ago (unfortunately, I don't know how much is based on real world observation and how much is Robinson's wishful thinking). The space elevator bits were fascinating.
I did enjoy Red Mars, and I'm now reading book 2 of the trilogy; but it feels like a series that many folks who are less science-nerdy than myself might not get a lot out of.
zazine's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
amethyst_hearts_books's review against another edition
1.0
I got 40 pages in and was still bored. I'm sure it's a great book to some people, but it's not for me.
cstack's review against another edition
5.0
Seriously one of the best books I've read in a long time. Constantly alternating between vivid descriptions of the likely technology and techniques involved in colonizing Mars, and development of a huge set of characters. Huge scope: the book spans somethings like 50 years, and it's part of a trilogy. But it's constantly introducing some new and interesting technology, societal development, or point-of-view character. There were very few points that didn't keep my interest. Looking forward to reading books 2 and 3.
lil_willie's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
craftingrama's review against another edition
2.0
A bit too scientific for me, kept losing interest which is why it took so long to finish. Storyline was a bit blah too
isd's review against another edition
5.0
Red Mars is about the colonization of Mars and its early stages of terraforming. We follow the doings of a select few of the first hundred, the ones who are the first ones to stay in Mars.
Among the hundred people there are different political and sociological views, which can grossly be divided into two categories: the greens (terraformers) and the reds (leave Mars as it was). Of course some of them are engineers, some biologists and so on, so that they could kickstart the colonization process just among themselves. Pleasantly enough the old national loyalties died very early on in the trip so there wasn't any of that silliness.
I really enjoyed the descriptions of the landscape of Mars itself. Sometimes the planet felt beautiful, enough to make me want to see it myself some day (which is, sadly, not probable at all). The early colonization part sounded plausible, for the most parts, with its automated robot factories and whatnot, the way they built the habitats in Underhill and then improved on the design over time.
Some of the characters were a bit bland and underused - of those we heard of I liked some more than the others. For example, I enjoyed Nadya the Engineer's character much more than Ann who wanted to leave the planet alone, untouched. Somehow John Boone seemed worse in the beginning but I kind of grew to like his thoughts over time - something that didn't happen with Frank Chalmers, he remained unplesant to the end.
Among the hundred people there are different political and sociological views, which can grossly be divided into two categories: the greens (terraformers) and the reds (leave Mars as it was). Of course some of them are engineers, some biologists and so on, so that they could kickstart the colonization process just among themselves. Pleasantly enough the old national loyalties died very early on in the trip so there wasn't any of that silliness.
I really enjoyed the descriptions of the landscape of Mars itself. Sometimes the planet felt beautiful, enough to make me want to see it myself some day (which is, sadly, not probable at all). The early colonization part sounded plausible, for the most parts, with its automated robot factories and whatnot, the way they built the habitats in Underhill and then improved on the design over time.
Some of the characters were a bit bland and underused - of those we heard of I liked some more than the others. For example, I enjoyed Nadya the Engineer's character much more than Ann who wanted to leave the planet alone, untouched. Somehow John Boone seemed worse in the beginning but I kind of grew to like his thoughts over time - something that didn't happen with Frank Chalmers, he remained unplesant to the end.
jclark0153's review against another edition
Poor character development. Cannot get invested in such flat characters.
catdude42069's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
elisala's review against another edition
4.0
La conquête de Mars par un groupe de scientifiques: une opportunité magnifique pour créer une nouvelle société, et pour l'auteur l'occasion d'aborder une multitude de thèmes : écologie, politique, psychologie, économie, ... toujours au travers de cette idée: un nouveau monde s'ouvre à nous, qu'en faire? Et avec les points de vue successifs et bien différents de différents personnages, auxquels on s'attache, qu'on le veuille ou non.
C'est riche, c'est intéressant, ça se passe en plus sur un laps de temps important, ce qui décuple le temps du récit et bizarrement le temps de la lecture. C'est assez grisant, cette perspective d'un monde nouveau, avec cependant le fardeau de l'ancienne société ; ce n'est plus de la SF, c'est de l'anticipation, presque un essai sur ce que pourrait être la société si on faisait table rase du passé, en en gardant l'expérience.
Difficile de rendre compte d'un tel récit, c'est une lecture que j'ai trouvée vraiment "pleine", complète, je ne sais pas comment exprimer autrement cette impression que rien n'avait été oublié dans le récit, que la forme collait comme il faut avec le fond, et que vivement le tome 2...
C'est riche, c'est intéressant, ça se passe en plus sur un laps de temps important, ce qui décuple le temps du récit et bizarrement le temps de la lecture. C'est assez grisant, cette perspective d'un monde nouveau, avec cependant le fardeau de l'ancienne société ; ce n'est plus de la SF, c'est de l'anticipation, presque un essai sur ce que pourrait être la société si on faisait table rase du passé, en en gardant l'expérience.
Difficile de rendre compte d'un tel récit, c'est une lecture que j'ai trouvée vraiment "pleine", complète, je ne sais pas comment exprimer autrement cette impression que rien n'avait été oublié dans le récit, que la forme collait comme il faut avec le fond, et que vivement le tome 2...