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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Incest, War
Minor: Slavery, Colonisation
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Niesamowicie powolna, akcja tutaj zwalnia tempo i niestety nie podeszło mi to. Dużo tutaj skupiamy się na skalach, na zmianach na marsie, na skalach, na ekonomii, na skalach, rozważania filozoficzne. Z postaci to śledzimy tych z pierwszej setki, ktorzy dalej żyją i takie to jest mało ciekawe dla mnie
Yo. Sometimes it feels like reading KSR is like listening to an opera by Philip Glass. That is: richly pleasurable, challenging, kinda boring, repetitive, opaque, humanistic, godless (heh), inspiring, exciting, confusing and smart. SMART! I want to put that in all caps. This man (KSR) is some sort of genius-type person who seems to have a deep (amateur, I guess) passion for geology, engineering and other hard sciences, as well as an equal talent for political science, political history, economics and sociology. It's incredible what that man's brain can hold and convey. I find myself also admiring his writing, especially the way he weaves in personality and mundanity into these crazy characters and their crazy lives.
The Glass-KSR parallel was made doubly cool when, in KSR's other gigantic solar system opus (2312), Philip Glass's Satyagraha was the elevator music. Space elevator music. Because - of course it would be!
Anyway. Green Mars. We pick up 50 years after the eventful events of 2061, which finished off the first book (Red Mars, A+++). 2061 was when an awful third world war consumed Earth and Mars caught fire (figuratively and, in some brain-boggling moments, literally). This cataclysmic craziness has driven most of the surviving First Hundred (the first hundred scientists who were sent to establish a Mars colony) underground (again, figuratively and literally). It has also given up the red planet to corporate interests, who are promptly following their profit motive and raping the hell out of it. This book is about the First Hundred and their as-ever conflicting visions for the future of Mars, now also conflicting with the second- and third-generation colonists who are all super-tall sexy Amazon types with weird social mores. Basically, hippie commune types, raised on tons of milk.
This is a long, dense, challenging read, divided into sections dedicated to various protagonists. It feels a bit like Dr. Zhivago at times, in terms of its scope (and, OK, the presence of Russian characters). It also feels like a geology textbook, or something by John Muir. As in Battlestar Galactica, or other long-form stories, characters' narrative arcs wax and wane in ways that are unexpected but - oh jeez - compelling. Vast, even! EPIC. I speak especially of Sax. Much like my feelings for Colonel Tigh in BSG, I was neutral/uninterested in Sax/Tigh in the beginning, until their story went so completely bonkers insane that I could not look away. And then: oh man is Sax my favorite character. (It used to be Arkady and Nadia in Red Mars.) Oh man is Sax now the BEST. Look what he did to Deimos!! Who does that!?! God, he's so great. Great!
Is this book for everyone? Or every self-described SF/F fan? Probably not. I feel like most people - if they're going to be turned off - are going to be turned off by the ultra-dense technical writing interspersed with slyly radical leftist ideals ("Red" Mars indeed, ho ho). i.e. Some people might find it boring and kinda offensive/eye-rolly, if they're not into anarcho-commune stuff. This is definitely NOT space opera in the usual kind, it is definitely subliminally left-wing (whereas much mainstream SF feels sub right-wing) nor is it mind-bogglingly weird the way some (great) sci-fi can be. Instead, it's one of those "we use SF to put the lens on ourselves", in that - reading this - you understand things like the Russian revolution a lot better. And colonialism!
Anyway. If this sounds vaguely up your alley (tech porn + history porn + long, dense reading + anarchist undercurrents + a crazy scientist + in space), then OH WOW will you be rewarded. I feel almost that I trivialize it by making jokes in my review. But this really is an astounding epic, a feat that should be lauded for a long long time. I definitely count this in my top 10.
The Glass-KSR parallel was made doubly cool when, in KSR's other gigantic solar system opus (2312), Philip Glass's Satyagraha was the elevator music. Space elevator music. Because - of course it would be!
Anyway. Green Mars. We pick up 50 years after the eventful events of 2061, which finished off the first book (Red Mars, A+++). 2061 was when an awful third world war consumed Earth and Mars caught fire (figuratively and, in some brain-boggling moments, literally). This cataclysmic craziness has driven most of the surviving First Hundred (the first hundred scientists who were sent to establish a Mars colony) underground (again, figuratively and literally). It has also given up the red planet to corporate interests, who are promptly following their profit motive and raping the hell out of it. This book is about the First Hundred and their as-ever conflicting visions for the future of Mars, now also conflicting with the second- and third-generation colonists who are all super-tall sexy Amazon types with weird social mores. Basically, hippie commune types, raised on tons of milk.
This is a long, dense, challenging read, divided into sections dedicated to various protagonists. It feels a bit like Dr. Zhivago at times, in terms of its scope (and, OK, the presence of Russian characters). It also feels like a geology textbook, or something by John Muir. As in Battlestar Galactica, or other long-form stories, characters' narrative arcs wax and wane in ways that are unexpected but - oh jeez - compelling. Vast, even! EPIC. I speak especially of Sax. Much like my feelings for Colonel Tigh in BSG, I was neutral/uninterested in Sax/Tigh in the beginning, until their story went so completely bonkers insane that I could not look away. And then: oh man is Sax my favorite character. (It used to be Arkady and Nadia in Red Mars.) Oh man is Sax now the BEST. Look what he did to Deimos!! Who does that!?! God, he's so great. Great!
Is this book for everyone? Or every self-described SF/F fan? Probably not. I feel like most people - if they're going to be turned off - are going to be turned off by the ultra-dense technical writing interspersed with slyly radical leftist ideals ("Red" Mars indeed, ho ho). i.e. Some people might find it boring and kinda offensive/eye-rolly, if they're not into anarcho-commune stuff. This is definitely NOT space opera in the usual kind, it is definitely subliminally left-wing (whereas much mainstream SF feels sub right-wing) nor is it mind-bogglingly weird the way some (great) sci-fi can be. Instead, it's one of those "we use SF to put the lens on ourselves", in that - reading this - you understand things like the Russian revolution a lot better. And colonialism!
Anyway. If this sounds vaguely up your alley (tech porn + history porn + long, dense reading + anarchist undercurrents + a crazy scientist + in space), then OH WOW will you be rewarded. I feel almost that I trivialize it by making jokes in my review. But this really is an astounding epic, a feat that should be lauded for a long long time. I definitely count this in my top 10.
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It lacks a bit of the magic of the first novel, but it benefits from narrowing the focus to a smaller group of “perspective” characters. This book focuses less on terraforming and more on politics, with some interesting side-story themes like the effects of the immorality drug deployed in the first novel. It was nice to see so many of the first 100 undergo so much character development and true lily change in this chapter of the story, especially Sax and Maya (both of which were a bit one dimensional in the first book).
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes