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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
I had to put this in the dnf pile once I got to the overly long description of the formation of Mars on pg 94. This and reading about exactly how they have to maneuver to get into orbit are just boring me. If the characters or story around this were more compelling, maybe I'd stick with it, but based on other reviews, that isn't going to happen. I really should have quit after the first equation in the text.
I don't mind some hard science, but if it doesn't further the story, it doesn't need to be there. I'd rather read a non-fiction account of physics or the planet Mars than have that within a fictional story. I have this problem with both hard sci-fi and historical fiction authors. Just because you researched it to give you a better understanding of how your fictional take on this sort of thing would work doesn't mean it needs to be put into your prose.
I don't mind some hard science, but if it doesn't further the story, it doesn't need to be there. I'd rather read a non-fiction account of physics or the planet Mars than have that within a fictional story. I have this problem with both hard sci-fi and historical fiction authors. Just because you researched it to give you a better understanding of how your fictional take on this sort of thing would work doesn't mean it needs to be put into your prose.
An exceptional series. I've read a lot of Mars books, but this may be the best. Read the whole series.
Dense, ten page long descriptions of natural events. Uneven characterization with a questionable view of women. Six protagonists. Time-skips of a decade or more. Red Mars is ambitious, sometimes absurdly so, and that ambition forces author Kim Stanley Robinson to make questionable structural choices. It's the story of a near-future Martian colonization effort, funded by the UN and with a group of 100 scientists and engineers as its pioneers. The novel is split into eight parts that take place over a roughly thirty year time-span, with the first kicking off in medias res and the following four parts backing up to show how we got there. Each part switches protagonists, which allows you to see a new viewpoint on Mars, the colonization project, and just what it is that humans are even doing there, as Robinson shows you the political, scientific, and infrastructural development of human life on Mars. This absurd structure somehow hangs together and manages to feel plausible, both emotionally and scientifically.
The weakest point of Red Mars is its characterization. Two-hundred pages are spent with characters that read as caricatures, at best, both hotbeds of Robinson's worst tendencies. When writing Maya and Frank, he resorts to stereotypes, often explicitly. With Maya, these stereotypes are blatantly misogynist. With Frank, they are less offensive, but still boring stereotypes about politicians. In both cases, the book becomes predictable and dull, and nuanced characterization falls by the wayside in favor of dubious references to big concepts. Frank is a "Machiavellian" and is from Washington D.C., and this fact alone is supposed to substitute for any ideology or motivation that he might have. Maya wants to control men (though she doesn't, really) because of never explained societal pressures. If these characters sound ill-conceived to you, it's because they are.
The strongest point of Red Mars is its characterization. From the very beginning, Robinson is eager to show you that the "first hundred," our pioneers, might be the brightest of Earth, but they're not the best; they're not flawless. This point is both explicit, in that they are selected for characteristics that you wouldn't usually think of as being ideal for future leaders, and implicit. If you're going to Mars, after all, it probably means that you didn't have much keeping you on Earth for one reason or another, and Robinson doesn't shy away from this fact. Every character is a bit unbalanced, and you get the sense that most of them, with the exception of Nadia and Arkady, perhaps, would not be very likable if you actually met them. Robinson shows a broad range in his characterization, from Nadia's recessive yet energetic competence to John's arrogant but undeniable charisma. At his best, Robinson is tender with his characters; he's able to show why even ideas that seem patently absurd on their face would be so appealing to a certain kind of person.
Terraforming is a constant question, project, and looming threat in Red Mars. Some, including the book's own marketing material, go as far as to describe it as the central theme of the book, though this is an oversimplification. Robinson's strength is in showing how much more powerful than people any sort of large movement or system is, whether that movement is a political revolution or a natural catastrophe. He ridicules the idea that humans can simply decide to make a planet a certain way, or decide to make a society a certain way. The copious natural imagery in this book is beautiful, and it is also horrifying and exhausting in places, but that is by design, just as the social and political upheaval in the book is designed to be ugly. Robinson spends the first two-thirds of the book building up legendary figures, and by the end of the book, he has torn them all down in spectacular fashion.
It's this talent for scale that makes Red Mars so memorable. Robinson's legends never feel forced or contrived. When he describes a great global storm that goes on for years and lives on in the memories of the populace forever, the beginning of it is so subtle that you barely notice it, but it keeps going in the background for so long that by the time he describes it as something significant, you're nodding along. The legend of John Boone is so believable because you, the reader, feel yourself somehow convinced by his charisma through the page. Robinson can convince you that an entire world changes because of these things, and that means that he can also create intense, heavy, unique suspense when he convinces you, too, that they are changing again dramatically. Mars changes again and again in this book, in every conceivable way, and it is momentous, beautiful, and terrible every time. Red Mars shows you every giant shift and every tiny wrinkle of its story, and by leaving you to constantly ask yourself an impossible question, whether or not any of this was worth it, it fills you with dread every every step of the way.
The weakest point of Red Mars is its characterization. Two-hundred pages are spent with characters that read as caricatures, at best, both hotbeds of Robinson's worst tendencies. When writing Maya and Frank, he resorts to stereotypes, often explicitly. With Maya, these stereotypes are blatantly misogynist. With Frank, they are less offensive, but still boring stereotypes about politicians. In both cases, the book becomes predictable and dull, and nuanced characterization falls by the wayside in favor of dubious references to big concepts. Frank is a "Machiavellian" and is from Washington D.C., and this fact alone is supposed to substitute for any ideology or motivation that he might have. Maya wants to control men (though she doesn't, really) because of never explained societal pressures. If these characters sound ill-conceived to you, it's because they are.
The strongest point of Red Mars is its characterization. From the very beginning, Robinson is eager to show you that the "first hundred," our pioneers, might be the brightest of Earth, but they're not the best; they're not flawless. This point is both explicit, in that they are selected for characteristics that you wouldn't usually think of as being ideal for future leaders, and implicit. If you're going to Mars, after all, it probably means that you didn't have much keeping you on Earth for one reason or another, and Robinson doesn't shy away from this fact. Every character is a bit unbalanced, and you get the sense that most of them, with the exception of Nadia and Arkady, perhaps, would not be very likable if you actually met them. Robinson shows a broad range in his characterization, from Nadia's recessive yet energetic competence to John's arrogant but undeniable charisma. At his best, Robinson is tender with his characters; he's able to show why even ideas that seem patently absurd on their face would be so appealing to a certain kind of person.
Terraforming is a constant question, project, and looming threat in Red Mars. Some, including the book's own marketing material, go as far as to describe it as the central theme of the book, though this is an oversimplification. Robinson's strength is in showing how much more powerful than people any sort of large movement or system is, whether that movement is a political revolution or a natural catastrophe. He ridicules the idea that humans can simply decide to make a planet a certain way, or decide to make a society a certain way. The copious natural imagery in this book is beautiful, and it is also horrifying and exhausting in places, but that is by design, just as the social and political upheaval in the book is designed to be ugly. Robinson spends the first two-thirds of the book building up legendary figures, and by the end of the book, he has torn them all down in spectacular fashion.
It's this talent for scale that makes Red Mars so memorable. Robinson's legends never feel forced or contrived. When he describes a great global storm that goes on for years and lives on in the memories of the populace forever, the beginning of it is so subtle that you barely notice it, but it keeps going in the background for so long that by the time he describes it as something significant, you're nodding along. The legend of John Boone is so believable because you, the reader, feel yourself somehow convinced by his charisma through the page. Robinson can convince you that an entire world changes because of these things, and that means that he can also create intense, heavy, unique suspense when he convinces you, too, that they are changing again dramatically. Mars changes again and again in this book, in every conceivable way, and it is momentous, beautiful, and terrible every time. Red Mars shows you every giant shift and every tiny wrinkle of its story, and by leaving you to constantly ask yourself an impossible question, whether or not any of this was worth it, it fills you with dread every every step of the way.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
adventurous
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Absolutely tedious. Love the author but the writing style is horrendously detailed and I don’t need a 5 page description of Mars every chapter. Skipped over parts of it.
This was a sci-fi series that was a little to deep for me. This I'd recommend for lovers of Mars and for committed fans of sci-fi.
I wanted to take the time to write a helpful and thoughtful review, but my life isn't allowing it. So I have to summarize.
This book is a mess. It doesn't know where it's going or what motivates its characters. Mix in shallow political intrigue and rambly hard science, and it's difficult to pay attention. My mind wandered relentlessly, even during deliberate rereads of sections. I hope the science is at least accurate.
Nothing matters in this story. You trudge through hundreds upon hundreds of pages to find out that you don't care about anyone and that Mars is relentless as humas are greedy. It's not very subtle and it's horribly boring.
This book is a mess. It doesn't know where it's going or what motivates its characters. Mix in shallow political intrigue and rambly hard science, and it's difficult to pay attention. My mind wandered relentlessly, even during deliberate rereads of sections. I hope the science is at least accurate.
Nothing matters in this story. You trudge through hundreds upon hundreds of pages to find out that you don't care about anyone and that Mars is relentless as humas are greedy. It's not very subtle and it's horribly boring.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-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
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes