Scan barcode
A review by teokajlibroj
Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
1.0
Red Mars was an interesting adventure to a new planet, with a few weak spots. Unfortunately, Green Mars has all these weaknesses and none of the strengths. Honestly, I got halfway through before my spirit was completely crushed and I just couldn't care less about what happened, and felt sure nothing would.
The characters were never the strongest part of Red Mars, but Green Mars doesn't even try to make them even slightly engaging. They are all dull, featureless people who are incapable of having a normal conversation that isn't about their work. At no point does anyone have anything remotely close to fun in this book, they work, talk about work, think about work, talk about someone else's work and work some more.
The best way to describe this book is to imagine speanding hours stuck in a car and the only way to entertain yourself is by looking out the window. That's most of the book, just endless descriptions of the geography of Mars. The Sax chapters were particularly awful and as interesting as watching paint dry. You would think an undercover spy would make an interesting story, but he just spends most of his time looking at rocks.
I'm not sure if there is a plot in this book or why I should care about it. There is some mumbo jumbo about the need for a new society and a new way of thinking but no one ever gets around to what it should be. The economics is as incoherent as a stoned hippie "Hey man, what if people, like, just, man, shared everything?" The philosophy is "something, something, love". There are numerous points where characters spend hours or days in silent contemplation, it's just a shame we never learn what they are thinking in anything except the most vague way.
Some people claim this book is political or deals with the social impact of life on Mars. I have no idea what they are talking about.
The characters were never the strongest part of Red Mars, but Green Mars doesn't even try to make them even slightly engaging. They are all dull, featureless people who are incapable of having a normal conversation that isn't about their work. At no point does anyone have anything remotely close to fun in this book, they work, talk about work, think about work, talk about someone else's work and work some more.
The best way to describe this book is to imagine speanding hours stuck in a car and the only way to entertain yourself is by looking out the window. That's most of the book, just endless descriptions of the geography of Mars. The Sax chapters were particularly awful and as interesting as watching paint dry. You would think an undercover spy would make an interesting story, but he just spends most of his time looking at rocks.
I'm not sure if there is a plot in this book or why I should care about it. There is some mumbo jumbo about the need for a new society and a new way of thinking but no one ever gets around to what it should be. The economics is as incoherent as a stoned hippie "Hey man, what if people, like, just, man, shared everything?" The philosophy is "something, something, love". There are numerous points where characters spend hours or days in silent contemplation, it's just a shame we never learn what they are thinking in anything except the most vague way.
Some people claim this book is political or deals with the social impact of life on Mars. I have no idea what they are talking about.