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sdwoodchuck 's review for:
Red Mars
by Kim Stanley Robinson
A space ship carries one hundred(?) colonists to Mars to establish the first permanent colony on the planet. The colonists begin butting heads immediately, disagreeing on the direction they should take the planet, disagreeing on which aspects of their new life deserve priority, and disagreeing on how much influence should be accepted from their superiors back on a rapidly-declining Earth. Over the course of decades the colonists are joined by new arrivals, as Mars spirals toward revolution and civil war.
This is my second Robinson novel (after 2312), and I gotta say, the folks I've talked to about him have really sold his work short. I keep hearing how dry he is, and how "cardboard" his characters are, and while I agree that his stories function as broad strokes more than in immediate emotions and interactions, I still feel that his characters are something more than basic functional. Here in particular he uses the varied perspectives to show just how unreliable each individual perspective is, not only on the behaviors of everyone else, but in their views of themselves as well. As the first part of a trilogy, it's hard to judge the work as a total, but so far it's very enjoyable, and if the later entries pay off this setup, I'll be very pleased.