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A review by davemeister28
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
2.0
I didn't truly know that I didn't really care for this book until I took it with me out of town with 30 pages to go, and four days later, I hadn't bothered to find time to finish it. But, although the novel might not be the most compelling, it has some good points.
The book is organized into eight parts of varying lengths, each mostly centered on one of the "first hundred" colonists to Mars. The parts (mostly) chronologically take the reader through the rough history of humanity's establishment of a foothold on the barren planet. So, to most fans of science fiction, the premise is plenty interesting.
Unfortunately, though, the book suffers for being too broad of scope--you could perhaps say that Robinson bit off more than he could chew. The result is a story that is as barren as the landscape of the planet being described; the tale does not have enough substance. It really only scratches the surface of what happens during the ~50 years of history that are narrated mostly through the eyes of eight or ten very different characters--all in under 600 pages.
I think the book would have been better it had been longer, more fleshed out, more contiguous, less ... thin. Robinson effectively establishes the setting and narrative early on, but then events unfold altogether too rapidly, with little substance or explanation. Shortcuts are taken--for example, the construction of massive settlements in no time is explained with a hasty (and repeated) refrain: even the modern engineers are awed by the power of the machines humanity now wields--city-sized construction robots that turn sand into the Martian equivalent of steel then automatically carve niches in mountains and assemble dwellings, and more machines that build globe-spanning roadways to find, collect, and deliver water, all with nearly zero human guidance. And water is somehow abundant on Mars, found seemingly without trying, yet the explanations of why are only halfheartedly attempted.
In short, it's all too easy, and the result is a story that does not entice. If you decide you must read Red Mars (and its series mates, Marses of the Blue and Green persuasion), I suggest you engage skim mode and plow through the pages like a rover through a dust storm. It's worth doing if you're interested enough, but don't hold lofty expectations.
The book is organized into eight parts of varying lengths, each mostly centered on one of the "first hundred" colonists to Mars. The parts (mostly) chronologically take the reader through the rough history of humanity's establishment of a foothold on the barren planet. So, to most fans of science fiction, the premise is plenty interesting.
Unfortunately, though, the book suffers for being too broad of scope--you could perhaps say that Robinson bit off more than he could chew. The result is a story that is as barren as the landscape of the planet being described; the tale does not have enough substance. It really only scratches the surface of what happens during the ~50 years of history that are narrated mostly through the eyes of eight or ten very different characters--all in under 600 pages.
I think the book would have been better it had been longer, more fleshed out, more contiguous, less ... thin. Robinson effectively establishes the setting and narrative early on, but then events unfold altogether too rapidly, with little substance or explanation. Shortcuts are taken--for example, the construction of massive settlements in no time is explained with a hasty (and repeated) refrain: even the modern engineers are awed by the power of the machines humanity now wields--city-sized construction robots that turn sand into the Martian equivalent of steel then automatically carve niches in mountains and assemble dwellings, and more machines that build globe-spanning roadways to find, collect, and deliver water, all with nearly zero human guidance. And water is somehow abundant on Mars, found seemingly without trying, yet the explanations of why are only halfheartedly attempted.
In short, it's all too easy, and the result is a story that does not entice. If you decide you must read Red Mars (and its series mates, Marses of the Blue and Green persuasion), I suggest you engage skim mode and plow through the pages like a rover through a dust storm. It's worth doing if you're interested enough, but don't hold lofty expectations.