lissajohnston 's review for:

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

5.0

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I grew up in the era of the original Star Trek TV series and the Apollo missions. I was a big sci-fi fan in my teenage years, but gradually transitioned into other genres. This may explain why I somehow overlooked Robinson's Mars Trilogy until I saw a recent news blurb about it being made into a TV series (Red Mars was published in 1993). Better late than never! It's a real swash-buckler, with plenty of drama and conflict, and just the right amount of technobabble so that I was intrigued but not overwhelmed, or heaven forbid, bored. There's a wide range of characters, from brave heroes to sultry sirens to mad scientists to despicable scoundrels, and that's just for starters. One aspect of reading it 20+ years after the fact was the opportunity to compare the technology Robinson dreamed up with what has actually come to pass since 1993. I won't spoil it for you, but let's just say he either had some amazing predictive skills, or many of today's tech nerds were big Robinson fans back in the 90s and used his ideas for inspiration. As for the story itself, it's big. We have the grand themes of humanity and culture clashes. We have the interpersonal squabbles, petty jealousies, love affairs. All are set among a backdrop of one series after another of life-and-death situations, and that's as it should be. Not much happens on Mars that won't very likely end up killing you.

Reading Red Mars was also an interesting contrast since I had read The Martian (which I also loved) this past year. Both are highly entertaining in completely different ways. Two very different treatments. The Martian is a Robinson Crusoe/Castaway tale. Red Mars is more of a soap opera - think Michael Bay does Dynasty. If you're a sci-fi fan like me who somehow missed the memo on this one, grab it before the TV series comes out. I hope the series lives up to the original.