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A review by nelsonminar
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
5.0
Many thanks to Dave for loaning this to me. I love going back to reading sci-fi, it tends to be so pleasurable. Especially when it's well written and the story is so compelling. Believe me, Genet or Tannenbaum doesn't inspire me to read 200 pages at a sitting. Why not?
Red Mars is the story of Earth deciding to colonize Mars, and the people who make it happen. Most of the book centers on the First Hundred, the first group of scientists and engineers who are sent to start up the colony. Robinson's great strength is in his characterizations, as well as his ability to juggle many people and plotlines through a 500 page novel. His writing is a mixture of good scifi and good soap opera: lots of personal and sexual politics, intrigue, and old-fashioned scifi entertainment.
One thing that really stood out for me was the sense of entitlement the First Hundred feel to Mars, especially after it starts to be settled by thousands of people from Earth. They were there first, they created a life, and their loss of control of Mars is the major plot. Robinson almost exactly describes how old-timers talk about the Internet: we built it, and now it's being taken away from us! I'm not sure I have a right to feel that way myself (I've only been on net since 1990), but the parallel between Mars and the Internet was very interesting.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who's a scifi fan, likes good reads with fun characters. I've been waiting to read the sequel Green Mars for a few weeks, spreading out the time until the trilogy is finished.
Red Mars is the story of Earth deciding to colonize Mars, and the people who make it happen. Most of the book centers on the First Hundred, the first group of scientists and engineers who are sent to start up the colony. Robinson's great strength is in his characterizations, as well as his ability to juggle many people and plotlines through a 500 page novel. His writing is a mixture of good scifi and good soap opera: lots of personal and sexual politics, intrigue, and old-fashioned scifi entertainment.
One thing that really stood out for me was the sense of entitlement the First Hundred feel to Mars, especially after it starts to be settled by thousands of people from Earth. They were there first, they created a life, and their loss of control of Mars is the major plot. Robinson almost exactly describes how old-timers talk about the Internet: we built it, and now it's being taken away from us! I'm not sure I have a right to feel that way myself (I've only been on net since 1990), but the parallel between Mars and the Internet was very interesting.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who's a scifi fan, likes good reads with fun characters. I've been waiting to read the sequel Green Mars for a few weeks, spreading out the time until the trilogy is finished.