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A review by andrewspink
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This is a long book and at a given moment it transitions from being an epic into just going on too long. A severe edit would have improved it no end.
It was written back in 1992, and that is obvious in a number of ways. Firstly, we now know a lot more about Mars. Not a lot of water for a start. Secondly, it is bizarrely still in a sort of cold war situation, with Russia and America dominant and China nowhere to be seen. The technology is also oddly quaint with instruments printing out onto graph paper and even a fax machine at one point. On the other hand, Crispr-cas was predicted, which was impressive.
I see why this is regarded as a classic, but I just wish that it had been a bit shorter.
It was written back in 1992, and that is obvious in a number of ways. Firstly, we now know a lot more about Mars. Not a lot of water for a start. Secondly, it is bizarrely still in a sort of cold war situation, with Russia and America dominant and China nowhere to be seen. The technology is also oddly quaint with instruments printing out onto graph paper and even a fax machine at one point. On the other hand, Crispr-cas was predicted, which was impressive.
I see why this is regarded as a classic, but I just wish that it had been a bit shorter.