Product Description
In his most ambitious project to date, award-winning author Kim Stanley Robinson utilizes years of research and cutting-edge science in the first of three novels that will chronicle the colonization of Mars.For eons, sandstorms have swept the barren desolate landscape of the red planet. For centuries, Mars has beckoned to mankind to come and conquer its hostile climate. Now, in the year 2026, a group of one hundred colonists is about to fulfill that destiny.John Boone, Maya Toitavna, Frank Chalmers, and Arkady Bogdanov lead a mission whose ultimate goal is the terraforming of Mars. For some, Mars will become a passion driving them to daring acts of courage and madness; for others it offers and opportunity to strip the planet of its riches. And for the genetic "alchemists, " Mars presents a chance to create a biomedical miracle, a breakthrough that could change all we know about life...and death.The colonists place giant satellite mirrors in Martian orbit to reflect light to the planets surface. Black dust sprinkled on the polar caps will capture warmth and melt the ice. And massive tunnels, kilometers in depth, will be drilled into the Martian mantle to create stupendous vents of hot gases. Against this backdrop of epic upheaval, rivalries, loves, and friendships will form and fall to pieces--for there are those who will fight to the death to prevent Mars from ever being changed.Brilliantly imagined, breathtaking in scope and ingenuity, Red Mars is an epic scientific saga, chronicling the next step in human evolution and creating a world in its entirety. Red Mars shows us a future, with both glory and tarnish, that awes with complexity and inspires with vision.

Amazon.com Review
Red Mars opens with a tragic murder, an event that becomes the focal point for the surviving characters and the turning point in a long intrigue that pits idealistic Mars colonists against a desperately overpopulated Earth, radical political groups of all stripes against each other, and the interests of transnational corporations against the dreams of the pioneers. This is a vast book: a chronicle of the exploration of Mars with some of the most engaging, vivid, and human characters in recent science fiction. Robinson fantasizes brilliantly about the science of terraforming a hostile world, analyzes the socio-economic forces that propel and attempt to control real interplanetary colonization, and imagines the diverse reactions that humanity would have to the dead, red planet. Red Mars is so magnificent a story, you will want to move on to Blue Mars and Green Mars. But this first, most beautiful book is definitely the best of the three. Readers new to Robinson may want to follow up with some other books that take place in the colonized solar system of the future: either his earlier (less polished but more carefree) The Memory of Whiteness and Icehenge, or 1998's Antarctica. --L. Blunt Jackson

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 394 reviews)

Prepare for a LONG ride by Kindle Reader (New Jersey)

1 Stars
October 30, 2009
This was positively the most frustrating book I have ever read. Where others might criticize me for being shallow or unthoughtful, still the average Joe will have problems managing this book. The author loves to flex his vocabulary, on many occasions even confounding Webster's. I know Mensa candidates that don't use laguage this complex. Where the author does love lengthy prose, he seldom infuses that with anything descriptive enough to stimulate the mind's eye into any vision whatsoever. If what you want is in-depth analysis of interpersonal relationships, endless posturings of political and neo-political positions, and psychological explanations that boggle the most complex of thought and function structures, then by all means read these books. You will love them. But if you want a good tale of Mars, to relax and let a truly talented author paint pictures in your mind, then don't waste your money. This author would be far better suited to using his talents to explore and write textbooks than attempting to make quick cash by stroking his own ego within the science fiction genre. Why does every author think they will win a Pulitzer anyway? Let's face it- we all aren't Ernest Hemingway. The pace is very slow, the story very thin, and the language very complex. This is most definitely NOT a roller-coaster ride of imagery designed to keep you turning the pages. It is far better suited to those that like to read a line, process it, think it over a while, put the book down, talk about it with their friends and family, compare it to life events and interpersonal relationships, and then digest it for a day or two before reading the next line. Good luck finishing this one.

Sci-fi masterpiece by Y. Diouri (Morocco)

5 Stars
October 14, 2009
Hard sci-fi readers should never miss this milestone in science-fiction litterature. This passes way far from mediocre science-fiction where no technology is explained. In this book, you'll witness technology change, whether it's aeronautic, robotic, geologic, biologic, psychologic, politic... The characteres are full of personality (and there are a few...) and also confronting morales in a brand new world brought to a new life. Terraform or not terraform? Earth or Mars? How far the human being should go in making a new place home? And also, who's behind all the money which will make this possible?

Puts you on Mars by Dick Stanley (Austin, TX, United States)

5 Stars
October 08, 2009
As the cover blurb on the 1993 edition, by Arthur C. Clarke, has it: "It should be required reading for the colonists of the next century." Well here we are in that century and polls show and pols say there's not enough interest in going to Mars to bother. The novel is still worth the trip. It's light on the tech and sci and heavy on the human relationships among the First Hundred colonists of Americans and Russians. Their one-way vehicle to Mars in 2026 (still time for that) was nicely practical: a cluster of rotating toruses made of interconnected fuel tanks from shuttle stacks taken into orbit (rather than discarded over the ocean) by both the American shuttle (retiring next year) and the old Soviet one (which only flew a few times). So that's impossible, but the story still makes day-to-day life on Mars imaginable. It makes me want to put on my "walker" and helmet and go for a lope in the low g, guided by a personal AI on my wrist, even if the Internet is still confined to pre-Web bulletin boards. When Robinson does describe the tech he does it well. A favorite is the building and use of a space elevator between Pavonis Mons and a captured asteroid. Thirty-story elevator cars make the journey up and down in five days. Once out of the Mars gravity well, it's much simpler (and cheaper) to board a rocket for earth, or arrive on one and take an elevator down to the planet. All in all, a believable and, at times, fun read. No wonder it still sells well.

Three Times and I am Out by Reagan J. Zogby (Los Angeles, California)

2 Stars
September 29, 2009
Bought the trilogy a number of years ago. Started to read it twice, the second getting 160 pages in. When I saw it on Kindle, decided to give it a determined go. If you are into watching grass grow, then this book is for you. There are a large number of so so reviews recently which I would guess are people who picked this up via Kindle for free. Pages upon pages of scientific detail and meanderings. Made it nearly half way this time, but when I found myself simply turning pages looking for the end to the current dissertation, I asked myself why was I trying to keep on going. The characters simply get overwhelmed bythe scientific discourse. I mean, what is the point in reading a book where you are turning pages to avoid reading. This is not to say that this book might appeal to those who are interested in what it might take to colonize Mars, but for me, I would rather read NASA articles.

It's a science FICTION book. by IHiJump (Arkansas)

3 Stars
September 09, 2009
First of all I want to point out to the scientists that this is a science FICTION book. It wasn't intended to be a textbook on the colonization of Mars. Hence the raving review by Clarke. Yes, a solar-powered windmill on Mars is a bit far-fetched, but I was willing to overlook it because it is fiction. Now. I found the book in a discount book store and picked it up because it looked like a good read. I have to admit, I was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of filler in the book. I agree with one poster that the author appeared to be trying a bit to hard to display his general knowledge. I found myself skimming pages. The characters were certainly rigid. The author went to great pains to develop the characters but ultimately failed to give them any real depth (He's certainly no Orson Scott Card). The book begins in the middle of the story, flashes back to the beginning and then moves on. I thought this was strange. However, the general read, with the exception of scores of pages that could have been omitted, was good. I enjoyed following the characters through the story and ultimately to the safe haven at the end. I gave this book three stars because it held my attention long enough to finish it. However, I feel I will expect more from the second book (which I will begin this evening).

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