The red planet is red no longer, as Mars has become a perfectly inhabitable world. But while Mars flourishes, Earth is threatened by ove...
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Mar 31, 2011
Ron
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"Here we are." A genre, if not a literary tour de force. Blue Mars concludes nearly 2000 pages of Robinson's middle 1990s future history of the settling and development of Mars. While Robinson strays close to the border of ridiculous social commentary a la Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, most readers will identify his monumental achievement chronicling the physics, chemistry, biology--and, yes, even the psychology and politics of his brave new world.
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Jun 17, 2008
Bryan
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The last of the Mars trilogy was much of what I found in the previous two books. There are interesting parts where we get to delve into the science and technologies that are being employed throughout Mars. But in the end the story isn't cohesive enough to actually leave the reader with any idea what the point of the story was.
In book 1 we were introduced to a number of different characters which we have followed throughout the series, and we've seen how they've responded to diffe More...
In book 1 we were introduced to a number of different characters which we have followed throughout the series, and we've seen how they've responded to diffe More...
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Sep 04, 2007
Mike
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Warning: May contain spoilers from Red/Green Mars.
The final chapter in the saga of Martian colonization is by far the weakest. You'll probably want to read it if you read the first two, just to round out the story, but it's not the most exciting read, and doesn't really give the resolution you might hope for.
The book starts out near the end of the second Martial revolution. This time, the good guys won, or are about to win. The war was relatively (but not entirely) non-vi More...
The final chapter in the saga of Martian colonization is by far the weakest. You'll probably want to read it if you read the first two, just to round out the story, but it's not the most exciting read, and doesn't really give the resolution you might hope for.
The book starts out near the end of the second Martial revolution. This time, the good guys won, or are about to win. The war was relatively (but not entirely) non-vi More...
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Aug 16, 2011
Steven
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Good gracious, this book took me *forever* to plow through. About ten years ago I had read Red Mars and Green Mars, the previous two volumes in this trilogy, but had never gotten around to reading Blue Mars. (I think it had something to do with the sudden arrival of babies in the family...) Anyway, I finally snagged a copy of this one and dove in.
The story is basically the events following the Second Martian Revolution (which happened at the end of Green Mars), in which Mars becomes fu More...
The story is basically the events following the Second Martian Revolution (which happened at the end of Green Mars), in which Mars becomes fu More...
Apr 10, 2011
Angela
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Red Mars, the kickoff to Robinson's epic Mars trilogy, won the Nebula for best SF novel of 1992; its follow-up, Green Mars, won the parallel Hugo for 1994. The conclusion to the saga is not unlike the terrain of Robinson's Red Planet: fertile and fully developed in some spots, vast and arid in others -- but, ultimately, it's an impressive achievement. Using the last 200 years of American history as his template for Martian history, Robinson projects his tale of Mars's colonization from the 21st
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Aug 18, 2011
kingshearte
rated it: 
Quite frankly, it's been a while since I've been this glad to finally finish a book. The first two books in this trilogy had, as I've mentioned, reasonably compelling plotlines that were bogged down in extraneous detail. This one had the same level of detail, but less plot. It suffered from something I find tends to happen in stories of vast and epic scope: lack of cohesive direction, which becomes particularly noticeable as you get toward the end and you can't identify a clear endpoint toward w
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May 22, 2011
Dhamma
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Third and obviously the final in the amazing Mars trilogy. Theres less actual violence of action in this book but, the themes of Ecological sustainability and Economic and Social Justice is further explored. There is also a greater undercurrent of emotions that run through the main characters as compared to the other books in the trilogy. Mars is made completely independent with its own economic system though, they still have minor influences from earth. The problem of Ecological sustainability
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Jun 16, 2011
Andrewcharles420
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I loved how far into the future this book got to go technologically, and you could feel the fun KSR had going there; Green might have been too technical, keeping all the advances plausible, and Red was more about the journey than the details--though that kept its developments looking possible and hopefully even likely. I loved the culture of the Martians, and generally all of the space-faring societies (which is to say, Earth's old ways looked pretty shabby); their acceptance of personal choices
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Nov 12, 2011
Jon
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The trilogy is much better on a reread, but I'm still hard pressed to make a judgement. The Silmarillion may be the closest comparison: these books span centuries and much is told in summary. (Contrast Foundation, which covers a long story by skipping forward but with immediate narration.) It may also be tedious to wade through scores of pages with characters arguing forms of government, economic policy, etc. etc., although I find it at least somewhat interesting. If you like that aspect of Moon
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Jun 07, 2009
Billy
rated it:
Excellent hard science fiction.
Starts as your classic colonization story.
Evolves into a clash between two political parties:
The Reds- want to keep Mars in its natural form.
The Greens- want to terraform Mars to make it an alternative planet for humans to live on, since Earth has been ruined by global warming and overpopulation.
The trilogy takes place over a period of over a hundred years. Most narration comes from the First Hundred, the landing party of colonist More...
Starts as your classic colonization story.
Evolves into a clash between two political parties:
The Reds- want to keep Mars in its natural form.
The Greens- want to terraform Mars to make it an alternative planet for humans to live on, since Earth has been ruined by global warming and overpopulation.
The trilogy takes place over a period of over a hundred years. Most narration comes from the First Hundred, the landing party of colonist More...
Jun 22, 2009
Elizabeth
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The scope and scale of the series was both a good thing and a bad thing. There was a lot going on that was interesting, but often the sheer size of what had to be covered meant that only a shallow survey could be taken.
I think my largest issue with the book was that occasionally it would feel like the characters were less individuals and more mouthpieces and eyewitnesses. An excuse to be in a particular place - Zo and Ann take a field trip to Uranus. Or talking about a particular to More...
I think my largest issue with the book was that occasionally it would feel like the characters were less individuals and more mouthpieces and eyewitnesses. An excuse to be in a particular place - Zo and Ann take a field trip to Uranus. Or talking about a particular to More...
Jul 28, 2011
Ashryn
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The first two books read like truth, I found myself talking about things I was reading as if they were actually happening. E.g. "On Mars, nangs are the recreational drug of choice because it is so rare in their atmosphere"
The last book of this series really slowed it down. It spent far more time than was necessary describing the landscapes and sunsets, to the point where I started skimming over pages at a time (which I haven't done for years) looking for the point where th More...
The last book of this series really slowed it down. It spent far more time than was necessary describing the landscapes and sunsets, to the point where I started skimming over pages at a time (which I haven't done for years) looking for the point where th More...
Jul 26, 2011
Nicholas
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A good book, but definitely weaker than the first two books in the trilogy. The biggest flaw, in my opinion, was a lack of conflict and tension - as Mars has already won their freedom from earth to start this novel. Kim Stanley Robinson's ideas remain fascinating, however. Most of this book explores how human civilization will advance given the technological advances made by the Martians in the first two novels. The further colonization of the solar system and the first steps toward colonizi
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Apr 27, 2009
Robin
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For me, this trilogy is one of those life-changing books - something you talk about, and think about years later. If we ever go to Mars - this is the way it should be done. For those of you not familiar with Kim Stanley Robinson, his science is so grounded in real, hard, current science - it's called future history.
For those of you scared of sci-fi being too boring - much like that physics class you hated - relax. Robinson gives you the basic idea, without pages to describe just More...
For those of you scared of sci-fi being too boring - much like that physics class you hated - relax. Robinson gives you the basic idea, without pages to describe just More...
Sep 17, 2011
James
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I would take this trilogy as my only books to a desert island. Just finished reading them for the second time and still amazing. I reckon in about 10,000 years someone will discover these books somewhere and think that they're actually history books not fiction. The detail, research and depth within the books is astounding and along with The Lord of the Rings, this is my other "must read" trilogy.
Quite politics driven and character driven this book but the other two set the s More...
Quite politics driven and character driven this book but the other two set the s More...
Oct 05, 2011
Andreas
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Consisting of:
Red Mars
Green Mars.
Blue Mars.
This series on the colonization of Mars is spectacularly wide ranging and epic. It is very well written and researched. While it is enjoyable, my big gripe is that Mr. Robinson leaves no stone unturned. He wants to explore so many things that the main push of the story gets lost. Or maybe this is less of a story and more of a chronicle. But even so, there is too much stuff going on. Admittedly most of that stuff More...
Red Mars
Green Mars.
Blue Mars.
This series on the colonization of Mars is spectacularly wide ranging and epic. It is very well written and researched. While it is enjoyable, my big gripe is that Mr. Robinson leaves no stone unturned. He wants to explore so many things that the main push of the story gets lost. Or maybe this is less of a story and more of a chronicle. But even so, there is too much stuff going on. Admittedly most of that stuff More...
Feb 19, 2011
Ana
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Love this entire series. A bit long and dry, yes, but the technical details and descriptions are what I love. This one goes a bit more into the people that the prior two, but still has great in-depth descriptions of what's surrounding them and discussions of what's going on with the planet. Yes, I am a dork.
Certainly not for anyone who is looking for a good read so much as someone who is interested in possible methods of transforming Mars and detailed descriptions of the scenery and More...
Certainly not for anyone who is looking for a good read so much as someone who is interested in possible methods of transforming Mars and detailed descriptions of the scenery and More...
Oct 28, 2009
Akiva
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The most exciting part of this entire mammoth trilogy was the first section of the first book. The rest of the series is fairly dry. But what a dry! Somehow it manages to stay quite gripping despite the dearth of traditional narrative action. If we colonize Mars I imagine that it will go something like this book. This book does not neatly tie up loose ends or have a particularly thrilling and cathartic conclusion, but I think that is okay and in the spirit of the enterprise. It could probably ha
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Sep 05, 2009
Thermalsatsuma
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The final book in the trilogy continues the themes already established, elaborating on the aspects of terraforming necessary to allow blue skies and open seas on Mars. The political themes are also expanded as well, particularly the challenges posed by the Earth reaching the absolute limits of its native population which continues to grow as more people take the treatments that potentially extend life by hundreds of years.
This book covers a longer time span than the previous two, and More...
This book covers a longer time span than the previous two, and More...
Jan 12, 2012
Ryan
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These three books form a single narrative spanning nearly two hundred years of human colonization and terraformation on Mars. It is a sprawling epic, ponderous and magnificent, charting the development of a uniquely Martian civilization from the earliest landings through wars, revolutions and waves of immigration on the face of a rapidly changing planet.
But make no mistake: for all of the drama, the triumphs and disasters, there is in fact very little “action,” and that usually repo More...
But make no mistake: for all of the drama, the triumphs and disasters, there is in fact very little “action,” and that usually repo More...
Jul 27, 2011
Tresuiri
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In terms of the series, I think this installment was the weakest in overall science. It felt more like a soap opera, carried out over the first 100's life time. I was impressed with some of the social concepts: self sufficient floating cities, feral groups roaming the wilderness, a resurgence of communism on a global scale - the 'next social working order' (on Mars) as the author termed it, and the exoskeletons for flying. There was some good core science fiction mixed in too. It is depres
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Mar 01, 2011
Dale
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Robinson's Mars trilogy finishes up strong as the logical progression of the novels leaves behind the era of exploration and colonization and heads into the realms of government formation, resource management, and medical research. All of these aspects of society are interwoven with the futuristic, sci-fi trappings of the series and its premise, but Robinson manages to pull off a really interesting trick in that the longer the trilogy goes on, the less and less life on Mars seems alien and the
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Oct 09, 2011
Ed
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What struck me most about the first two books, Red Mars and Green Mars, is how little they read like science fiction novels. Sci-fi usually has deeply conceptual hooks, which are part of what makes me enjoy the genre. The first books of the Mars trilogy, by contrast, read more like a history of the future: there are believable, well conceived characters living amid technologies that do not stretch the imagination like most tales of space exploration I've encountered before.
That chang More...
That chang More...
Dec 13, 2010
Nathan
rated it:
Changed this from a 4 start to a 5 star review on a re-read... The Mars books deserve nothing less and rank as one of the "great works" of American science fiction.
My first readthrough was "back in the day"... mid 90's as the novels were coming out. I remember liking them alot at the time, with Blue being a bit slow. However now I'd place them among the "great works" of science fiction. I've done a lot and read a lot in the time since which only deepene More...
My first readthrough was "back in the day"... mid 90's as the novels were coming out. I remember liking them alot at the time, with Blue being a bit slow. However now I'd place them among the "great works" of science fiction. I've done a lot and read a lot in the time since which only deepene More...
Jun 02, 2010
Nicolas
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jan 01, 2012
Brad
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This review was written in the late nineties (just for myself), and it was buried in amongst my things until today, when I uncovered the journal it was written in. I have transcribed it verbatim from all those years ago (although square brackets indicate some additional information for the sake of readability). It is one of my lost reviews.
This volume of the Mars Trilogy departs from its predecessors in one tremendous leap -- this is a work of philosophy and politics before it is a sto More...
This volume of the Mars Trilogy departs from its predecessors in one tremendous leap -- this is a work of philosophy and politics before it is a sto More...
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Mar 19, 2008
Barry
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The science is great. I don't agree with all of it, but who am I to say? I would equate his use of science as a literary device to Asimov, except Robinson uses science that is reasonable within humanities grasp. The science is the real strength of this book and series. It is outstanding.
His moving from character to character throughout all three books worked well. No points lost there.
The real problem with this series and especially this book was that, even though part More...
His moving from character to character throughout all three books worked well. No points lost there.
The real problem with this series and especially this book was that, even though part More...
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Dec 04, 2010
Nicholas
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http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1541312.html
I think the Mars books are among the best examples of sfnal world-building, combined with politics, that I know; without needing a detailed knowledge of Martian geography in advance (the maps supplied are adequate for me) I got a tremendous sense of the scale and size of the planet, of the vast enterprise of making it livable, not a new Earth, but a new Mars. And Robinson raises questions about the political management of the environment and th More...
I think the Mars books are among the best examples of sfnal world-building, combined with politics, that I know; without needing a detailed knowledge of Martian geography in advance (the maps supplied are adequate for me) I got a tremendous sense of the scale and size of the planet, of the vast enterprise of making it livable, not a new Earth, but a new Mars. And Robinson raises questions about the political management of the environment and th More...
Sep 27, 2007
Nathanial
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How do we make a world with our words? Robinson manages to weave together the stories of many characters and still keep each one of them distinct, with their own motivations, secrets, desires, and machinations. He devotes a good portion of each book in this trilogy to the point of view of a different character, so that by the time we readers have spent some time with the narrator, we learn to recognize their turns of phrase, ideological constraints, and idiosyncratic gestures that mark their p
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Jul 18, 2009
Charlie
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Robinson seems to lose focus in this last installment of the trilogy. I enjoyed following up characters I had enjoyed from the first two books, but my overall enjoyment waned throughout the reading experience. Robinson picks up characters and threads for brief periods or long digressions without building toward a clear concept. His scientific musings go into more detail than his knowledge seems ready to support. In general, I felt that Robinson tried to stretch his narrative beyond even his own
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