Considering that it took me the better part of 5 months to read this hard SF novel, it could well be believed that it was hard going and some heavy reading, and perhaps in some ways it was. But truth be told I really enjoyed this ongoing tale about the terraforming of Mars, and just could not find the time to read...



For the most part the books look at the changes wrought on the former red planet by man, and the unstable political situation that dominates Earth, and by default Mars, and the detail is such that you can really see that Robinson has done his homework.



But throughout it all, are the remaining members of the first 100 men and women to arrive on Mars, determined to free the planet from the giant corporations who battle to not only control the planet, but are fighting to control nations on Earth as well.



The last 70 pages show one of the true strengths of the book, that it is not just about humans and what they can do, but just how small we are as a species when faced by ongoing changes to the environment on the worlds around us - on Earth dramatic and terrible, on Mars no less dramatic, but wonderful. And amid all the change and upheaval a struggle for control of the planet really begins.