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Mars Trilogy

(Mars Trilogy #1-3)

Kim Stanley Robinson

4.34 · Rating details · 549 ratings · 32 reviews

All three volumes of the worldwide bestselling Mars trilogy.

Mars—the barren, forbidding planet that epitomises mankind’s dreams of space conquest.

From the first pioneers who looked back at Earth and saw a small blue star, to the first colonists—hand-picked scientists with the skills necessary to create life from cold desert—Red Mars is the story of a new genesis. It is als ...more

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Published July 30th 2015 by Harper Voyager

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Dec 11, 2020 M.M. Strawberry Library & Reviews rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, 21st-century, outer-space, 22nd-century, series

The first book in this series, Red Mars, was absolutely enthralling. It was a chance find in a Little Free Library (seriously, support your local LFL!) and after reading the ending, I absolutely wanted more, and to learn what happens to the characters that made it to the end of Red Mars.

Green Mars was not quite as strong, but still a decent read.

I absolutely loved Red Mars, and enjoyed Green Mars. Blue Mars was not without its fantastic (and I do mean fantastic parts) but it was also slogged dow ...more

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Jan 27, 2019 Nick Murphy rated it it was amazing

One of the greatest sci fi series I have ever been fortunate enough to experience. I have never found myself so inspired by anything. The characters are remarkably unique and engaging, while all contrasting eachother and melding perfectly. The landscapes are painted onto your mind with ease and it becomes more difficult to believe that KSR has not been to Mars himself. He seems to have captured what is ostensibly the most realistic depiction of how we as a species will experience the red planet. ...more

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Mar 16, 2017 Jennifer (JC-S) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

‘We have been sent here by our governments, and all of our governments are flawed, most of them disastrously.’

On 21 December 2026, one hundred of earth’s most skilled engineers and scientists begin a nine-month long journey to Mars. It’s a joint American-Russian undertaking, aimed at establishing a permanent scientific outpost on Mars with a view to possible settlement and colonisation. It’s one way to solve a number of serious overcrowding and other problems on the Earth.

In the first novel (‘Re ‘We have been sent here by our governments, and all of our governments are flawed, most of them disastrously.’

On 21 December 2026, one hundred of earth’s most skilled engineers and scientists begin a nine-month long journey to Mars. It’s a joint American-Russian undertaking, aimed at establishing a permanent scientific outpost on Mars with a view to possible settlement and colonisation. It’s one way to solve a number of serious overcrowding and other problems on the Earth.

In the first novel (‘Red Mars’), much of the debate/discussion is centred around the fate of Mars. The physicist Saxifrage ‘Sax’ Russell advocates a ‘Green’ position: arguing for the immediate and rapid terraforming of Mars to make it more suitable for human occupation. The geologist Ann Clayborne advocates a ‘Red’ position: arguing that Mars should be preserved in an undisturbed state. I found their debates are fascinating, even though some of the technical discussion forced me out of the novel to seek clarification of some of the terms. I loved the descriptions, the colours, the sheer size of the landscape.

And then, there are a series of disasters.

The second novel, (‘Green Mars’), picks up the story some fifty years later. While many of the ‘First Hundred’ are now dead, there are now children and grandchildren as well as those who have survived. The multinational/transnational control of Mars has sparked unrest. Corporations on earth seek to exploit rich mineral deposits on Mars. There are underground factions as well: those on Mars seek control over their destiny. Alongside the political machinations and the exploits and adventures of the characters, are beautiful descriptions of the Martian landscape. This book ends with a major catastrophe on Earth which has a huge impact on the importance of Mars.

The third novel, (‘Blue Mars’) follows closely after the conclusion of the second novel. Terraforming efforts, resulting in liquid water being present, help to enable Mars to become preeminent. Events on Earth diminish the power of the corporations. This novel covers a century, which allows the reader to follow both developments on Mars, and the fate of the remaining members of the ‘First Hundred’. Sadly, politics and intrigue exist on Mars as they did on Earth, and despite the wonderful scientific achievements enabling Mars to be inhabited, it seems that existing problems have been imported. Will we even learn?

By the end of the trilogy, the longevity of characters (thanks to the development of a gerontological treatment) has potential to have a significant impact on population growth. Believable or not, it enables us to follow the key characters for more than two hundred years. Also, by the end of the trilogy, humanity has colonies across the solar system, and is looking beyond.

I enjoyed this trilogy, and I intend to reread it. Mr Robinson has created a detailed Martian world and while I sometimes became lost in the detail, I could appreciate the whole. At times the behaviour of some of the characters frustrated me, but I can just imagine the mono-focus of individuals who believe that they are right and acting in the best interests of both planet and people. Many of the characters are interesting, especially Arkady, Ann, Nadia and Sax. While we have access to their internal viewpoints, we also see them through the eyes of others. Some viewpoints may be more reliable than others.

I finished the last page thinking that the colonisation of Mars as written in this trilogy could well be possible, but probably not in my (normal mortal) lifetime.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

...more

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Jan 30, 2019 Lucas Chance rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, books-for-thesis, 2019_favorites

One of the most hopeful sagas in sci fi that I have read.

A perfect encapsulation of everything I love about the genre. It made me both saddened by the flaws of the characters but gave me the hope of a brighter future.

An absolute marvel of a series that needs to be read as one whole. I can not recommend it highly enough.

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Jun 28, 2020 D. Krauss rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars novels go from Red to Blue. And since these were published from 1992- 1996, pre-date that whole silly red state/blue state thing, which is in itself wrong because red is the color of Marxism and what we currently consider red states are as far from Marxism as the color blue is, or was, until Tim Russert thought he’d be cute in the 2000 election and switched the colors and for reasons I still don’t get, everyone has followed along. I mean, all you have to do is take a Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars novels go from Red to Blue. And since these were published from 1992- 1996, pre-date that whole silly red state/blue state thing, which is in itself wrong because red is the color of Marxism and what we currently consider red states are as far from Marxism as the color blue is, or was, until Tim Russert thought he’d be cute in the 2000 election and switched the colors and for reasons I still don’t get, everyone has followed along. I mean, all you have to do is take a casual glance at Soviet flags to see what red really stands for. But it may be appropriate here because Robinson’s Mars moves from a free and downright anarchic society in the first book to an unbelievably sophisticated (and unrealistic) communo-socialist-capitalist-barter system in the last one. Red to Blue. Get it?

The story itself is fairly straightforward: Earth selects 100 people (dubbed the First Hundred. Catchy) to colonize Mars and, from their arrival to about 200 years later, Mars is turned from an arid, dead, frozen hell into somewhat of a nice place, say Alaska in the summertime. Replete with polar bears. No seriously; Ann Clayborne, one of the highlighted characters who manages to survive through all three novels, gets chased by a polar bear while hiking the outback. There are about ten highlighted First Hundred characters, from John Boone, the first man on Mars, to Hiroko Ai, a ghostly highly influential non-presence from Green Mars on (but hold on, she’s actually everywhere. Even back on Earth), who bring the story along, from training in the Arctic to sailing on Martian seas. Then there are the children of the Hundred, decanted mostly from various in vitro tubes (with a few natural childbirth outliers here and there) and immigrants and later arrivals and spies and cops and paramilitaries all over the place who add their two cents but, mostly, it’s the story of these ten or so First Hundred, over a couple hundred years. Wait, what? Yeah, folks are living well past their shelf life, thanks to Martian science, which is science done on Mars, as opposed to done on Earth, which somehow becomes tainted and evil if it’s done on Earth, unlike the science on Mars, which is pure. Depending on your viewpoint.

And viewpoints are all over the place, from the ultra Reds to the ultra Greens, which also does not mean what is does today: the Reds are those who want to keep Mars untouched, therefore red, as opposed to the colonists who want to terraform into a more earth-like place, turning it green, so to speak. See? Those colors should be reversed, by today’s definitions. Which makes this somewhat of a confusing read, that is, if you try to apply today’s definitions to novels written 20 years ago. Which is revisionism. Which you should not do. Have to read a book in its context, not in modern parlance trying to impress someone with how sophisticated and with-it you are.

But I digress.

And digression is the watchword because, Holy, Hannah, does this trilogy range all over the place. Red Mars begins at a festival 33 years after John Boone lands on Mars, and, after he is murdered during that festival, flashes all the way back to the Hundred’s selection and training and then launching of the first colony ship, the Ares (natch), and then landing and putting things together resulting in the first actual town, Underhill, and then we’re back to the point John is killed and then revolution. Which doesn’t go very well. See, it’s a little difficult to revolt against Earth when all they have to do is pop the bubble of your little town and let all that nice fresh oxygen out into the not so fresh Martian atmosphere. Which may be an incentive to green the place up so Earth can’t do that and then we are in Green Mars with the terraforming going apace, except for the Reds who are willing to blow up and/or flood your town to keep Mars an arid, dead, frozen hell. Really? Really? And then Earth basically blows up and Mars becomes more of a liferaft than a science experiment and who do you think is going to win this argument? Ergo, Blue Mars.

Man.

It feels very much like we are taking the long way around, out past Jupiter and back, to get to Mars. This has much to do with Captain Digression, Mr Kim Stanley himself, who simply cannot resist writing overlong descriptions of things that were better left on the editor’s floor, such as a painfully detailed exposition on lichens and fungus, which is far more about both topics than anyone actually wants to know, except the micro specialists involved. This is the problem when big-brained scientists write scifi, they are bent on (a) showing how much they know and (b) keeping their other big-brained colleagues from finding fault: “Aha, you said the lichen spyrogyra numnutsias grows at 25 Kelvin when in reality it can only grow at 26 Kelvin! So therefore you are an idiot and your book is invalid!” You know stuff like that, like everybody yelling at Ray Bradbury because he had the sunrise on Mars coming up at the wrong place. Or was it the sunset? Don’t know. Don’t care. It’s friggin’ fiction. Lighten up.

But Kim Stanley does not, giving us several more interludes, including a painfully detailed political convention reminiscent of the Simpson’s take on the Galactic Senate in The Phantom Menace. Oy. Stop. And I almost did, but forged on because this was my second attempt to read this trilogy and by God, I was going to do it this time and not throw it across the room like I did 20 years earlier because of all. These. Sidebars!

And I’m so glad I did because, halfway through Blue Mars, you see the point. And the point is, we keep going. To Jupiter. To the Kuiper Belt. And past.

And that’s marvelous. ...more

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Aug 26, 2017 Kathryn rated it it was amazing

Social and scientific aspects of this story are so realistic and believable ... I loved all three!

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Mar 29, 2019 Charlie Huenemann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is an amazing trilogy. It recounts a human endeavor to colonize Mars, in a very plausible and realistic possible future. There are enough details about geology, terra-forming, biology, agriculture, material science, bio-engineering, and psychology to suggest that KSR pursued graduate degrees in all these areas and kept us posted as to his progress. On top of that, there are lengthy explorations of the political complications and opportunities that would arise when colonizing another planet. ...more

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Aug 04, 2020 Sergio Visinoni rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Probably my favorite modern sci-fi saga.
Kim Stanley Robinson has the ability to mix very relevant and contemporary reflections on society and its most extreme and dangerous trends towards "corporate control" with solid science and a lot of vision to imagine how humans could colonize Mars, terraform it, and experiment with all sorts of social and political organisation away from mother earth.
It's a strongly recommended read to everyone that is either into social science, science fiction or politi ...more

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Feb 28, 2021 Lonna Cunningham rated it it was ok · review of another edition

As I had stuff to do that needed a background audio track that wasn't too intense, this was ... okay. Loads of diversions into science, psychology, sociology, and political theory - as an exploration of those ideas, it did well, but as a "fascinating story", not so much.

I doubt I'd have been able to get through it on paper, even with the excellent audio production I found myself fast forwarding through long sections of technospeak ... which is rare for me.

So ... a solid "ok, if that's what you a ...more

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Jan 27, 2020 Theo rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: gave-up

I read the first of the trilogy. I may go back and read the other two but right now it's unlikely. I bought the trilogy set on the strength of the recommendation and while I can really appreciate the depth and science that went into this, with a few exceptions around the finalé of Red Mars, I found it mostly unengaging and sterile. I started a bit of the second book but it felt like more of the same dense prose without really drawing me in. ...more

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Aug 16, 2020 Adon Coya rated it liked it · review of another edition

Very satisfied with the hard science framework and the very well researched, all around, reality of living on Mars and the connections to Earth.
Not so much so with the plot, the scenes and the characters. Getting into the third book, I found I couldn't bring myself to care about them, their feelings and thoughts, anymore.
A pity, really; instead of closing the trilogy with a bang! the writer let the music slowly fade into silence. ...more

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Apr 07, 2019 Katie rated it liked it

The first book gets a five stars, as it’s engaging, with great characters, and I enjoyed the fact that it felt like classic “hard sci fi.” However, Robinson gets too attached to his characters in the later books and is unwilling to let them go when he should. Three stars to book two and two stars to book three.

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Jul 21, 2019 Kieran McAndrew rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Red Mars: A United Nations experiment to colonise Mars is tackled purely from the scientific angles of how it can be done. But mankind isn't just about science and some of the old prejudices and vices soon appear on the Red Planet.

Robinson has written a novel which oozes authenticity, making this science fiction feel very factual and all too visceral as humanity finds a foothold on a new world. ...more

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Jul 15, 2020 Graham rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

One of the greatest sci fi series I have ever been fortunate enough to experience. also. I picked up Red Mars in a drop off book shelf.....I just HAD to get the remaining volumes....am over half way in Greenm Mars.....such a great insight into the many differing views on how a new world should be run...and conflicts resolved. AM looking forward to Blue Mars.

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Jul 31, 2021 David Svane rated it it was amazing

Simply the best books I've ever read. An emersive journey through scientific challenges, cultural differences and ideological ideas. A huge gallery of characters, all in perfect dissonance, yet one way or the other relatable, once you get invited inside their minds one at the time. Absolutely inspirational and priceless work ❤ ...more

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Sep 24, 2021 Searobin56 rated it liked it · review of another edition

I was disappointed with this series. Red Mars was slow and dragging. Green Mars was much better; good action, good character development, good story. Blue Mars was much the same as Red Mars. There was way too much scientific explanation, in detail, about EVERYTHING. If you like science, you will like this series. Otherwise; pass!

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Sep 27, 2017 Ry Herman rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

The first book is a true classic of science fiction. The second book is good but flawed. The third book is frankly awful -- tedious, dull, and uninteresting. Still, the strength of the earlier parts leads me to give the series as a whole a good rating.

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Dec 16, 2019 Jonathan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

What an experience reading this book, I have vivid memories of many scenes, I'll have to read it again sometime in the future. In short: I loved it! ...more

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Aug 26, 2020 Mack Reid rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

As I said with the first installment, this entire series is an exciting and fulfilling read. Great all the way around. Beautifully put together and executed.

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Feb 09, 2021 Evanparker rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi

such a great journey! i really loved it

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Jun 03, 2021 Anja Schubert rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Amazing attention to detail, huge ideas and very plausible science. But it is a very long, often dry read.

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Jan 16, 2018 Brian rated it liked it

Sorry, but I'm not sure I'll be able to finish the first book. While the science seems well researched and some of the ideas novel, the characters are shallow stereotypes. Worst of all, the author gives the impression that he has spent a lifetime mastering authorship, but hasn't spent much time in the real world of science and engineering. Or in bureaucracy, either.
1. The participant selection process seemed ridiculous.
2. There would be one commanding officer, not two weeklings. And Boone would Sorry, but I'm not sure I'll be able to finish the first book. While the science seems well researched and some of the ideas novel, the characters are shallow stereotypes. Worst of all, the author gives the impression that he has spent a lifetime mastering authorship, but hasn't spent much time in the real world of science and engineering. Or in bureaucracy, either.
1. The participant selection process seemed ridiculous.
2. There would be one commanding officer, not two weeklings. And Boone wouldn't be selected at the last minute with or without an excessive lifetime accumulation of REMs already.
3. The trip to Mars was completely unrealistic because 100 of the best scientists and engineers in their fields would not be spending a year bored and playing foolish games like college freshmen. They would have real work to do to prepare and they would spend most of their time doing it. This is where the author's naivete really shows. I've worked with some of the best people in their fields before and that's how they are: driven. Some would go stir crazy during the voyage and there would be some highjinx, but they would all have spent most of their time working or sleeping.
4. Phobos. What in the world is all this talk about deciding who was going to establish the base on Phobos? That would have been pre-determined, the crew selected and trained for the task before departing the earth. What roles were the Phobos crew in this book actually sent to Mars to play and why didn't they play it?
5. Geological excursions. Same question as Phobos. Why was there such a clamor for everyone to go out exploring? These are driven scientists and engineers, the top in their field, and they just landed on Mars. They would be working their butts off in their own specialty.
6. All those inventions. Sorry, but the first settlement would be worked out on earth before ever being sent to Mars and these very people would probably have practiced putting the base together, at least to some degree.
7. Maya, Frank, John. Maybe it gets better, but as professional astronaut/cosmonauts they would be doing administration and leading the handful of lower ranking professionals that I think I read were on the ship. At least one of these people would have led the Phobos landing and base building crew, for example. And it is very difficult for me to believe that people with this level of experience and vetting would be so completely childish.
8. Stowaway? Come on. I haven't gotten to where his presence is explained and I'm not sure I'll make it that far. But it's another of those things that seems pretty ridiculous right now.

I'm not going to slap him over the politics. If the Soviet Union had fallen when he wrote it, it was very recent.

I'm going to give him a light slap over the lack of handheld devices. No, we didn't have smart phones in 1992, but things like them were anticipated long before (remember the tricorder, for example?) and anyone who understands Moore's Law should have been able to anticipate something like them. By 1992 we'd already gone from giant mainframes to mini-computers to desktop computers to laptop computers. Tablets were being discussed and it should have been pretty obvious that by 2026 we'd be using something very small and immensely powerful in our day-to-day lives. (Edit: I read farther and AI assistants somehow appeared, so this isn't as big a problem as I thought.)

But I've got to hand it to him: his descriptions of Mars are breathtaking.

Final edit:
OK, I did finish the book and Green and Blue Mars, too. They are epic stories, but still never left me so awed that I will change my three star rating. Frankly, I think the whole series could have been pared down a bit and fit easily in one really long or two normal length books. Three long ones was a bit excessive - and this is from one who has read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings almost annually for about 48 years and likes really long series. ...more

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Mar 26, 2019 Sara Vidal rated it it was amazing

I read this trilogy some 20 years ago. it is amazingly prescient and it's vivid descriptions remain engraved in my mind's eye. Definately one of my favourites
...more

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Jan 01, 2016 George Herbert rated it liked it · review of another edition

This was a good read but quite difficult in places with long descriptions of the science involved, the conditions of the rocks etc. This was particularly in the third book, which seem to go on and on in places. It also seem to end too quickly. Overall I enjoyed it and at some point in the future I will get round to reading the latest book "the Martians". ...more

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May 16, 2016 Tony Allan rated it really liked it

I am thoroughly impressed by the scope of the book, although it does read like a geology text book a lot of times. It's admirable that the author goes into such detail to paint a vivid picture of an alien world, but I found myself drifting off quite frequently as a result. All in all, I'm glad I got through to the end, although I'm in no hurry to get to The Martian's sequel. ...more

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Sep 07, 2008 Michael rated it it was amazing

The classic hard science fiction trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. Many of my Harvey Mudd classmates read and enjoyed the trilogy, but you may be surprised to learn my Mom read and enjoyed the trilogy!

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Aug 06, 2007 Lamont Lucas rated it liked it

The first book was excellent, the second simply ok and the third nearly unreadable. Maybe it is because I tried reading all three in the space of a month. I need to try finishing the last book.

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Jun 23, 2014 Amanda rated it really liked it

By the last book I was ready for the series to end. I enjoyed the story lines.

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Jun 03, 2015 Nancy Nelson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

great read - story plus scince plus economics/politics/social theory all rolled into one. Highly recommended.

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Jul 31, 2015 Ian Whited rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

An amazing trilogy. Read "The Martians" anthology to finish the series. ...more

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About Kim Stanley Robinson

Kim Stanley Robinson

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Kim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer, probably best known for his award-winning Mars trilogy.

His work delves into ecological and sociological themes regularly, and many of his novels appear to be the direct result of his own scientific fascinations, such as the 15 years of research and lifelong fascination with Mars which culminated in his most famous work. He has, due to his ...more

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“And yet the whole meaning of the universe, its beauty, is contained in the consciousness of intelligent life. We are the consciousness of the universe, and our job is to spread that around, to go look at things, to live everywhere we can. It’s too dangerous to keep the consciousness of the universe on only one planet, it could be wiped out.” — 1 likes

“Strange how one remembered faces until you tried to look at them in your mind, when they turned away from you.” — 0 likes

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