Red Mars (Mars Trilogy, #1)

by Kim Stanley Robinson

It was a peculiar sight, which along with the weightlessness made some people begin to look thoughtful in a pre-seasick kind of way.

Evolution is a matter of environment and chance, acting over millions of years. But history is a matter of environment and choice, acting within lifetimes, and sometimes within years, or months, or days!

Very little detective work, he was noticing, could be accomplished before a crime occurred.

“The King asked his wise men for some single thing that would make him happy when he was sad, but sad when he was happy. They consulted and came back with a ring engraved with the message ‘This Too Will Pass.’”