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    Red Mars
    Red Mars
    Red Mars
    Audiobook23 hours

    Red Mars

    Written by Kim Stanley Robinson

    Narrated by Richard Ferrone

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, Red Mars is the first book in Kim Stanley Robinson's best-selling trilogy. Red Mars is praised by scientists for its detailed visions of future technology. It is also hailed by authors and critics for its vivid characters and dramatic conflicts. For centuries, the red planet has enticed the people of Earth. Now an international group of scientists has colonized Mars. Leaving Earth forever, these 100 people have traveled nine months to reach their new home. This is the remarkable story of the world they create-and the hidden power struggles of those who want to control it. Although it is fiction, Red Mars is based on years of research. As living spaces and greenhouses multiply, an astonishing panorama of our galactic future rises from the red dust. Through Richard Ferrone's narration, each scene is energized with the designs and dreams of the extraordinary pioneers.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 25, 2008
    ISBN9781436121200
    Red Mars
    Author

    Kim Stanley Robinson

    Kim Stanley Robinson was born in 1952. After travelling and working around the world, he settled in his beloved California. He is widely regarded as the finest science fiction writer working today, noted as much for the verisimilitude of his characters as the meticulously researched scientific basis of his work. He has won just about every major sf award there is to win and is the author of the massively successful and highly praised ‘Mars’ series.

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    Reviews for Red Mars

    4/5

    2,137 ratings91 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Everyone in the book is depressed or mentally ill. The one character who isn't insane is addicted to pills. Story doesn't flow.
    • 5/5
      awesome insight into the possible!! much like Shaman was, great.
    • 5/5
      After searching through a few books over the past few months as I’ve read everything by Alastair Reynolds, Peter F. Hamilton, and Arthur C. Clarke, I finally found something worth listening to. The story was interesting, well paced, and has enough real science, or at least probable science to keep the brain working. This makes me want to go to Mars.
    • 5/5
      Kim Stanley Robinson ofrece una novela de dimensiones épicas en la que narra los primeros años de la colonización en Marte. Lo que implica en esfuerzos internacionales para poder llevar a los primeros humanos al planeta rojo, los primeros cien como los nombra Robinson (y quienes son los protagonistas colectivos de esta novela). Marte rojo plantea las problemáticas a las que la humanidad se enfrentaría de querer colonizar nuestro planeta vecino, pero también los conflictos en la tierra, con la codicia delas corporaciones de una parte, los nacionalismos y los conflictos por el cambio climático por la otra. Con una profunda imaginación, anclada en el conocimiento del planeta vecino y del alma humana (tanto en lo individual como en lo colectivo) Robinson nos lleva a la aventura y a la colonización de Marte (y su eventual búsqueda por la independencia).
    • 3/5
      The first in Kim Stanley Robinson's 'Mars Trilogy' this book receives all sorts of high accolades, winner of the 1993 Nebula award for best novel, Arthur C Clarke no less has called this the best book ever written about the colonisation of Mars and should be required reading for future colonists! The first question then is does it deserve such lauded trumpeting? Well, in my opinion, yes it does, to a degree. It deals with the first 100 colonists to arrive on Mars and tells of the consequences of colonising the planet and the economic and social changes that then follows with other people coming to the planet determined to make money, to make their mark or to try and keep the planet intact for future generations.There is a lot of hard science fact here but not too much to drown out the very human voices of the characters as they struggle with adapting to the new planet and problems. Because of the way in which it is written (the book is divided into eight parts all being narrated by a different person) you get a very rounded view of the arguements helping to explain why it all seems to go so horribly wrong so horribly fast leading to revolt and uprisings.There are unfortunately some aspects to the novel that seem to be papered over and not substantiated or explained fully, for example Earth seems to be on the brink of an economic, political and social explosion with resources strained to the very limits and space at a premium (hence the desperate journey to Mars in the first place), despite this the colonists seem to be the most fully equipped, funded expedition I have ever read of, even in the realms of fiction. I struggled towards the end of Red Mars as well, with the remnants of the original 100 colonists escaping the revolutions the book seemed, to me, to drag on a bit but I am undaunted and look forward readily to the sequel Green Mars and I hope this might help to answer some of the unanswered questions from Red Mars and maybe even lead me to re-read it and give it 4 stars.At the moment however even though I would happily recommend this book but I do not think I would read it again so it is 3 out of 5 from me.
    • 3/5
      I recently decided to broaden my reading horizons into the realm of science fiction, which I am not very well read in. It isn't that I particularly have any aversion to sci-fi, it's just that I am largely unfamiliar with the genre, and I always find myself unsure of where to begin. I did a bit of cursory research on a good sci-fi starting point, and this book came up. I have to say, it looked promising - highly acclaimed and well known, with a plot that sounded fascinating.A large group of qualified people are chosen to become the first colonists of Mars. The story follows their voyage through space, their first months on the red planet and how they adjust to life there, and the problems that inevitably arise as they continue to live and work there over the years.This book was nothing like what I expected it to be. The main focus of the plot was politics rather than colonization - endless, droning, tedious politics. If you think that it sounds difficult to make the lives of people on Mars boring, that was exactly my thinking as well. But as the book went on (and on), I soon realized that Robinson had found a way to make this marvelous storyline into just that.The writing was dry and unfeeling, and to be honest this book was a chore to get through. I’m surprised that I managed to make it all the way to the end, though I did take an unusually long time to finish it. At times, during brief descriptions of the landscape and sunsets of Mars, I felt a glimmer of interest. But these were usually over within a sentence or two, to return to politics.My other big problem with Red Mars was the characters - who were dreadful. They argue and quarrel over a great many things, all of them seeming to be matters that would have already been heavily planned for. Now that they are on Mars, carrying out the most expensive mission in history, the fate of such massively important decisions is to be left in the hands of two people whining and fighting? It seemed very suspicious.One of the characters to get the most attention was Maya, described as a virulent Russian beauty - made to seem a sort of femme fatale tigress. But I just couldn’t see it - sure, the author and the other characters can tell us that that’s who she is, but I didn’t feel like the actual character was written so strongly. She came across as more indecisive and ditzy to me. There was some sort of very drawn out and unconvincing love triangle that never drew me in, and the sex scenes seemed ridiculous (a man describes a woman’s breasts as “magnets to his eyes,” for example). At one point in the book, possibly in an attempt to explain to the reader why all of these characters were so whiny and awful, Robinson reveals that there was a personality test that they were all required to take before being accepted into the mission - but guess what? Every single one of them admits that they lied on it. In fact, they gleefully say that they answered every question the opposite of how they felt. And so, here they are, squabbling and pouting their way around Mars.I wanted so much to find an epic science fiction novel that brings to life another world and evolving culture. It’s out there - it’s just not this one.
    • 5/5
      An epic novel with emphasis on the »science« part of science fiction; the book is full of engineering porn, and everything seems so concievable that you get a feeling it could happen tomorrow. However, the book is rather lengthy and full of roadtrips that does almost nothing to bring the plot forward.
    • 5/5
      A gorgeous look at the politics and practicalities of settling another planet. I found this story to be thought-provoking and insightful, with enough detail and real science to back up the plot and the characters. I didn't like all the characters, but each one was thoroughly portrayed, with consistent desires and motivations, each one believed that they were doing the best thing for the colony, and that is an impressive feat to pull off for any author.
    • 3/5
      The best Robinson I've read. But I would have preferred much more engineering and problem solving, and much less simplistic politics and magic wands. > at perihelion Mars is about forty-three million kilometers closer to the sun than it is at aphelion, and thus receiving about 45 percent more sunlight. This fluctuation makes the southern and northern seasons quite unequal. Perihelion arrives every year at Ls = 250°, late in the southern spring; so southern springs and summers are much hotter than northern springs and summers, with peak temperatures as much as thirty degrees higher. Southern autumns and winters are colder, however, occurring as they do near aphelion— so much colder that the southern polar cap is mostly carbon dioxide, while the northern one is mostly water ice. So the south was the hemisphere of extremes, the north that of moderation. And the orbital eccentricity caused one other feature of note; planets move faster the closer they are to the sun, so the seasons near perihelion are shorter than those near aphelion
    • 4/5
      Top notch science fiction. I wouldn't say that it transcends science fiction. There is all kinds of technological wizardry that is integral to the progression of the story. Kinda funny to read this in 2022, because the action of the novel starts around then. Nope, we are not living the future we were promised. Well, this novel makes the political situation on Earth look mighty miserable. So that part is looking good. But the whole idea of Mars as an escape... well, this novel is largely a debunking of that notion, though from a political aspect than a technological aspect. Well, the technology is not so easy, either!
    • 2/5
      Could have shaved off 100 pages of describing martian topology. Also strange choice to have assassination attempts on the protagonist as the subplot to the main plot about international deal-making. Like we can get 5 pages on what erosion does to canyon formation but if John almost gets killed we got less than a paragraph of emotional turmoil before we were back to contract disputes
    • 3/5
      Engaging enough to read the next book. It got a bit boring in the middle but it may have just been the pace I was reading at. The ending was fairly gripping though.
    • 3/5
      Entertaining premise; interesting story. Way too much exposition.
    • 4/5
      This one took me so so long to make it through, I feel like I have been reading this book in stops and starts for a couple years now. Really an impressive feat of imagination and detail, grounded in reality but encompassing remarkable ideas and concepts, occasionally I found it veered into boring, but there were always amazing twists and turns along the road that made it well-worth the effort. Looking forward to seeing what comes next in this saga.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic hard science fiction. Both insanely in-depth and outrageously grand in scope. Shame about the farcical characters (Hiroko going that extra mile), not as stupid as Neal Stephenson's town fair curiosities but past a certain point the matter of degree is irrelevant. That's not really important though as the story is driven by much bigger forces than a single character's actions and the cast is quite big so you're not stuck with any one of them for long.
    • 4/5
      Earth sends 100 people to start a settlement on Mars. They don't all get along, and they don't all share the same goals. They are relatively successful, and thousands more follow from crumbling Earth, bringing lots of big problems with them. This book is not without flaws. There are long chapters of nothing but traveling, scenes of the Mars landscape, characters agonizing internal monologues. For me, it works overall. I like the expansiveness of the idea: colonizing Mars, and turning that planet into a habitable place for humans.
    • 4/5
      For me, the book falls between The Martian Chronicles and The Martian. It is a very believable scenario for the colonization of Mars, written almost three decades ago. We are now much closer to finding out how prophetic it was. Considering the massive scope of the novel, Robinson does a good job, blending the science with the world building as told from the points of view of several of the original one hundred colonists. It turns out to be more apocalyptic than utopian, but there are two more books in the series that may turn things around. Without a Martian atlas by your side however, you are lost in a Martian dust storm with place names swirling meaninglessly around you. The same holds for the politics. There seem to be many sides, but the ideology of the good guys and the bad guys is very murky. One scene, worthy of Bradbury, stands out. Dancing on the mountain top in the dust storm with the Sufi Moslems while chanting all the different names for Mars. Spectacular.
    • 4/5
      Science meets politics in space. Loved the various protagonists & how the story progresses by following each for a while then jumping to the next. Each has his/her own fluahed character & internal dialog. Can be a bit tough at times though.
    • 5/5
      This book had a great story to tell, how we might go about colonising Mars.The author has managed to impart a science fiction vision of the way things could work in a believable manner. To this he has added a number of elements that make the story a great read. We have a cast of believable characters that have both good and bad aspects to their characters, we have the politics of how they wish to behave in what they see as a best-for-Mars view, often at odds from the instructions directed from Earth. Then there are the dynamics between the group of original colonists themselves and as time progresses how they influence the newer arrivals to Mars.The writing itself is well done and its use of words and grammar add a rhythm to the reading that underscores the mood of the story perfectly.A great read that delivers both a realistic science fiction premise for colonising Mars along with a great story of the human side of such an event.
    • 1/5
      I just finished reading Red Mars and was so disappointed. This book had so much potential going into it, but in short the characters suck. The main characters in Red Mars are all part of the first 100 people to colonize Mars. You don't get to meet all 100 of them (thank god), but out of the ones you do meet there is not one of them that is likeable. This lack of any characters to get attached to or even like a little makes reading Red Mars a painful experience. There are some good ideas about Mars, the technology to live there, and ways to terraform it all presented from characters that are just not enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      It started well, becomes pretty tedious at times, but finished with a flourish. There were a lot pages spent on the relationships, especially the romantic aspects, that contributed to the tedium.

      This is really a story about how capitalism will devour anything it gets its hands on, regardless of the cost.
    • 3/5
      If Robinson were better at writing characters, this could have been a book I'd really love. It has an engaging sweep of a plot, it makes Mars feel more real and reachable than anything else I've read, and all the politics & ecology running through it feel at least possible, mostly plausible. But the characters are so painfully thin! Each is either a pure vessel for an ideology (and at times their arguments made me feel like I was reading the lefty Ayn Rand), or a nation profession combo caricature. By far my favourite parts of the book are the long sections in which Mars itself is the main character, because in those this flaw recedes. And the worst parts are the interpersonal drama because I could so readily slip into dropping the names altogether and just reading it as "Japanese gardener talks to Russian engineer", and so on.

      Overall I enjoyed the book enough to keep reading, but found it frustrating enough that I went and read the synopses of the other two in the trilogy because I can't see myself getting around to reading the actual books. The strengths of it left me wanting to hear speculative non-fiction from Robinson, but his weaknesses as a writer of fiction undermined this book pretty badly for me.
    • 3/5
      This book reads more like a jumble of things that happen over 40 years or so than a book plot, which I suppose is intended to read more like history, but it gets a little dull at times. I think I might have liked it better if it had be 3 or so books with more traditional rising and falling narrative arcs, but then again it might have been a lot more tiresome that all the characters were kind of awful and hyper-focused on their own narrow interests.
    • 4/5
      Red Mars was not what I expected. I thought it would be more of a space opera but it was too steeped in science to that alone. In that respect, it reminds me of The Martian. The science stuff was my favorite part of this story. I also liked how the author portrayed the different factions that formed on Mars. I think this is a realistic view of the future of Mars if the human race every colonized it.The thing I didn't like is that in some places the plot moved too slow. I think the author got side tracked sometimes describing how something worked. Still, I recommend this book to all lovers of Sci-Fi.
    • 5/5
      This should be Elon Musk's strategy guide to colonizing Mars. It's that detailed, science-based and fascinating. 
    • 5/5
      This was a fantastic read. The characters all felt real, and each moment of pressure was vividly felt, as well as each moment of peace. It makes me excited for a day when we finally go to Mars, but also makes me wary of the various issues that will result. (I'd say I'm a green, by the way. Make Mars habitable, but don't make it Earth 2)
    • 4/5
      I've had this Mars trilogy on my TBR pile for a while & have had the books waiting for me so it being summer, I decided to get to the first. I enjoyed following the main characters from the first 100 but I can't say that I particularly liked any of them. I enjoyed watching what motivated them especially when it came to the treaty negotiations in the final thirds of the book. The question of who and how a group is governed and managed plays throughout the book and with Earth in an ever tenuous situation, there's no way this is going to end politely or simply. In fact, things take a deadly turn before this ends and what comes next is in flux. Also, seeing new religious traditions take shape on Mars alongside those who've retained the faith and worship traditions they had when they were on Earth was interesting and well done.

      For me the book was best in the first and last thirds, the middle just felt unnecessarily ponderous and meandering. There was far too much time spent on the John/Maya/Frank ever shifting love triangle. They were,, none of them rendered so deeply as multifaceted characters to make it worth that much attention and it didn't influence or steer the real political and economic situation on Mars, so seriously, who cares? If I'm honest, I'm kinda looking forward to the next book because I won't have to be bothered with some of the main First 100. Most were as irritating as they were interesting and I'm just ready to meet some new people and see them take up the cause. The only one of the group that I wanted to see more of remained seriously remote and elusive most of this book but she finally showed up at the last page. The ending really gave me hope.

      I'll definitely read the next because it feels like it's just getting to what has most got my interest. I'm looking forward to see the next generation get into the game as their only home has ever been Mars and I hope to see more of Earth's push. The corporations gambit and the response to it have altered the entire planet so, very interesting times. Recommended for fans of colonization science fiction.
    • 4/5
      The two best writers that I've discovered in the past two years, Francis Spufford and Tim Kreider, both praise Robinson's Mars trilogy with great enthusiasm, but I found the atmosphere a little thin. To be sure, not only is the science convincing and detailed, the scenery is vivid, and the characters have a depth and versimilitude not often seen in hard-core SF novels. The trouble is that while Robinson has the imagination to create a convincing array of disparate characters, he doesn't have the power to inhabit them. All of the characters, whether manic, depressive, bluff, cold, or impulsive, are described as from a distance, in the same dispassionate authorial voice — even in the sections told from their points of view. This makes the story less thrilling than it has every right to be. It's particularly troublesome in the chapter given over to the perpetually aggrieved Frank Chalmers, Every story benefits from a great villain, but Chalmers' fury seems petty and dyspeptic, impossible to respect.An epic of Martian terraforming and colonization is a grand prospect, especially when even at the close of the first book it's becoming clear that nobody here is going to build another Earth, but that an entirely new kind of human society—and a new race of people—is being born. But it would be so much better to be among these people, as a reader, than it is to be merely observing them with a dry, emotionless perspective, however godlike the vision.
    • 3/5
      A look into a future where we have the technology to colonise and terraform Mars. And as usual, the complications are caused by the human dynamic of how a new society is formed by the first 100 scientists sent over and the conflict between the people who want to make Mars their home and the Earth corporations who just want to profit from it.
      I don't claim to be a science expert, so I can't say how accurate or plausible the science is, but it was an enjoyable read.
      However, I must admit that I did skim some pages at the end with long descriptions of the landscape because I just wanted to find out what was going to happen next.
    • 4/5
      I may have skimmed a lot of the sections on Martian geology, but I was pleasantly surprised by much of this book and will read the rest of the trilogy, but not all at once.