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.
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"Wow, I love these books. Robinson's vision of the future is so well-imagined, and so full of compelling characters, that you end up with the sense that you are reading a history rather than speculative fiction. The books operate at so many level at once: the flow of human history and how it is affected by individual personalities, the way technology may soon allow us to alter things on a scale never before imagined, politics & utopianism & revolution, love & violence. This is one of those books/series that changed how I see, as if the world was a slightly different color after reading it."
— Eric (5 out of 5 stars)
“A staggering book…the best novel on the colonization of Mars that has ever been written…it should be required reading for the colonists of the next century.”
— Arthur C. Clarke" I like sci fi, but this was a bit much for me. Excellent series for an indivdual super into sci fi book series. "
— Liz, 11/25/2021" Almost the perfect sci-fi book. Very beautiful, very descriptive. A great recommendation. "
— Nicole, 2/16/2014" Have now tried to read this three times, and to say it drags is a massive understatement. I really like KSR as an author, but he writes some massive junk to go with his terrific stuff. "
— Mic, 2/13/2014" I felt this was probably a very realistic interpretation of any colonization attempt on Mars. Therefore, it was very depressing. "
— Jean, 2/4/2014" Why the hell aren't we there yet? "
— Raanan, 1/22/2014" First in a trilogy about earthlings moving to Mars, terraforming and creating a new and independent society. I loved it! "
— Hillary, 1/17/2014" I really wanted to love this more than I did. The descriptive passages about the physical structure of Mars are fantastic, but the narrative is slow and redundant. The perspective shifts between individuals, but that's a hindrance when those individuals are one-dimensional. "
— Reagan, 1/16/2014" Like all Robinsons books, it is wery slow and hard to read at the begginning, but it becomes more interesting after first 100 pages. "
— Jovan, 12/31/2013" This is what colonization of Mars would be like. "
— Paul, 12/18/2013" Would the biggest challenge in colonizing Mars not be technology but that people are still people no matter where they settle? Interesting how this book worked without a certain protagonist. Every character is flawed and many POVs shared as the story is revealed. Looking forward to Green Mars. "
— Kathee, 12/13/2013" Loved These books!! Great story, lots of science, and best of all Hope!! "
— Colleen, 12/9/2013" This trilogy rules. I love Mars. I love terraforming. This is basically a future history of the colonization of Mars. I could have done without the high school-level love spats though. Half the characters acted like thirteen year olds. "
— Bob(by), 12/8/2013" Some sci-fi can be too technical, too far-fetched. Not these books. This is simply the best sci-fi trilogy I've ever read, and I suspect ever will. The characters are wonderful, the landscape ever-changing and the best part of all is that it could all happen (and soon!). Must read. "
— Amy, 11/27/2013" I got 40 pages in and was still bored. I'm sure it's a great book to some people, but it's not for me. "
— Denise, 11/27/2013" Really great True SCIENCE Fiction on what Colonization of Mars would be like and the Socio-political dynamics that would reasonably occur. "
— Scott, 11/18/2013" I actually didn't even finish this it was so terrible. Really boring and lame. "
— Will, 6/4/2013" A hard book to review. Loved the science and global dynamics of creating humanity's first colony on Mars. Hated the dismally-written characters. But I think that's a review that could be said for everything I've read by KSR. "
— Victoria, 5/9/2013" Okay so this book gets 4 stars but it was a slog at times and really really slow at others. But despite that it is a great overall read and I just have to know what happens next in the series. "
— Martinxo, 8/27/2012" I bought this book at least three years before I read it...I wish I'd read it sooner because it was GREAT. I read it over spring break...juxtaposed to my Brother's K reading, and it was straight forward and scientific and wonderful. "
— Erin, 8/25/2012" Easily the best Sci-Fi book I've read. Robinson masterfully uses his cast of characters to introduce and interact with intriguing philosophical, political, and scientific concepts. "
— Brendan, 6/23/2012" Kip reccomended this book. Its his favorite. "
— Amber, 4/26/2012" Interesting read, but so very, very slow. "
— Alexander, 3/25/2012" Graat book.Sometimes difficult, sometimes it seems lengthy, but worth reading. "
— Robert, 2/26/2012" interesting concept for a book and I love sci-fi, but too much emphasis on human drama. I want human exploration, ingenuity, and all the good and bad that come with it. "
— Babynumzitgel, 6/8/2011" I usually love slow and boring, and the first half - which is slow and boring - is pretty fine. A 'realistic' account of settling on Mars. Then it jumps forwards a decade and goes bonkers. I won't be reading book 2! "
— Neil, 4/30/2011" What a good book! This book is like the classic example of "science fiction as social commentary." Case in point: Fredric Jameson is thanked in the acknowledgements. I would love to write a paper about this book in a postmodern fiction class. "
— Julie, 4/11/2011" This book begins with a great premise, but falls to sleep with tired plotlines... How can the terraforming of a planet be boring? "
— Mark, 4/8/2011" <em>Red Mars</em> was my first venture back into hardcore SF after an absence of many years, and what a fabulous re-introduction! A sweeping expansive vision, told with a minimalist prose style. Simple words for complex politics and ideas. I can't say enough about how good this book is. "
— Angela, 4/4/2011" I would read anything this man wrote, including his grocery list. Fascinating, thought-provoking, and an epic series. "
— Moonyean, 3/30/2011" A great work of "hard sci-fi" which looks more like a real chronicle of the martian colonization. A book full of great characters, gread landscapes, great ideas and great ideologies. "
— Odemo, 3/29/2011" about 100 pages too long but when it was good it was great ... "
— Michael, 3/20/2011Kim Stanley Robinson is a bestselling author and winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. He is the author of more than twenty books, including the bestselling Mars trilogy and the critically acclaimed Forty Signs of Rain, The Years of Rice and Salt, and 2312. In 2008, he was named a “Hero of the Environment” by Time magazine, and he works with the Sierra Nevada Research Institute. For his book Antarctica, he was sent to the Antarctic by the US National Science Foundation as part of their Antarctic Artists and Writers’ Program.
Richard Ferrone recorded over 150 audiobooks including thrillers, romances, science fiction, and inspirational novels. He won the prestigious Audie Award and was a finalist for four Audie Awards, including for Best Solo Male Narrator. He was named an AudioFile "Voice of the Last Century" and a "Rising and Shining Star." He earned many AudioFile Earphones Awards, including being named the 2011 Best Voice in Mystery and Suspense as well as the 2009 Best Voice in Science Fiction and Fantasy. A science fiction fan, he narrated Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy. He also narrated works by James Patterson, Walter Mosley, John Sandford, Eric Van Lustbader, and Stuart Woods.