Blue Mars Book Review

Genre: Science Fiction

Author: Kim Stanley Robinson

Plot:

    Mars is a Free Mars! The peaceful (mostly) revolution resulted worked – but now what? The Reds want to destroy all terraforming efforts and return Mars to its native state, but the Greens believe in a strange aerophany, fervently wishing to create a new Mars culture…so the remaining first hundred get to work. It is time for a Mars constitution.

     However difficult an issue writing a global constitution may be, only a small portion of Blue Mars is dedicated to the question. More pressingly, how do the Martians keep out Terrans (Earthlings) from overwhelming them with sheer numbers? With dramatic success of the longevity treatments few are dying and the population of Earth has skyrocketed. Should free Mars forbid immigration or welcome their brothers and sisters with open arms? Against the backdrop of this titanic question the remaining first hundred deal with deep personal questions and ever-worsening memory. Will the great Sax Russell, Ann Clayborne, and Maya lose their minds? Tune in for an exciting conclusion to the Mars Trilogy!

Brian’s Opinion:

     This was a great book but perhaps my least favorite of the Mars Trilogy – I say this purely because I love plot, and the first book (Red Mars) had a terrific, action-packed plot with lots of stuff being built. That being said, the character development in Blue Mars is incredible, absolutely incredible, definitely the best in the series. While the science-fiction part of the series takes more of a backseat this time, there are fascinatingly creative elements to the story line which ask great questions about civilization and technology. Also, Robinson’s conclusion of Blue Mars – and hence the Mars series – was extremely satisfying. Finally, Sax Russell is the best character ever.

Who Would Like Green Mars:

     This is science fiction with a deeply political cast. If the idea of interesting inter-solar-system politics or constitution-building intrigues you, I’d highly recommend Blue Mars. Plus, the characters are wonderful and the story itself is simply good science fiction. Oh, I should probably put a disclaimer before you recommend this to your 12 year old – sex is treated very candidly throughout the Mars series.

Read It!

Public Library Finder

Amazon Paperback
Amazon Paperback