Is the "Mars Trilogy" by Kim Stanley Robinson worth reading?

[OutofThisWorld]

I've been thinking of reading the "Mars Trilogy" by Kim Stanley Robinson. Is this series worth reading?

 

[Perpetual Man]

I've heard good things about it, and have it in my to read pile, but some people have said it is a bit slow... I'll have to wait and see!

 

[Lucien21]

Red mars is definitly the best one of the 3, but it's certainly worth reading.

He went to great pains to try and make it as scientifically realistic (maybe he shortened the timescale) as possible, however this can make it a bit dense and complicated.

Parts 1 and 2 won Nebula awards for best novel.

I'd certainly give it a go.

 

[Ice fyre]

Whew this is a biggie in my view.

The triolgy is a bit long winded littered with some brilliant ideas and some real horse dung, mainly in the phyco babble in the third book!

Overall its worth a read but I found the third book harder and harder to read towards the end, all I could think was for heavens sake get on with it!!!!

 

[MontyCircus]

Red mars is definitly the best one of the 3, but it's certainly worth reading.

Parts 1 and 2 won Nebula awards for best novel.

Red (#1) won the Nebula.

Green (#2) and Blue (#3) won the Hugo.

So they all seem worth a look I guess eh?

 

[iansales]

Certainly worth reading, and like everyone else I found the first book the best of the three.

 

[Connavar]

Never judge a book solely on the hugo......


I havent read them yet cause someone someone somewhere in these forums compared reading school science text books....

 

[chrispenycate]

Yes, there's a fair amount of raw, undigested science in there, and a lot of (perhaps unecessary) technical detail. I loved it, of course, but then, that's me all over. It has still a vast mass of visionary concepts, and the scale of the ideas is enormous. And it's ideas haven't yet dated, which suggests they might be running quite close to the possible.
Not an easy read, even for me; te planet is more of a character than most of the individual humans.
But rewarding.

 

[Clansman]

I read about 2/3 of Red Mars, and then put it down. I never picked it up again, though it remains on my shelf, and I mean to finish it. I liked it, but it is not really gripping. There is a lot of detail, which I like. And the book did change me, even though I didn't finish it. I think of Mars quite a bit differently, now. The story still stands out very clearly in my mind, so I guess I should finish the darn thing.

 

[Ragnar]

I loved it. Yes, its a bit long-winded & sometimes you feel as though you're reading a scientific textbook but I found it absolutely mesmerising nontheless. For my money, its the best book(s) about planetary colonisation I've ever read.

 

[JDP]

I got them from my local library and started reading Red Mars about a week ago. It's pretty good, though slightly heavy on jargon as has been said. I'm only half way through, but I haven't encountered anything yet to put me off finishing the trilogy!

I actually quite like the characterisation - each section is written from a different POV, and with each one you gain a wider perspective on the others as well as the person you're reading about. It's certainly not a character-driven book though - the ideas are the real stars.

If you like hard sf, then I'd definitely recommend it. If not, it's still worth a shot if you've nothing else to do

 

[kauldron26]

i had red mars on my to read pile for a year, when i finally read it i was blown away by the magnificent characters... its really great.

 

[Razorback]

As the comments here and the awards indicate, most people like this series, but not all. I’m a fan of world building and hard SF, so I liked this series a lot. If you find it’s not your cup of tea, you can stop after the first one.

 

[Thadlerian]

Haven't read Blue Mars yet, but Red Mars is sure worth reading. Some might see them as schoolbook-like, but, hey, it doesn't hurt to read that sort of fiction once in a while either. Gives you a better basis for comparing different sorts of books.

EDIT: And, if you start Red Mars, be sure to skip the opening chapter. To quote inchoatus.com, an excellent review site:

Before you read, skip the opening chapter (the initial italicized intro is fine) and begin with the second entitled “Voyage Out.” Get a friend to tell you where to go back and read Chapter 1. In the mass-market paperback, this is after page 382, the last section before the chapter “Guns Under the Table.” We’re not kidding—this information is more valuable than anything you can read in any review. Again, skip chapter one and then, in the paperback, return to chapter 1 after page 382.

We’re not joking about this.

Start with chapter 2, when you reach page 382, go back and read chapter 1, then continue on. You will be eternally grateful to us for this.

 

[Omphalos]

It sure is worth reading. Its one of those series that people have quite divided opinions on. KSR has a rep as a very boring, dry writer, and those books are written in his usual style, but they manage to transcend it and actually are pretty good. And pardon the "ditto," but especially the first one.

 

[Werthead]

Red Mars is simply the best SF novel ever written about the colonisation of Mars. No other book comes close. KSR's strengths are the great characters and the tremendous forethought that has gone into how society, sociology, technology, philosophy, religion and ideoligy are shaped and will be affected by the colonisation of a new planet. There's tons of great ideas, even ones that feature briefly (IIRC, there was something about an Arab-Texan alliance to excavate the planet's mineral wealth) are usually inventive. The space elevator stuff was pretty cool as well. The first book also has a cracking plot.

I liked Books 2 and 3, but they are different beasts. They are slower, more reflective, and much more concerned with sociological analysis than having an actual, dynamic storyline. They are basically textbooks with fictional characters walking the reader through the science and the philosophy, which works quite well but if you are after a cohesive novel it doesn't really help. The other problem is that arguably the two best characters in the whole series:

Spoiler

die in Book 1 and the remaining characters, some of whom are great, can't make up for their absence.

 

[Anthony G Williams]

I read only the first volume, and found it a struggle to finish, so I didn't bother with the other two. From what I can recall (it was a long time ago) I found it slow, turgid and generally uninvolving.

 

[Thadlerian]

I read the second volume (Green Mars) about a year ago, and, as Wert said, it's of a slower kind.

I was in fact a little disappointed about it. Sufficently disappointed not to immediately pick up Blue Mars. I think the gender-polarized characterization has something to do with it.

 

[clovis-man]

Interesting range of opinions.

It is hard SF. Period. But the story is compelling, even though it spans three volumes. Some of the characters appear in all three even though it is a generational story by the time you get to Blue Mars. Great concepts, of which I see parts appearing in things written by others quite frequently. Well worth the reading effort, IMHO, and not to be missed by anyone who likes some science in their SF.

 

[Durandal]

I'm late to the party as usual, I guess, but I'll chime in with yet another recommendation.

Robinson's Mars trilogy may well be my favorite work of hard sci-fi. Ever. Virtually every aspect of it is well-done, in my opinion, and I didn't even find the science-heavy parts to be impenetrable. And I'm no genius, to be sure.

I loved the mix of science, politics, economics, sociology, etc etc etc. KSR just nailed it with this series, and I don't think he's matched it since.