Red Mars

By: Kim Stanley Robinson

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

Length: 23 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©1993 Kim Stanley Robinson (P)2000 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

• Nebula Award, Best Novel, 1993

"Generously blending hard science with canny insight into human strengths and weaknesses, this suspenseful sf saga should appeal to a wide range of readers." (Library Journal)
"The ultimate in future history." (Daily Mail)

amount of time and effort put in the book

epic book I loved it so much !! ! !! !! ! ! ! !

An excellent narrator & an entrancing story

Kim Stankey Robinson has written a masterpiece; Richard Ferrone has narrated it in a performance that stands apart. a truly exceptional experience.

Political Sci-fi

Good story, but much more political than I expected for sci-fi. Still, well done and entertaining. Author uses good plot devices and ties up lots of loose ends, things that you didn't expect to come back because they had been left unmentioned for so long. I'll recommend it to friends, but I don't know that I will listen to it again.

Great balance of fiction and science

Kim "Stan" Stanley Robinson has the distinct ability to write use scientific concepts within the narrative in a way that lets you understand what is happening even if you don't understand how. The science serves the drama without overpowering it, letting the characters be front and center to the story. Mars itself is the main character, with long passages of the book given over to describing the landscape and its harsh beauty. The other human characters are more familiar and (for me) more interesting. Red Mars is not an adventure tale; rather it is more of a "what if" exploration of the future of humanity. There is plenty of drama, conflict, and even spectacle. The narration was clear, with distinction between voices and was never distracting.

Hope you’re a geek!

If you’re into VERY technical, nitty-gritty sci-fi, this is absolutely the book for you.

Be warned there will be many characters, and the narrator does an.. ok job distinguishing them by voice.

A very believable tale about our very near future

The book was pretty good. It was a bit slow at times. Seems quite possible!

Outstanding Book

I’ve read and listened to this series multiple times.
It never disappoints and never gets old.

Incredible

Really great way of talking about social dynamics, philosophy and landscape of mars. I was blown away by the telling. Only thing off was the unlimited resources hand waving.

A true masterpiece

Red Mars (and The Mars Trilogy in general) asks big questions: How can we start over and recreate society, taking out the bad stuff and saving the good stuff? Can we escape history and remake ourselves into something that overcomes oppression of women, slavery, racism, greed, militarism, environmental destructiveness? Can we turn our society into a means for giving every member of that society a chance to achieve his or her own potential? These are big questions; they can't be answered with bumper sticker slogans. It takes a lot of detail and careful, thoughtful discussion to address them. So while a lot happens in this series, it isn't Star Trek. Problems aren't easily resolved. Situations are never black and white. The characters change, grow, and even forget how they got to the present.

For readers who like a lot of meat to chew over, these books are probably among the greatest written in the 20th century - obsessively researched, thickly layered with meaning and analysis; the whole series is something that you can listen to time and again, and hear something different every time. The characters are archetypes; even their names express who they are - but they are also real people, with real emotions, amazingly and skillfully brought to life. The issues discussed are both a comment on the present (and history) and, in the best tradition of science fiction, an analysis of future possibilities. I can't recommend the entire series more highly for the reader who enjoys this sort of thing. But be forewarned - there are bad reviews here, and I'm guessing they are from people who were looking for something different - lots of plot and action, perhaps a little less analysis. I enjoy those books too, so I'm not saying that as a criticism of those who didn't find this to their liking. I'm just saying that there are plenty of other books that fill this role. The Mars Trilogy is something else entirely.

good book

as a first time audible listener this book series is wonderful. yes it goes on and on sometimes but you get a very good idea of the science behind the colonization of mars. Kim Stanley Robinson has made a perfect book for explaining all of this without having it be ALL science. kudos to him. i hope he writes more!