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)

Then and now, a reader's listening journey.

I first read these books years ago. They were on display at the Seattle museum of popular culture. Being an avid reader and fascinated by the science of terraforming and humans going to our cousins in this traveling disc around a common Sun, I decided I had to find and own my own set. I was halfway through the third book before I realized I was reading them out of order. I had simply assumed there was a time jump between the books. Even still, the tale was fascinating.

I find this narrator to be pleasant. However, there are some pronunciations I disagree with. That is often the case when you've only ever read a word and never heard it before. I know I've run into that predicament a time or two.

You won’t be disappointed

A well written and narrated book. Telling the different parts of the story from the perspective of the main characters was well done. An overall great read!

Absolute Classic

Never finished the series, so I’m revisiting them in order. It’s interesting to see how much modern science fiction has leaned on this classic.

Great Start

I loved this book but the second one was disappointing. Love the narrator and performance.

Great narration of a modern sci-fi classic!

Elon Musk eat your heart out. Red Mars takes the best of mankind's achievements in science, projects them forward to what they might logically develop into as applied science in space exploration, colonization and terraforming to build a wonderful Mars saga. Makes you truly wish you could be a part of it!

Very realistic portrayal of Mars colonization

I really liked this. Be warned that this is not a fast paced gun blazing type of story. It's a well researched and believable portrayal of what Mars colonization could look like. I really appreciated the realism. But, if you'd like more action on Mars, there are other books.

The narration is great, and I really grew to like the many characters.

Excruciating political detail

It’s reasonably well written. The problem is that the focus is 90% on monotonous interpersonal politics and 10% on the actual story.

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!

OK book but the narrator's a dud.

The narrator does almost zero characterization s. It's really hard to tell the charcters apart from his reading. Not a bad voice but fiction is not his forte.