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)

Great for the right type of reader.

This style of writing isn't everyone's cup of tea. But you're really going to love that tea if it is.

It's best to think of it as a fictional documentary with ongoing story elements. It really dives into the details of both the human element as well as the (literal) world building. The focus isn't on telling a specific story, it's about creating a very grounded but vivid picture for near-future Mars colonization. It also means that the story side is a slow, methodic buildup. You need a healthy level of patience, or at least a keen interest in the scientific, political, and psychological nuances behind everything.

Richard Ferrone is a great voice for narrating environments. He's not so great at dialog or character voices though. There are some inflections, mispronounced titles, and attempted accents that will occasionally break the immersion. But despite the faults he does a fairly decent job overall and to be fair he gets a LOT of different technical and ethnic names and titles thrown at him over the course of the series.

I'd suggest doing what I did and listen to all three, but between each book take a break with one or two other books in your comfort zone. If you've got the pacing and patience for it, by the end you'll swear the Mars colony was actually real.

Good performance

The book is vast. If you look for entertaining or action this is now for you.

But if you look for a good audio book to get you started, while listening to this, you might feel like you are there and feel what the characters feel.

a little slow & detail heavy

This book is very a very in-depth look at all aspects of colonizing Mars. KSR considers the technical & scientific problems, while also exploring the social & economic implications, as well. I was looking for a long book to kind of get lost in & really enjoyed this book as a trip out of this world.

A powerful narrative of an unhindered future

Would you listen to Red Mars again? Why?

I would absolutely revisit Red Mars due to its value not only as a story to be shared with others less informed about the red planet but due to its capacity to elucidate interesting facts and speculations about future technology, which cannot wholly be contemplated in one reading. Robinson understands their complexity and only describes so much of the challenges that are faced technologically and socially as they will be up to our descendants to truely solve, using Robinson's works as inspiration no doubt.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I could associate very well with the personality and sometimes maniacal tendencies of Sax Russell and Arkady Bogdanov, which I think is critical in fiction, the ability to create interesting characters whilst giving them attributes and challenges that readers can easily commiserate with. I wish Robinson went into further detail the circumstances surrounding the rumour of lab rat's minds becoming the mind of Sax Russell!

What does Richard Ferrone bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Richard Ferrone was so good at switching between male and female voices and giving them distinct differences, that I soon forgot about a narrator's potential difficulty here and focused on the story, and the various vocal inflections and mannerisms that were given to each character. I would say various world accents could be improved but the vocal characterisation was good.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES. I have been wanting to read this book for a long time, and while it has its genuinely slow moments, the fact that it reflects with some accuracy a potential world our generation could live in makes its conclusion a compelling goal to reach.

Any additional comments?

Read this book, and see how there are still many elements of colonisation of Mars that are still accurate and anticipated despite technological progress since the time of its writing. It is a book that will stand the test of time, as if non-fiction of a parallel universe.

Amazing concepts, mediocre narrative.

the concepts, science and ideas put forth were great but it dragged due to a not so engaging or clear narrative.

More science than fiction

Too many scientific terms were given without explanation. Too much of Mars geography was presented. Story jumps forward decades without mention. Poor character development. Not really is there an ending. Leaves causes unanswered. One good thing is it raised good philosophical questions.

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.