The Red Planet Trilogy

Three Novellas

By: William Graham

Narrated by: Richard Wilson

Length: 4 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

This collection of three novellas chronicles the dramatic events from the founding of the first Martian colony in the middle of the 21st century to the first election of the Martian Republic in the 22nd century.

From Vermont to Mars tells the story of ecological disasters on Earth that are the catalysts for the first emigrants to head to Mars.

The Red Planet Murders continues the story by telling a compelling tale of murder and the reluctant investigator, Achilles "Ace" Sloan, who must solve the crime amid social unrest on Mars.

The Martian Republic describes the political struggle between warring factions on Mars leading up to the first presidential election.

Together the three novellas are a sweeping cautionary tale of a grand social and economic experiment on Mars.

©2013 William Graham (P)2015 William Graham

A four star story with five star narration.

Step into the future with this collection of novellas. Follow three separate but interwoven stories about the red planet and humans escape to this place. From Vermont to Mars is the first novella. This is focused on a small town in rural Vermont who is about to have a large development built on protected land. Follow a 71-year-old man’s journey to save this land. All while this is happening his daughter has decided to break off her engagement and go to Mars to teach. The second is a chilling murder mystery that takes place in the world his daughter leaves at the end of her story. And the final novella follows the political strife that has become of Mars since the end of the second novella.

The audiobook was perfect; I cannot find a single flaw with it. It was studio quality. The performance of the narrator, Richard Wilson was perfect. He was compelling and very well spoken, easy to follow and one of those narrators that an author should feel lucky to have reading his story. This is one of those stories that I think the narration actually added something, rather than take away from it. Lucky for the listener, the voice work really only follows one or two characters in each novella – allowing for a quick and easy listen.

I really liked how the stories weaved into each other, but this could have been made to flow slightly better (I really think a chapter more each would allow them to flow perfectly). When listening, other than character names being switched, couldn’t tell when a new story was being told (I thought that the first novellas second part was actually a new story). All-in-all this story was a great narrative of a “what if” scenario if we allow big companies to explore and colonize distant planets. I’m excited to continue the story with his fourth novella in the series The Red Planet President. From what I can tell, picks up after the end of the third novella.

A four star story with five star narration.

Audiobook provided for review by the author.

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The red planet

Any additional comments?

The first novella is form Vermont to Mars. It is a small town in rural Vermont who is about to have a large development built on protected land. Follow a 71-year-old man’s journey to save this land. All while this is happening his daughter has decided to break off her engagement and go to Mars to teach.

Not For Me

I found it very difficult to get into this book and I'm not really sure why. Perhaps it was a bit dry, or perhaps I was having an off day. I fault me and not the book for this! It's not a bad story, but I wouldn't probably recommend it to my friends.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

So realistic it's scary

I really enjoyed the story as it started off in a region near to where I grew up. I could see the events happening as greed and selfishness is now worsening and denial of the changes our society has made in our environment is the governmental belief. Power attempts to crush commonsense. Now on to screw with other planets. Weee!!

I received this title for free in exchange for an unbiased review.

Not bad, it sprawls abit but is worth the time .

Would you try another book from William Graham and/or Richard Wilson?

Likely, although I might think about it. Overall they make a reasonably good team, although Wilson's performance can be abit thin at times. On balance, it's decent.

If you’ve listened to books by William Graham before, how does this one compare?

No background so cannot comment.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes, although I feel a performer like RC Bray could really bring this story to life.

Did The Red Planet Trilogy inspire you to do anything?

I laughed abit, and did some research.

Any additional comments?

I did receive this copy for free from the author in exchange for this review. On balance this is a reasonably good trilogy, that moves along logically and has originality and at times compelling characters. The performance is professional, and it is likely worth a credit, but it doesn't "jump" like similar offerings can. Recommended with reservations.

Decent drama with well blended stories

If you are looking for a novella trilogy consisting of strong drama, procedural aspects, and politics intrigue, “The Red Planet Trilogy” may be a book for you; pick up and have a listen. It is authored by William Graham with the Audible edition narrated by Richard Wilson. However, if you are looking for a deep and complex science fiction story with pages full of cool gadgets, unique gizmos, and evil aliens, this is not book you are looking for. Not to say the book is written poorly, not at all, it is simply to let the buyer be aware that the book is classified on Audible in the SciFi genre, but I believe it would better be placed in a drama or mystery categories. Many of the complexities of space travel, colonization of other planets, and additional aspects often found in complex science fiction stories are not found in this set of novellas.

Although the three stories are different, the characters and locations are intertwined across them giving the reader a unique perspective than if you had only read one or two of them. The book opens in the near future and reveals a rather shocking tragedy that caused mankind to seek a better place to live than on Earth. A corporation is established given the task of interplanetary colonization of both Mars and the Earth’s moon. We learn that because of rising ocean elevations many of the Earth’s population must seek higher ground if they remain on the planet. Because of this, there is a strain on the current population around available critical resources including both land and water. The story moved next to being on Mars where one of our characters has escaped to get away from things. Lastly, we come on the scene of a murder that needs to be solved in the last novella.

The book is overall short, having only 155 pages and just over four hours of audio, but the amount of detail the author packs in to its pages makes the book feel much bigger. I liked the way the characters were developed and the descriptive nature of the author’s writing style. It made picturing the scene much easier for me. I also found the shorter chapters to be something that allowed me to pick up and put down the book as frequently as I liked without much disruption. I do have to say that the book contains a limited number of vulgar words used across the three novellas and there is some discussion involving both sexual content along with some graphic violence and alcohol use. Again, these are not over the top, but I did want to make sure both parents or younger readers knew what to expect while listening or reading this book.

I liked that the author included some of the details of the space travel experience itself when journeying between Earth and Mars. Such transportation reminded me more of what you would come to expect from a Titanic voyage. There were those who paid for first-class and received rooms with a view, while the majority of travelers would be crammed into third-class steerage that reminded me more of people packed in to a semi-truck trailer for a few months without a view until they landed on the red planet. You quickly begin to build a love/hate relationship towards the corporation and what it has become.

I did not have any major issues with the audiobook’s narration done by Richard Wilson. I would have liked the book to have been read a bit faster, but this can easily be adjusted using the Audible application. However, there were a few places where a swallow or slight background noise was not edited out. I also heard what appears to have been an edit to the audio in chapter 35 (Audible) where you can tell it was added/plugged after the initial recording. Nothing that would prevent me from listening to the book, but for those who want all their books to be of the highest quality; this one has a few slight blemishes.

In summary, if you are looking for a quick read where the three short stories are blended together and it is more a drama than science fiction per se, I would recommend you pick up the book. Instead, if you are a person who like deep space operas with big battles and villains, you may want to look elsewhere.

Disclaimer: I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.

Super trilogy

This is the second to fourth books I’ve read/listened to by this author and I would love to finish this entire series. I listened to The Red Planet President first. Each book seems to have overlapping characters or events to tie them all together. I had no issues listening to them out of order, but it might offer continuity they could be listened to in order.

This is the second to fourth books I’ve listened to by this narrator ( Richard Wilson) and I would listen to another. The character voices were distinguishable. his pacing made me realize I was being read, but emphasis made the book even sound more like an historical account than an active story. I liked it.

There are no explicit sex scenes, excessive violence. There is minimal swearing.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

Creative and interesting

Although there are elements to these stories I do not agree with................. the series is creative and interesting.

Most listeners who enjoy this genre will be entertained and will feel their time is well spent.

The Narrator did a good job with the material.



This Book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

3 Novellas

The Red Planet Trilogy: Three Novellas. Easy to listen to novella that get better as they progress.
Dialogue is a little simplistic but you soon get used to that, and the narration is smooth and clear.
As I say 3 good reads, each one linked to the others yet distinctively separate stories.
I listened to each one over a couple of lunch breaks in the park.
I am impressed with the concept and story lines and will be reading more from William Graham.
I was given a free copy of this audio book at my own request, and voluntarily leave this review.

William Graham never dissappoints in this trilogy!

First, I have to start off by stating that I got this book free of charge in exchange for a review, but as I always state, this does not in any way impact my review. My reviews are always honest and my own.

While better than The Red Planet Murders, this novella is disappointing. It follows the election of the first Martian President and it felt very much like extreme left vs extreme right. It wasn’t a good election and for the most parts neither seemed to help the poor of Mars, which was the aim of the extreme left candidate. A lot of this focused on the use of a spin doctor, rather than the actual politics. I think the key phrase in this novella was “if we repeat a phrase enough times, people will start to believe it.” It had weak execution and weak follow through.

I did really like the narrator. He’s narrated this trilogy extremely well.

Three interesting novellas

I really enjoyed the first of these three novellas, from Vermont to Mars. It has some very good world building and interesting ideas. The rest of the stories seem to be of a political stance, rather than sci fi epic. Not that I didn't mind that, I understand it's not everyone's cup of tea. I will be trying more of William Grahams books, based on this one.

The narrator, Richard Wilson, does a very good job here and I would listen to more of his work.

A copy of this audiobook was given by the author in exchange for an honest review.

In the end, it's all just business.

Three novellas which together form an history of earth's reaching for the stars and building a new society on Mars. Each story is told in short, news like chapters, and follow a particular trend. In the first, the errosion of life support on earth and the difficult situations in which many inhabitants found themselves, opens the way to colonisation both of the moon and, for the more adventurous, Mars. A single company makes this possible both for the wealthy who can pay well for their new habitation and for employees taken on by the company to build, teach and care for the new, rich immigrants.

The second novella takes a closer look at the emergent society and it's workings, through the investigation of a murder, an unusual occurrence, which takes place in one of the two major habitats and the final one looks at the ways in which those with the power seek to hold on to it, regardless of truth, mirroring the political intrigues so well known on earth.

Because of the way in which the books are structured, despite the introduction of numerous protagonists and the passing of over fifty years in time, there is no confusion and each section, especially the latter two, are suffused with a slow tension. The narrator was very good in continuing the unemotional presentation. His gentle, very pleasant voice recounted the stories calmly, clearly, well paced and modulated: again, a little like a full background news briefing which made all that was told feel true, a piece of history. His different voicings for individual characters was also distinctive.

This is not a full action, battling book but the more thoughtful attempt at the peaceful building of a new society and the political tensions and struggles which develop. I was very fortunate in being gifted my copy of The Red Planet Trilogy by the rights holder, via Audiobook Boom. Many thanks. I very much enjoyed it and understand that further books are to follow. I will definitely continue to follow this series.