The Red Planet Trilogy

Three Novellas

De: William Graham

Narrado por: Richard Wilson

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

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.

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.

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.

Not as enjoyable as I hoped

Any additional comments?

Everyone has different preferences when it comes to science fiction, so I'm not surprised or disgruntled that other readers enjoyed this trilogy of short stories while I didn't. It just wasn't to my taste, I discovered as I listened.

(*spoilers in the next paragraph*)

Here's why I didn't find the stories as enjoyable as I had hoped.The first story didn't take place on Mars at all and my takeaway was that corporations are evil and it's honourable to vandalize other people's property if their views on the environment don't align with yours and lawsuits don't result in your favour. The second story mostly didn't take place on Mars and my takeaway was that corporations are evil while unions are great and noble.Funny thing is, I'm not anti-environment and I'm not anti-worker rights, but I found the protagonists in the stories to be... idealistic? naive? .. and so I didn't engage emotionally with their perspectives. As a result, I gradually become more disengaged as the trilogy progressed. (end of spoilers)

It's too bad, because I was looking forward to hearing three stories about Mars! I've enjoyed other novels about Mars that incorporated political issues (Kim Stanley Robinson's 'Red Mars' comes to mind), so perhaps I'm discovering that my preference is for lengthier Mars stories with richer world-building and character development. I think I need deeper context so that I can be more sympathetic when the focus of the story turns to political issues.

The narration wasn't bad; he had a neutral tone of voice. The narration wasn't bothersome, but I feel that it didn't contribute to the escalation of tension or drama in the story, either.

I provided my opinion in exchange for a complimentary copy of the audiobook from the author, narrator, or publisher.

A future with planet colonization

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, it's mainly 3 short stories about a world in which Mars is colonized.
The first one describes earth left behind by mars colonization. It is strangely not far from our reality, still the same crooks that want to make profit over all...
The second one is following some murder investigations. It was presenting a society on Mars. Again the environment in which the story is placed is well structure and one could imagine himself inside the story.
The last story was more politics and was less captivating.

What did you like best about this story?

The writting was "down to earth", which is good for a story written about mars.

Which character – as performed by Richard Wilson – was your favorite?

Some characters sounded similar. I wouldn't say I preferred one.

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

Nop. But I could see someone doing it, since it was short.

Any additional comments?

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