Green Mars (Mars Trilogy) Mass Market Paperback – May 1, 1995

Speculative science fiction, when done well, can feel like a yet to be fulfilled prophecy. Kim Stanley Robinson achieves this feeling in his novel Green Mars. Green Mars is the second installment of Robinson's epic opus, The Mars Trilogy. Evidence of the book's popularity among scientific crowds is the fact that Green Mars was included in the payload of the 2008 Phoenix expedition to the planet Mars. It is among the first books in the Interplanetary Library. An initial warning: Red Mars, the first book of Kim Stanley Robinson's trilogy, should be read prior to reading Green Mars. The trilogy is not a series of stand alone story arcs that can be coherently read out of order. Red Mars and Green Mars were published a scant 13 months apart in 1993 and 1994. This quick publishing turn around time and the fact that the books are over half a thousand pages each leads one to believe that both books were finished at the same time. While this is just speculation (although I'm sure Kim Stanley Robinson has addressed this matter in interviews in the past 20 years), one can continue to speculate as to why the story was published slightly over a year apart in two different books. Perhaps the author wanted to double his entries in the Hugo and Nebula sweepstakes (Red Mars won the Nebula in 1993, Green Mars won the Hugo 1994). Perhaps the editor thought the tome would be too ponderous for a single book. Perhaps the publisher (Spectra/Bantam Dell/Random House) wanted the profits from two books instead of just one. Whatever the reason, just make sure, even though you are presently reading a review of Green Mars, that you read Red Mars first. Green Mars is set in the near future and is centered around the populating and terraforming of Mars by immigrants from Earth and native born Martians. Green Mars weaves into its plot many other speculative science fiction devices in addition to terraforming. Medical advancements that double or triple the human lifespan play heavily into the story's plot. Other major plot conflicts include environmental disasters and protection (both on Earth and Mars), political dominance by multinational corporations, population growth, and battles over and with advanced technologies such as space elevators, orbiting solar mirrors, and the medicinal treatments for prolonging life. The story is extremely multifaceted and epic in scope. The trilogy spans about 150 years. Green Mars is not particularly light reading, but the story and the science in the story will not soon leave a reader's hippocampus. Kim Stanley Robinson employs a narrative style common to fictional mega-epics with a large cast of characters. The story is told from a third person perspective that is limited to a single character's point of view per chapter. The point of view character alternates every chapter so that the reader can get an idea of everything going on all around Mars. The author creates a linear fluidity to the story this way. This narrative method also allows Kim Stanley Robinson to show off his multiple disciplinary, scientific interests. Depending on the point of view character, the author will use that character's specialty to wax informatively on various fields of science such as geology, environmental science, physics, solar system astronomy, biology, botany, sociology, psychology, philosophy, humanities, economics, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, social engineering, military science, political science, and even a dash of religion. Often the story is secondary and/or dependent on the description of the sciences (and speculative sciences). Attention and focus is required to follow the story through these interesting, college-level, intellectual interruptions. It is impossible to read Green Mars and not learn something. This will turn off some readers who are only interested in a Mars themed, thrill ride adventure story. If that is what you want, try Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land or Edgar Rice Burrough's A Princess of Mars. Green Mars is written for a "hard science fiction" fan base that is interested in intellectualism as much as literary entertainment. The characters, especially the point of view characters, in Green Mars are primarily archetypes of different kinds of scientists, various kinds of revolutionary fighters and politicians, and religious leaders. Their personalities are largely shaped by their professions and/or scientific disciplines. However all the characters are well written and through their actions, thoughts, and expressed values the reader sees multiple dimensions of their passions, flaws, and personalities. The characters and the story are easy to fall in love with but challenging to read. The liberal arts academic who dreaded science class might want to approach this book with caution. However, if you pick up Green Mars and the Mars Trilogy, no matter what you scientific inclination is, you will probably be entertained and definitely be educated.

An amazing book I remember from my childhood. Much of it went over my head (I don't remember how old I was, but I might very well have been in middle school) but I remember being enthralled. No matter how much I didn't get at that age, I still put Kim Stanley Robinson on my list of Authors I Would Definitely Enjoy Reading. I would say this about the whole Mars trilogy. I remember the cover of my copy of Red Mars being so terribly abused and damaged by use. The latter two books remained in better repair, but I definitely remember reading them, though my memory is quite dim and it's possible I may have skipped a few sections. But this one, I think, helped me to understand the character of Ann Clayborn, who in turn helped me to understand environmentalism for the first time. I might or might not have believed that something's value came from its practical usefulness, but I didn't have the certain knowledge that I developed that something can be valuable for its own sake, that it should be preserved even in the face of massive practical difficulties that arise, simply because it exists, that it is beautiful and astonishing and strange. This in spite of the fact that I had been a Reader since elementary school, that my most treasured hours were always spent with something beautiful and astonishing and strange. But no one encapsulates that Truth in the same way as Ann Clayborn. As I reread these books now--just finished Green Mars, about to start Blue Mars--it occurs to me that this series of books might have very well made me a better person

Read Red Mars 5 stars fantastic.Read my review.Read Green Mars also 5 stars fantastic. This is the best Sci Fi trilogy on Mars colonization and Terra Forming. Its a big book...over 600 pages but reads well and quick. So detailed and exciting. No boring parts. Kim Stanley Robinson is great with character development and so detailed in his Mars landscape descriptions. Here a little of this exciting epic classic.Now there are hundreds of thousands on Mars in various cities and small dome/tent facilities. Earth is having major problems with famine, wars and the West Antarctic ice sheet dropping off and melting and raising the sea level 6 meters. The big mega internationals are still trying to control Mars and only about 10% of earth's population has been given the treatment for extending life( may live a thousand years). The rest are starving and dieing.Kim Stanley Robinson still has the second elevator from Mars to asteroid Clarke 2 . The Mega Internationale's Earth police goon squads keep trying to put Mars in "order". Reinforcements are transported down the ""elevator" ( The elevator is too improbable to me). The elevator allows spaceships from earth to land on asteroid Clarke2 and save fuel by bypassing mars gravity well.There is the second revolution and Burroughs Mar's largest city is flooded by the extremist "Reds" ( don't want terraforming and leave Mars like it was). The police goon squads are forced to leave and concentrate at Sheffield another Mars city where the "Elevator" is. Hundreds of thousands of Burroughs citizens escape and walk out of Burroughs wearing filters and heavy clothing. They then board trains to other cities. A very narrow escape!The underground shoots down military space and communications platforms around Mars and keep their own communications intact.Major 2nd revolution that this time succeeds. Lots of Terra Forming going on and now in low parts people are able to breath temporarily with the help of filters outside of domes but it still very cold like Siberia but now there is liquid water part time in the Summer on parts of low level Mars. A big Megainternational named Praxis is now helping Mars and trying to help Earth with its own disaster.I give Green Mars a 4 1/2 star rating because of the "elevator" which in the near future of a hundred years I don't think the technology will be there but will list it as 5 stars as its an epic and the best Mars colonization/ terraforming trilogy ever. See the many big wheels like Arthur C Clarke and scientist Robert Zubrin's high praise for this classic Mars trilogy epic.Reading Blue Mars and so far its great. Will post review.

Poor quality book cover ‘printed by Amazon’I’ve been wondering why some of the books I get from Amazon (such as this one), that appear from the description to be regular printed books, have such poor quality covers — the covers peel and become tatty and they are not editions that you would ever want to keep. I have experienced that with ‘print-on-demand’ books of course ... that is what you get, and may be appropriate for low print runs of that nature. Even in this case, I wouldn’t so much mind, if Amazon made it clear when you purchase this that it is ‘printed by Amazon’, but there is nothing to indicate that. This is making me very wary of buying books on Amazon. Surely they should describe the item correctly when they sell it?

I have both red and blue mars in my collection, as well as 'The martians', and having read other Mars inhabitation books, I consider Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy as the one that stands out. I have read green mars before, several years ago, borrowed from the library and had to rush the ending to get the book back on time... Having reread, it all makes more sense. It is a very intricate story line involving key characters from the early Mars settlers and some of their offspring, and how even on a vast planet like Mars, peoples opinions differ. But that aside, one thing united all sides, that was the interference from earth. As with any series, starting at the beginning helps you with the background. Having read the other books, you can get to know the characters - and with the help of a good writer and story line, you can picture yourself there.

This trilogy was recommended to me by a colleague, I’m now pretty sure he doesn’t like me. Red Mars was on kindle unlimited, also dull except for the ending which is why I gave this a chance. Whole chapters given over to a man ruminating about plants. The leaps in time are jarring, now nearly two books in and still f do not feel anything for the protagonists, Nirgal like Nadia in the first book was nearly there but yet again the author jumped away from his arc to remain with the very annoying Toitnov. Do not bother people

"Green Mars" seamlessly follows on from where "Red Mars" left off and it is just as well written and convincing as the first book of the trilogy. Once again the whole feel of the book is like an historical narrative written after the event by some kind of time traveller , rather than an imaginative work of futuristic fiction by a talented writer . The plot is thoroughly gripping, the characterisation immense and the geographical, geological and biological detail is phenomenal. "Green Mars" sees the development of a "Martian Underground" resistance which tries to gain political independence from Earth and the transnational corporations that control it. The main characters are all infused with a steely determination to stop Mars becoming an Earth Mark 2 and the book explores their collective struggle to forge a separate Martian identity and society amidst the climate changes brought about by ongoing "terraforming" which is steadily "greening" Mars and creating large areas of surface ice. It is remarkable how the author has brought Mars to life so vividly ;his fantastic world of space elevators, tented cities, genetically engineered flora and Platonic "Scientist-King" revolutionaries is quite astounding. "Green Mars", despite the scientific minutiae is a very readable book. I raced through the 800 page epic in 7 days and I hope that the final book in the trilogy ,"Blue Mars", is just as good as the first two.

Having now read all three in the trilogy I would say that they are a worthy effort, firmly in the tradition of Azimov and Clarke (in their more epic modes) - but for me slightly let down by a lack of editing. Rather too much geology and geography, both repeated in lengthy chunks throughout the storyline. The plot and characters are excellent, truly well thought out and developed; witness the fact that I did read all three books, but I did have to skim read a bit too much for my liking. I don't mind at all to read beautiful and imaginative descriptive passages, but in all three books I really felt there was just too much of it... and it did disrupt the flow of the story in a way you would never find in the likes of classic Azimov (Foundation trilogy for example). Nevertheless, this quality of 'serious' science fiction is rare these days and this Mars trilogy still well deserving of the four stars.