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Red Mars

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Red Mars

By: Kim Stanley Robinson
Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
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About this listen

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 Fantasy Fiction Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Solar System Mars

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)
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Amazing, ambitious book covering humans' first colonisation of Mars and dealing in a highly plausible way with all the challenges they face in first surviving and then deciding what to do to the planet. Very strong character development and intriguing characters struggling with big questions in science and economics which are all meticulously researched. Only occasionally let down in the descriptions of the environment where it's sometimes hard to work out quite what's going on. Good narrator performance albeit not very varied. Also the book is quite 'serious' and the characters are not a barrel of laughs. Overall though a very impressive achievement.

Epic, intelligent, hard sci fi

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very long but worth it! Thought provoking while being enjoyably. so many different aspects, philosophies and ideas combined into one great narrative.

Epic. very long but worth it!

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Firstly, it's a really interesting and well written book full of clever concepts and characters. Some of the sex scenes are a bit repetitive and some stuff just goes unexplained, but definitely a 4 star read.

However, the reader gets drawn in over time and the whole thing becomes believable, and epic. I'd say that it's a "must read" so I have given it 5 stars although I can see some hating it just as much as I loved it.

Why did I give 5 Stars to a 4 Star Book?

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What starts out as a purely Scientifical exploration gets polluted by politics and the Inevitable happens!

Humans being humans...just on Mars

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Comprehensive and full-on descriptions of the environment and situations which does at times distract from the actual story line, making it feel long winded. Also occasionally the narration seems to make a slight pause or break as if it's the end of a paragraph but then continues as the same sentence, which can be a bit jarring to the listener. An ok story but not sure if I will be getting the next book in this series

Full on descriptions which distract from the story

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