Kim Stanley Robinson Archives - Gary David Gillen

Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, Book #2 of The Mars Trilogy

Introduction

Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson continues the story about the terraforming of Mars a generation later after the events of the novel, Red Mars. Red Mars told the story of the first hundred people who make a permanent home on Mars. The first hundred are joined by many more immigrants to Mars. Two factions want different futures for Mars. The Red faction wants to keep Mars as close to its prehuman condition as possible. The Green faction wants to completely terraform Mars into an Earthlike planet. Which Mars faction will prevail in the fight for the future of Mars?

Summary Part One

Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson is divided into 10 parts. Each part features a different point of view character with seven total characters having a POV.

Nirgal is first generation Mars born. Nirgal grows up in the Zygote dome. It’s carved out of the South Polar ice cap. He grows up with half-brothers and half-sisters, most from his mother Hiroko. He gets out of the dome and learns about Mars by traveling with Coyote. Coyote travels and trades with the different domes of the southern hemisphere where the Red faction went after losing the rebellion of 2061.

Art Randolph is an American. The Corporation named Praxis sent him to Mars as an ambassador. The transnational corporation Praxis bought Art Randolph’s company, Dumpshares. After some time, they invited Art to a company retreat headed by William Fort, the president of Praxis, with six others. Fort learns about the employees and offers them each a unique position. He offers Art the position of Ambassador to Mars for the Praxis Corporation. Art takes the three-month journey to Mars. He learns about Praxis’ operation on Mars and wants to contact the Red faction on Mars.

Ann Claybourne is an American Geologist who wants to keep Mars in its primal state. Ann is a geologist and one of the First Hundred. She watches and thinks about the terraforming project on Mars and doesn’t like it. She talks to Coyote, and he convinces her to meet with the leaders of the Red faction.

Summary Part Two

Sax Russel is an American physicist. Sax was a terraformer from the First Hundred. He went into hiding with the Red rebels after 2061. The Reds want him to spy on the Greens so they get him plastic surgery to change his appearance and Desmond gives him a false identity. The Swiss firm called Biotique has not turned in the others that the Reds have sent to them, so they send Sax to Biotique with the identity of Stephen Lindholm. Sax as Lindholm starts his job with Biotique. He passes through Burroughs and works at their Arena Glacier facility.

Michel Duval is a French psychologist. Michel is part of the Red group that picked up Art. The group finds out that Sax was taken. The group decides to rescue him. They use the winds around the detainment facility holding Sax to help with the attack.

Nadia Chernyshevski is a Russian engineer. The refugees from Gamete come to Dorsa Brevia for the conference. At the first meeting, Hiroko speaks. Then they break into workshops. Nadia attends a workshop where they are discussing what went wrong in 2061. They conclude a coup would be better than an open conflict. They need intel before they proceed. Another workshop is about terraforming. Ann takes the leave Mars alone approach and Sax takes the make the surface livable for humans approach. The workshops continue.

Maya Toitovna is a Russian teacher and politician. Maya and most of the First Hundred meet at Sabishii. The Transitional Authority sends a force to the south. The First Hundred split up and they headed to each of the southern communities to coordinate a response.

Recommendation

The world-building in this trilogy is impressive. It details a rational and likely method for the terraforming of Mars. The author writes wonderful descriptions and creates interesting characters. The only problem that I have with the novel is that the author relies heavily on a narrative summary. While the technique of narrative summary can help tell a story that takes place over many years, it limits the connection the reader feels with the characters. In Green Mars, the reader gets to know the children of the first hundred, some of the first hundred characters return, and the reader sees the characters walk long distances in the newly aeroformed Mars. The trilogy concludes with Blue Mars. Another book of short fiction contained within the Trilogy’s timeframe was also released and named The Martians.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, Book #2 of The Mars Trilogy.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77505.Green_Mars

My review of Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, book #1 of The Mars Trilogy, begins as the story of the first hundred people who make a permanent home on Mars.

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Introduction

Red Mars begins as the story of the first hundred people who make a permanent home on Mars. Among the first hundred is the first man who had set foot on Mars on an earlier mission, John Boone, the leader of the American group, Frank Chalmers, the leader of the Russian group, Maya Toitavna, the leading engineer Nadia Chernyshevski, the leader of the outpost made on the moon of Phobos, Arkady Bogdanov, a physicist and a proponent of immediately terraforming Mars, Sax Russell, a geologist and a proponent of leaving Mars in its original state, Ann Clayborne, and the leader of the farm team, Ai Hiroko. They face the challenges and dangers of Mars and of themselves to begin to transform the face of Mars so it can be inhabited for generations to come.

Summary

The first hundred come to Mars on the spaceship Ares after a long journey. They settle in a group of bunkers which they called Underhill. The beginning of the novel focuses on a love triangle between Maya, John, and Frank. Ann’s position is referred to as the Red position and Sax’s position is referred to as the Green position. The United Nations Organization Mars Authority (UNOMA) holds the final decision and favors exploiting the raw materials found on Mars to the benefit of the people of Earth.

Many outposts are built with the direction of Nadia and a mass emigration is enacted. A space elevator is constructed, the water at the north pole is mined, an ice meteorite is broken up in the Martian atmosphere, and large holes called moholes are drilled into the surface of Mars. Not everyone is happy with the current conditions and this leads to revolution.

Recommendation

The world-building in this trilogy is impressive. It details a rational and likely method for the terraforming of Mars. The author writes a wonderful description and creates interesting characters. The only problem that I have with the novel is that the author relies heavily on the narrative summary. While the technique of narrative summary can help tell a story that takes place over many years, it limits the connection the reader feels with the characters. The story continues in Green Mars and concludes in Blue Mars. Another book of short fiction contained within the Trilogy’s timeframe was also released and called The Martians.