Red Mars Trilogy: Difference between revisions

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The '''''Red Mars''''' trilogy is a series of novels by sci-fi author Kim Stanley Robinson, named after the first novel in the series. The series explores the settlement and subsequent [[Terraform|terraformingterraform]]ing of Mars. Spanning nearly two hundred years, the series is known for it's accurate science, complex characters, a realistic<ref>Your Mileage May Vary</ref> portrayal of politics and economics, and for it's ultimately optimistic tone, shading towards a utopia rather than a [[Dystopia]].

The first novel, ''Red Mars'' itself, depicts the initial settlement of the first Martian colonies. The "First Hundred", the initial group of colonists tasked with settling the planet, establish themselves and begin altering the environment. The colonists are almost immediately divided over arguments about how independent they should remain from Earth as well, as how much terraforming they should do. This crystalizescrystallizes into two major movements: the "Reds", who want to keep Mars in it's natural state, and the "Greens" who want to terraform it to be ultimately Earth-like. The novel ends after a violent and unsuccessful revolt on the part of the Reds is put down, leading to Mars being taken over by a consortium of large Earth corporations and ushering in an age of mass immigration.

''Green Mars'' depicts the fallout of the failed revolt, resulting in an underground seperatistseparatist movement who's struggle for political freedom from Earth forms the bulk of the plot. Against this political backdrop, the massive influx of immigrants and the increase of Earth corporate meddling strain Martian society, and the terraforming process begins to proceed at a runaway pace as Mars begins to literally turn green (thus the title of the novel).

''Blue Mars'' is about the political aftermath of the independence struggle, with Mars becoming a fully independent entity from Earth. After a natural global disaster on Earth threatens to destablizedestabilize the overpopulated and polluted planet, Mars is placed in the unexpected role of being a savior to Earth. In the background, the colonization of the rest of the solar system is explored, and the continuing effects of longevity treatment on both society as a whole and the individuals using it is further explored.

* [[Earth -That -Was]]: Earth is rapidly approaching overpopulation and it's promoting mass emigration to try and stop it. It stops working at all once Mars becomes independent (and wasn't really working before that, as Earth's population is growing faster than they can ship them into space).

* [[Kill It Withwith Fire]]: How do you get rid of anti-terraforming "Red" terrorists? Why, pump their domed "tents" full of pure oxygen and set them on fire!

* [[Tall Tale]]: People on Mars still tell stories of [[Paul Bunyan]], but they make him out as a [[Trickster Archetype]] creator figure, not unlike Raven in Native American mythology. This is an [[In -Universe]] illustration of how tall tales can evolve into mythology.

* [[Stalker Withwith a Test Tube]]: Queen Hiroko has several children, most notably John's son, Kasei, who were created by impregnating herself with DNA samples from unwitting males of the First Hundred.

* [[Zeppelins Fromfrom Another World]] - airships are the main form of air travel on Mars, right from the beginning.

* [[Zero -G Spot]]: This happens frequently on the initial voyage to Mars. One of the Russian characters also apparenty experimented with many forms of zero-G sex while on ''Novy Mir''.

[[Category:Arthur C. Clarke Award]]