Green Mars

by Kim Stanley Robinson, Kim Stanley Robinson

Mass Market Paperback, 624 pages

English language

Published Nov. 7, 1995 by Bantam Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-553-57239-1

(88 reviews)

In the Nebula Award winning Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson began his critically acclaimed epic saga of the colonization of Mars, Now the Hugo Award winning Green Mars continues the thrilling and timeless tale of humanity's struggle to survive at its farthest frontier.Nearly a generation has passed since the first pioneers landed, but the transformation of Mars to an Earthlike planet has just begun The plan is opposed by those determined to preserve the planets hostile, barren beauty. Led by rebels like Peter Clayborne, these young people are the first generation of children born on Mars. They will be joined by original settlers Maya Toitovna, Simon Frasier, and Sax Russell. Against this cosmic backdrop, passions, rivalries, and friendships explode in a story as spectacular as the planet itself.From the Paperback edition.

7 editions

Jakers reviewed Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars (2))

A worthy and fun sequel that builds on the ideas of the first

4 stars

Content warning Red Mars/Green Mars spoilers

Having loved the first book, I decided to read the rest of the trilogy. And this book was even more rewarding than the last.

The setup is great, picking up a few years after the disastrous revolution of 2061. Most of the First Hundred are in hiding, and we are introduced to the next generation of Martians, who go on to take up the revolutionary cause. The situation on Earth grows ever more dire, and the enthusiasm of the Martian youth is at odds with the careful machinations of the First Hundred.

The way the second part of the story builds on some of the secondary characters is incredible. Sax Russell goes from a dedicated scientist to an inflamed revolutionary, Maya Toitonova goes from a mercurial romantic interest to a carefully planning and self-aware leader, and Nadia Cherenevsky becomes a skilled arbitrator and leader.

The journey here is a bit more important than the destination, but I think the ending is supposed to stand in stark contrast to how things ended in Red Mars. Rather than a failed revolution with many dead, it ends with a peaceful flight from disaster led by competent leaders who end up saving thousands.

There are no real heros in this series, which I appreciate. People grow and change. They do things you may or may not agree with, and they do it for reasons that make some sense. Robinson allows the somewhat two-dimensional characters of the first novel become fleshed out as we spend time with them, and they become real people.

Loving this series so far, and have immediately started the third book, Blue Mars

coffeemonk reviewed Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars (2))

Review of 'Green Mars' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

It took me five years of intermittent attention to finish it, but I finally made it through. This is an incredibly dense book whose glacial pace matches the glacial pace of the plot itself. Slow, plodding, and choked with scientific minutia (both presumably real and clearly imagined), this is the hardest of hard sci-fi. If you're very interested in the prospects of establishing a human presence on Mars, or perhaps in the psychology of extreme life extension, you may well love this book. Just make sure you have time to focus and settle in for long passages about things like planting genetically engineered lychen.

tivasyk reviewed Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars (2))

Review of 'Green mars' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

difficult to enjoy...

ManyRoads reviewed Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars (2))

Review of 'Green mars' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

This second book of the Mars Trilogy was a huge disappointment. Even my Kindle fell asleep. I will not bother with the rest of the series.

Libbum reviewed Green mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Green mars' on 'GoodReads'

4 stars

As the series moves along, Robinson hunkers down and gets in the muck of how he sees the martian society & biospheres grow. Sometimes this is extremely dry prose, but in general this writing style is either growing on me, or Robinson is getting better at it. When it's obvious that the story is coming from the interactions of one of the first 100, the story flows far better than the time when narration is a bit more spread out - scattered is perhaps a better word.

This was certainly not what I expected these books to be. My assumption was that they would be more scientific utopia more than conflict central, but that is unfortunately a more realistic future. For that alone Robinson has made me a stronger fan of this epic. Can't wait to see what he makes of all this in the final instalment.

Zéro Janvier reviewed Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars (2))

Review of 'Green mars' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Certains passages sont passionnants, d'autres sont beaucoup plus laborieux. J'avoue avoir eu du mal à partir de la troisième description d'un paysage martien après un énième changement climatique. Je m'accroche tout de même, pour lire le troisième volume de la trilogie.

nicknicknicknick reviewed Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Green Mars' on Goodreads

4 stars

''And this gigantic project was perfectly natural work to them. At one stop on the piste Maya and Diana got out and drove with some friends of Diana's out onto one of the ridges of the Zea Dorsa, which ran out onto the southeast quarter of the basin floor. Now most of these dorsa were peninsulas running out under another ice lobe, and Maya looked down at the crevasse-riven glaciers to each side and tried to imagine a time when the surface of the sea would in fact lie hundreds of meters overhead, so that these craggy old basalt ridges would be nothing but blips on some ship's sonar, home to starfish and shrimp and krill and extensive varieties of engineered bacteria. That time was not far off, amazing though it was to realize it. But Diana and her friends, these in particular of Greek ancestry, or was it Turkish---these young Martian dowsers were not awed by this imminent future, nor by their project's vastness. It was their work, their life---to them it was human scale, there was nothing unnatural about it. On Mars, simply enough, human work consisted of pharaonic projects like this one. Creating oceans. Building bridges that made the Golden Gate look like a toy. They weren't even watching this ridge, which would only be visible for a while longer---they were talking about other things, mutual friends in Sukhumi, that sort of thing.
'This is a stubendous act!' Maya told them sharply. 'This is magnitudes bigger than anything people have been able to do before! This sea is going to be the size of the Caribbean! There's never been any project anything like this on Earth---no project! Not even close!''
A pleasant oval-faced woman with beautiful skin laughed. 'I don't give a damn about Earth,' she said.''

Tom Goetz reviewed Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars (2))

Review of 'Green mars' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This review is for the re-read on the comment date.

There is a lot of navel gazing in this book. I find myself skimming forward often. I think editing it down would have improved the book. Too much long sections of yawn between anything happening. 90% build up and 10% action.

I do like the concept of terraforming and colonizing mars. The book shows a lot of research into that area.

joeyh reviewed Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars (2))

Review of 'Green mars' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Re-reading the Mars trilogy. This middle volume was mostly as I remembered. But I seem to find several of the characters viewpoints less painful to read this time around, including Michael and Ann. Also, struck by how close the depiction of Praxis was to naive positive viewpoints people have, or have had, about Google.