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Kim Stanley Robinson

BLUE MARS (MARS, NO 3) Paperback – January 1, 1997

by Kim Stanley Robinson (Author)

747 ratings

Book 3 of 3: Mars Trilogy

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Lightly worn book

Print length

761 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Spectra
Publication date

January 1, 1997
ISBN-10

0553573357
ISBN-13

978-0553573350
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000P18YV6
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Spectra (January 1, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 761 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0553573357
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0553573350
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces

Best Sellers Rank: #1,654,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6,386 in Exploration Science Fiction
- #17,078 in Space Operas
- #25,533 in Science Fiction Adventures

Customer Reviews:
747 ratings

About the author

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Kim Stanley Robinson

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Kim Stanley Robinson is a winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards. He is the author of eleven previous books, including the bestselling Mars trilogy and the critically acclaimed Fifty Degrees Below, Forty Signs of Rain, The Years of Rice and Salt, and Antarctica--for which he was sent to the Antarctic by the U.S. National Science Foundation as part of their Antarctic Artists and Writers' Program. He lives in Davis, California.

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Sprawling story of Free Mars after the Revolution

Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2021

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"Blue Mars" completes the trilogy, covering the years 2127-2225, following the Second Mars Revolution. There is no dramatic conclusion to the plot as there was in "Red Mars" and "Green Mars," both of which culminate in a revolution, but there is a satisfying resolution to the lives of several of the main characters. My review mentions some highlights which might be seen as plot spoilers, but I don't believe they spoil much, since it is the process and finer-grained details which matter most.

The story is sprawling, with many scenes and episodes from over a century. There are quests -- Sax pursuing Ann, Nirgal searching for his mother Hiroki, Maya wrestling with what happened with Boone and Frank in "Red Mars," and Ann being shown the new settlements on the Jovian moons and even moons of Uranus (which is a thread KSR picks up on in his later "2312"). And of course there is more politics and more ecology.

POLITICS
The book opens with a threat of civil war with the Reds. A Constitutional Convention is held, and the starting point is the Dorsa Brevia Conference document of the underground in "Green Mars." Nadia and Art facilitate. Nadia is eventually drafted to serve as President of the new Executive Council, and so she becomes the first President of Free Mars. Workplace democracy in workers' cooperatives is a cornerstone. Vlad, the ecologist who is one of the First Hundred, gives a speech: "If democracy and self-rule are fundamentals, then why should people give up these rights when they enter the workplace?" ... The system called capitalist democracy was not really democratic at all." (143)

Later Sax ponders politics: "After repeated experiments it had become clear -- on Mars at least -- that all these contradictory goals could be best achieved in polyarchy, a complex system in which power was distributed out to a great number of institutions. In theory, this network of distributed power, partly centralized and partly decentralized, created the greatest amount of individual freedom and collective good, by maximizing the amount of control that an invididual had over his or her life." (434)

A Martian historian of the 2170s writes a multi-volume "analytical metahistory," proposing a long-term movement from primate dominant hierarchies to democracy, and says Free Mars represents the move to a post-capitalist socioeconomic system she calls the Democratic Age, with a reduced level of hierachy on the way toward ultimate "harmony." This is a reworking of Marx's reworking of Hegel's dialectic of history, though KSR does not mention it.

A delegation from Mars (Sax, Maya, Michel the psychologist, and Nirgal) travel to Earth to work out a new Mars-Earth treaty after the Second Revolution, with Maya taking the lead. Nirgal speaks boldly for Mars helping Earth, which is in crisis. He hikes in a surprisingly ice-filled Alps, surprising since KSR has not indicated that Earth has stopped global warming, and suffers sickness since he was born on Mars, which has .38 of Earth's gravity.

ECOLOGY
Terraforming/areaforming has continued to the point of creating an ocean in the north -- Oceanus Borealis -- which covers 25% of the Martian surface. It is created through geoengineering, based on the presence of ice which can be broken up and thawed with the rising temperature. This leads to Maya taking an absurdly long boat ride on Mars.

Drawing on biology, chemistry, and ecology, soil is created. Nirgal works a plot of land at one point and we see the difficulties of Martian agriculture. We jump from lichens and tundra plants to forests and large animals including polar bears.

We see some of the new Martian ecology through Nirgal's journeys as he takes up blimp-gliding, joins a feral group, and becomes a long-distance runner.

*** *** ***
The remaining members of the First Hundred are over 200 years old by the end of "Blue Mars" thanks to Vlad's longevity treatments.

The lyrical and poignant ending sees Sax, Ann, Maya, Nadia, Art, and Nirgal peaceful and content after their long adventures.

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Mike

What a journey!

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2019

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(Spoilers ahead)
Blue Mars ties up the trilogy very neatly: the ideas started in Red Mars continue on toward their logical ends. I find that I miss reading the arguments and adventures of what remains of the First 100(+1).

The book isn't perfect: The segments on Earth drag on, it's never explained why the scientific communities on Earth and Mars don't seem to cooperate at all, and I really would have liked to have gotten a few dozen more pages about exactly how and why Hiroko started Zygote.

I feel like we completed this long journey and it was nice to see the first 100(+1) changing over time and becoming closer as they all get older. The scene with Sax and Maya coming up with new colors was very sweet, and wouldn't have worked without the first two and a half books to make the scene work.

Nirgal seems.. listless in the book, which is kind of a shame. But it is realistic. It seemed like the author didn't know what to do with Jackie, and the only options were political assassination or "I have to leave the planet now." We were clearly supposed to dislike

All in all this was one of my favorite hard sci fi series of all time. I'll really miss everyone.

3 people found this helpful

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Mrgrumpypants

Worth The Effort! Amazing Scope! Inspiring Story.

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2020

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Although some will complain this last in the series is slow paced compared to the first two books, I think it does a good job at pulling together a lot of huge story arcs, which happen when your characters live over two hundred years. That said, there is a lot of expository narrative to read, however, I found it very worth it.
I’ve read Sci-Fi voraciously since 1964. To me, this series seems prophetic. Perhaps some of the science is a bit dated, being conceived and written in the 1990s. We know a lot more now about the dangers and challenges we may encounter in our efforts to expand our reach into our solar system.
All that not withstanding, I believe we (humanity) will overcome those obstacles. Maybe we could even learn to live together more harmoniously and efficiently, as conceived here in this series.
I believe in the power of human ingenuity and creativity. We have a chance to truly find our place in the universe before we destroy ourselves. This series outlines one way that could come to be.

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Carolyn H. Stepp

Red Mars was excellent, as long as it kept to the idea ...

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2017

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Kim Stanley Robinson - I read the whole trilogy from Red to Green to Blue Mars. Red Mars was excellent, as long as it kept to the idea of how to make Mars a planet where people could live. Green Mars was difficult for me to read because there was so much biological information I did not understand. Blue Mars was more about how much further humankind was taking us, including the ability to live for 200 years and more. The one theme I found in the complete series was that humankind takes its inability to work together as a whole. There were always the arguments, debates, unwillingness to see all sides of every story. On the whole, it appears that humankind will never be able to get along, even into the far future. I think that is a legitimate quarrel to make, but I also find it disheartening to know.

5 people found this helpful

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Robb W.

#3 of 3 but still worth your time.

Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2018

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Weakest of the epic series. I have read and re-read the entire series numerous times over the past 20+ years. There are parts in the book, or should I say characters, that I absolutely love and I look forward to those Parts. However, by this time in the timeline Maya just becomes whiny and her mood swings just get annoying. There are Parts that just go on forever, weighed down in KSR’s attention to detail. This really is a great book and all sci-fi fans should read it. Even now, the political and social situations are relevant if only you replace the power countries of the 90s with those in play today. And with the current space race heating up and talk of colonization this book and the entire Martian series should be mandatory reading for those planning our future.

4 people found this helpful

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Chas

Satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Highly recommended.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2018

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I read the Mars trilogy like a box set, something I never do but it was "unputdownable", literally. In Blue Mars the familiar characters from the first hundred are growing very old and confronting mental health challenges. The old arguments over terraforming continue but effectively the argument is won. Mars has an ocean, seas and canals. Can Anne be reconciled to the new wildlife of the planet?

Like the first two books, Blue Mars is not your usual sc-fi. It's the story of the people who came and made it home; of their children, and their children's children.

The language is rich with detailed descriptions of the science and technology and biology. My vocabulary was sorely lacking, thank goodness for Kindle word look-up, keep a good dictionary handy if reading the physical book. Here are a few examples:

anamnesis
vicinal
tubulin dimers
mentation
plenum
eskaton
xeriscape
thassalocracy

However lots of typos, is this the Kindle digitisation process?

Highly recommended.

SW

There are typos like that throughout

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 6, 2016

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Do NOT buy kindle edition! Riddled with appalling typographical errors, which verge on making some passages almost unreadably irritating. I have just had to read a whole chapter in which there is constant reference a French town near the mouth of the Rhone called "Aries". I assume the author meant "Arles". That is only the most conspicuous error because it is repeated and glaring. Just looking back over the last three pages I have also encountered "Muttering" for "muttering" and "je tie sais quoi" for "je ne sais quoi". There are typos like that throughout. I really am usually not a pedant and am usually forgiving of small errors, but there are so many here it is really noticeable.
I read the first two books in the trilogy in hard copy and did not find these kind of errors.

One person found this helpful

L. Davidson

Wonderful conclusion to an epic trilogy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2005

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"Blue Mars" continues direstly from where "Green Mars" left off. The Martians have gained their independence from Earth and now set about establishing new forms of government and developing their own way of life, rather than have it decided for them by the Terran meta-nationals. The book focuses heavily on the actions of the remnants of the First Hundred, such as Sax,Ann,Maya and Nadia plus new characters like Zo and Nirgal.
"Blue Mars" as the title suggests is set on a fully terraformed Mars. The atmosphere has thickened and heated up and the ice seas have melted and created a hydrosphere similar to Earth. The masks and walkers have now been disposed of. The scientific substance of the book now concentrates on developing the longevity treatment, ecopoesis and the psychological difficulties of coping with living for 200 years plus.
I didn't find "Blue Mars" to be as fascinating and exciting as the first two books of the trilogy and was a bit overlong. Perhaps that was due to over familiarity with the setting and characters and it was only when Nirgal and Zo featured heavily that "Blue Mars" had a character of its own and came to life , but unfortunately most of the book concentrated on the First Hundred whose lifes work was more or less complete by the end of "Green Mars". I would have liked to have read more about "The Accelerando" instead. I also didn't like the prolonged ending to "Blue Mars"; I thought it was lacking in impact somewhat and didn't bring the Trilogy to the spectacular end it deserved.
However "Blue Mars" is still a wonderful book, full of impressive and credible scientific detail, and if Mars is to be colonised then this trilogy is a perfect guidebook for its terraformation. However the timeframe for the colonisation set out by Robinson is slightly over-optimistic I think ; maybe by a hundred years or so. I cant see antelope roaming the forests of Mars until the 23rd Century at least ! Although technology is advancing all the time.
As I read through the Mars Trilogy, I couldnt help but think that science, in its entirety, the geology,biology,physics,chemistry and all its subdivisions , is nothing more than Man progressively trying to get into the mind of God, to be God. They are a very humanist and rationalist series of novels, however they promote a form of intellectual elitism. Science is worshipped,science can provide the answers to everything and highly intelligent elitists know best. There is no room for religion or the supernatural in this vision.
"Blue Mars" is a must read for those who have read the first two books, it would be incomprehensible if you haven't. It is a fitting conclusion to a remarkable series of novels. It is also easy to read ; I raced through its 800 pages in 9 days, so theres no excuse for not reading the whole series now !

6 people found this helpful

N. Harpur

Great in parts

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 4, 2013

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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.

2 people found this helpful

joshimitsu

The final anti climax

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 16, 2015

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I only read this because there was something about reaching out to the solar system and the stars, but... [SPOILER]
that stuff was just a footnote to the main bit about forming a new govt, and the new ecology.
I stopped caring about Phyllis and her one dimensional "Mars is a national park" stick in the muddedness.
I had to skip Michael Duval's bloody sentimental holiday in his home region. It felt like a pointless dead end. I didn't see him as enough of a key character to devote so much page space to his attachment to his home town.
More long winded descriptions. These books really needed a handful of sketches in the back, maybe.
These books deserve a set of mini series though, say 10 episodes for each book.
OK, I'm going back to my short and sharp Kindle self publishing sets.

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BLUE MARS (MARS, NO 3) Paperback – January 1, 1997

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Kim Stanley Robinson

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