Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsWhat a journey!
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2019
(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.
