The science, imgery and basic ideas in this book are great, but I thought the writing style and character development was pretty weak in Red Mars. The last 2 books of the trilogy (Green Mars and Blue Mars) fix all that, however, with solid characters and much more novel-like reading (as opposed to the sort of dry science textbook feel of the first). Absolutely love the series and hope anyone who starts will read through the flaws of the first book and judge the series as a whole. It rocks!
@Murple333 I'm reading Red Mars right now and have the same concerns you did. But since you say it gets better in the literary aspects I'm going to rock out all three books in a row.
@SMSUMarine I haven't read Pandora's Star, but from what I've read about it, you shouldn't even start it unless you have Judas Unchained sitting on your nightstand to pick up the moment you've finished it. Looks like you've got quite a conundrum, since completing Red Mars will make you want to read Green and Blue as soon as you can get a hold of them, too... Good luck!
Try Diaspora, by Greg Egan.
I'm a great fan of the Mars trilogy, though I have to say that, in the sequels, KSR kept the characters alive somewhat artificially (pun intended :).
kkiiikk 1 year ago
The science, imgery and basic ideas in this book are great, but I thought the writing style and character development was pretty weak in Red Mars. The last 2 books of the trilogy (Green Mars and Blue Mars) fix all that, however, with solid characters and much more novel-like reading (as opposed to the sort of dry science textbook feel of the first). Absolutely love the series and hope anyone who starts will read through the flaws of the first book and judge the series as a whole. It rocks!
Murple333 1 year ago
@Murple333 I'm excited that the characters get more development in the next two books - i'm looking forward to reading them even more now!
CrashSolo 1 year ago
@Murple333 But Arkady Bogdanov and John Boon are two of the best characters in the series. And Frank. I missed those guys so much.
aniak17 1 year ago
@Murple333 I'm reading Red Mars right now and have the same concerns you did. But since you say it gets better in the literary aspects I'm going to rock out all three books in a row.
randomwords7007 4 months ago
Have you read Pandora's Star?
I just started reading Red Mars and I'm reading Pandora's Star as well, but I'm trying to figure out which one to read more!
SMSUMarine 1 year ago
@SMSUMarine I haven't read Pandora's Star, but from what I've read about it, you shouldn't even start it unless you have Judas Unchained sitting on your nightstand to pick up the moment you've finished it. Looks like you've got quite a conundrum, since completing Red Mars will make you want to read Green and Blue as soon as you can get a hold of them, too... Good luck!
CrashSolo 1 year ago