This review of Blue Mars is in fact a review of the entire trilogy, since it's one continuous story -- one that altogether weighs in at something around 2,300 pages. I've been living on Mars for the last 3 months and wish that, if it were possible, I could actually live there, at least the Mars portrayed in these books. It's certainly not a series for everybody -- all those lots of pages are filled with lots of science, lots of politics and political theory, and lots of philosophy. However, for

The science is great. I don't agree with all of it, but who am I to say? I would equate his use of science as a literary device to Asimov, except Robinson uses science that is reasonable within humanities grasp. The science is the real strength of this book and series. It is outstanding.His moving from character to character throughout all three books worked well. No points lost there.The real problem with this series and especially this book was that, even though parts of it were fascinating, p...

Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy is a glorious beast. It is one of the most extraordinary science fiction epics I have ever read. Vast and complex and meticulously researched, character-driven but interplanetary in scope, gritty, political, beautiful, inventive, and always surprising. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me shiver in awe.So why only three stars for Blue Mars, the final installment?Well. Blue Mars is set after the colonization struggles of Red Mars and the political uph...

There’s something of ‘after the lord mayor’s parade’ about this volume. After the revolution of the last volume, I was hoping for something of civil war in this. For the bulk of the narrative though it’s just a lot of characters figuring out what Mars means to them; which although well written, lacks a certain drama. For instance, there’s a long section about blight attacking the potato crop of one of the major characters. Now, if you were actually farming on Mars, that's no doubt a problem whic...

3.5 StarsThis last volume couldn't suck me in like the other two did. But it is still an impressive undertaking filled with understandable musings about a wide variety of scientific areas.

Too much politics and not enough science for my tastes.

Just finished the Red/Green/Blue Mars trilogy. The third books definitely didn’t let up, but took the story, their dilemmas and the characters to a new level. I was quite sad to let them go by the end, I could have read about them forever, I think. This has definitely been one of the most profound and fascinating works I’ve ever read, heavily focused on socio- and geopolitics, science and medicine, with long chapters of debate and moral exploration. Just like I love my scifi.

An independent Mars but not a peaceful one Blue Mars, blue skies, a great stormy, huge Martian North Sea of the same color turning salty, fish swimming below, birds flying above animals roaming around the land, majestic trees growing on beautiful lush hills, sparkling rivers gently flowing by, magnificent green vegetation everywhere on shore, dark clouds that cause showers to pour down, howling winds over 150 miles a hour, making powerful waves crash on pretty little fishing villages and resorts...

[SPOILERS POSSIBLE BELOW, however, if you have come this far in Robinson's Mars Trilogy, there is little here that is really all that surprising.]So, I suppose I can be a bit more open and explicit about my likes and dislikes of the Mars Trilogy now that I finished Blue Mars. Likes:Science Geekout - For my inner geek, there was certainly a lot to enjoy overall. The concept of terraforming (and in this last book, colonizing the rest of the accessible solar system), fusion technology for space tra...

Christmas 2010: I realised that I had got stuck in a rut. I was re-reading old favourites again and again, waiting for a few trusted authors to release new works. Something had to be done.On the spur of the moment I set myself a challenge, to read every book to have won the Locus Sci-Fi award. That’s 35 books, 6 of which I’d previously read, leaving 29 titles by 14 authors who were new to me.While working through this reading list I got married, went on my honeymoon, switched career and beca

There’s lots left to the imagination but quite a satisfying ending to this epic story nonetheless. There were parts that dragged and sometimes I think that this book simply served as a place for KSR to satisfy his itch to expostulate on his research into fascinating subjects like memory, politics, biology and the like. But I’m kind of a nerd and KSR does a great job of making it really interesting even if it contributes absolutely nothing to the plot/story. I could’ve lived without the extended

Sometimes I need a shove to get me moving. I've had this book out of the library for a while, but hadn't felt inspired to tackle it. I knew there would be a pile of (for me) yawn-inducing detail, both scientific and political. I'm sure Robinson must have read Frank Herbert's Dune series, but despite some similarities, that world captivated me and I struggle to care about this version of Mars. At any rate, I didn't click “renew" when I should have and found myself with only 5 days to read over 70...

Such a wonderful and endlessly fascinating exploration on comprehensive set of themes from humanity's collective sociopolitical issues to individual experiences on human condition, scientific speculation, and the marvel of nature.Whole of the series has been a captivating vision and a pleasantly intellectual read. Leaving me most excited to continue with more of Stanley Robinson's work.(4 to 5 stars gets rounded up for the sweet closing scene, I suppose).

Back in my drinking days, I would occasionally wake up next to someone I was sorry to find there, but I would still make them breakfast out of some sense of obligation. Misplaced empathy; too-long-delayed sobriety; vestigial chivalry; call it what you will. Reading Blue Mars was a lot like one of those breakfasts. I had enjoyed myself with book one and part of book two; this was just playing out the string. After I got rid of the novel, I lost its phone number and went to different bars for a co...