The first installment in Robinson's ( Blind Geometer ) new trilogy is an action-packed and thoughtful tale of the exploration and settlement of Mars--riven by both personal and ideological conflicts--in the early 21st century. The official leaders of the ``first hundred'' (initial party of settlers) are American Frank Chalmers and Russian Maya Katarina Toitova, but subgroups break out under the informal guidance of popular favorites like the ebullient Arkady Nikoleyevich Bogdanov, who sets up a base on one of Mars's moons, and the enigmatic Hiroko, who establishes the planet's farm. As the group struggles to secure a foothold on the frigid, barren landscape, friction develops both on Mars and on Earth between those who advocate terraforming, or immediately altering Mars's natural environment to make it more habitable, and those who favor more study of the planet before changes are introduced. The success of the pioneers' venture brings additional settlers to Mars. All too soon, the first hundred find themselves outnumbered by newcomers and caught up in political problems as complex as any found on Earth. (Jan.)
Fetch the popcorn, finalize your ballots, and strap in for glitz and glam: it’s awards season! The race for Best Picture may still be wide open (though The Big Short and The Revenant are the presumed leaders of the pack), but you’ve likely already decided on your own personal favorites. As is custom, a great many […]
Editor’s note: Joel is reading his way through the finalists for the 2012 Nebula Award for best sci-fi/fantasy novel. Read his introduction here. Geeks have been known to get into heated debates about what constitutes “real” science-fiction. Call Star Wars sci-fi in the wrong room, and you are opening yourself up to a pedantic lecture […]
Avid readers are familiar with the joys and sorrows of film and tv adaptations: for every awesome movie that brings your favorite characters to life, there’s another one that tries to destroy them. Given that the next few years promise to be absolutely saturated with adaptations, the smart book nerd will buckle up now, because […]
Kim Stanley Robinson’s books are often recognized for their scientific rigor (anyone looking for a guide to terraforming an alien world would do well to read the Mars trilogy back-to-back-to-back), but it’s not often an SF author gets to be called prescient in his lifetime. Yet that’s exactly the right word to describe his Science […]
We just finished rescuing Matt Damon from Mars and we’re already looking forward to our return trip: following a year of rumors, Spike TV has given a straight-to-series greenlight to the long-simmering adaptation of Kim Stanley Robinson’s bestselling, award-laden Mars trilogy. A 10-episode season of Red Mars is projected to air in January 2017. This is fantastic news, and signals that […]