The Martians - Softcover

Robinson, Kim Stanley

3.6

2,232 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006497020 ISBN 13: 9780006497028

Publisher: HarperVoyager, 2011

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A glorious companion volume to Robinson’s world-wide bestselling trilogy.

All Colours Mars

Red Mars. Green Mars. Blue Mars.

The Mars trilogy has rapidly assumed the status of modern science fiction classic, capturing the imagination of hundreds of thousands of readers around the world. Now, with The Martians, comes Kim Stanley Robinson’s essential companion to the Mars series. New novellas and short stories head the collection, along with texts on the Martian constitution, maps and Martian inspired poetry.

In short, The Martians is a unique collection of previously unpublished fiction, a fascinating addition to Robinson’s oeuvre, and a must for all lovers of the red planet.

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Review:

The Martians is a collection of stories, alternate histories, poems and even the complete text of a planetary constitution based on Kim Stanley Robinson's award-winning Mars trilogy (composed of Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars). For those unfamiliar with the series, The Martians from the title are the humans who have colonised and terraformed the Red Planet over the course of several generations. While Robinson told their story at considerable length in his novels, The Martians fleshes out some of his more interesting characters and also adds depth to their world.

When it's at its best, this collection presents stand-alone stories of life, love and work on our celestial neighbour, ranging from the tale of an expedition seeking to conquer Olympus Monsin in "Green Mars" to a folksy story of friendship and baseball in "Arthur Sternbach Brings the Curveball to Mars". Unfortunately, some of the material here can be tough going for those unfamiliar with Robinson's Mars milieu. For instance, the ending piece, "Purple Mars", is apparently an autobiographical snippet about the day Robinson finished writing the final novel. That's great stuff for someone who has been following the entire Mars saga from beginning to end, but newcomers will probably not know what to make of it.

Still, there is enough material here to interest anyone on the lookout for some good Mars stories. Although Robinson has made his name by writing fat novels that span dozens of generations and characters, in The Martians he proves that he is also adept at shorter pieces. It's a fine if somewhat uneven collection that serves to round off the Mars universe while providing some excellent reading. --Craig E. Engler

Review:

‘One of the finest working novelists in any genre’
GUARDIAN

'If I had to choose one writer whose work will set the standard for science fiction in the future, it would be Kim Stanley Robinson’
NEW YORK TIMES

Praise for The Mars Trilogy:

‘One of the finest works of American SF’
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

‘The ultimate in future history’
DAILY MAIL

‘Absorbing, impressive, fascinating... Utterly plausible’
FINANCIAL TIMES

‘A staggering book. The best novel on the colonization of Mars that has ever been written’
Arthur C. Clarke

‘Red Mars may simply be the best novel ever written about Mars’
INTERZONE

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