Book #24–Red Mars

A recommendation from a friend, I decided to start Red Mars since I’d recently read The Martian.

This book is the story of the first colony on Mars. It starts with a celebration of new settlements, which quickly turns to tragedy as there’s a murder of one of the statesman and original colonists. From there the book goes backwards. We get long chapters, each told by a different person. We hear about the first 100 people sent, all on one large ship, with the need to get the colony started. Supplies were already there, and we get some history through different peoples’ eyes.

First Maya, the leader of the Russian group, telling us about the journey there. We move to Nadia, the builder, who helps get the colony started. We here from John Boone, killed at the beginning of the book, but we get his view of the colony once there are multiple settlements. We hear from Frank later, leader of the American contingent.

It’s a wild ride, covering decades as Mars is settled, with more and more people coming, and the problems that come as Mars is industrialized, terraforming starts, and politics become meshed in with industry. It’s quite a ride to getting Mars settled as a frontier planet, and the eventual rebellion from people whose lives are being governed by those on another world.

A great read. I look forward to the next one.