It is with some trepidation that I commence a project long anticipated and oft delayed. The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson is, in my view, one of the finest works of literature ever composed. I have read it three or four times from end to end, in a both formative and conversational process whereby progressively more layers of understanding burrow into my psyche.
The usual disclaimers apply. I don’t know how Mars settlement will actually progress, though I have written a few blogs about space-related topics, including a technical commentary on The Martian by Andy Weir. I have also had the privilege to converse with Stan on a few occasions but I cannot pretend that my interpretation of his work is authoritative or even particularly literate. The purpose of this project isn’t to critique the author’s scientific accuracy, who by his own admission is an English major, although his wife and many friends are scientists. The purpose is to contrast the compelling and hauntingly beautiful description of a living planet imagined more than 30 years ago with the explosion of new knowledge we’ve enjoyed in the intervening decades, and to add the context of present day efforts by SpaceX and others to actually make this impossible vision an everyday reality. Remember, the books were published in 1992, 1993, 1996, and 1999, largely predating Mars Pathfinder, MRO and the entire rover program.
This project is indebted to the Marooned On Mars podcast, who have recorded detailed literary commentaries on many of KSR’s books, beginning with the Mars Trilogy. Like the podcast, this blog will contain spoilers but unless otherwise noted, only for the chapter under discussion or previous chapters. It is my intention that people may read along with the books without fear!
Each chapter’s blog will also come with a downloadable .kml file to pinpoint physical locations discussed on Google Mars.
A note from Stan on technical sources:
The main sources were The Case For Mars conference papers, published by the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, and Martyn Fogg’s book Terraforming, and the NASA books on Mars, also Michael Carr’s book The Surface of Mars, a Viking era analysis— and the U. of Ariz. book MARS from 1992 or so, updating the Carr with further analyses. Chris McKay’s work was important always. Paul Birch’s crazy proposals were fun and helpful, I could never have been as crazy as him.
(Personal communication) Note that Carr’s work was based entirely on data from the Viking missions, launched in 1975.
I will update this preamble from time to time with links to awesome fan art or other documents. Please send me stuff I’ve missed.
Red Mars wikia
Mildly spoilery fan art
Spoilery narrative timeline analysis
Red Mars’ shaded relief map with some (approximate) locations given.
Red Mars
Part 5: Falling Into History (part 1)
Part 5: Falling Into History (part 2)
Part 6: Guns Under the Table
Part 7: Senzeni Na
Part 8: Shikata Ga Nai
Green Mars
Part 1: Aeroformation
Part 2: The Ambassador
Part 3: Long Runout
Part 4: The Scientist as Hero
Part 5: Homeless
Part 6: Tariqat
Part 7: What Is to Be Done?
Part 8: Social Engineering
Part 9: The Spur of the Moment
Part 10: Phase Change
Blue Mars
Part 1: Peacock Mountain
Part 2: Areophany
Part 3: A New Constitution
Part 4: Green Earth
Part 5: Home At Last
Part 6: Ann In The Outback
Part 7: Making Things Work
Part 8: The Green and the White
Part 9: Natural History
Part 10: Werteswandel
Part 11: Viriditas
Part 12: It Goes So Fast
Part 13: Experimental Procedures
Part 14: Phoenix Lake
The Martians (Yes, this trilogy actually has four books)
Chapter 1: Michel in Antarctica
Chapter 2: Exploring Fossil Canyon
Chapter 3: Archaea Plot
Chapter 4: The Way the Land Spoke to Us
Chapter 5: Maya and Desmond
Chapter 6: Four Teleological Trails
Chapter 7: Discovering Life
Chapter 8: Coyote Makes Trouble
Chapter 9: Michel in Provence
Chapter 10: Green Mars
Chapter 11: Arthur Sternbach Brings the Curveball to Mars
Chapter 12: Salt and Fresh
Chapter 13: The Constitution of Mars
Chapter 14: Some Worknotes and Commentary on the Constitution, by Charlotte Dorsa Brevia
Chapter 15: Jackie on Zo
Chapter 16: Keeping the Flame
Chapter 17: Saving Noctis Dam
Chapter 18: Big Man in Love
Chapter 19: An Argument for the Deployment of All Safe Terraforming Technologies
Chapter 20: Selected Abstracts from The Journal of Areological Studies
Chapter 21: Odessa
Chapter 22: Sexual Dimorphism
Chapter 23: Enough Is As Good As a Feast
Chapter 24: What Matters
Chapter 25: Coyote Remembers
Chapter 26: Sax Moments
Chapter 27: The Names of the Canals
Chapter 28: The Soundtrack
Chapter 29: A Martian Romance
Chapter 30: If Wang Wei Lived on Mars and Other Poems
Chapter 31: Purple Mars
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