White Mars: A 21st Century Utopia [Paperback]

White Mars is, as its title implies, Brian Aldiss's considered reply to the novels--Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars--in which Kim Stanley Robinson portrayed the terraforming of our neighbour planet and the creation of a utopian society there. Aldiss disapproves of the whole idea of meddling with another world in the first place, and also, more genially, of the melodrama surrounding the creation of Robinson's utopia. Where Robinson's Martians get their chance after near-genocidal warfare on Mars, and environmental disaster on Earth, Aldiss's get theirs as the result of a corruption and scandal-fuelled recession in which supplies for the Martian colony are a victim of cuts. This is, unusually for the shrewd and sometimes cynical Aldiss, a novel with a hero--Tom Jeffreys, the Thomas Jefferson of this Martian revolution:

"His manner was less severe than well controlled. He showed great determination for the cause in which he believed, yet softened it with humour, which sprang from an innate modesty. He was not above self-mockery. In his speech he adopted the manner of a plain man, yet what he said was often unexpected."

This is a very English, and a very urbane book, in which there is an awful lot of talk--about utopia, about consciousness, about sub-atomic particles; Aldiss collaborated on parts of the book with mathematician and physicist Roger Penrose--this is a wise book and also a knowledgeable one. --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

White Mars is, as its title implies, Brian Aldiss's considered reply to the novels--Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars--in which Kim Stanley Robinson portrayed the terraforming of our neighbour planet and the creation of a utopian society there. Aldiss disapproves of the whole idea of meddling with another world in the first place, and also, more genially, of the melodrama surrounding the creation of Robinson's utopia. Where Robinson's Martians get their chance after near-genocidal warfare on Mars, and environmental disaster on Earth, Aldiss's get theirs as the result of a corruption and scandal-fuelled recession in which supplies for the Martian colony are a victim of cuts. This is, unusually for the shrewd and sometimes cynical Aldiss, a novel with a hero--Tom Jeffreys, the Thomas Jefferson of this Martian revolution: ("His manner was less severe than well controlled. He showed great determination for the cause in which he believed, yet softened it with humour, which sprang from an innate modesty. He was not above self-mockery. In his speech he adopted the manner of )

This is a very English, and a very urbane book, in which there is an awful lot of talk--about utopia, about consciousness, about sub-atomic particles; Aldiss collaborated on parts of the book with mathematician and physicist Roger Penrose--this is a wise (Roz Kaveney, AMAZON.CO.UK )

Brian Aldiss is one of the most influential and one of the best SF writers Britain has ever produced... (Iain Banks )

White Mars is, as its title implies, Brian Aldiss's considered reply to the novels--Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars--in which Kim Stanley Robinson portrayed the terraforming of our neighbour planet and the creation of a utopian society there. Aldiss disapproves of the whole idea of meddling with another world in the first place, and also, more genially, of the melodrama surrounding the creation of Robinson's utopia. Where Robinson's Martians get their chance after near-genocidal warfare on Mars, and environmental disaster on Earth, Aldiss's get theirs as the result of a corruption and scandal-fuelled recession in which supplies for the Martian colony are a victim of cuts. This is, unusually for the shrewd and sometimes cynical Aldiss, a novel with a hero--Tom Jeffreys, the Thomas Jefferson of this Martian revolution: "His manner was less severe than well controlled. He showed great determination for the cause in which he believed, yet softened it with humour, which sprang from an innate modesty. He was not above self-mockery. In his speech he adopted the manner of This is a very English, and a very urbane book, in which there is an awful lot of talk--about utopia, about consciousness, about sub-atomic particles; Aldiss collaborated on parts of the book with mathematician and physicist Roger Penrose--this is a wise Roz Kaveney, AMAZON.CO.UK Brian Aldiss is one of the most influential and one of the best SF writers Britain has ever produced... Iain Banks

* Brilliant fictional creation of Mars - and mankind's attempt to colonise it - by top SF writer Aldiss in collaboraton with famous physicist Penrose.

* Subtitled 'or, the Mind Set Free - A 21st Century Utopia':

WHITE MARS is Brian Aldiss' Utopian vision of mankind's future in space, written in collaboration with distinguished physicist Roger Penrose. Halfway through the next century, an organisation called EUPACUS, consisting of all the leading industrialised nations, has found a way to colonise Mars. They have, however, decided to protect the planet for scientific research. Human beings will live in great, self- perpetuating domes, producing their own food and oxygen, while drawing water from the planet's core. The option of terraforming the planet, bombarding it with CFCs in order to give it an atmosphere, has been discontinued.

Owing to economic collapse on earth the martian colony is cut off from the mother planet ('Downstairs' as they call it). The head of the colony, Tim Jefferies, sets out to create a perfect society. Some, however, only want to get home, and think that the Utopian ideals (which are all broadcast back to Earth) will only hamper their rescue. An arresting novel of ideals and conflicts WHITE MARS contrasts the warmth of community in the domes with the icy wastes of Mars.

Born in 1925, Brian Aldiss is a doyen for many writers, as Iain Banks will attest (see right). Sir Roger Penrose is a physicist hailed as one of the greatest living disciples of Einstein and author of THE EMPEROR'S NEW MIND (OUP/Vintage 1990), which won the prestigious Science Book of the Year prize/ He was awarded the prestigious Order of Merit in May 2000.