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The Martians (Bantam Spectra Book) (Hardcover)

by Kim Stanley Robinson (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Spectra (Aug 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0553801171
  • ISBN-13: 978-0553801170
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,584,965 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #75 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > R > Robinson, Kim Stanley

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk 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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fitting Climax to an Epic..., 2 May 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Martians (Hardcover)
Okay, yes, I'll admit it - it was hard not to feel sad while reading this book, knowing that it was almost certainly the last time I'd be "on" Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars... like many fans of the epic trilogy of future martian colonisation and terraformation I've lost count of the number of tims I've read the books, they've become a very big and important part of my life, something I've grown up with in a way. So, when I opened the pages of THE MARTIANS for the first time it was with a mixture of excitement and fear, kind of the way you feel when you sit down to finally see a film you've been looking forwards to for sooooo long, wondering if it will live up to the hype or leave you disappointed...

I needn't have worried. THE MARTIANS is a fine climax to the series, and provides followers of the saga with a wonderfully moving "goodbye" to the Mars we've come to love so much.

This is a collection of short stories, essays, fictional documents and poems designed to both tie up loose ends and provide startling, intriguing glimpses into possible alternative KSR martian timelines... reading some of the stories offers tantalising glimpses of "What Might Have Been". Reading other parts of the book you learn about events from already-established Red Mars characters pasts' which have, until then, either only been hinted at or kept completely hidden. Other stories explore the physical and political landscapes of KSR's Mars through the eyes of new, original characters, or characters from previously-published - but hard to find - short stories set on KSR's Mars. The most common reactions I experienced while reading the book were: "Aaah, NOW I see..!" or "What?! I had no idea!" or even "You know, I actually wondered about that myself..."

As for the poems, they show the depth of Kim's love affair with Mars, and provide yet more background detail to the struggles of the colonists and terraformers. There's something for everyone in here: frustrated reds, impatient Greens, whatever your colour you're represented in the poetry.

I can definitely recommend THE MARTIANS to anyone already in love with KSR's Mars and its characters. Newcomers to the series definitely shouldn't start here however.

I didn't cry when I finished the book, just after midnight on the day I bought it, but probably only because of the clever way Robinson wraps the whole thing up in such a magically personal way. Instead I walked out into my yard and looked up at Mars itself, shining like a garnet above the trees, and wished it goodbye. For now. He'll be back, he won't be able to help himself. The guy's in love... :-)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting and worthy addition to the Mars trilogy., 12 Nov 2000
This review is from: The Martians (Paperback)
The Martians offers some unusual and intriguing extrapolations from the Mars trilogy. Robinson tempts the reader with glimpses of some of the characters and events from R/G/B Mars, sometimes enlightening, sometimes puzzling. There are also some alternative histories, which still sit well with the those more conventional items which attempt to fill in a few gaps from the original books.

I usually find short story Sci Fi quite dissatisfying, as if the author is presenting discarded ideas or plot strands didn't quite work out. In this degree, Robinson has done pretty well, and most of the collection left me content on such bite-sized morsels. For once, the whole exceeded the sum of the parts. However, this is not for readers who have not enjoyed the preceeding volumes.

For me, Robinson succeeds best in his wonderful landscape imagery, and the book continues to show you around the planet as looking through a lens. The Martians furthers the conviction that if you found yourself on Mars in a few years time, you would recognise it instantly - no guide book required.

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7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Not recommended, especially if you liked the trilogy, 20 Sep 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Martians (Paperback)
I was very disappointed. Much of the book is alternative histories to the material that appears in the main trilogy, yet this is not made clear. The result was a puzzling and frustrating read, with seeming contradictions with the story I enjoyed so much. In the end I realised this, and became so frustrated that I gave the book away having read about half of it. In my view, this should never have been published in this form - the cover material should be much clearer about the content and the fact that it is 100% out-takes. If the original trilogy seemed real to you, don't buy this book!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but can be unsettling
This is what KSR is good at - presenting multiple possibilities of the future (see his Orange County series). Read more
Published on 10 Aug 2002 by Ben Cooper

5.0 out of 5 stars The end...sniffle
If anyone tops this series I'll be mortified. A touching and astonishingly personal conclusion. Marvellous
Published on 22 Aug 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, but only for the fans
Robinson revisits home territory in this book, adding some depth and width to what's essentially already in the "old" Mars trilogy. Read more
Published on 30 May 1999

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