Dawn
ENGL 3850-02N
Sci-Fi Lit
Dr. Coats
6 May, 1997
Red Mars Review
From what I read, I really enjoyed this book. At first, when I read the back cover of the book, I thought it would be another space soap opera (I dislike space soap operas). However, upon reading what I could, I found it entertaining and not really space soap operaish.
This book, in my opinion has one of the most real vision of Mars. There were no Martians, just a dusty red planet waiting to be conquered. I especially liked the domed cities and was impressed with the overall earth colony on mars - especially the names given to places. I was intrigued that the Arabs had so much influence over the names of things on Mars, such as nefuds (deep sand) and seyl (billion year old dry riverbeds).
Again, it was too hard to pick out one scene. The one place that stood out for me was when John Boone was killed. I think it shocked me because it was so sudden. One minute he was giving a speech and then the next he is dead, beaten and left in the farm to die. What was even more shocking was that indirectly, I realized that Frank Chalmers may have been responsible for it. This chapter set a tone for the rest of the book. It was one that made a person want to read on, to find out more about the characters introduced and what caused this tragedy to unfold.
Overall, a really good book. I recommend it to all, especially scifi fans. It is a good read and something all scifi fans should get their hands on. I know I'm going to finish it sometime this summer, because I really like it that much. Kim Stanley Robinson, the author, is truly among the greatest authors in scifi history.