Blue Mars
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Blue Mars Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Kim Stanley Robinson (Author), Richard Ferrone (Narrator), Recorded Books (Publisher)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,560 ratings
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Acclaimed visionary author Kim Stanley Robinson is a Hugo and Nebula Award-winner. Blue Mars is the final volume in Robinson's seminal science-fiction trilogy, which began with Red Mars and continues with Green Mars.

The once red and barren terrain of Mars is now green and rich with life - plant, animal, and human. But idyllic Mars is in a state of political upheaval, plagued by violent conflict between those who would keep the planet green and those who want to return it to a desert world.

Meanwhile, across the void of space, old, tired Earth spins on its decaying axis. A natural disaster threatens to drown the already far too polluted and overcrowded planet. The people of Earth are getting desperate. Maybe desperate enough to wage interplanetary war for the chance to begin again.

Blue Mars is a complex and completely enthralling saga - as convincing and lushly imagined a future as anyone has ever dreamed. Richard Ferrone narrates this sweeping epic with engaging personality and finesse.

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  1. Listening Length
    31 hours and 55 minutes
  2. Author
    Kim Stanley Robinson
  3. Narrator
    Richard Ferrone
  4. Audible release date
    March 28, 2008
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Recorded Books
  7. ASIN
    B001706RV8
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 31 hours and 55 minutes
Author Kim Stanley Robinson
Narrator Richard Ferrone
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date March 28, 2008
Publisher Recorded Books
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B001706RV8
Best Sellers Rank #102,021 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#7,547 in Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#11,629 in Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals)
#31,978 in Science Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
2,560 global ratings
Almost like being there
4 Stars
Almost like being there
Sustained presence on a newly settled planet makes a great escape from the pandemic isolation of the Covid quarantine. I feel I know Mars better now. and when i look at mars in the night sky, its not just a point of light, it's a place where we can go to evolve the human destiny. Occupy Mars!See my wonderfully-written Mars 2,084 adventure at https://amazon.com/author/allenmeece
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Top reviews from the United States

B. Glick
5.0 out of 5 stars "Well, here we are." After almost 20 years, Blue Mars inspires as much today as it did the day it was published.
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2015
Verified Purchase
Its common to hear that science-fiction is a genre of ideas, and Blue Mars is no exception. Bear in mind, this means there is a lot of exposition, but Robinson makes it organic and engaging.

I don't know the reason why this book is the least-well-received of the Mars Trilogy, since not only do I consider it a great work of science-fiction but also a great novel in its own right.

Robinson's style is in some ways comparable to Hemingway, and because of that the story is both easily comprehensible and possesses a complexity that goes grossly under-examined.

I was awed by Robinson's scope, moved by the struggles and triumphs of characters I've been with throughout the series, and consider it the best addition of the trilogy.

Almost 20 years since first being published, I can say that in 2015 this book not only holds up, but continues to be the baseline against which future additions to the body of science-fiction should be measured. I'd say it should be read in schools, but at more than 700 pages, it is a beast of a book.

If you want an example of how fiction ought to be written, Blue Mars is it. For the shear amount of content present in a single volume, the value of this book alone is beyond compare. Thanks to Amazon, I only paid a few dollars for the entire series, and even less for this particular volume, and it's worth far more than that. I'll probably buy it again in hardcover just to have. I mean think about it, how much are you going to spend on a mass-market paper back, a few bucks? It's totally worth it.

I wouldn't even just recommend this book to fans of science-fiction, but to anyone interested in a well-crafted story, complex characters, and an exotic setting that becomes more real as the story progresses.

In a genre clogged with thinly veiled, semi-autobiographical, exhausted hero-journeys, this novel - and the series as a whole - sets itself apart from anything encountered in science-fiction today. It truly is "a landmark".

Buy it. You will not - will not! - regret it.
2 people found this helpful
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Brandon J. Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars A satisfying conclusion
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2008
Verified Purchase
First, the faults: As other reviewers note, this book needed a better editor. As with the first two books of the series, there are commas in sentences that they don't belong in, and this can get frustrating. There are also some sections in which Robinson goes into vast detail about a specific technology that after 2 books and hundreds of pages into the 3rd - just kill the pacing. After so long a time, being so deep into a story, the characters and plot need to be focused on more than the scientific breakthroughs. Also, as others have noted, Robinson starts to really push our suspension of disbelief: the colonization of other planets and asteroids kind of pushes it.

On to the good stuff: Robinson really knows his stuff, and part of the appeal of this series is how very dense it is, packed with the kind of details that make you believe in the world you're reading about. From science to politics to philosophy to human interactions, the world(s) Robinson creates really feel fully developed.

The best part of this book, for me, is when the story's focus shifts to its final act. Instead of asking, "what would the science, culture, and politics of a colonized mars be like?", the story asks: "What happens when you've lived for 230 years?" The troubles of the first hundred, now considered "superelderly," is described in a fascinating way.

Some reviewers feel the plot-line of Hiroko is dropped. Actually, this is a great part of Blue Mars, because it's not about Hiroko, but the perception of Hiroko. The question for the reader is not, "Is she alive or not?" The question is, "Why do some think she's alive and some not? What are their reasons? What does the 'myth' of Hiroko mean to them?"

Not every loose end is tied up (after all, in life, this can never happen), yet the overall story is brought to a satisfying conclusion. The Mars Trilogy is the tale of the First Hundred, ultimately, and we get a very good picture of what becomes of them.

After almost 2000 pages, I found following their journeys was a very, very worthwhile experience, and I recommend it with no reservations.
7 people found this helpful
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NtnKtn
5.0 out of 5 stars Didn't Want It To End
Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2023
Verified Purchase
If there were three more books, I'd read them all. What a brilliant story. A hopeful account of what we could be. On Mars!
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Top reviews from other countries

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Cliente Kindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Ótimo final de uma trilogia
Reviewed in Brazil on April 23, 2023
Verified Purchase
Depois de tantas reviravoltas, gostei bastante da forma que o autor deu um final a trama e especialmente à alguns dos seus personagens. Nós vamos conhecendo alguns deles pouco à pouco, junto com o autor, ao longo dos três livros. Os aspectos técnico-científicos também são muito bem desenvolvidos e continua atual. É um futuro crivel. Gostei bastante, recomendo!
One person found this helpful
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Luke Talbot
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful future, that I fear we will never see realised
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 9, 2023
Verified Purchase
Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy is truly epic. It's hard science, and by that I mean sometimes you'll have to reread something a few times just to kind of understand it. And yet, you'll still be compelled to read it.
And that's exactly Robinson's skill. This isn't the story of Mars, or of a person, or of a love affair, or of a revolution, a war, a terraforming project... it's not about the space race or global warming or how we conquer the planets, it's not about the fight against cancer or ageing, or food production, or how atmospheres work, and it's not about how evolution works, and new species. It's about ALL of these things. And yet, somehow, also it's about none of them.
Reading Red, Green and Blue Mars in 2023 is especially relevant; we are now well into the first stages of the ecological and social collapse of 20th century life that the author described.
The only problem for us: we haven't got our back up planet yet, and the problems on earth might be advancing faster than predicted.
So I would love to say that these books are a blueprint for how to terraform Mars, but I fear that we are too late already.
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Judy Muxworthy
5.0 out of 5 stars Extreme detail but an amazing read.
Reviewed in Canada on August 31, 2020
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Amazing. Read the whole trilogy. Red, Green and Blue Mars.
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MP
5.0 out of 5 stars großartige Reihe
Reviewed in Germany on November 3, 2020
Verified Purchase
Ein großartiges Buch (alle 3 Teile sind zu empfehlen) . Große Empfehlung an alle Zukunfts, besonders Mars-Interessierte. Auch für nicht-Leser geeignet.
(Erste Reihe seit langem in der ich nicht nach 20 Seiten aufgehört habe)
(Einziges kleines und erwartetes "Problem": Als Paperback ist es nicht besonders stabil/ langlebig. Also leichte gebrauchsspuren sind nach einer Weile zu erwarten. Und die Schriftfarbe kann an einzelnen Stellen leicht verschmieren, wenn man mit fettigen Fingern darüber geht)
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doctor fr guidez
4.0 out of 5 stars livraison dans les temps
Reviewed in France on June 13, 2020
Verified Purchase
Boone qualité du livre, juste deçu que la couverture ne soit pas de la nouvelle édition comme montré sur le site!!!
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