Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series: Red, Green, and Blue
I read all three, and it was a struggle. I found the writing in Robinson's Mars series to be adequate in terms of mechanics, but the plot and characters were boring.
That's perhaps too harsh -- the characters themselves were okay, but what they did usually wasn't so interesting. The books lacked in tension.
And that is again perhaps too harsh -- the real problem, I think, is that he would spend 1/4 of a book on one character then switch to another, and what they did was totally unrelated and you would never go back to the first character.
The first book had a great lesson on what [b]not[/b] to do. He starts off in the "present" by showing how everyone reacts to the death of a particular character, then starts the rest of the book as flashbacks. The character who died becomes a main character, in fact THE main character, in fact the only truly interesting character. So you already know he is going to die, and basically how. There is no tension. When the flashbacks are over and I got to the part where he died, I lost interest completely. I had to force myself to read the rest of the book.
In fact, I had to force myself to read the rest of the series. The series is a showcase for Robinson's vision on colonization of Mars and the rest of the solar system, and major technological and social developments in the near future.
It's really, truly, brilliant stuff, and it's worth reading just for that.
But it's tough going. I felt enlightened, and relieved when I finished the third book.
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Re:Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series: Red, Green, and Blue
Thanks to your report, I'll avoid that series. I have too many half-read books as it is. I just brought home a fantasy book by Tanith Lee, [i]Dark Castle, White Horse[/i]. She rarely disappoints me. Then again, even my favorite authors will write an occassional stinker.
To err is human. I am not human.
Re:Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series: Red, Green, and Blue
Well... like I said it was brilliant. I can follow all the talk from NASA about Mars now, and it was a fascinating vision of the future, and when the next two probes land in January I'll be a hit at parties, but...
It wasn't a series I was glad to read. It was a series I was glad to have read.
Anyone want to take all the science and repackage it into a more interesting story?
I'm not a complete idiot -- some parts are missing.
Re:Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series: Red, Green, and Blue
I feel exactly the same way as the other Chris (must be a name thing). He phrased it brilliantly. "It wasn't a series I was glad to read. It was a series I was glad to have read." And I only read the first book. Brilliant ideas, realistic thought out colonization, but crappy, crappy, story. Robinson should be working at a think tank for NASA, not writing books. I really hate his writing. I'm read some of his short stories, and Robinson is way to aloof and condescending. He thinks big words equals good writing.
He is an idea man, not a writer; his ideas are so good, that he can still get published even though the prose is awful.
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Life is a lot like caving: Most of the time you grope around in the dark.
Re:Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series: Red, Green, and Blue
[quote="camidon"] Brilliant ideas, realistic thought out colonization, but crappy, crappy, story. Robinson should be working at a think tank for NASA, not writing books. I really hate his writing. I'm read some of his short stories, and Robinson is way to aloof and condescending. He thinks big words equals good writing.
He is an idea man, not a writer; his ideas are so good, that he can still get published even though the prose is awful.[/quote]
I haven't read the books, was never interested in them, probably never will. The books just never appeal to me, no matter how many times I pick them up and look them over. Remember, in science fiction the subgenre of the idea as story is a perfectly acceptable thing and even marketable. Robinson also is one of those writers who's focus is more on the character's day to day existance as story (sort of the science fiction equivalent of the slice of life story.) Combining the two in the Mars series just seems so boring...if you have a vision of the future and no good story to tell but great POV's to telll it in, why not simply write a nonfiction
book using the POV's interspliced between the "idea"?
BTW, does anyone no if Kim Stanley Robinson is related to Spider Robinson? I have always enjoyed Spider Robinson's fiction and never know if there is a familiar connection between the two.
Re:Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series: Red, Green, and Blue
I almost picked up that series a couple of times. lol. I'm glad I didn't now. I like plot driven stories and don't know if I could wade through three books worth of slice of life/day in the life of....
Re:Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series: Red, Green, and Blue
I have read short stories in Asimov's where the story was a paper thin excuse to introduce some scientific concept. (Actually that describes most of the stories in that magazine.) Still, the characters were interesting enough, if rather plain, and the story was readable.
In the Mars series, Robinson's plots were strong, but the characters were flat. If short story writers for Asimov could do pull it off, he could as well. He should hire a collaborator.
I guess I feel like I have turned everyone off these books, and that's too bad. They are excellent on a scientific level. Ah well.
I'm not a complete idiot -- some parts are missing.
Re:Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series: Red, Green, and Blue
I wanted to revisit the Robinson books with this thought.
The reason I would suggest TO read at least the first book, Red Mars, is this: With the exception of William Gibson, Robinson is one of THE names in current science fiction. Readers outside of the science fiction market know him. Therefore, if one is writing current science fiction, one should be familiar with the current big names of science fiction. I don't personally like the books or the author, but I still respect him for many reasons, his attention to detail and construction of a believable colonization of Mars among the reasons. This guy did his scientific homework, but his writing voice does not appeal to me. He may be great at the fiction of science, but I think may in the group write better science fiction.
I would say: Read Red Mars, decide for yourself. He's someone that current scifi writers need to know. If you don't write science fiction, then you don't need to know him.
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Life is a lot like caving: Most of the time you grope around in the dark.
Re:Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series: Red, Green, and Blue
I agree, with a quick edit: struggle through Red Mars...
I'm not a complete idiot -- some parts are missing.