I’m about 250 pages in (not quite halfway), and I’m losing interest fast. When I discovered this book I thought it and I were a match made in heaven. Not that my expectations were too high but I really thought it was going to be the best book in all the history of ever. But seriously . . . so far there’s no plot, I don’t care about any of the characters, the writing style is weird and almost stream-of-consciousness at times, and to be quite honest parts of it are very confusing.
I feel like I’m reading a political drama with a twist of thriller and a dash of The Illuminatus Trilogy that just happens to be taking place on Mars. That’s not what I signed up for.
So, without spoilers, please - should I keep reading? Did anyone feel this way at this point in the book and ultimately end up liking it?
And I’ve read a lot of long, turgid crap (Thomas Covenant anyone?).
Admittedly, I was about 14 when I tried to read it. I should try again. But I’m afraid of it. Not even the sex could keep me interested, and I was a little horndog.
It, and the sequels, are much more of the same writing style. Very character-focused, introspective, narrative. Although the POV narrator changes between chapters, it is much of the same.
With the occasional omniscient-view chapter thrown in there.
There is basically no “plot”, just sort of a recounting of events that happened to the characters because of the situations that developed from previous events. It’s all supposed to be character-driven, really.
I thought the same as you are now, when reading – basically, the characters overanalyze everything to utter boredom. I was saved by my interest in the science aspects. It’s a little like Dune, but weaker on the writer’s political insight and writing skills, I think.
Yeah, well, although I finished them I also don’t believe in the value of finishing books you absolutely find no interest in. As I said, I only finished reading 'em because I was interested in the science aspects of what was going on.
I should note that they’re a completely different type of writing than the Thomas Covenant books (which are florid and verbose, to be sure, but not the same). I enjoyed the latter, but was not too impressed with the former.
You might try reading Years of Rice and Salt by Robinson, instead. I found it to be much more engaging, even though it covers completely different ground (so no science stuff to hold my interest).
Not only will I not try to convince you to keep going, as someone who hated it 100 pages in and forced themselves to complete the trilogy I will say that they’re terrible books, poorly written, about horrible characters that I wish would all die in airlock accidents, and unless you have some kind of extenuating circumstances that force you to stick with it you’re better off putting them down and walking away.
(Oh, and if I ever read a book where the prose seems like it was pulled from a geology textbook again I I may have to hollow it out, fill the inside with spiders, and mail it back to the author. It was like he read a dictionary of landscape terms and was determined to fit every single one of them into the text…)
WOW. Where were all the negative reviews before I started reading?
It’s pretty well-reviewed on Amazon and the quotes on the cover are gushing. There’s even one by Arthur C. Clarke. I was afraid I was weird for not liking it, but now I’m starting to feel a lot better!
I would in fact stop and burn the book. I would then repeat Kim Stanley Robinson a million times to yourself so you don’ get drawn in again. I must have bought three or four of his books over the years because they sound so interesting. I have never finished one. Give me a year or two and it is rinse, lather, repeat. I would suspect reviews aren’t bad because to review it properly you have to finish it and most of us don’t make it that far.
I liked the books. I found them interesting, and obviously, so do a hell of a lot of people, because they are some of the better selling, and better reviewed, science fiction books of the last 30 years.
Cisco, this place is known for trashing things; it seems people with negative opinions are often more likely to post than people with positive opinions. However, in answer to your OP, I will say this: If you don’t like the style of the book, it doesn’t change much. Robinson didn’t “grow” during the writing of the trilogy, at least not that I recall. It’s been a while since I read them.
I read them about 8 or 9 years ago - Red Mars started off strong, the second one started lagging, and I don’t think I ever finished the third one. Give up now - if you’re struggling with Red Mars you’ll never make it through the other two.
I don’t know that they’re bad, exactly, I just got seriously bored with them.
Well, if you don’t like Red Mars at this point you probably aren’t going to. Life’s too short to read books you don’t like, even if all the"cool kids" are doing it. I’m looking at YOU, Thomas Covenant the Unbeliver!
If you want to try some light KSR, try Escape from Kathmandu. I think the whole book - a collection of short stories - is less than 250 pages in paperback. A fun, light collection.
I liked KSR’s characterizations. His Russian characters felt like real Russians, his French characters felt like real French people, even his Swiss characters felt like real Swiss, yet they were also individuals. I like that KSR brings a mountain climber’s/geologist’s eye to Mars colonization. Most Mars stories were written by physicists or EEs, and I think it shows. I like that KSR was trying to build a sustainable and fair economy, as well as ecology, through his stories. The characters were also - talking a lot about how to build their new world much like the founding fathers of the US. But the Mars Trilogy is not just a retelling of the American Revolution (or Mexican or French).
I forced my way through Red (the notion of the stowaway nearly stopped me dead right then and there) and read the summaries of Green and Blue on wiki and am confident I didn’t miss anything worthwhile.
I read the whole thing - and you’ve just about finished the good part. I have Green Mars glaring at me in my bookcase - I didn’t get through the first chapter of that one. I’ve adjusted its reading priority a bit past my 50 Perry Rhodans yet to be read. Nuff said.
