The Martians, by Kim Stanley Robinson
First published 1999 by Voyager.
Kim Stanley Robinson’s big trilogy of Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars are classics in the field of science fiction. They explore the colonisation of Mars from an initial settlement of 100 scientists and engineers, through revolution and independence. Chronicling terraforming, immigration, vastly extended lives, and various economic and social models, the Mars Trilogy is classic science fiction. The Martians is a book of short stories based on this universe (with at least one, “Michel in Provence” on an alternative version), and should really only be read after the trilogy. But, that trilogy is well worth reading, and if you liked it, The Martians should also tweak your brain. Not all the stories will appeal to everyone, of course. The book includes stories about individual lives, a discussion of the Martian Constitution (also included), veers to stories about rock, and the history of Martian areology, and dips into his created Martian mythology. One story looks at how baseball might be played on Mars, and how an American changes the game, and there are a large number of poems, collected as “If Wang Wei Lived on Mars and other poems” (though none of them are titled that). The final story seems to be autobiographical concerning a day in the life of an author, and as the final words the author writes are “the end”, it seems appropriate.
I own Red Mars, and if I found the other two for a good price, I would definitely buy them. However, The Martians is a different book. It is quite interesting for someone who found the trilogy worth reading, but it is a different kind of book. It fills in gaps in the story, or explores areas that the trilogy did not. I think I would purchase it, if I found it available for a good price, but I would not treasure it as much as the trilogy. Perhaps if the parts I did not enjoy as much were left out, it would be better? But, of course, it would not then be the same book. The included stories do vary in type, and character. I found many of the stories essential additions to the trilogy, while others could easily have been left out.
