Time to finish the colonization of Mars with Blue Mars, the third and final book in the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. Picking up shortly after the end of Green Mars we see them navigating the aftermath of the successful revolution. Ann is trying to figure out what it means to still be a red and how to not be radical and destructive. At the same time Sax is just trying to figure out where to go next in regards to terraforming without making Ann and the reds in general any angrier. Nadia and Art find themselves struggling to create a coherent functional Martian government without giving any more power to Jackie and the Mars First movement. Nirgal is just trying to figure out who he is and who he wants to be in a post-revolution society even as he struggles with his changing relationships. Maya just wants to be able to remember her past without struggling and feeling like she is forgetting the important things and Michel just wants to go home even as he works on identifying where his home is.
Much like the first two books this one is incredible in scope and just as expansive. However, it also deals with a lot more rather disparate topics than the earlier books do. I say that because the earlier books focused more on adapting to Mars and the debate on terraforming with a slight focus on Martian independence but this book focuses heavily on navigating the realities of Martian independence so it takes a much closer look at the relationship between Mars and Earth and between Mars and other colonies. I feel like the scope and focus are just slightly wider than the other two books. However, a reoccurring theme that goes through the entire series is humanity adapting to Mars and Mars adapting to humanity. It was absolutely fascinating to see just how human culture changed and blended together over time as the different generations were born on Mars. The culture present in this book is radically different from what was present in the first book and yet it was only a few generations that had passed even if was also a few hundred years. It really makes me wonder about how long it takes for a family to no longer be considered an immigrant family, regardless of where they are from or where they moved to. There are a few things that are brought up in this book that are mildly concerning though, even if they actually made logical sense given the progression of the storyline so far. A big one for me was the idea of genetically modifying humanity to better adapt to various environments. I am not a big fan of the idea in real life and it actually makes me rather uncomfortable but I can enjoy seeing it in fiction. In this case it was a natural progression of the modifying of plants and animals to life on Mars so I can see where it fit into the story but I am still a little uneasy about the idea. The story and characters are still superb and well written and I thoroughly enjoyed the story so I am giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
This is a great example of an adult science-fiction series so if you happen to be an adult who enjoys that genre you really need to consider checking this series out. Make sure to read them in order though as you will be confused otherwise. There is too much background in the earlier volumes to just skip to the last one. I will also state that as a whole this series is definitely for adults as there is some mild explicit content sprinkled throughout. There wasn’t a lot but it was there nonetheless so be prepared for that as you read. If it still sounds interesting I hope you will consider trying it out and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.