Andrew Woodyard

I'm an avid reader of scifi and this is a very over rated novel that isn't worth the time to read unless you need a book to put you to sleep. The concept is interesting: an epic that details the colonizing and terraforming of Mars. However, the characters are bland, largely forgettable, with no discernable traits to make them stand out from each other. There is a definite lack of conflict throughout the novel as well, leading to Red Mars being a sluggish read, which is made worse by the writer's dense, info-dump heavy style of narration. On the plus side it does have a good title and it makes a good paperweight.