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1-Page Summary of Red Mars
Overall Summary
Red Mars is a 1992 science fiction novel by Kim Stanley Robinson. It is the first book in the Mars trilogy about settling and terraforming the planet Mars. In 1993, Red Mars won both of these awards.
In the book, Red Mars, the first group of 100 settlers to land on Mars include representatives from America, Russia, and the Arab world. Frank Chalmers is the leader of the American group who uses his connections to block Russian and Arab expansion. John Boone emerges as a rival for leadership but uses his connections in different ways than Frank does.
Maya Toitovna is a character who uses her sexuality to get what she wants. She’s in a relationship with John Boone and Frank Chalmers, which fuels their rivalry for leadership of the mission. Maya is also aware of another rivalry between Sax Russell, an advocate for terraforming Mars, and Ann Clayborn, who opposes terraforming and instead advocates studying Mars as it is now. Finally, Maya has Arkady Bogdanov under her thumb because he believes that the settlers should make decisions on their own without interference from Earth’s politicians.
Maya notices that the people who have been sent to Mars are cliquish and spend a lot of time gossiping about each other. This is the first sign of sectarian problems that will affect them later on. Maya spots someone she doesn’t know hiding among crops one day, and suspects that someone has stowed away on their mission. She tells John about her suspicions, but he does not believe her.
The first part of the book describes how the crew settles on Mars. They have to collect supplies from supply drops, turn permafrost into a reliable water supply, and develop a new calendar for longer Martian years. The different groups that formed during the trip to Mars come together again and work as one team. Nadia gains a reputation as an expert problem solver after an industrial accident permanently injures her hand; she steps back into a consulting role after this incident because she can’t do certain tasks anymore.
Two members of the American crew, Nadia and Phyllis, travel to the ice caps to see if they can be used for water. When they return, they find that the settlers’ base has been destroyed. There is a big fight between those who want to terraform (make it more like Earth) and those who don’t. Arkady also wants to leave Earth entirely with his followers.
Michael Duvall, a psychiatrist on Mars, is overwhelmed by the fighting. Coyote approaches him one day and leads him to a secret farming colony that worships nature. The community is led by Hiroko Ai, who was once prominent in the mission but became disillusioned with it. Michael joins them quickly because he’s fed up with the fighting on Mars as well.
So far, the Arabs have kept to themselves and avoided getting involved in the politics between the Americans and Russians. John is worried that if they gain more power, they’ll try to take over Mars. Frank tries to convince them to rebel against John because he’s his political rival.
Meanwhile, acts of sabotage become common at the settler’s base. The culprit is unclear and may be several factions. However, John soon suspects that Arkady is responsible because he wants Earth to forget about Mars. He devises a treaty with the Arabs which preserves Martian independence but gets killed before it can pass.
A group of people, led by Arkady and Hiroko’s faction, fight against the main settlements on Mars. They attack the space elevator that transports people to and from earth. Arkady is killed in this fighting.
After the destruction of the space station, Nadia and her friends regroup. They search for Hiroko’s colony to find shelter. Frank is swept away by a flood and presumed dead, but they finally find Hiroko and are taken in as refugees.
