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Blue Mars
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Series: Mars Trilogy, Book 3
- Length: 31 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fantasy
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Just not as dynamic as the original release.
- By C. Fletcher on 04-01-20
Summary
The once red and barren terrain of Mars is now green and rich with life - plant, animal, and human. But idyllic Mars is in a state of political upheaval, plagued by violent conflict between those who would keep the planet green and those who want to return it to a desert world.
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Critic reviews
"A well-written, thoughtful conclusion to the trilogy." ( Library Journal)
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What listeners say about Blue Mars
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-04-22
Poor narrator choice for this book
I really struggled with the tone and speed of the narrator. Couldn't finish the book
1 person found this helpful
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- C. H. Ford
- 19-02-20
The End of a long and detailed saga.
Firstly, let me highlight Richard Ferrone's performance here. The Mars Trilogy covers so much ground not once did the performance falter.
The story's scope can only be described as epic, from the launch of the first 100 to the final scene there is enough characterisation to keep you interested as the hard science hits.
1 person found this helpful
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- TomNI
- 24-08-18
beautifull
First the story goes away from our heroes and I felt like loosing interest. But at the end it all comes back together. nice and beautifull
1 person found this helpful
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- BEHNAZ
- 08-06-16
strong woman
it is interesting that how all the leaders are women with a suporter passionate man :-)
2 people found this helpful
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- Iain Leedham
- 23-07-22
Confusing
Not sure if it’s me or the book but I found it rather confusing, I still enjoyed it but felt like It was written in a foreign language at times. As I mentioned it could easily have just been me
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- matthew g.
- 03-02-22
Great listen but the UK sequence is weird
All three books are great albeit slightly repetitive and over-long in places. We are taken on a real journey from the first settlers arriving on Mars to the final sequence when we go on a family trip to the Martian beach.
There is a strange sequence in Blue Mars when a character goes back to Earth and ends up in Gravesend and Southend and encounters a couple of chirpy cockneys in true Dick Van Dyke style. Here the narrator who’s held off on accents for all three novels attempts an awful English/Cockney accent! Is this how English people speak in the late 21st century? Also, in this sequence the use of the ‘P’ word to describe an Asian person is incredibly offensive and should be completely removed from the novel as I don’t think the author understood at all the use or meaning of this word in the UK.
Apart from that weird part it’s a great and epic listen.
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- F. Olufe
- 27-07-21
Too much Waffle then it ends.
Enjoyed the first 2, and from someone who enjoyed the emphasis on philosophy of the books - i day this had waaaayyyyyy to much waffle and science exposition.
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- Diane Severson
- 07-02-20
Lots left to the imagination...
... but quite a satisfying ending to this epic story nonetheless.
There were parts that dragged and sometimes I think that this book served as a place for KSR to satisfy his itch to expostulate on his research into fascinating subjects like memory, politics, biology and the like. But I’m kind of a nerd and KSR does a great job of making it really interesting even if it contributes absolutely nothing to the plot/story.
I could’ve lived without the extended side track to other parts of the solar system with a character we’d only just met and who didn’t last very long after that.
Those are the reasons for the deduction of a star on Story.
Over all, the whole series is definitely worth taking on and enjoyable as a whole!
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- Antarctic Monkey
- 11-12-18
immersive, captivating, science smorgasbord
I read this trilogy when I was 16, and it captivated me. I loved every aspect of the science in this story. I would even say it was an influence on my career choice. Now I had the chance to relive it all again in audio form, being read to me. Now I'm older I understand the science much better, and the story is just as captivating, if not more so.
3x 30hours of Richard Ferrone. He definitely grew on me. He has quite a relaxing voice. But his accents are bloody awful! :o)
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- Chris
- 22-07-15
An absolute must for any Sci-Fi Fan!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Absolutely, the Third installment of the Mars Trilogy didn't disappoint me at all.
This book has also aged remarkably well, with technology which is still as relevant and is looking ever more probably.
The Story was evoking and had me completely enthralled.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Blue Mars?
I enjoyed the continued development of Mars in terms of Terra-forming, Ecology & Society. It was exciting to read about the increasingly distant relationship between Earth and Mars and the shifting balance of power in the Solar System.
What does Richard Ferrone bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Richard Ferrone gave an outstanding performance, with clear distinction between characters and a real sense of passion in the delivery.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Evolutionary & Revolutionary Mars
Any additional comments?
Well worth a read
1 person found this helpful
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- Sherry
- 18-02-19
Trilogy Started Strong
Really enjoyed the first book. Second book started wearing on me. Third book just gave me more and more of what I didn't want.
The original 100 should have died in the first or second novel. The characters were a bit old to even start the journey (50's) in my opinion. The author then creates a way for these characters to continue living on and on to pollute Mars for all future Earth immigrants. The unbelievable thing is that these militant terrorists/scientists are willing to let the most caustic and opposition characters live on. Ann would've been assassinated like 80 years prior to the end of the story. Killing thousands of humans so that the rocky landscape can remain? Not buying it. I single out Ann as she is my least favorite.
It is a well written series and narrated well. The technology is done very well for 90's writing; doesn't feel unimaginative like other SciFi written in earlier decades.
I don't agree that most of the personnel selected to establish a Mars colony would be terrorist minded and anti human in environmental policy. Makes for nonsense drama throughout.
Anyhow. I was able to finish. There is that.
5 people found this helpful
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- Hooga Chacka
- 01-10-13
A fine end to a good series
As is the previous 2 books, Ferrone's performance has no emotion or enthusiasm. The only real problem with this book is when it jumps forward in time, it doesn't tell you the date. It covers over a century, jumping decades at a time, without tell the reader/listener where you are.
5 people found this helpful
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- Zoli Uebele
- 29-01-20
Don’t. Just don’t.
A slog. A story in search of a plot. Disappointing after the first two books in the series l
2 people found this helpful
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- Kyle O'Neill
- 18-12-19
This Trilogy is Killing Me!
Third time is not the charm. This book is just as much of a slog to get through as it's predecessors "Red Mars" and "Green Mars". I picked up this series because the creator of the highly popular tabletop strategy board game called "Terraforming Mars" credited Kim Stanley Robinson and the Mars Trilogy with his inspiration for creating the game. For those unfamiliar with that game, it's awesome! However, maybe it's because Kim Stanley Robinson has no background in engineering, say like The Martian's author Andy Weir, that this book doesn't resonate with me any more than "Red Mars" or "Green Mars" did. Once again, the timelines covered in the plot of the book happen WAY too fast and are far too vague in the technical details.
The main characters, in dealing with the sociological, ecological, cultural, and political consequences of colonizing Mars, still just sound buffoonish. The author seems to have thoroughly researched the technological concepts, but has almost ignored researching human nature and the realistic ebb-and-flow of political economy. As a result, these characters serve no purpose other than to push forward the authors premise of the merits of some sort of socialist and communist utopia. The characters are thus not remotely relateable and just sound more like reflections of Kim Stanley Robinson's inner consciousness and worldview. Thus, the characters sound silly, dealing with non-plausible political paradigms that make you scratch your head they sound so unrealistic. I couldn't related to ANY of the characters, since they seemed non-human to me.
I need drink to collect myself after listening to this trilogy... Seriously, this trilogy almost killed me with boredom and a lack of awareness to what ACTUALLY motivates individual human beings. My neck also hurts with how many times I shook my head thinking "what is the author remotely doing here?!" Hence, I think it's safe to say that I won't be touching any of the other Kim Stanley Robinson works here on Audible.
2 people found this helpful
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- Douglas Fields
- 21-10-20
The quick decline
It was enjoyable enough to follow the characters from Red and Green Mars for one more tale, but the longevity treatment was beginning to wear off on the story!!
1 person found this helpful
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- Antonio L. Quintanilla
- 13-10-20
Amazing trilogy
It reminds me of Moby Dick, it’s deep cross-sectional views of what Mars could be. You feel that it is even possible. Beautiful.
1 person found this helpful
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- Brian M
- 25-05-19
An intriguing story of what could be.
This is the third book in the trilogy. It has been a long ride to get here, almost 90 hours. For a single single reader to be able to maintain a consistent tone and repeatable character voices is beyond impressive.
The sorry is both captivating and boring. There isn't a consistent plot. It's more like a diary of how a handful of characters interact with each other and the worlds around them including their lives living on Mars. There are times when the author goes far too deep into details about the surrounding train or scientific details. Some people won't be able to make it though the story. If you can persevere, it is a good story to tackle.
This specific book has time jump and skip more then the other too. It also is a bit more heart touching and reminds you of your humanity. It also makes the previous struggles obsolete as the story progress..
1 person found this helpful
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- Jim
- 12-05-19
Slow / Painful Listen
The author should have saved his time writing the last 25 hrs of the book. The reader saved the book, but wasted his time reading it aloud to the public. A wasted purchase.
1 person found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 07-08-19
Brilliant about everything but human beings.
The series started out with KSR in the seat of Ben Bova...but it tragically ended with KSR happily taking up his intended seat as Joseph Stalin.
it was evident from the beginning of the series where KSR was taking us. but the story was intriguing. I did however stop caring for the few characters I thought were okay. KSR does not understand human beings and our motivations. this stood out to me because everything else was so researched and described.
Eventually i understood why this departure from reality was necessary. He ignored human nature to create characters who he then used to justify the whole point of the books...communism. It is socialism to be sure but a rose by any other name and all.
I understand communists [liberals] say there is a clear difference between socialism and communism and this is true. There is a difference between opening a door and turning the knob. Those who advocate for and support socialism sould understand naturally the one comes before the other. Furthermore one necessarily leads to the other.
The drivel in KSR's whole series and especially Blue Mars reads like the manifesto of any "great" communist.
That whole agenda aside Blue Mars was unreadable and damn near unlistenable. I wanted all the charactors to die. i wanted reality to step in. and i wanted a clear story. sadly i was let down. KSR chose to carelessly cast disjointed words at the page in lieu of writing anything of substance.
but when you write outside the reasonable pocket of reality one can not pen reality. Kim, write a 4th book. call it black mars. insert realistic human nature. then watch democracy rightfully and logically insert itself on the red planet.
this book was drivel, a manifesto, detached from reality where it really needed reality, and pointless to those who are humans in modern society. one would have better luck finding reality in the worthless crap put out by Scientologiests. Or better luck doing so by reading Tolken, because even though engrams and elfs are not real, they are closer to humans than the charactors forced upon us in the Mars Trilogy.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall

- Daniel Beck
- 05-07-08
good series
This is a pretty darn good series, though a bit preachy, it has a good story line and it is told in a fresh manner. The only suggestion I have is that the narrator purchase a dictionary so that when a word he is ineasy with can be pronounced correctly.
4 people found this helpful