Customer Reviews

Moving Mars

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Heh, small joke. Sorry. I've seen this book for years, but always held off on buying it, seeing it as just another of those Mars books that seem to crop up every few years. Yeah, I like the idea of colonizing or visiting our red neighbor but that doesn't mean I have to read every book that someone decides to write about it. But I finally got around to it, since it seemed different enough from such works as Kim Stanley Robinson's great trilogy and just finished reading it and, well, I was wrong. This is a great book, full of ideas and interesting characters that you can sympathize with, if not relate to (in a sense) and while it doesn't rank with the famed Mars trilogy (Bear's writing just isn't as poetic or piercing as Robinson's), Bear gets major credit for crafting such an epic, wide ranging piece and managing to contain it all in one book. What's it all about though? Indeed, it's about Mars, and how Earth is trying to keep the poor colonists under the heel of their boots, and since Mars is mostly divided up into factions of different families, Earth doesn't need to do all that much to keep the status quo going. Then comes the student revolts, which really don't amount to all that much in the end, except that they introduce the two most important characters in the book, Cassie and Charles, who will go on to change Mars. People sometimes complain that the first hundred or so pages of the book devoted to the revolts aren't really that important to the main story, and they aren't. But that isn't the point, it's there to lay down the foundations of the characters and without that foundation it becomes that much harder to fathom where they are at the end. Suspense and political intrigue run rampant throughout the book, with everyone making plans against everyone else and when Charles and company discover an entirely new technology, well, then, things start getting rough. There's no turning back for the Martians at that point and if you thought that the title of the book was just mere hyperbole, well you ain't see nothing yet. The last hundred pages or so are classic SF thriller stuff, racing along so fast that you have to almost stop and catch your breath. Typical of Bear, the science is well thought out but grasping it might require some high level physics (but then not all of the characters seem to understand it that well so don't feel ashamed), don't worry, just let go and race along for the ride. Good memorable stuff, the kind of the quality the genre could sometimes use more often.

To say that Moving Mars is a good book would qualify as the largest understatement of my life. It was a great book, an amazing book, possibly even the best hard sci-fi novel that I have ever read. What could possibly cause such admiration in a reader, you ask? I shall tell!

The story admittedly starts out slowly. The reader is left wondering exactly what a student revolt at a Martian University has to do with anything. The first 100 pages, while far from boring, don't give you a glimpse of the marvels in the rest of the book. However, once you pass that mark, their is no going back. Cancell all of your appointments and call in sick at work, you will not be able to put this book down.

Greg Bear masterfully weaves together a plot full of political intrigue, character interests, imaginative future technology (that actually makes sense when explained! ), and of course the threat of total armaeggedon.

I don't want to give away too much, but by the end you will no doubt consider yourself a Red Rabbit (Martian) and be so wrapped up in the lives of the characters that you will almost forget that we are still confined to this lonely planet Earth.

Bear's portrayal of the not-so-distant future is truly monumental. I have read a great many hard sci-fi novels and this one outshines them all, with the possible exception of Forge of God (also by Greg Bear).

A desert planet with an ancient history of very un-Earth-like life, a frontier world that mixes social conservatism and radical experimentation, this is Mars in the late 22nd century. Casseia Majumdar is, she thinks, an ordinary person just trying to find her niche in life, beginning with student rebellion against Statism and progressing through her emergence as a key leader in a redesigned Martian political system. Parallelling her own development is the rise of Charles Franklin, her first lover and theoretical physicist extraordinaire. In its theme and style, this story reminds me most of John Varley's _Steel Beach_ and Heinlein's _The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress_ -- but while it has all the exciting detail and deep, rich texture of the former, it's far more subtle and sophisticated than anything Heinlein ever managed. The feel of the world's overwhelming strangeness and almost unimaginable complexity 175 years from now is accomplished very smoothly, almost sneakily, without ever overexplaining things. The physics "feels" right. And the characterization is always spot-on. And the title of this thing should be taken literally. Putting it simply and baldly, this is a perfectly marvelous book. It is by far the best thing of Bear's I've read and it's one of the best sf novels I've read by *anyone* in several years.

I was frankly surprised by a lot of the reviews of this book. Shallow characterizations? This book follows the leads throughout a goodly chunk of their lives ... so that we learn first-hand what makes them do what they do! I've read one opinion that the prime character Casseia is too juvenile and directionless at the beginning. That's because she IS juvenile at the beginning - a teenager in college just beginning to look for a direction in her life. The book is a chronicle of a life growing up, and of Mars growing up around her. The parallel is there if you just look for it.

A warning: this is NOT a book for someone wanting to be lead by the hand. If you're into simple, straightforward, comic-book plots, Bear is going to leave you cold and confused. This is complex, intricate SF at its best. You have to think about it. Dive into it. Be swallowed by this new and different world and learn its rules. That's what Bear is best at, as he's shown in Eon, Eternity, Queen of Angels and /Slant. The science and engineering is plausible, the politics all-too-realistic and the humans are very full of human nature, even in this advanced society. The cohesiveness and depth of this depiction of future human culture in the "Triple" is amazing; again as were Bear's world of Eon/Eternity.

I found Red Mars by Robinsion simple, predictable and technically unbelievable by comparison. Moving Mars is now in my permanant, never-give-it-to-the-used-book-store collection. Eventually I'll end up buying it again because I'm sure to wear this copy out.

BTW, many don't know it (I just discovered this myself), but "Heads," a very short book Bear wrote back in '91 is actually the genesis of both Moving Mars and the Queen of Angels, /Slant pair. Not exactly a prequel, but a lot of ideas for the later books started there. Interesting to see how those lines developed out of that little, obscure book.

This is the first of Greg Bear's novels I have read. After reading it, I'm sure I'll read the rest of his work at some point. It's just too nice to find a new (to me) SF author I enjoy to not seek out the rest of his books.

"Moving Mars" is a very apt title, because this novel is about just that, on several different levels: politically, socially, physically moving Mars. The story follows the budding career of Casseia Majumdar, from lowly student protestor to high powered political official, and what Casseia has to do to help secure a world eager for its own governance, rather than living in the shadow of the mother planet.

Bear creates very believable characters and delves into political and scientific areas very comfortably. Clearly, this is a writer that does his research. There were a couple of technical issues I had with the book. Not anything I thought was wrong - Bear is much more of an expert on the subject than I, I'm sure. Really, it was more a case of unanswered questions. Questions that I can't ask here without offering major spoilers. Still, the few questions I did have were minor in comparison to the quality and thoroughness of the story.

What I really like about Bear is that he doesn't wave a magic wand to make everything better. He gets his characters into tough situations and then works his way through those situations honestly. His writing is reminiscent of some of the SF giants: Heinlein, Asimov, Herbert - without being self-congratulatory or stuffy.

I highly recommend the book to anyone looking for SF with good science and a solid story behind it.

I just got through reading this book, one of the few that I have time to read each year. I totally enjoy the way Bear puts together a story, interweaivng the destinies of individuals in the ecololgical, political, and demographic tapestry that becomes the plot. I felt myself sympathising with Casseia Majumdar as she followed a group of protesters into taking action against an unwanted government ( I found it a bit irnoic that she would one day become the leader of the very kind of goverment that she was opposed to in her earlier and naive youth). It turns out that this was not the book that I thought it was when I began to read it (the sequel to The Forge of God) However, I am very glad that I got it wrong and had the opportunity of reading this one. I really hadn't expected them to use the "tweak" to move them as far as they did, just far enough to warm Mars up and wake up the atmosphere was all I'd hoped for. WOW! what and ending and a powerful statement to Man's primative nature and how high we aspire to evolve; that in doing so we must leave the very cradle of our existance and strike out on our own.

I can sum up my evaluation in two parts:

1) The Fiction
This novel begins with the main character somewhere in the middle of her college career. You are given the privelege as the reader to witness her growth into a respectable and courageous leader, experiencing all of her mistakes and triumphs along the way. If I were to sum up all of the major events in the story, I would make the story sound too fantastic and unrealistic to be entertaining. However, Bear wrote the story in such a way that you cannot help but ponder his future universe-- intricately constructed around complex political bodies and detailed history--and agree that it is a realistic model.

2) The Science
Most of the actual science and technological fantasy reveals itself towards the 2nd half of the book. It took me several weeks to read through the first half, reading a few pages here and there. Then, suddenly, I finished the 2nd half of the book in a single night. Bear puts an interesting twist on physics by mixing ideas of relativity, string theory, and quantum mechanics in a hand-waving sort of way that guides the reader through the technical points smoothly, never disrupting the flow of the plot. Bear does not neglect fiction in other scientific fields. His future is a future where nanotechnology is commonplace, AI computers (called "thinkers") are necessary members of social groups, and the games of politics are the same as they always have been. For those of you who enjoy pondering the mechanisms behind possible technological constructs of the future, you will not be dissatisfied with this novel.

In this age, it seems that science fiction is sometimes a reality. However, Greg Bear is successful in painting a fairly realistic picture of our very own solar system while preserving the fantasy that makes science fiction such a joy to read.

I guess I'll add my praises for Moving Mars, or should I say, for Casseia Majumdar, the first leader of a new nation under seige. I thought characters and plot were well developed; the book built to a wonderful crescendo that had me turning the last 100 pages in one sitting. The sequence of the actual moving of Mars--the thought processes, the emotions of awe and fear, the description of the undescribable and unexplicable--was absolutely stunning. And unlike some reviewers, I thought the beginning was not slow, but a necessary development of the world, the people, the events, and the person that made the book truly enriching. I was also quite moved by the poignancy of the somewhat unexpected (and likely realistic) ending. In many respects, a perfect read.

Enjoying "Moving Mars" will depend on a number of things, particularly your attitude about how a science fiction novel "ought" to be. For instance, one of the below reviewers refers to the beginning of the book as being "fantasy," apparently for no other reason than Bear's emphasis on character development - fantasy novels, more often written for and about women, tend to spend a lot more time building their character's "back story" and emotional life. The payoff here is that Bear's careful development of his lead characters, and the strange yet familiar pioneer world of the Martian settlers, helps explain later choices.

More than with most books, the appeal of this work will depend on your own personality and interests. If you're the type of person who refers to him or herself as being "right-brained" or by contrast, essentially "scientific and logical," and tend to stick to one social sphere of people with similar bents, you may find half the book fascinating, and the other half cryptic or boring. Strictly hard SF readers who want nothing but science fact and science ideas may not like the strong social and emotional undertones; readers of historical, military and general fiction may find the heady physics of the latter half hard to digest.

If you like SF a lot but don't follow the news or read history, the many parallels here with real-life history may be lost on you. Frankly, I found another review quite amusing. The reviewer didn't like the lead character, stating that she was just another young woman with a lack of life experience, like herself, and how unrealistic it would be for such a person to ascend to the vice presidency. Actually, I think this is one of Bear's strongest points in the book! Reviewer, have you ever read about Harry S. Truman - you know, the ordinary guy thrust into the presidency (after FDR died suddenly) who unleashed the atomic bomb in 1945? By the way, he was left *much* more in the dark, as vice president, than most people realize, less prepared than the character in the book to use an "ultimate weapon". Not to mention that all of us generally start off as naive children and teenagers, whether we become great leaders or decent citizens with a smaller realm of impact. So yes, Casseia is believable.

Bear is pointing out that leaders often come about because of chance - being in the right place at the right time - not because they have been groomed from birth or have some special mutant power. It's also what makes him fresh as a SF writer, when so many writers in fantasy and SF still use the "Slan" mold. Here, even a genius like Charles Franklin is also an ordinary, decent man with issues and inadequacies, and smart but essentially normal ("high natural") Casseia transforms her world.

The day after re-reading "Moving Mars," I stumbled upon a terrific documentary about the 1989 protests in Tiannamen Square. One of the leaders who convinced students to stay at Tiannamen Square, knowing full-well that blood would be shed, was a mild-mannered young woman crying into a microphone, talking about freedom. She was a twenty-three year old psychology student, not some Superwoman. It's the belief that leaders must be superhuman that has retarded the political process and prevented real growth in our society.

If you love science and science fiction, but also love history and the humanities, you'll enjoy this. If you only like two out of four, some but probably not all of the book will appeal to you.

Found the SF parts of the story - especially the Quantum Logic thinkers part - truly amazing. I found the entire concept - that of a young Mars finding its own voice - really well conceived and well written. Perhaps the only shortcoming (for me) was the first somewhat 250 pages before Bear gets to the real meaty SF stuff. It wasn't excruciatingly slow - but the first half wasn't a page turner. The second half was!