...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Red Mars Trilogy
- 489 statements
- 95 feature instances
- 44 referencing feature instances
| Red Mars Trilogy | type |
TVTItem | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | label |
Red Mars Trilogy | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | page |
RedMarsTrilogy | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | comment |
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })The Red Mars trilogy is a series of novels by sci-fi author Kim Stanley Robinson. It explores the settlement and subsequent terraforming of Mars over the course of nearly two centuries. The series is known for its accurate science, complex characters, realistic portrayals of politics and economics, and for its ultimately optimistic tone, shading towards a utopia rather than a dystopia.Red Mars depicts the settlement of the first Martian colonies. The initial group of colonists, known as the "First Hundred", are tasked with settling and ultimately terraforming the planet. However, they're almost immediately divided over the degree to which they should terraform, as well as how independent the new Martian society should be from Earth. This crystallizes into two major movements: the Reds, who want to limit terraforming and keep Mars as close to its natural state as possible, and the Greens, who want to fully terraform Mars into an Earth-like environment.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Green Mars depicts the fallout of a failed revolt, which has resulted in an underground separatist movement whose struggle for political freedom from Earth forms the bulk of the plot. Against this political backdrop, Martian society is strained by a massive influx of immigrants and increasing corporate meddling from Earth, and the terraforming process begins to proceed at a runaway pace as Mars begins to literally turn green.Blue Mars shows the aftermath of Mars becoming fully independent. After a global disaster on Earth threatens to destabilize the already overpopulated and polluted planet, the new Martian government is thrust into the unexpected role as Earth's savior. Meanwhile, the colonization of the rest of the solar system is explored as well as the continuing effects of the Longevity Treatment on both the main characters and society as a whole.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })A companion collection of short stories, The Martians, features tales set in the same universe and more fully explore ideas only hinted at in the novels, as well as featuring fanciful what-if stories.Later works by KSR often feature recurring elements from the Mars Trilogy, but none are direct sequels. The novel 2312 picks up on many of the settings and tropes that were only briefly alluded to in the Mars Trilogy, with its two central characters natives of Mercury and Titan. According to Word of God, the basics of Martian history are similar, but the Mars of 2312 is far less terraformed than the Mars of the trilogy, and the economics of the solar system are rather different, too. Aurora is similar again, but lacks the longevity technologies and terraformed Mars of the Mars Trilogy.Finally, the novel Galileo's Dream may also be related to the series, in the sense that it ties much of Robinson's work together, though its rather more fantastic elements conflict somewhat with the hard sci-fi themes of the trilogy. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | fetched |
2022-06-16T00:13:06Z | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | parsed |
2022-06-16T00:13:06Z | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | processingComment |
Dropped link to Foil: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | processingComment |
Dropped link to GrayAndGrayMorality: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | processingComment |
Dropped link to MasochismTango: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | processingComment |
Dropped link to TwentyThreeTwelve: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | processingUnknown |
GrayAndGrayMorality | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | processingUnknown |
MasochismTango | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_10072b2 | type |
Helpful Hallucination | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_10072b2 | comment |
Helpful Hallucination: Hiroko leads Sax through a blizzard back to his rover, long after she went missing (and presumed dead). It's left ambiguous whether she was really there. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_10072b2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_10072b2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_10072b2 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_1237828f | type |
Anyone Can Die | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_1237828f | comment |
Anyone Can Die: The book begins with the assassination of the first man on Mars and the ball keeps rolling after that. In fact, of the four people named on the back cover of Red Mars, three end up dying by the end of the first book (although the one who survives actually makes it all the way to the end of the trilogy). It's also rather remarkable that the hero of the entire story dies within the first 20 pages of a 2000 page story. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_1237828f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_1237828f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_1237828f | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_12d4a4c2 | type |
The Migration | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_12d4a4c2 | comment |
The Migration: Precipitated by population pressures created by the longevity treatment and resource shortages on Earth, causing an exodus to Mars and eventually the rest of the Solar System. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_12d4a4c2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_12d4a4c2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_12d4a4c2 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_1869b4b1 | type |
Unreliable Narrator | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_1869b4b1 | comment |
Unreliable Narrator: The books are written from over a dozen different viewpoints, each character with their own opinions and interpretations of events. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_1869b4b1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_1869b4b1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_1869b4b1 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_19944e8f | type |
Terraform | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_19944e8f | comment |
Terraforming: The central focus of the trilogy. The series is considered a realistic portrayal of what terraforming Mars would take (albeit extremely optimistic and in a short period of time, relatively speaking). | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_19944e8f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_19944e8f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_19944e8f | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_19e991a6 | type |
Extreme Speculative Stratification | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_19e991a6 | comment |
Extreme Speculative Stratification: The initial availability of the gerontological treatments to the privileged had some thinking this would happen to humanity. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_19e991a6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_19e991a6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_19e991a6 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_1d3d1013 | type |
Mundane Dogmatic | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_1d3d1013 | comment |
Mundane Dogmatic: None of the technological advances in the series require any great leaps, and for the most part, are just extrapolations of things that we already have today. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_1d3d1013 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_1d3d1013 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_1d3d1013 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_211b9a77 | type |
It Can't Be Helped | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_211b9a77 | comment |
It Can't Be Helped: Hiroko introduces this phrase to the first hundred, and they start using shikata ga nai regularly. One section of the book is named such. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_211b9a77 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_211b9a77 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_211b9a77 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_21d70919 | type |
Crapsack World | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_21d70919 | comment |
Crapsack World: Earth. Too crowded, corrupted by transnational corporations, full of brutal inequality, etcetera. World War III breaks out at just about the same time as the revolution of 2061. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_21d70919 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_21d70919 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_21d70919 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_23153741 | type |
Suddenly Significant City | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_23153741 | comment |
Suddenly Significant City: The humble city of Sabishii established by Japanese colonists during the events of Red Mars is introduced in Green Mars as the capital of the Martian underground. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_23153741 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_23153741 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_23153741 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_234bd900 | type |
For Science! | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_234bd900 | comment |
For Science!: In a therapy session, Michel asks Sax why science is so important to him; Sax replies "to learn." When Michel asks what the point would be if he learned everything about what he was studying, Sax's reply is "...to learn more." | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_234bd900 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_234bd900 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_234bd900 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_254a6a7d | type |
Earth That Was | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_254a6a7d | comment |
Earth That Was: Earth is rapidly approaching overpopulation and it's promoting mass emigration to try and stop it. It stops working at all once Mars becomes independent (and wasn't really working before that, as Earth's population is growing faster than they can ship them into space). However, it does get (slightly) better by the time we see it close-up in Blue Mars. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_254a6a7d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_254a6a7d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_254a6a7d | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_2726d167 | type |
The World Is Just Awesome | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_2726d167 | comment |
The World Is Just Awesome: Multiple characters have moments of awe and wonder over the landscape of Mars, space, and eventually other planets over the course of the series. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_2726d167 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_2726d167 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_2726d167 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_342c2ebc | type |
Longevity Treatment | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_342c2ebc | comment |
Longevity Treatment: Gene therapy, known as gerontological treatments, are the reason some characters live through the whole two centuries of the series. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_342c2ebc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_342c2ebc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_342c2ebc | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_38b2491d | type |
The Fog of Ages | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_38b2491d | comment |
The Fog of Ages: In Blue Mars it becomes clear that this is a possible side-effect of the longevity treatment, as the extremely long-lived main characters begin to forget things they did when they were in their 100s. Eventually a cure for this is found that not only reverses the effect but also reinforces all the previous memories the person has, including memories from their childhood they normally didn't remember anyway. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_38b2491d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_38b2491d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_38b2491d | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_42d3be0b | type |
Population Control | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_42d3be0b | comment |
Population Control: The invention and widespread use of a "longevity treatment" that vastly increases lifespan spurs discussions of this. Discussed in Green Mars via the infamous "three quarters of a child" plan, but never actually implemented. Eventually, most nations on Earth are forced to adopt a two-child-per-couple law until the oldest people finally start dying off at around age 200-250. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_42d3be0b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_42d3be0b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_42d3be0b | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_450c5a85 | type |
Alternate Continuity | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_450c5a85 | comment |
Alternate Continuity: Two bookend short stories in The Martians feature an alternative timeline that diverges from the backstory of Red Mars. The divergence occurs in the pre-colonization "social experiment" in Antarctica where psychologist Michel Duval, who is evaluating the program from the inside, decides that the First Hundred would be incapable of surviving, psychologically, in the conditions they would face in the early years on Mars. So the mission is scrubbed and retasked as one of exploration instead of colonization. Mars is eventually colonized at a later date and the War of 2061 from the end of the first novel never happens. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_450c5a85 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_450c5a85 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_450c5a85 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_49d59be9 | type |
Scenery Porn | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_49d59be9 | comment |
Scenery Porn: Lots of descriptions of the different Martian landscapes. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_49d59be9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_49d59be9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_49d59be9 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_4a59e6f7 | type |
One Nation Under Copyright | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_4a59e6f7 | comment |
One Nation Under Copyright: Human society increasingly falls under the sway of 'meta-national' corporations over the course of the series. At first, the big names in the corporate world are merely 'transnationals' (spanning multiple nations) - they begin to be referred to as metanats when they not only supersede proper nation-states in influence and power, but in fact control (or outright own) most nations in the world. Much of the story derives from the various characters' attempts to resist or escape the metanats' influence. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_4a59e6f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_4a59e6f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_4a59e6f7 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_4ca752e1 | type |
Deadly Dust Storm | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_4ca752e1 | comment |
Deadly Dust Storm: The terraforming efforts at one point lead to a huge dust storm that lasts for years. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_4ca752e1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_4ca752e1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_4ca752e1 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_50f66629 | type |
Crazy-Prepared | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_50f66629 | comment |
Crazy-Prepared: Sax in Green Mars. Once the revolution finally breaks out, it turns out he had spent the preceding years preparing for a number of large-scale contingencies, including making possible the open-air evacuation of an entire city by having raised the oxygen levels in the atmosphere and making tens of thousands of carbon dioxide filter masks. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_50f66629 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_50f66629 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_50f66629 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_527fbbe6 | type |
Latex Space Suit | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_527fbbe6 | comment |
Latex Space Suit: The "mesh suits" worn by the colonists in Red Mars, though it's an extrapolation of real-world research into the effort rather than Fanservice. They provide pressurization, but the person has to wear cold-weather gear over it because it has no other protections. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_527fbbe6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_527fbbe6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_527fbbe6 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_59e5940e | type |
AnimalMotif | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_59e5940e | comment |
Sax's given name is meaningful on a more esoteric level lampshaded in a joke his assistants tell. He's named after a flower, the way lab rats are. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_59e5940e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_59e5940e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_59e5940e | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_5c36f1df | type |
Future Primitive | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_5c36f1df | comment |
Future Primitive: In Blue Mars, some Martians have resorted to nomadic agriculture and even hunter-gathering while still visiting settlements to shop. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_5c36f1df | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_5c36f1df | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_5c36f1df | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_60441d9 | type |
Future Slang | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_60441d9 | comment |
Future Slang: A few, such as the expression "Ka", derived from the name of Mars in a number of languages. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_60441d9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_60441d9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_60441d9 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_67d90683 | type |
Fictional Political Party | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_67d90683 | comment |
Fictional Political Party: The various emergent factions on Mars, with the main divide of pro-terraforming Greens versus the pro-preservation Reds. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_67d90683 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_67d90683 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_67d90683 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6977c45e | type |
Purple Prose | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6977c45e | comment |
Purple Prose: One of the stories in The Martians, entitled "Purple Mars." | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6977c45e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6977c45e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_6977c45e | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6a2d1b1a | type |
Rebel Leader | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6a2d1b1a | comment |
Rebel Leader: Arkady Bogdanov becomes one near the end of Red Mars. Even after his death, Bogdanovists remain a political force for the rest of the series. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6a2d1b1a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6a2d1b1a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_6a2d1b1a | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6a49268 | type |
"Just So" Story | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6a49268 | comment |
"Just So" Story: Some of the interstitial segments are these, pitting Paul Bunyan against a new Martian figure called "Big Man", eventually including John Boone, and sometimes the "little red people" that omegendorph abusers see at the edges of vision. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6a49268 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6a49268 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_6a49268 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6b4f4350 | type |
Zeppelins from Another World | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6b4f4350 | comment |
Zeppelins from Another World: Airships are the main form of air travel on Mars, right from the beginning. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6b4f4350 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6b4f4350 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_6b4f4350 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6bda9a30 | type |
Meaningful Name | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6bda9a30 | comment |
Meaningful Name: Most obviously with Ann Clayborne, the chief proponent of leaving Mars in its rocky unterraformed state. Also with Saxifrage Russell - "Saxifrage" is a plant whose name means "Rock Breaker", which is ironic considering his pro-terraforming views. Specifically lampshaded when Ann points out the meaning and significance of their names to Sax. His last name is also likely an homage to Bertrand Russel, a mathematician/philosopher who espoused a purely logical and rational approach to life. Sax's given name is meaningful on a more esoteric level lampshaded in a joke his assistants tell. He's named after a flower, the way lab rats are. Ann's family, Simon and Peter, also have rock-themed names in a way; the two names taken together are a reference to Simon Peter, the "rock" of the early Christian church (and Peter literally means "rock"). Art's name is an allusion to King Arthur of the Round Table, reflecting his desire to mediate disputes and have all opposing sides of every argument sit down and drink and talk together. He begins the first day of the Dorsa Brevia conference rearranging all the meeting chairs into a circle. As an added bonus, he is described as "bear-like", reflecting the meaning of the word Arthur. Arkady's name is an allusion to Arcadia, a mythical utopia/paradise, reflecting his desire to build a utopian society. Coyote's real name, Desmond, means "of the world", which aptly describes his personality and social style; he goes everywhere, knows everyone, and comes closest to "living off the land" that anyone can on Mars. The nickname Coyote is, probably in-universe, a reference to a Native American trickster spirit. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6bda9a30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6bda9a30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_6bda9a30 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6c85d03a | type |
The Hidden Hour | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6c85d03a | comment |
The Hidden Hour: A rare non-magical example, as on Mars, the day is 40 minutes longer than on Earth, and they deal with it by freezing the clock each night at midnight. The 40 minutes becomes a sort of free time, a time that is considered not to really count, and many clandestine things are done there. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6c85d03a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6c85d03a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_6c85d03a | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6d332aea | type |
Driven to Suicide | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6d332aea | comment |
Driven to Suicide: Ann Clayborne decides to freeze herself to death at the end of Red Mars, thinking that her son is dead and blaming herself for Frank's death. Her husband Simon stops her. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6d332aea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_6d332aea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_6d332aea | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_71687bca | type |
Stalker with a Test Tube | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_71687bca | comment |
Stalker with a Test Tube: Queen Hiroko has several children, most notably John's son, Kasei, who were created by impregnating herself with DNA samples from unwitting males of the First Hundred. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_71687bca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_71687bca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_71687bca | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_73f38fe0 | type |
LEGO Genetics | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_73f38fe0 | comment |
LEGO Genetics: Later in the series, people splice animal genes into their DNA in the process of getting longevity treatments. It isn't clear that these are serious bits of personal re-engineering that could be inherited, however. The cat-derived "purr" may be largely surgical. The crocodile blood derived CO2 tolerance mechanism plays this straighter, however. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_73f38fe0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_73f38fe0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_73f38fe0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7464705c | type |
Arc Words | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7464705c | comment |
Arc Words: Viriditas, "green strength," popularized by Hiroko. She also popularizes areophany, a sort of religious awakening to Mars. Nirgal, especially as a child, thinks of the world as "the green and the white". Shikata ga nai, meaning "there is no other option" also appears several meaningful times. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7464705c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7464705c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_7464705c | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_756dbd0b | type |
Hard on Soft Science | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_756dbd0b | comment |
Hard on Soft Science: Most of the First Hundred are openly contemptuous of psychology and the personality tests they had to take in order to secure their positions. This makes it pretty hard for the group's actual psychologist, who starts having a mental breakdown during the trip. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_756dbd0b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_756dbd0b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_756dbd0b | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_762f71cb | type |
Unwinnable Training Simulation | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_762f71cb | comment |
Unwinnable Training Simulation: On the way to Mars, they do a lot of training runs of the aerocapture maneuver. They go all the way from “mantra runs”, everything works fine, through difficult but possible (not all of it mechanical faults: “‘Arkady (who thinks up the scenarios) has gone mad!’ ‘He has simulated going mad.’”) to absurdly unlikely and impossible to survive. (“(T)he screens register(ed) a hit by a small asteroid, which sheared through the hub and killed them all.”) | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_762f71cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_762f71cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_762f71cb | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_76e48a97 | type |
Icarus Allusion | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_76e48a97 | comment |
Icarus Allusion: In Blue Mars. Jackie's daughter Zo dies this way—not through her own carelessness, but trying to save a more reckless flier. Although throughout her chapter she is shown as being rather self-centered and haughty. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_76e48a97 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_76e48a97 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_76e48a97 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_771f6307 | type |
Brother–Sister Incest | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_771f6307 | comment |
Brother–Sister Incest: In Green Mars, we learn that all the children in the Martian Underground colony are technically half-siblings, as Hiroko is all their mother and all their fathers come from the sperm samples of all the male First Hundred colonists. Coyote calls Hiroko out on creating an "incest camp," but Hiroko, in her capacity as Mother Goddess figure, has no problem with this. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_771f6307 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_771f6307 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_771f6307 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_77414bc2 | type |
Action Prologue | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_77414bc2 | comment |
The book begins with the assassination of the first man on Mars and the ball keeps rolling after that. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_77414bc2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_77414bc2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_77414bc2 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7a555627 | type |
Honest Corporate Executive | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7a555627 | comment |
Honest Corporate Executive: William Fort, who is also the only metanational leader seen personally. He's kind of a Bunny-Ears Lawyer but seems to be the Only Sane Man in the corporate elite, in that he actually cares about the long term impact of his corporation's actions, eschews the more brutal tactics of the other metanats, and takes pains to try and establish a long term plan that doesn't involve simply strip-mining Mars. Later, he winds up committing his corporation's assets to the second Martian revolution, and is generally the only sympathetic character other than Art with a corporate background. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7a555627 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7a555627 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_7a555627 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7adc9fc6 | type |
Colonized Solar System | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7adc9fc6 | comment |
Colonized Solar System: In Blue Mars humanity expands its reach to nearly all of the planets around the Sun and even asteroids. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7adc9fc6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7adc9fc6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_7adc9fc6 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7c46c734 | type |
Common Tongue | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7c46c734 | comment |
Common Tongue: Played straight at first with English and later averted, as translation A.I.s become common-place. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7c46c734 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7c46c734 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_7c46c734 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7c77081d | type |
Language Equals Thought | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7c77081d | comment |
Language Equals Thought: The multinational colonists on Mars usually speak Arabic or Russian; Arabic because it has the best words for describing the landscape, and Russian for its ability to describe grim conditions in weather and politics. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7c77081d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7c77081d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_7c77081d | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7ef728b1 | type |
Tsundere | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7ef728b1 | comment |
Tsundere: Maya, who at least has the excuse that she actually is bipolar. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7ef728b1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7ef728b1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_7ef728b1 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7f8ec449 | type |
Bold Explorer | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7f8ec449 | comment |
Bold Explorer: John Boone became a world-wide hero after leading the first expedition to Mars and being the first person to actually step foot on the planet. Later, during the colonization phase, he parlays his celebrity "First Man On Mars" status into a successful political career. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7f8ec449 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_7f8ec449 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_7f8ec449 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_80251be3 | type |
How We Got Here | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_80251be3 | comment |
How We Got Here: Red Mars starts with Frank engineering unrest at a city festival and the assassination of John Boone. The next chapter is the voyage to Mars and its settlement by the First Hundred. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_80251be3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_80251be3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_80251be3 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8a0e5cdb | type |
Commune | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8a0e5cdb | comment |
Commune: The most common type of settlement on Mars, especially after the revolutions. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8a0e5cdb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8a0e5cdb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_8a0e5cdb | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8b221a63 | type |
Reed Richards Is Useless | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8b221a63 | comment |
Reed Richards Is Useless: Averted hard, with technologies pioneered by characters changing the trajectory of human civilization throughout the series. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8b221a63 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8b221a63 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_8b221a63 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8c995bfc | type |
Zero-G Spot | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8c995bfc | comment |
Zero-G Spot: This happens frequently on the initial voyage to Mars. One of the Russian characters also apparently experimented with many forms of zero-G sex while on Novy Mir. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8c995bfc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8c995bfc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_8c995bfc | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8f4822fd | type |
The Great Flood | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8f4822fd | comment |
The Great Flood: Destruction of water reservoirs in 2061 led to one of these in Valles Marineris. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8f4822fd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_8f4822fd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_8f4822fd | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_96fbeaf | type |
There Are No Therapists | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_96fbeaf | comment |
There Are No Therapists: Played with; there is a therapist, but he ends up being the one who needs therapy. Apparently they should've sent two therapists. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_96fbeaf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_96fbeaf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_96fbeaf | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_99dfd4fc | type |
Nothing Is the Same Anymore | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_99dfd4fc | comment |
Nothing Is the Same Anymore: After the longevity treatment. The societies of Earth and Mars are thrown into upheaval when people no longer die of old age. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_99dfd4fc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_99dfd4fc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_99dfd4fc | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_9bcd82c0 | type |
Took a Level in Badass | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_9bcd82c0 | comment |
Took a Level in Badass: Saxifrage Russell goes from a meek and apolitical scientist at the beginning of the series to the most realistic sort of Mad Scientist you can imagine after being abducted and interrogated by the Secret Police. He plays a significant role in the second revolution, occasionally referred to as "General Sax". | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_9bcd82c0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_9bcd82c0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_9bcd82c0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_9c1f758a | type |
Kill It with Fire | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_9c1f758a | comment |
Kill It with Fire: How do you get rid of anti-terraforming "Red" terrorists? Why, pump their domed "tents" full of pure oxygen and set them on fire! | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_9c1f758a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_9c1f758a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_9c1f758a | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a02779f2 | type |
Terra Deforming | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a02779f2 | comment |
Terra Deforming: The central conflict of the series is between the "Reds" who believe Mars should be lightly settled and maintained in its pristine state as much as possible, and the "Greens" who don't. Both are opposed to metanational efforts to heat the planet as fast as possible, often doing things that will make it less habitable. On the other hand, it's implied in The Martians that the metanats were right, at least if you happen to be a Green; without their heavy industrial efforts pumping heat into the planet, temperatures eventually crash and most of the biosphere dies off, leaving a planet which is neither pristine nor capable of supporting human life. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a02779f2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a02779f2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_a02779f2 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a0c55654 | type |
The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a0c55654 | comment |
The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: The series has two 'Martian revolutions'. The first one, in 2061, was not only a complete failure but a horrifying bloodbath. Transnational forces sought out and killed dozens of the first hundred, even if they weren't combatants, simply to get them out of the way while they had the chance. They also attacked and captured a neutral city that was offering shelter to refugees by popping its pressure dome, resulting in heavy civilian casualties...and then there's the revolutionary town where they hacked the life support computers, cranked up the oxygen levels in the air, and blew it up, burning the entire settlement alive. The second revolution isn't much better: there is less carnage due to the revolution being better organized, but a fight between rebels and transnational forces results in a major dam being destroyed, flooding and submerging the city of Burroughs (at the time, Mars's largest city). If not for Sax Russell having thousands of CO2 filter masks on hand to evacuate the population, the death toll would have been extreme. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a0c55654 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a0c55654 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_a0c55654 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a139f52b | type |
Fantasy World Map | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a139f52b | comment |
Fantasy World Map: Or rather, Sci-Fi World Map, one at the beginning of each book that shows Mars with various cities and other locations. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a139f52b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a139f52b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_a139f52b | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a632f7fa | type |
Cool Train | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a632f7fa | comment |
Cool Train: A train on Phobos is used to keep the workers adjusted to Martian gravity. The gravity on Phobos is so low that the train can simply run around Phobos at a high enough speed that the centrifugal force allows the workers to literally stand upside down on the ceiling of the train. The city of Terminator, capital of Mercury in Blue Mars and a central location in 2312 is the ultimate Cool Train—the entire city moves around the planet, always keeping ahead of the devastating dawn. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a632f7fa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a632f7fa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_a632f7fa | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a6d32cd1 | type |
Energy Economy | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a6d32cd1 | comment |
Energy Economy: Calories of heat, nitrogen compounds, and hydrogen peroxide form the basis of the Martian economy. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a6d32cd1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_a6d32cd1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_a6d32cd1 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_aa596c58 | type |
The War of Earthly Aggression | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_aa596c58 | comment |
The War of Earthly Aggression: Red Mars leads up to a failed rebellion against Earth; Green Mars is about a successful one. Blue Mars features a war that, while brief, is primarily resolved through what amounts to hugging. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_aa596c58 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_aa596c58 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_aa596c58 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_aa8dcc21 | type |
MegaCorp | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_aa8dcc21 | comment |
Mega-Corp: The "Transnat" (Trans-national, meaning they're not limited to just one country) and "Metanat" (Meta-national, meaning that they are so powerful that they control countries and may as well be de-facto countries themselves) corporations. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_aa8dcc21 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_aa8dcc21 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_aa8dcc21 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b116ac06 | type |
Weapon of Mass Destruction | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b116ac06 | comment |
Weapon of Mass Destruction: Numerous during the revolutions: There are basic orbital lasers, which punch holes in tent cities (or ignite hyper-oxygenated ones). An unusual example (also from Red Mars) is the orbital elevator. When the counterweight is cut off, it wraps around the planet twice, causing a huge amount of destruction. By the end, it was going several kilometers a second and embedded deeply into the surface. An attempt to launch an asteroid at Earth is stopped by a nuke-launching railgun on the Moon, both pretty terrifying prospects. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b116ac06 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b116ac06 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_b116ac06 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b3eecaae | type |
Colony Drop | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b3eecaae | comment |
Colony Drop: The first Martian Space Elevator is attacked and severed, causing it fall to Mars. It's so long that it literally wraps around the entire planet at the equator twice. It's every bit as apocalyptic as it seems. A throwaway line reveals that a rogue faction in the War of 2061 redirected an asteroid at Earth (named Nemesis, no less) necessitating a mad scramble to blow the thing up before it hits. In a straight example: Phobos is dropped out of orbit and destroyed. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b3eecaae | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b3eecaae | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_b3eecaae | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b6d4b44e | type |
Lightworlder | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b6d4b44e | comment |
Lightworlder: Native-born Martians end up tall and thin due to the low gravity, but when one of them (Nirgal) goes to Earth, he can't take the higher air pressure and gravity, and gets so sick he has to leave. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b6d4b44e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b6d4b44e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_b6d4b44e | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b747dbd8 | type |
Tall Tale | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b747dbd8 | comment |
Tall Tale: People on Mars still tell stories of Paul Bunyan, but they make him out as a Trickster Archetype creator figure, not unlike Raven in Native American mythology. This is an In-Universe illustration of how tall tales can evolve into mythology. Two of the main mythologies that develop are that of Big Man (similar to Paul Bunyan, they even meet in one tale), and the little red men. Often times real people like John Boone (first man on Mars) also get inserted into such tales. In the first book "the Coyote" as well: someone who inexplicably appears to help people who get into trouble then disappears just as fast. Turns out Coyote is real, and was a stowaway on the Ares. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b747dbd8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_b747dbd8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_b747dbd8 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bb18a227 | type |
It's All About Me | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bb18a227 | comment |
It's All About Me: Nirgal and Maya think this about Jackie Boone, feeling that she's only interested in securing and enjoying power for herself. How true this actually is depends on how much you trust their opinion. This definitely does apply to her daughter Zo, however, who seems completely incapable of understanding or respecting any point-of-view that is not her own. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bb18a227 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bb18a227 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_bb18a227 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bb40e7e0 | type |
Failed Future Forecast | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bb40e7e0 | comment |
Failed Future Forecast: A small failure—in the time the book was written, Switzerland wasn't a member of the UN yet, but in the time the novel is set in (the 2020s and onward) Switzerland already became a member state (on the 10 September 2002, to be exact). | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bb40e7e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bb40e7e0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_bb40e7e0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bc74ef27 | type |
Berserk Button | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bc74ef27 | comment |
Berserk Button: All Nadia loves is creation; she is so mild mannered and peaceful that even among the fractious First Hundred she is one of the few that everyone gets along with without fighting, and she finds war and destruction abhorrent. However, once you start killing the people she cares about, she will blow up your moon base weapons platform. Including the moon it is on. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bc74ef27 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bc74ef27 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_bc74ef27 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bd0d6395 | type |
No Social Skills | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bd0d6395 | comment |
No Social Skills: Sax. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bd0d6395 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bd0d6395 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_bd0d6395 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_be0ad6b7 | type |
Used to Be a Sweet Kid | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_be0ad6b7 | comment |
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: As a young man, Frank was an idealistic public servant, working for a very effective government agency to relieve poverty in the Southern US... until it was shut down by a politician for no more reason than his corporate campaign backers didn't like it, which badly impacted all the people it was helping. Maya speculates that this might have been what turned Frank into the man she knew. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_be0ad6b7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_be0ad6b7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_be0ad6b7 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_be8416ea | type |
Shrouded in Myth | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_be8416ea | comment |
Shrouded in Myth: One of the short, italicized segments between sections shows this happening to John Boone after his death. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_be8416ea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_be8416ea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_be8416ea | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bfa56de3 | type |
Allegorical Character | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bfa56de3 | comment |
Allegorical Character: Several: Sax in many portions of the story represents science itself. At one point he pretends to be someone he is not and literally gets into bed with the character who represents short-sighted corporate business interests in order to be able to do more (corporate-funded) scientific work; this has disastrous consequences. Hiroko represents love, spirituality, and harmony with the world. This is reflected both in her in-story role as a kind of religious leader, and in more subtle ways such as her (unmatched and effortless) ability to perfectly balance out her rotation with that of the spaceship to leap straight down the central shaft in the shaft-leaping game, or a moment in which Frank, a spiritually hollow character, tries in vain to recall her face as it "turns away from him" in his mind. Her periods of absence from the other characters become an allegory for an absence of spiritual wholeness, for which some of them search frustratedly. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bfa56de3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_bfa56de3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_bfa56de3 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_c5da23b | type |
The Revolution Will Not Be Bureaucratized | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_c5da23b | comment |
The Revolution Will Not Be Bureaucratized: Played straight in the first revolution, which is part of why it fails. The survivors in Green Mars spend a lot of time attempting to avert this trope for the next time by laying the groundwork for the government they want to create, as well as planning a revolution that has as much head as it does heart. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_c5da23b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_c5da23b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_c5da23b | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_c64a049a | type |
Mercurial Base | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_c64a049a | comment |
Mercurial Base: In Blue Mars, the settlement on Mercury itself follows this pattern (and is also another Cool Train). | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_c64a049a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_c64a049a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_c64a049a | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_c90381e3 | type |
TriangRelations | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_c90381e3 | comment |
Triang Relations: The John/Frank/Maya threesome, which is a recurring theme despite John dying at the start of Red Mars. There's also Vlad/Ursula/Marina, although most of the focus there are rumors that Vlad is The Beard for Ursula and Marina. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_c90381e3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_c90381e3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_c90381e3 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_cbdd9a55 | type |
We ARE Struggling Together | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_cbdd9a55 | comment |
We ARE Struggling Together: A big problem, especially in Green Mars. Since the metanats are too big and powerful to fight, the various rebel groups start sniping at each other, especially since "anti-metanat" is the only thing that some of them have in common. Radical Reds want Mars to be a big preserve, which clashes with the Bogdanovists' desire to rebuild humanity there, etc. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_cbdd9a55 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_cbdd9a55 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_cbdd9a55 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_cbe687ab | type |
Corrupt Corporate Executive | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_cbe687ab | comment |
Corrupt Corporate Executive: There are a couple, but the biggest standout is Phyllis Boyle. She sets up shop on Clarke asteroid at the top of the first Martian space elevator and freely admits to John that she intends to make herself rich working for the transnats, and no she does not care that said transnats are abusing their people and Martian society in general. After the war, she is seen still working for the corporations and immediately dimes out Sax Russell when she catches him using a secret identity to involve himself with the terraforming project - though it's hinted that she had no idea how brutal the transnat secret police were going to be and objected to Sax's torture. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_cbe687ab | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_cbe687ab | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_cbe687ab | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_ccc0d531 | type |
Settling the Frontier | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_ccc0d531 | comment |
Settling the Frontier: The core of the series. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_ccc0d531 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_ccc0d531 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_ccc0d531 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_cd52fd56 | type |
The Aesthetics of Technology | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_cd52fd56 | comment |
The Aesthetics of Technology: Human technology moves from more utilitarian designs to more exotic ones such as dams made from diamond matrix that show the water they are holding back. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_cd52fd56 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_cd52fd56 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_cd52fd56 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_dcdde3b | type |
Inherent in the System | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_dcdde3b | comment |
Inherent in the System: The unstable and corrupt national and international systems on Earth. Many of the First Hundred, particularly Arkady, see Mars as an opportunity to create an entirely new society without the problems of the old systems. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_dcdde3b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_dcdde3b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_dcdde3b | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_dd963bd3 | type |
Our Giants Are Bigger | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_dd963bd3 | comment |
Our Giants Are Bigger: The folk tales of "Big Man" and his occasional interaction with Paul Bunyan. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_dd963bd3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_dd963bd3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_dd963bd3 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_e24a1629 | type |
Sugar-and-Ice Personality | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_e24a1629 | comment |
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Ann Clayborne, who struggles with clinical depression for much of the story. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_e24a1629 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_e24a1629 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_e24a1629 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_e263ae1 | type |
Inscrutable Oriental | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_e263ae1 | comment |
Inscrutable Oriental: Perhaps unduly influenced by the paranoia about Japan's economic successes that was prevalent at the time of writing, the Japanese are described as the closest things to aliens mankind is ever likely to encounter (albeit by a character who's not meant to be entirely sympathetic), a sentiment embodied in the personage of the enigmatic (and probably insane) "Queen" Hiroko. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_e263ae1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_e263ae1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_e263ae1 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_e567510d | type |
Determinator | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_e567510d | comment |
Determinator: Pretty much any of the First Hundred who survive even the first book could be considered Determinators, given that pretty much everyone is out to get them. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_e567510d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_e567510d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_e567510d | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_ee13f24f | type |
Space Elevator | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_ee13f24f | comment |
Space Elevator: Mars gets one first, and it's promptly destroyed in the revolution less than a year after starting operations. It later gets a second one which stays intact. By the end of the trilogy, Earth also has at least ten. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_ee13f24f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_ee13f24f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_ee13f24f | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f18ac036 | type |
Velvet Revolution | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f18ac036 | comment |
Velvet Revolution: The outcome of the Third Martian Revolution precipitated by Martian immigration restrictions is peaceful integration of the newcomers. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f18ac036 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f18ac036 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_f18ac036 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f516f938 | type |
Never Found the Body | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f516f938 | comment |
Never Found the Body: Hiroko Ai goes missing in Green Mars, and the disappearance remains a mystery for the rest of the series. Due to her status in the Martian Underground, this eventually becomes a Shrouded in Myth situation, with various tall-tales about her springing up in the Martian culture. Despite continual rumors of sightings, she's never seen again in the novels, except for one vague and possibly hallucinated encounter by a main character. In a 2019 interview, when asked what actually happened to that character, Robinson implied she's alive, and actually makes an appearance in the last couple pages of Blue Mars. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f516f938 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f516f938 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_f516f938 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f5b42c55 | type |
Global Warming | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f5b42c55 | comment |
Global Warming: Since this is on Mars, it's actually a desired outcome for the terraformers (but not for the Reds and Ann Clayborne); however, there's the challenge of adding the right amount of greenhouses gases and still having a breathable atmosphere. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f5b42c55 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f5b42c55 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_f5b42c55 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f6d623ca | type |
Eco-Terrorist | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f6d623ca | comment |
Eco-Terrorist: Some colonists who identify as Reds engage in active, sometimes violent sabotage of terraforming efforts. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f6d623ca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f6d623ca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_f6d623ca | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f7057d51 | type |
Matriarchy | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f7057d51 | comment |
Matriarchy: The settlement of Dorsa Brevia is based on the supposedly matriarchal civilization of Minoan Crete. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f7057d51 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_f7057d51 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_f7057d51 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_fba50b70 | type |
Perpetual Storm | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_fba50b70 | comment |
Perpetual Storm: A massive dust storm kicks up in Red Mars as a result of the nascent terraforming efforts. It lasts for years, and there are wild celebrations when it finally ends. | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_fba50b70 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_fba50b70 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_fba50b70 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_ffad4e9f | type |
Shown Their Work | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_ffad4e9f | comment |
Shown Their Work: And how! You wouldn't believe the author is not actually a scientist (although his wife is one). | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_ffad4e9f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_ffad4e9f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_ffad4e9f | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_name | comment |
||
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Mars Trilogy | hasFeature |
Red Mars Trilogy / int_name | |
| Red Mars Trilogy / int_name | itemName |
Red Mars Trilogy |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.