6 Books for Wannabe Mars Colonists

Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson
The now-classic sci-fi trilogy that begins with Red Mars is practically a textbook for mankind’s settlement of the fourth rock from the sun. In the year 2026 we finally set out to make ourselves a new home. Scientists, adventurous souls, and genetic “alchemists” begin the long process of terraforming the world, starting with great satellite mirrors that reflect additional sunlight to the surface. Of course, surviving the harsh Martian climate isn’t our only obstacle, and the colonists are hardly the flawless utopianites of Star Trek. Rivalries and friendships form and disband, separations that widen into deep divides that threaten to undermine our best efforts to terraform the world. Remember: we have to get along if we’re going to live on a new planet. That means the toilet paper unrolls on the outside. No exceptions.

Mars Life, by Ben Bova
Bova’s Grand Tour series carries us through colonization and exploration scenarios that span the entire solar system. Venus, Mercury, Saturn, even Saturn’s moon Titan. Oh, Mars is also in the solar system, so why not have a book or three about that? Mars, Return to Mars, and Mars Life follow geologist Jamie Waterman and a crew of scientists investigating the planet as a possible colonization target. Wealthy Earth industrialists think the new world would serve us better as an amusement park, however, which kinda throws a whole wrench in our grand plans as a species. It’s a classic tale of the human struggle between money, politics, science, and belief, big issues on any world populated by people.

Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson
At this point, we’re pretty sure there aren’t aliens on Mars. I mean, maybe they have a huge underground city or something, but even then, it seems like one of our rovers would have caught a Martian coming to the surface to take out the recycling. Despite pesky facts getting in the way, the concept of first contact is sure to keep you excited about leaving your home planet. Especially when that first contact involves both alien technology and Martians who are really humans. Spin is a sprawling tale that keeps its roots firmly embedded in reality. No details about actually colonizing Mars, but we do get to see what humanity might become given a few hundred thousand years on a new planet. Spin’s sequel, Axis, does dig into the realities of colonization from the ground up, in case you want more.

The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
Back before science ruined everything with telescopes and actual data, authors were free to speculate about what waited for us on the surface of Mars. Pristine oceans untouched by pollution and corruption? Utopian societies filled with green skinned aliens? Kangaroos that ate sand? Those dreams were dashed when the answer came: “It’s pretty much just dusty.” So began the “dry phase” in Martian literature, and one of the first novels rooted in the dry Mars mythos was this one. Bradbury brings his usual sober sense of humanity to an imaginative novel-in-stories, reminding us of the very real danger that we’ll transport our earthbound problems to any world we colonize.

Falling Stars, by Michael Flynn
The Firestar series takes a look at an alternate reason for humans leaving Earth: if we don’t, we’ll go extinct. There are a bunch of asteroids floating out there, getting ready to make an impact that will make the Cretaceous-Paleogene collision look like a sneeze. Leaving the planet isn’t as simple as gathering all the coolest people and shoving them on a spacecraft; there are societal, political, and even religious obstacles we have to overcome as a species, and the Firestar books tackle them head on. The series concludes with Falling Stars, turning mankind from a terrestrial species to a superterrestrial one. Just like we always wanted!

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race, by Jon Stewart
In case you get homesick.

What books are you packing for the voyage?