Help with Sources for Mars Colonization

[Ilya Muromets]

I've been seriously thinking of finally settling down to write a long-term story idea instead of getting inspired by bursts of ideas every now and then, only to lose interest later. I decided to do so by going back to my sci-fi roots. I'm planning to write an anthology of stories set in some unspecified "near-future." It will mostly be a bunch of slice-of-life stories showcasing the ups and downs of the setting (which will probably be laughably outdated in a few years time, but hey) from the point of view of a diverse cast of characters from different walks of life.

One of the story lines I'm planning to pursue is that of a permanent Mars colony has been around for nearly three decades, and it's starting to shift from remote research station into a fledging "true" colony thanks to the (possibly ill-advised) drive of its private financiers to start making it so. I want to at least try to pay some lip service to hard science, and I'm already buying/borrowing books and searching for internet articles for research. One thing I'm having trouble with, though, is finding any decent books about theoretical Mars colonization.

So, does anyone have suggestions for good literature about said topic? I'm looking for mostly nonfictional sources, but fictional stories with a good grounding in real research are welcome too. Thanks in advance for anything you might suggest.

[Mayabird]

I think you'll have better luck in this forum, so that's why I'm moving it. Fics would've been an alright forum but since this is more about the information than the actual writing it probably fits better here too. Not being mean here, just trying to help.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/zubrin.htm could be fun to start with.

In terms of fiction, Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy- Red, Green, Blue- may actually be too well grounded, containing a depressingly low story to background ratio; Allen Steele's 'Labyrinth of Night' I recall as being good- in the first couple of years rather than anything like a growing colony, but a good story anyway. Steven Baxter's "Voyage" has little on the martian surface but much about long range planning and recon, and flight.

Exactly what you don't want but should probably read anyway, Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles"- which are almost aggressively scientifically illiterate, but; I don't think rational motives to go to Mars are going to be enough, not in the short term. The dream of going there and the semi-logical human experience in the face of an alien world, that's why I'm recommending it- and a passage that exemplifies beautiful nonsense, towards the end about what time looks and sounds and tastes like, that is such crystal perfection as a descriptive piece it makes me cry over the beauty of it.

It's not going to be like that. Any ship to Mars is going to be carrying the baggage of a million illusions behind it, and that may matter in the psychology and politics of the situation which is why I bring it up, but stick to Zubrin for the facts.

[Sarevok]

You should have added a disclaim about Zubrin. He is not really the most reliable source on Mars.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Scientifically or economically? He's a bit of a monomaniac on the subject, certainly, and he probably is gilding the prospects to a significant degree if his reputation is accurate, but is he actually wrong about the planetography?

He is talking about nine hundred to a thousand years, that kind of timescale. Getting a livable and stable environment on Mars is going to be a long project.

Oh, almost forgot, Ian McLeod, "Desolation Road"- life on a partially terraformed Mars, with revolutionaries. Good reading, if not the hardest SF.

[Ilya Muromets]

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/zubrin.htm could be fun to start with.

I'm not really looking for sources for terraforming, except maybe for offhand mentions of long-term plans. This is only set about three decades after the first permanent Mars habitat. Way too soon for any serious attempts at terraforming.

In terms of fiction, Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy- Red, Green, Blue- may actually be too well grounded, containing a depressingly low story to background ratio

How "early" in the colonization does the first book start? Does it actually begin at the first landing before going on from there? If so, that would be great.

Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles"

I've already read that, actually.

[Sarevok]

I suggest signing up at bautforum.com to get compherensive no nonsense pragmatic answers. Being one of the oldest space related sites on the web with both amateurs and professionals in their membership I think they have much more qualified people to answer your queries in great detail.

[Mayabird]

In terms of fiction, Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy- Red, Green, Blue- may actually be too well grounded, containing a depressingly low story to background ratio

How "early" in the colonization does the first book start? Does it actually begin at the first landing before going on from there? If so, that would be great.

It starts IIRC on the trip in of the first colony (the first landing having already happened, but that was a land and go back home deal) and goes for the next two hundred years or so.

[Ilya Muromets]

I suggest signing up at bautforum.com to get compherensive no nonsense pragmatic answers. Being one of the oldest space related sites on the web with both amateurs and professionals in their membership I think they have much more qualified people to answer your queries in great detail.

Now that sounds very promising.

It starts IIRC on the trip in of the first colony (the first landing having already happened, but that was a land and go back home deal) and goes for the next two hundred years or so.

Definitely giving it a look then.

Thanks, you guys.