This was the only title in this month’s VIP Choice that sparked my interest and almost 24 hours of listening was a bit daunting. However it was worth it even though it was a slow burn and long winded especially in the science (which is allegedly correct), political and descriptive sections. It is not action packed sci-fi but as it is interesting and a good story I will be listening to the other books in the trilogy. It is sad that part of the author’s story that will come true is that we will take all of humanities problems such as greed, prejudice, exploitation of people and resources into space when we eventually get there instead of starting anew. The narrator is good.

The guy reading this book has the perfect voice, it suits the story awesomely. I hope he reads the next 2 also.

A brilliant book, packed to overflowing with idea after idea - the realistic and well-researched detail were great, as well as the very well thought out social complexities - a wonderful, rich read.

Ok at best, spent to much time with names and geological descriptions. will not read / listen to second installment

OMG dullest monotony of narration, snail pace disconnected story development. Bailed after an hour. No way I’m enduring 22 hrs Nor a candidate for the Mars mission or the psycho-political social explanation of why colonization is fraught with seeds of the best and worst of Earth

It was slow only listened to the first two chapters before I turned it off and went to another book

This is a great book, very long and very detailed, the narrator is brilliant. By skipping so much detail the book could have been half it’s length, say 11 hours Overall I would recommend this book.

This book may not be for everyone, but everyone should read it.

This book is very long. It could have been shorten by not going into sure long drawn out details. It was entertaining and you should listen to it. I will listen to the other ones just not right now.

There is about 3 hours of story stretched into a 27 hour book. Let me narrow it down real quick: People suck, Mars has geology (Areology), People suck, and Mars has geology (Areology). Also: people suck. There , now save yourself from 27 hours of monotonous , mind-numbing drudgery.

This was brilliant. i am a fan of this writer and this was my first talking book. The narrator was excellent and spanned many characters voices with skill. it is a clever and insightful examination of what could happen on Mars.

I loved it. Nice to have sci-fi without gratuitous violence, adventure without losing half the crew early on. But yes, human nature is what it is …..

There's a lot happening in this book and it's one hell of a journey from start to finish. Even with the length, it never feels bloated, which is a credit to the author.

Compelling science and human frailties

This was one of my favorite reads. It had just enough scientific information and plenty of character development. The situation seemed so dire that the ending came as a real relief.

The future may write the next edition.

Long winded. Gave up halfway through.

I enjoyed the book , the complexities of the charters and the depth were insightful. The pace was slow ,but it really built up the information needed to understand all of the characteristics of each person . I will listen to the next book in the series soon .

Boring Mars travelogue with annoying characters and disjointed plot. You end up wanting them all to drift away…. And it’s a trilogy. Who would ever read the second….

Brilliant work! I have listened to this series repeatedly over the years .