March 27, 2026
Red Planet? Red Flag
Author of Red Mars calls 'bullshit' on emigrating to the planet
Fans split: fix Earth first, ship Musk to Mars, or just make the TV series
TLDR: Kim Stanley Robinson says the fantasy of moving to Mars doesn’t hold up, even as his 1990s novel still feels eerily timely. Commenters split between “fix Earth first,” “send Musk to Mars,” and “make it a TV series,” turning a Mars debate into a referendum on priorities, headlines, and hype.
Sci‑fi legend Kim Stanley Robinson is looking back at his 1990s classic Red Mars and, yes, he’s calling the idea of moving to Mars “bullshit.” He says sci‑fi is really about its own present, not prophecy, even if he did nail some vibes: wobbly superpowers, rising China and India, climate chaos, endless public arguing—and even a talkative wristwatch AI. Mars? Those 1970s probe photos sparked wild terraforming dreams, but reality still bites.
The comments lit up like a launch pad. One camp went full send: dsr_ joked Mars is “a few billion” away and suggested “Mr. Musk should make plans to retire there”—cue a meme wave of one‑way tickets for execs. The other camp planted a flag on Earth: TwoNineA dropped the Neil deGrasse Tyson line—it’s cheaper to fix Earth than terraform Mars—and hearts flooded in. HPsquared piled on with the cold‑shower take that it’s “easier to live underground or under the sea,” and we haven’t even done that. Meanwhile, graeme grumbled about the clicky headline—“authors don’t pick them”—sparking a mini‑brawl over media spin. And jmclnx? They want a TV mini‑series and worry some alien dust could wreck us long before Martian sunsets do. Verdict: Mars dreams are fun, but the comment section thinks the real survival show is still here on Earth.
Key Points
- •Kim Stanley Robinson reflects on Red Mars as New Scientist’s Book Club reads it in April, noting it was written from 1989 to 1991 and set around 2026.
- •He argues aging science fiction reveals past expectations and social context more than accurate predictions.
- •He notes the novel’s alignment with some present trends: US and Russia as declining powers, and the rise of China and India, amid ecological and geopolitical crises on Earth.
- •Robinson highlights mixed technological foresight in the novel, such as videotapes coexisting with a YouTube-like platform and a wristwatch with a talking AI.
- •He traces the trilogy’s Mars focus to data from the Mariner (1969) and Viking (1976) missions and discusses Mars’s suitability for terraforming, including limited nitrogen.