The sequel to Red Mars is unfortunately not quite as exciting and a bit more difficult to get through. What could be tolerated in the first book – the endless descriptions of driving around on Mars, the minutiae of Martian geology and terraforming – I was less tolerant of in its sequel, and more inclined to skip ahead. But I did enjoy the climactic Martian revolution while at the same time I was wishing for more social conflict and less hard science. The emergence of a new type of person – the Martian – as well as the evolving ramifications of the anti-aging treatments were fascinating, and I look forward to more elaboration on these subjects in the final book in the trilogy.