Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy Makes List of 20 Essential Science Fiction Books of Past 20 Years

Denvention 3, the recent 2008 Worldcon gathering in Denver, had a much-anticipated panel discussion titled “20 Essential Science Fiction Books of the Past 20 Years,” the results of which are posted on moderater, semi-retired science fiction critic, and Hugo Award winner Cheryl Morgan's blog. The other panelists were Charles N. Brown, Gary K. Wolfe, Graham Sleight, and Karen Burnham.

Perhaps not surprisingly, three of the five panelists (Wolfe, Sleight, Burnham) included Kim Stanley Robinson’s landmark Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars; 1992-1996) on his or her list of “20 Essential Science Fiction Books of the Past 20 Years.”

Just how highly regarded is Robinson’s trilogy? In commenting on Red Mars back in 1992, Arthur C. Clarke called it “A staggering book ... The best novel on the colonization of Mars that has ever been written ... It should be required reading for the colonists of the next century.”