Earthsea and 9 more epic sci-fi and fantasy series to read in lockdown

5. The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson

At the other end of the space opera spectrum we have Kim Stanley Robinson. Robinson is a champion of hard sci-fi (science fiction that is strongly rooted in science), and over the course of the past 30 years has written many different books that cover everything from global warming to near-future space societies and imagined futures of the western United States.

Of all Robinson’s works, however, The Mars Trilogy stands out as perhaps the most influential. The premise for this one is relatively straight forward: the first hundred settlers are sent to colonize and terraform Mars. Over the course of the three novels, Mars goes from the red planet that we know today to a colonized, habitable world…with everything that might entail. Government, culture, and the environment all come into play as humanity overcomes the odds to cultivate Mars into a home for some of Earth’s overflowing population.

As I said, the science is strong in this one: we explore age-prolonging treatments, terraforming, space travel, advanced rovers, you name it. Part of the wonder of this series is Robinson’s descriptions of the vistas of Mars, and the in-depth way he imagines society taking root there.

The Mars Trilogy had such a huge impact that it inspired the colors that were used in the real-life Mars flag, designed by NASA planetary scientist Pascal Lee.

While The Mars Trilogy may only be three books long, Robinson has a ton of other award-winning standalone novels as well. His newest, the climate change epic Ministry of the Future, just hit shelves on October 6.