History Literature / RedMarsTrilogy

** In "Green Mars" it is mentioned there are super-plagues that the transnationals threaten each other with from time to time, but none are ever deployed.

** In Green Mars it is mentioned there are super-plagues that the transnationals threaten each other with from time to time, but none are ever deployed.

* InherentInTheSystem: The unstable and corrupt national and international systems on Earth. Many of the First Hundred, particularly Arkady, see Mars as an opportunity to create an entirely new society without the problems of the old systems.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Nirgal and Maya think this about Jackie Boone, feeling that she's only interested in securing and enjoying power for herself. [[UnreliableNarrator How true this actually is depends on how much you trust their opinion]]. This definitely does apply to her daughter Zo, however, who seems completely incapable of understanding or respecting any point-of-view that is not her own.

* FailedFutureForecast: A small failure--in the time the book was written, Switzerland wasn't a member of the UN yet, but in the time the novel is set in (the 2020s and onward) Switzerland already became a member state (on the 10 September 2002, to be exact).

* UsefulNotes/{{Mars}}: Obviously. The series is considered quite seminal to the Mars sub-genre of sci-fi.

* TriangRelations: The John/Frank/Maya threesome, which is a recurring theme despite John dying at the start of ''Red Mars''. There's also Vlad/Ursula/Marina, although most of the focus there are rumors that Vlad is TheBeard for Ursula and Marina.

Later works by KSR often feature recurring elements from the Mars Trilogy, [[ThematicSeries but none are direct sequels]]. The novel ''Literature/TwentyThreeTwelve'' picks up on many of the settings and tropes that were only briefly alluded to in the Mars Trilogy, with its two central characters natives of Mercury and Titan. According to WordOfGod, [[BroadStrokes the basics of Martian history are similar]], but the Mars of ''2312'' is far less terraformed than the Mars of the trilogy, and the economics of the solar system are rather different, too. ''Literature/{{Aurora}}'' is similar again, but lacks the longevity technologies and terraformed Mars of the Mars Trilogy.

** In a 2019 interview, when asked what actually happened to that character, Robinson implied [[spoiler: she's alive, and actually makes an appearance in the last couple pages of ''Blue Mars'']].

** ''Shikata ga nai'', meaning "there is no other option" also appears several meaningful times.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The first book starts with the ''one hundred'' colonists originally sent to Mars, although the narrative focuses on fifteen or so. Subsequent books add their children, and people from Earth, and new acquaintances, and grandchildren....

* IncestIsRelative: In ''Green Mars'', we learn that [[spoiler:all the children in the Martian Underground colony are technically half-siblings, as Hiroko is all their mother and all their fathers come from the sperm samples of all the male First Hundred colonists. Coyote calls Hiroko out on creating an "incest camp," but Hiroko, in her capacity as Mother Goddess figure, has no problem with this.]]

* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Way down towards the hard end. Robinson definitely [[ShownTheirWork shows his work]].

** In fact, of the four people named on the back cover of ''Red Mars'', three end up dying by the end of first book (although [[spoiler:the one who survives actually makes it all the way to the end of the trilogy]]).

* TheGreatFlood: Destruction of water reservoirs in 2061 lead to one of these in Valles Marineris.
* GrayAndGrayMorality: There are no truly "bad" organizations/movements in the series. For most of the first and second novels, the "transnats" (later called "metanats") are portrayed as bad purely because the characters in the story perceived them to be this way, but later on a character ''from'' one of the transnats, Art, shows that things are much more varied and complex than previously assumed. Conversely, there are no true "good" guys; one of the main characters has another main character assassinated at the beginning of ''Red Mars'', and is shown to be a rather Machievellian person, but later is shown to be a deep and complex person, considered a hero by some. People previously portrayed as decent human beings in one narrator's PointOfView suddenly become villainous [[SwitchingPOV in another characters's POV]].

* MeaningfulName: Most obviously with Ann '''Clayborne''', the chief proponent of leaving Mars in its rocky unterraformed state. Also with '''Saxifrage''' Russell - "Saxifrage" is a plant who's name means "Rock Breaker", which is ironic considering his pro-terraforming views. Specifically lampshaded when Ann points out the meaning and significance of their names to Sax. His last name is also likely an homage to Bertrand Russel, a mathematician/philosopher who espoused a purely logical and rational approach to life.

** Arkady's name is an allusion to Arcadia, a mythical utopia/paradise, reflecting his desire to build a utiopian society.

* FailedFutureForecast: A small failure --in the time the book was written, Switzerland wasn't a member of the UN yet, but in the time the novel is set in (the 2020s and onward) Switzerland already became a member state (on the 10 September 2002, to be exact).

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: A small mess-up--in the time the book was written, Switzerland wasn't a member of the UN yet, but in the time the novel is set in (the 2020s and onward) Switzerland already became a member state (on the 10 September 2002, to be exact).

More recent works by KSR often feature recurring elements from the Mars Trilogy, [[ThematicSeries but none are direct sequels]]. The novel ''Literature/TwentyThreeTwelve'' picks up on many of the settings and tropes that were only briefly alluded to in the Mars Trilogy, with its two central characters natives of Mercury and Titan. According to WordOfGod, [[BroadStrokes the basics of Martian history are similar]], but the Mars of ''2312'' is far less terraformed than the Mars of the trilogy, and the economics of the solar system are rather different, too. ''Literature/{{Aurora}}'' is similar again, but lacks the longevity technologies and terraformed Mars of the Mars Trilogy.

* ClimateChange: Since this is on Mars, it's actually a desired outcome for the terraformers (but not for the Reds and Ann Clayborne); however, there's the challenge of adding the right amount of greenhouses gases and still having a breathable atmosphere.

* ClimateChange: Since this is on Mars, it's actually a desired outcome for the terraformers (but not for the Reds and Ann Clayborne); however, there's difficulty in not just soaking the atmosphere with so many greenhouses gases that it'll never be breathable.
* ColonizedSolarSystem: In Blue Mars humanity expands its reach to nearly all of the planets around the Sun and even asteroids.

** A train on Phobos is used to keep the workers adjusted to Martian gravity. The gravity on Phobos is so low that the train can simply run around Phobos at a high enough speed that the centrifugal force causes the workers to literally stand upside down on the ceiling of the train.
** The city of Terminator, capital of Mercury in ''Blue Mars'' and a central location in ''Literature/TwentyThreeTwelve'' is the ''ultimate'' Cool Train: the entire city moves around the planet, always keeping ahead of the devastating dawn.

** The example that helps characterize the entire series is the relationship between John Boone and Frank Chalmers. Early on, a segment told from Frank's perspective shows that he and John have completely opposite ways of doing things: John is charismatic and easygoing, and gets what he wants by getting people to go along with him, while Frank is intensely driven, but equally intensely temperamental and fierce. Few of his colleagues really like him, and he tends to achieve his aims through a combination of tireless, ceaseless effort, a complex web of lies, and withering vitriol (the better to subdue political and professional rivals). Even after [[spoiler: they both die, John at the beginning of Red Mars and Frank at the end]], they are continually referred to by other characters, as their social philosophies basically embody the major social conflict in Martian life. Frank believed that most people were stupid, weak, and afraid to make hard choices, obliging people like him to take control (through dishonorable means, if necessary) and use the status quo for the greater good, even if it meant working with the transnationals to help keep their depredations under control. John believed that Mars was a chance for people to take what was best from all Terran cultures and create something new and worthwhile, and that the domination of the transnationals should be opposed because it stifled peoples' attempts to make new lives and societies for themselves.

* FuturePrimitive: In Blue Mars, some Martians have resorted to nomadic agriculture and even hunter-gathering while still visiting settlements to shop.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: A small mess-up: In the time the book was written, Switzerland wasn't a member of the UN yet, but in the time the novel is set in (the 2020s and onward) Switzerland already became a member state (on the 10 September 2002, to be exact).
* GrayAndGrayMorality: There are no truly "bad" organizations/movements in the series. For most of the first and second novels, the "transnats" (later called "metanats") and portrayed as bad purely because the characters in the story perceived them to be this way, but later on a character ''from'' one of the transnats, Art, shows that things are much more varied and complex than previously assumed. Conversely, there are no true "good" guys; one of the main characters has another main character ''assassinated'' at the beginning of ''Red Mars'', and is shown to be a rather Machievellian persona, but later is shown to be a deep and complex person, considered a hero by some. People previously portrayed as decent human beings in one narrator's PointOfView suddenly become villainous [[SwitchingPOV in another characters's POV]].

* HelpfulHallucination: [[spoiler:Hiroko leads Sax through a blizzard back to his rover, long after she went missing (and probably dead).]] It's left ambiguous whether she was really there.

* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Way down the hard end. Robinson definitely [[ShownTheirWork shows his work]].

* GlobalWarming: Since this is on Mars, it's actually a desired outcome for the terraformers (but not for the Reds and Ann Clayborne); however, there's difficulty in not just soaking the atmosphere with so many greenhouses gases that it'll never be breathable.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: As a young man, Frank was an idealistic public servant, working for a very effective government agency to relieve poverty in the Southern [=US=]... until was shut down by a politician for no more reason than his corporate campaign backers didn't like it, which badly impacted all the people it was helping. Maya speculates that this might have been what turned Frank into the man she knew.